Scavenging the Remaining Supplies

25

I was in charge of collecting food, while Anne was responsible for searching for daily necessities. After agreeing on our respective tasks, we immediately got to work.

On the day the zombie virus broke out, many residents fled in a panic, leaving their doors wide open.

At that time, it wasn't yet a desperate situation, so there were quite a few supplies left in the apartments.

"Where's Chris?" Anne asked while she searched around.

"Not sure, probably looking for things that interest him," I replied as I walked into the kitchen. "By the way, what do you think about what he said?"

"He makes some sense," she said, not looking up as she stuffed items into her bag, "but the way he talks is very persuasive. Every time I listen to him, I feel like I've been brainwashed."

"So, whether he's right or wrong, as long as he's useful, that's enough."

In Anne's eyes, Chris was nothing more than a useful tool.

I lowered my head and continued rummaging through the cabinets.

If only the virus outbreak had been delayed by two months.

If it were colder, even unplugged refrigerators could preserve food.

The meat in the freezer might still be salvageable.

By the time we finished our first round of scavenging, it had already been dark for a while. I began to inventory our stockpile.

In the past month and a half, we had consumed 18 barrels of drinking water.

Since we replenished once during the brief restoration of the water supply, the actual consumption might be twice as high.

We had 50 boxes of instant rice left and over 120 packets of instant noodles.

Two boxes of compressed biscuits remained untouched, as did the rice, flour, and noodles.

There were about eight boxes of individual ration packs left, and we had eight large bags of oatmeal.

We had consumed more than two of the 20 boxes of canned food, and the eggs were almost gone.

We still had 11 boxes of yogurt and milk combined.

I had stocked up a lot of vegetables, and with the new crops coming in, this was the most abundant resource we had.

I continued to tally today's haul.

The food items included two bottles of blueberry jam, one bottle of peanut butter, one can of condensed milk, one bottle of salad dressing, and two jars of Sriracha sauce, all unopened.

We also had five boxes of instant coffee, some sugar cubes, and two large cans of tea leaves.

I took some rice, yeast, and cooking oil,

as well as two bags of rice cakes and a jar of pickles.

The biggest surprise was finding a box of MRE (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) packs and an unripe tomato plant in 402.

Anne found quite a few items as well:

four hot water bottles, a Morphy Richards pot with a baking tray, two sets of dumbbells, ten boxes of tissues, three sewing kits, two foldable bathtubs, several rolls of plastic bags, and three large bags of sanitary pads.

She also gathered some common household medicines and about a dozen bottles of disinfectant spray.

Additionally, there were three extra-thick Simmons mattresses leaning against the wall.

"Where did you find these?" I touched one. "They're huge."

"I just wanted to improve our quality of life…" Anne quickly shifted the focus, "Look at Chris. Compared to him, I'm already very normal."

I turned to see what Chris had brought back. He had a recliner with a cushion.

"How is a rocking chair considered a supply?" Anne asked.

"That's over the top," I nodded, "It's worse than your mattresses."

"If it were a game console or comics, I'd understand, but—" she pointed at the fishing gear and a box of chess, "Isn't this what old men use in parks?"

"Do you think Chris is lying about his age? Is he really only 30?" she asked again.

"That's something we should investigate," I confirmed her suspicion.

A golf club.

"Is he planning to play golf? But he didn't bring any balls," she picked up the club and swung it a couple of times.

"Maybe he forgot. People tend to do that when they get older."

The age issue seemed even more questionable.

A DVD player.

"This is just barely acceptable."

Anne picked up the DVD on top of it: "But he's watching Crayon Shin-chan. Isn't that considered R-rated?"

I stared at the little boy in the red shirt and yellow shorts on the cover, lost in thought: "He's still an adult after all… let's cut him some slack…"

"You two," Chris finally spoke from the side, "at least wait until I'm not around before you start badmouthing me."

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