Ran car with no oil now ticking

[jakebrakes]

Hey guys, I appreciate any and all help. I have a 2009 Subaru legacy 200k miles that belongs to my mom. I had a 7 hour ride today so I borrowed her car to save on gas because my primary is a f350 6.0... anyway I was driving along, suddenly the car felt a little sluggish as if running out of gas. Then I heard loud ticking, pulled over and the car shut off. First thing I did was check the oil and there was zero oil on the dipstick but NO OIL LIGHT ever came on... I ran the codes and got a p0028 for valve position sensor, even tho there wasn't any CEL on the dash. The car starts but it sounds like a bad valve tick( yes I'm familiar with terms, definitely a tick) ... I know this motor has oil dependent hydraulic valves.. What are the odds that I just have a bad valve verse a thrown bearing? It definitely sounds like top end.. if I give it a little rev the tick speeds up and sometimes squeals like metal on metal, like a pulley with a bad bearing kinda squeal.
Any ideas? Questions? Where should I start? We can't afford to send it to a shop and I'm decently mechanically inclined. Thank you

 

[310Z]

You do not say but I would assume you added oil when you found out it had no oil on the dip stick? So, I am assuming the ticking sound is occurring with a normal oil level?
I would start by draining what oil is left in it. Remove the oil filter and cut the filter open (like opening a can). Look for shavings of metal and/or bearing material (silver flakes that will not stick to a magnet). If you find anything like that there is internal motor damage.

If it is in one of the heads you should be able to locate which side of the (H-4, horizontally opposed 4) motor design the sound is coming from. Then pull off the valve cover on that side and take a look. It could also be a piston rod knocking. Although I am new to Subaru's I am not new to motors. I have read that on the EJ25 motor cylinder #4 has a cooling issue and can run hotter than the other three cylinders and the piston ring-land breaks, and that is another potential problem area when the motors get hot. I also would assume you have an(EJ) series motor?