Chapter 84: More Than Diamonds

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: More Than Diamonds

Penelope nearly flinched.

’Please stop yelling.’

’Host, he understands treasure!’

’He cannot hear you.’

’Then tell him Oddy approves.’

’I am absolutely not telling Erik that an invisible system living inside my head approves of his decisions.’

Oddy seemed offended.

Penelope ignored it again.

Erik continued explaining.

"Modern currency is going to become useless if society continues collapsing. Credit cards already don’t work without functioning networks. Banks are inaccessible, communication is down, and eventually paper money will become nothing more than paper."

Ben frowned.

"But gold will still have value."

"Exactly."

Erik tapped one finger against the display glass.

"Gold has maintained value across civilizations because people collectively believe it has value. More importantly, it’s portable, divisible, recognizable, and difficult to produce."

Kai stared at him.

"You’ve thought about this."

"I think about everything."

"That’s mildly terrifying."

Penelope looked around the showroom again.

She understood now.

Erik wasn’t thinking about tomorrow.

He was thinking months ahead.

Possibly years.

Food would become currency.

Medicine would become currency.

Weapons.

Fuel.

Clean water.

Eventually, anything useful could become something worth trading.

Gold would simply give them another option.

"Take it," Killian said.

Everyone turned toward him.

Penelope blinked.

"All of it?"

"Everything we can access."

Oddy lost its mind.

’YES!’

Penelope closed her eyes again.

Kai noticed.

"You okay?"

"Wonderful."

"You don’t look wonderful."

"I’m having a private disagreement."

Kai stared at her for several seconds.

"With yourself?"

Penelope looked at him.

"Do you want the long explanation?"

"No."

"Then yes."

Kai nodded as though that made perfect sense.

Penelope walked toward the nearest display case.

Before touching anything, however, she looked toward Killian.

"Should we check the building first?"

Killian’s expression immediately changed.

Erik turned toward her.

Penelope gestured toward the darkened showroom behind them.

The jewelry store was enormous.

The emergency lighting illuminated only the main sales floor, leaving several hallways near the rear of the building partially hidden in darkness. A staircase led toward a second floor, while another corridor disappeared behind a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.

Nobody had checked either one.

They had been so relieved to escape the zombies outside that they had forgotten something important.

They might not be alone.

Kai slowly lowered the hand he had been reaching toward one of the display cases.

"See, this is why Penny is useful."

Penelope frowned.

"Was there ever a question?"

"Absolutely not."

"Good answer."

Ben looked toward the dark hallway.

"Do you think there are zombies inside?"

Killian stared into the darkness.

"I think assuming there aren’t would be stupid."

That was enough.

Everyone tightened their grip around their weapons again.

Their moment of relief disappeared almost immediately.

Erik looked toward the staircase.

"Kai, Ben, stay here."

Ben frowned.

"I’m coming."

"No."

Erik’s answer was immediate, but his reasoning came just as quickly.

"Someone needs to guard the entrance and watch the street. If those doors fail or something changes outside, we need to know before we’re trapped."

Ben glanced toward the glass doors.

He understood.

"I’ll stay."

Kai walked over and stood beside him.

"I’ll stay with him."

Erik nodded before looking toward Penelope.

"You stay between us."

Penelope raised an eyebrow.

"I thought we established that I can fight."

"We did."

Erik gestured toward the dark hallway.

"We also established that getting scratched means you die."

Penelope couldn’t argue with that.

Killian moved toward the corridor.

"We clear the first floor before touching anything. Then the second."

Penelope glanced longingly toward the display cases filled with gold.

Oddy noticed.

’Host.’

’Don’t.’

’The treasure.’

’Will still be there.’

’But—’

’Oddy.’

The system became quiet.

Penelope followed Killian and Erik toward the rear of the store.

They had barely reached the entrance to the darkened corridor when a faint sound came from somewhere beyond it.

Everyone stopped.

Something scraped against the floor.

Penelope immediately tightened her grip around her machete while Killian raised one hand, signaling everyone behind him to remain silent.

Another sound followed.

A soft rustling came from somewhere behind the wall, followed by the unmistakable sound of something small scurrying across the floor.

Killian waited several seconds before slowly continuing forward.

A tiny shadow suddenly darted across the hallway.

Penelope nearly swung her machete before realizing what it was.

"A mouse?"

The small creature disappeared beneath a cabinet.

Another one quickly followed.

Penelope stared at the spot where they had vanished.

"Seriously?"

Behind them, Kai released the breath he had apparently been holding.

"You almost fought a mouse."

"I did not almost fight a mouse."

"You raised your machete."

"Because something moved."

"The mouse moved."

"I didn’t know it was a mouse."

Kai nodded thoughtfully.

"So you almost fought a mouse."

Penelope turned around.

"Kai."

He immediately looked elsewhere.

Ben covered his mouth, but the laugh escaped anyway.

Even Erik’s mouth twitched slightly.

Penelope narrowed her eyes at all of them.

"Keep laughing. The next time something jumps out of the darkness, I’ll let all of you investigate it."

"Fair," Ben admitted.

Killian crouched near the cabinet where the mice had disappeared.

There were several small droppings near the wall, along with torn pieces of paper and what appeared to be shredded packaging.

"They’ve probably been living in the building for a while," he said.

Penelope made a face.

"Wonderful."

She immediately looked down at her boots.

Oddy, meanwhile, had absolutely no interest in rodents.

’Host.’

Penelope ignored it.

’Host.’

She continued walking.

’Treasure.’

’I heard you the first twelve times.’

’There is gold nearby.’

’We are standing inside a jewelry store.’

Oddy became quiet for several seconds.

Then it responded with what Penelope could only describe as offense.

’Host thinks Oddy is stupid.’

Penelope nearly laughed.

’I didn’t say that.’

’You implied it.’

’I didn’t imply anything.’

’Obviously there is gold in the jewelry store. Oddy is not talking about that gold.’

Penelope stopped walking.

Erik nearly walked into her.

"Why did you stop?"

Penelope didn’t answer immediately.

’What do you mean, you’re not talking about that gold?’

Oddy’s excitement returned instantly.

’There is more.’

Penelope slowly looked around.

The showroom behind them was already filled with more jewelry than she could reasonably estimate. Diamonds sparkled beneath emergency lights. Gold necklaces filled entire display cases, while watches worth tens of thousands of dollars remained perfectly arranged as though customers might walk through the doors tomorrow morning.

And Oddy was calling that treasure insignificant?

’How much more?’

’Much more.’

That got her attention.

Penelope turned toward Erik.

"Where do jewelry stores keep the expensive stuff?"

Erik looked at her strangely.

"We’re surrounded by expensive stuff."

"Not this."

She gestured toward the showroom.

"The really expensive stuff."

Kai had followed them into the corridor and immediately joined the conversation.

"Are the diamonds not diamonding enough for you?"

Penelope ignored him.

Erik understood what she meant.

"The vault."

Ben looked around.

"There’s a vault?"

"Most high-end jewelry stores have secure storage somewhere on the premises," Erik explained. "They don’t leave their entire inventory inside display cases overnight."

Penelope’s eyes slowly widened.

Oddy practically purred inside her head.

’Treasure.’

Now Penelope understood.

"Find the vault."

Erik raised an eyebrow.

"That suddenly sounded very personal."

"It is."

Kai looked between them.

"Should we ask?"

"No," Erik and Penelope answered simultaneously.

Kai nodded.