"Your system runs on cat puns?!" Caleb turned excitedly. His eyes practically sparkled as he spoke. "Do you level up by punning? No wait! You tell puns to your cats and if they laugh you level up!"

"Um, no. It levels like normal. Killing monsters gives experience. But everything has some sort of cat pun or idiom in it. All my skills have some sort of punny name as well." Alex answered, giving Caleb a concerned look. He was oddly excited about her system.

"Dang that's not as fun." Caleb sulked. He grabbed a shirt and a pair of pants and walked over to the changing station. As he dressed, Caleb tossed out the apron and lab coat. He put on the pants, a decent pair of jeans, and the shirt, some boring polo. Even the apocalypse couldn't get rid of boring shirts.

"What about you?" Alex asked. "Are you blessed like Nathan or do you have a power like June?"

Caleb opened the changing room door, posing. "Dunno, not like anyone can measure. Best guess is it’s a power like June's but it doesn't grow." He dropped his pose and stepped back over to the cart. "Time to find me a new bat."

Nathan walked along with June, echolocating as he moved. His blessing was able to catch a lot of missed salvage. "There's a pack of batteries under the shelf there." He pointed to one of the cashier shelves. Most if not all of the food had been taken, leaving only the strange items, like a frog-shaped reading light. June bent down and swept a hand under the shelf. She felt the pack and brought it out.

"Only nine volts." She said.

The two continued their sweep, Nathan's power making it much easier than normal. Eventually, Nathan felt comfortable enough to speak up. "So, how long have you been around here?"

"About six months I think," June said absentmindedly. She bent down to grab a stick of lip balm. "Went to college over in the Kansas City area. I was working a summer job and renting a place when the whole thing went down. You?"

"Been here all my life," Nathan answered. "Travel didn't really interest me." Nathan reached up and grabbed a bottle of wine someone had missed.

"What were you doing before this?" June questioned.

"Living off the goodwill of the government and transcription service jobs," Nathan answered. "What brought you over here anyways?"

"The cities got hit the hardest. From what people think, the higher the population the more monsters that spawned around. It was mass panic, I decided to get out instead of stick around. Went west and stopped here when I saw someone had set up three refugee camps." June found a can of beans sitting at the back of a shelf.

"You think what Caleb said before is true? Someone is causing all of this?" Nathan said.

June thought about it. "Maybe. I don't want to say he's right. But now we have to deal with pornographic hive minds made of nanotechnology. At this point, anything could be possible."

The two continued along past the food aisles and into the electronics section. TVs lined the wall, some cracked while others looked to be in perfect condition. June and Nathan ignored them, it wasn't like they could carry twenty-something televisions back. June made a mental note to inform the forgers in Refuge and Haven. Nathan did find a few unused battery packs below a counter, Double A's this time. As they reached the other side, they heard a clatter and then Caleb's voice.

"Oops."

June and Nathan rounded the wall separating the sports section from the electronics. Standing next to a mess of bouncing golf balls was Caleb. In his hands was an aluminum bat, dented in the middle. He looked down at the mess and then up to the bat. "Dented after one swing? They don't make them like they used to do they."

He dropped the bat, the metal clanging onto the ground. Turning around, he saw June and Nathan standing in the aisle. "Oh hey guys, How'd the search go? Can you help me find a bat?"

"Are you incapable of being quiet?" June demanded.

"What? It's not like there's anything around here." He replied.

As if to prove Caleb wrong, a roaring noise came from outside the store. June gave an I-told-you-so look before silently pushed everyone out. Caleb grabbed a new bat along the way. He hoped it was a bit sturdier than the last.

As everyone walked outside, they saw a gigantic screen covering the sky. A man was projected on the screen, or it looked male. Caleb wasn't about to go gendering things at the end of the world. The alien was dressed in a form-fitting vest and pants, enhancing the already square chest. The most striking was the face. It was a polished grey and had no nose. The eyes were almost square and sat almost at forehead height. The mouth sat above a striking light blue beard, clearly well maintained.

Behind him was something like a command deck. Other aliens in similar forms of dress paced around. Some sat at computer terminals, monitoring something on the screen. Caleb and the rest watched as the alien opened its mouth to speak.

"I am Commander Delaross of the Varnoss Empire." The alien boomed. "Rejoice, for we have found your people in your time of distress and offer you a solution. Join under our banner and we'll provide you with the materials needed to restart your society. We will be sending an emissary to each of your most populous cities. We look forward to establishing positive relations. Glory to Varnoss!"

"Glory to Varnoss!" Shouted a group of aliens behind the commander. With that, the screen winked out, leaving blue skies tinted with the orange rays of the sun.

"Well, that can't be good," Caleb said.

"They could be nice aliens," Nathan said.

Everyone turned to look at Nathan.

"What? They could be." He argued.

"Let's just get back to the cities," June said.