Chapter 17 - Hungry People

Six days later, Zach could be found outside holding a shovel in his hand trying to get the volcanic ashes building on the ground around their house. The third Volcanic Eruption had just happened, and the atmosphere was getting worse seeing the volcanic ashes already filling the air as if there were a sandstorm or something. 

It has been already a week since his mother, Vanessa, started living with them and it only makes the atmosphere livelier but at the same awkward. Vanessa's joining has eased more of Zach's workload after she started taking on the cooking responsibilities in the house. 

On the other hand, after Zach's confession regarding his relationship with Zoey and the matter about him killing four people, Vanessa was greatly furious knowing such a thing, but she no longer wanted to escalate it longer and just reprimanded them that they had to stop, and she draw the line by having Zoey always on her sight. 

Zach and Zoey, however, will always find their ways to see each other as they cannot satiate their longing and needs from each other. They either get outside leaving some excuse or sneak out after Vanessa falls asleep. Their actions only proved that they really wanted to be with each other and nothing would stop them even if it was their mother. 

All this time, Vanessa still hadn't had any clue that the teacher Hannah was actually a part of their relationship because if she knew then she would probably run wild thinking what was running on their minds. She didn't even voice anything regarding her sleeping together with Zach inside a room as Vanessa was quite older than her son and never once slipped in her mind that she would do such a thing. 

Lastly, Vanessa had finally gotten into the secret of Zach's ability and the theories and facts that they knew however, unlike the two, she somehow accept things more easily as she thought that the world had already turned to shit so what they were saying no longer surprise her. 

Meanwhile, Zach, who was outside, suddenly stopped shoveling as he looked at the large building next to their house which was built and was serving as their warehouse. He had created such a thing so that her mother and the others would no longer call for him every time they wanted something. 

With that, Zach then just looked at the sky. He knew that another calamity would come again next week and they needed to prepare to face it again. The problem, however, is they don't know what kind of calamity it was and what kind of destruction it would bring. 

"Zach, it's getting dark already. Get inside and take a rest. Dinner will be served soon." Vanessa, who was in the door, said while looking at Zach and she couldn't help but feel proud seeing how hardworking he was. During the past week, she couldn't believe the changes that happened to Zach as she even started to doubt whether he was really her son. 

"Got it, Mom." Zach replied before looking at the volcanic ashes around thinking to continue working on them tomorrow. He then just put the shovel back into his inventory before walking back to the house so he could take a bath and rest a bit before dinner. 

In the dining room, Zach and the others were now eating seeing Vanessa and Hannah busy looking after the kids. Zach, on the other hand, looked at them with a smile thinking that despite what the world had become, they could still smile and live peacefully, especially the kids. 

"Mom. I'll be heading out tomorrow and find Dad." Zach suddenly said while looking at Vanessa. He has already thought about it for the past week and was just finding a good time to say it. His mother told them before that their father wasn't in the office at that time and was dealing with a client who surprisingly was in the city where he and Zoey were studying. 

Vanessa looked at Zach after hearing what he said. She then just looked at Hannah wanting to look after the kids. Seeing Zach's determination, she cannot find herself to refuse by giving reasons that it was dangerous outside. 

"Are you sure?" Vanessa asked. 

"Yes, mom. I'll leave behind supplies that will last for a week or two since I don't know when I will be back." Zach answered. He knew the situation outside and the fact that he needed to travel quite a long distance which would probably take him days. Knowing that his father wasn't in their workplace during the calamity happened then there's a possibility that he is still alive somewhere and he wanted to take his chances to find him. 

"If you're already determined then I have no way to stop you. Just be careful and get back to us safe." Vanessa said with a sigh. She too was hoping that her husband was alive during these two months. If possible, she wanted to find him herself, but she knew how dangerous it was right now. 

"Zach. I'll come with you." Zoey then said wanting to voice out her intention to come along. 

"Not you." Vanessa immediately cut her off and gave her a serious glare. 

"It's better for me to go alone. Given my ability, I'm more confident with my safety." Zach then reasoned. Though he understood Vanessa's action, he also didn't want her or even Hannah to come along since aside from finding his father, he also wanted to see if he could still squander some supplies that they may need. 

Following that, Vanessa and Zach just started talking with each other while Zoey and Hannah listened to their conversation. It did not take long before they were done eating dinner and after resting for a bit in the living room, each started heading to their respective rooms. 

Zach's room that night was particularly lively after Hannah gave Zach a night to be remembered, added by Zoey's love of passion after she sneaked out of her room upon seeing their mother already asleep. Zach, on the other hand, was very satisfied as he savored the two of them to his satisfaction before finally going to bed. 

The next morning, Zach didn't wait too long and started his journey after bidding farewell to Zoey, Hannah, Vanessa, and the children. As the road was completely filled with volcanic ashes, any kind of vehicle would be of no use so it left him no choice but to walk. His journey, however, wasn't boring seeing Adam and Eve come along with him. 

"This will be quite a journey. Follow me closely, Adam. Eve." Zach said before he started running as he wanted to see if he could arrive at his destination before sundown. With his stats right now, such a thing would no longer be impossible. He was just worried if the two dogs could keep up with him or else they would probably stop from time to time to rest. 

Traveling while getting exposed to Volcanic Ashes, Zach together with Adam and Eve reached their destination at night. Zach has finally returned to the city where they were studying. The temperature of the place was pretty cold but it did not have much effect on Zach as he ventured into the city with his flashlight on. 

Zach only left this place in two months yet he was surprised to see what it become seeing the place completely abandoned as complete silence was looming in the area. With the help of the system, he walked without worry before finally putting an end as he could no longer see properly and decided to rest for the night. 

Finding a safe place to take cover, Zach assembled the tent he had. Following that, he then started making dinner while being observed by Adam and Eve who were waiting for their share. After having their fill, everyone started getting ready for bed as the solar lamp had finally turned off and slept through the cold night. 

The next day, Zach started looking for traces of other people and just like he thought, the place had already emptied. There were stores he passed along the way and they were all empty proving that there were people who had taken them. Since he was more familiar with this place, he first headed to their apartment to see how it became. 

It took him the whole morning to safely arrive at their apartment from which he rested inside a bit. The place had signs that it had been ransacked before but he was not surprised by it so he didn't mind how the place had become since he did not plan on staying longer in the area. 

However, Zach didn't expect that when he was having lunch, he finally saw other people. Looking out the window, he looked at a group of men and women walking on the road while checking things out probably wanted to find something. Not wanting to get them lost, he immediately put everything to a stop and headed out. 

Following the group, Zach didn't deliberately show himself as he still didn't know them. Together with Adam and Eve, the two walked sneakily before finally stopping as they saw the group enter a place and surprisingly it was the university he was supposed to be studying at. 

Zach could hear noises inside so he thought that there might be many people in the place. With that, he no longer hesitated thinking that the place might have become an evacuation site and the chance that his father was inside was higher. Together with Adam and Eve, they entered the place with hopes and yet they were faced with another reality. 

"Z-Zach, is that you? My God. It's you!" Suddenly, a voice interrupted Zach and there he saw one of his classmates and friends, Max, the one who was talking about their plans during the weekend before shit happened. 

Zach looked at Max. Though he knew that they were friends, it, however, was only around this time. In his past, the two no longer had any contact with each other after college so he was not that familiar to him. He has friends but he is not really one of those who have been with him for the longest time. 

"Man. I can't believe that you're still alive. Man. I'm really hungry. Do you have some food with you?"Max greeted before shamelessly asking something. He has long forgotten about shamelessness and pridefulness as he immediately asks for food since this is no longer the world it used to be. If you don't take the initiative, then you will not survive for long. 

Looking at Max, Zach then just reached out the pocket of his pants and summoned out a chocolate from his inventory. He could see the change in Max's body and he could tell that he must have never consumed food for a while so he couldn't help himself but feel pity. With that, he gave it to him, but he was dumbfounded seeing Max immediately push him and guide him towards one of the buildings inside. 

"I didn't expect that you really have food in you, Zach. But you shouldn't really just casually take it out. The people here were all hungry. Trouble might come to you if they saw you taking a chocolate but thanks man." Max immediately said as he ate the chocolate Zach had given him with great happiness on his face but he didn't eat it all and saved some of it for some time. 

Hearing Max, that was when Zacch realized what he just did which recalled him once again to the four men who had intruded on their place before. He didn't think that he would forget such a thing and could only sigh thinking that he had become used to living alone with no worries and forgot about how important really food is to other people. 

"By the wa- Tsk!! I think they have followed us." Max was about to say something when suddenly he saw two men walking closer to them. Judging by the way they looked at them, he already knew that they didn't come with good intentions. 

On the other hand, Zach was also looking at the two men with a cold glint flashing in his eyes but before he could do something, he saw Max take the initiative to talk but it seemed it didn't work out as they started fighting. He, however, just looked at them for a while and only joined when he saw Max getting beaten up.