Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

"I'm fairly sure that the likelihood of survivors is higher than we initially thought. The store, including the stock room, were completely cleared out of food and water."

Jane's first words after clearing the abandoned convenience store sent a chill down Oliver's spine... Not out of worry that there would be survivors, but because, after checking out the half destroyed skyscraper through a pair of binoculars... things weren't adding up in his mind.

"That is both good and bad..." He quietly acknowledged her words, even as he continued to study the damaged building that still towered over its neighbors. "But... I'm starting to wonder about some things..."

"Like what?" Jane asked, exiting the store to stand next to him, eyes scanning the still empty street. Throwing a quick glance his way, she frowned. "You have binoculars?"

"I always carry a pair of binoculars; don't you?" He asked as he lowered them to look her way. Seeing the embarrassed grimace flash across her face, he held them out to her. "Take a look at the skyscraper and tell me what you see."

Arching an eyebrow curiously at him, she accepted the binoculars. Scanning the building in question slowly, she shrugged slightly even as she spoke. "Well, it's half collapsed- probably from an explosion of some sort, judging by the blast marks and fire damage. A lot of cracks and damage, but not much else to see."

"Have you ever dealt with explosives, Agent Doe?"

"Not much, admittedly. My job is all about taking down supernatural threats, and those are typically more inclined to use magical means than explosives." She shrugged again as she went to pass back his binoculars.

"Let me take a look." Eve jumped in, snatching the binoculars from the agent's hands. "I'm probably the closest we have to an explosive expert, anyway..."

"Oh, wow... Fuck me, but no wonder you were starting to worry." Eve said after a minute of studying the skyscraper. Lowering the binoculars, she whistled softly. "I'm pretty sure whatever blew the top of that bitch wasn't inside the building- probably a couple missiles off a helicopter or fighter jet... or something. And some of those burn marks... they're straight. I mean, way too straight, like the building was raked by a high powered laser or something."

"How sure are you?" Oliver asked before Jane could respond.

"Pretty sure." Eve shrugged, tossing the binoculars back to him. "My eye sight is sharper than yours, so I'm pretty sure I can make out more details from here. Those burns are basically carved into the building, and some of the metal looks partially melted."

"How can you be sure the explosion wasn't inside the building?" Jane asked- for once not sounding annoyed by the vampire, but simply curious... and worried. "I didn't see anything-"

"Like I said, my eye sight is sharper- even sharper than yours." Eve cut in, trying not to sound smug. "And it's all in the pattern of the scorch marks- well, those other than the 'laser burns', as I'm calling them. I mean, I don't have a lot of experience with missiles and rockets and stuff, but I've played around with enough bombs to be confident about this."

"Honestly, I'm betting that, when we get there, we'll find broken glass and other bits that were blown into the building from the explosions."

"I fail to see why this is a concern." Oakheart chimed in; While he did not know what these 'missiles' and 'rockets' were, he understood enough to know they exploded in some fashion- though he didn't understand why the location of the explosion truly mattered. "Perhaps all of that was caused by them attempting to remove the undead blight?"

"Definitely not." Jane replied immediately. "There's no way that is it. Even if that building was so overrun with zombies that they decided to bomb it, they wouldn't have bothered to hit it mid way up like that- and I doubt they would have left it half done, either."

"And that doesn't even account for those laser burns." Eve pointed out helpfully.

"Assuming they are laser burns." Oliver said slowly. Seeing Eve turn to pout at him for disagreeing, he chuckled softly. "It's not so much that I'm doubting you, but that we really don't have enough information to be sure of anything."

"It seems that, for every answer we think we have found, we discover three more questions."

"Yeah, Oakheart, it does." Jane sighed, rubbing her temple. "And the only way we are going to find any answers is to keep looking... Though I really do hope we're just jumping at shadows..."

Waving off her worry at all the unknown possibilities, Jane turned towards the cafe next door and started walking. "Ok, same plan as before- oh, right!" She paused, dropping her backpack for a moment to pull out several plastic jugs. "We found the bleach and hydrogen peroxide; Are you sure this stuff will work for sanitizing our gear?"

"As sure as I can be." Oliver shrugged, grabbing one of each bottle to look them over... and finding them incredibly similar to ones from Earth- even down to the name brand on the bleach. "Huh, now that is interesting..."

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"What is?" Eve asked, leaning over his shoulder to look as well. After a moment, she shook her head. "Yeah, I don't see anything special. It's just bleach, right?"

"That's the point." Oliver tapped the label on the bottle. "See the name brand? You can find this in almost any store- and home- in America. That makes me think that this was an alternate Earth, and not just some random planet... Especially when you add in that all the signs we've seen so far are written in English."

"I... hadn't even thought of that." Eve muttered, sounding sheepish.

"Neither did I..." Jane mutter quietly as she turned to study the signs once more. "I'm so used to my translation enchantment just automatically doing its thing..."

Oliver nodded sympathetically to the pair, all too familiar with the feeling of overlooking something supposedly simple. Clearing his throat to draw their attention once more, he went on with his previous explanation. "Anyway, like I said, I'm as sure as I can be about these working to sterilize stuff. Granted, that is with most viruses and bacteria, so I can't guarantee that the zombie plague isn't resistant or something..."

"Actually, new plan." He said, standing up quickly. Seeing the look Jane threw his way, he held up a hand apologetically. "Sorry, boss, I don't mean to steal your thunder... But I think we need to call an audible."

"Then, please, do explain your plan." Jane responded with a bit of bite in her tone- clearly she wasn't happy with him trying to change their plans...

But at least she was willing to hear him out, which he counted as a win.

"Ok. So, what I'm thinking... is that we temporarily skip clearing buildings- or maybe it would be better if we cleared with a specific purpose?" Seeing Jane's impatient look, he quickly pushed on. "What I mean is, that we should find a hospital and head straight there as quickly as possible."

Holding his hand up to stop her immediate response, he rushed to explain. "I know that that would potentially leave enemies behind us, and thus increase the level of risk... But a hospital is the most likely place for us to find any information on the zombie plague."

"It's also one of the most likely places to run into more zombies." Eve pointed out- rather unhelpfully, at least from Oliver's perspective; everyone that had ever watched a zombie move knew that hospitals inevitably got overrun. People that got infected and started feeling unwell would go to a hospital to get checked out, then turn and infect more... It was a cliché, but one that was rooted in human behavior.

That, and her pointing it out certainly didn't help his argument.

"While that is a good point, and I somewhat agree with you... I have a few problems with it." Jane suppressed the knee jerk reaction of flatly refusing his suggestion; she knew that reaction came more from her instincts wanting to smack down anyone that even appeared to be trying to wrest control of her 'pack' from her- as a werewolf, and the person in charge of this mission, any perceived challenge to her authority was unwelcome... "One: we have no idea where to find a hospital yet. And two: the risk of getting cut off from our exit by leaving enemies behind us isn't something I find acceptable."

"So, how about we find a hospital and clear in that direction?"

Jane paused at the question; Honestly, it was probably the best idea- even if it did bother her that it wasn't her idea. Looking slowly around the area, she pointed at a three story building down the road a little ways- while it was only slightly taller than the surrounding buildings, it was still the tallest nearby. "We clear down to that building, then head up to the roof to take a better look around..." She sighed softly as feelings of doubt and self recrimination filled her. "I really should have thought of that sooner..."

"Not really." Oliver patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. "I mean, you came in here expecting to fight monsters- we all did, really. That's why none of us thought of finding a hospital until just now."

"I meant getting the high ground and properly scouting the area."

"Eh, none of us thought of that." He waved off her answer. "We're a small team that isn't used to working together. Plus, urban combat is always a clusterfuck..."

"Oh, and let's not forget, you do investigation stuff. Don't you usually have guys that do the rooftop stuff while you're on ground level?"

"Usually..." She reluctantly agreed, before shaking her head. "But I don't have people like that in here with us, so I need to adapt-"

"Or, and just hear me out on this-" He started slowly, earning a glare from her- and glad to see that a moment of doubt hadn't killed the fire in her. "We send the pipsqueak up to the roof and have her parkour her way over to the taller building to take a look."

"Hey! Don't call me pipsqueak, asshole!"

Ignoring Eve's complaint, Oliver gestured to the building beside them. "Old brick buildings are pretty easy to climb, especially for a vampire like her... More importantly, zombies are less likely to be on the roof- and, if there are any, it would probably be good to know."

"That... is another good point." Jane nodded reluctantly. After a moment to think, she sighed softly. "I'm thinking too much like an FBI agent, trying to enter through the door and clear buildings, following rules that don't really apply... When this is a situation that requires a little more adaptability and lateral thinking..."

Hearing the touch of bitterness in her voice, Oliver suppressed a sigh- she had already said that this wasn't her usual job, and that she was thrown into it with just some training and no experience in something like this; She was an agent, used to following rules and protocol. This... was a whole different experience.

"It takes all sorts, Agent Doe." He said softly, but firmly. "Lateral thinking is something I'm pretty good at... But, without someone like you pointing out that rushing straight for a hospital could get us cut off from the exit portal, what sort of situation do you think we would end up in?"

"Probably the sort of situation that gets someone killed." She answered bluntly.

"I do agree that a pragmatic approach is preferable to near certain death." Oakheart added with a chuckle. "And, truthfully, I had not considered scaling a building in order to scout the area; I am far too use to being able to fight my way clear of any obstacles... Something I have recently learned does not always work."

"Oh, what sort am I?" Eve asked, oblivious to the deeper point of the conversation- or Jane's brief moment of doubt.

"The sort that acts impulsively, then tries to fight her way out... And usually ends up in even more trouble because of it." Oliver answered pointedly. Ignoring her pout, he tossed her the binoculars once more. "Now, how about you head up to the roof like I said and get a good look around?"