Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System - Chapter 109

Chapter 109: Port City 2
They walked around the store until Rayne spotted a few tracks leading toward the back of the store.

“Hey, Julian, look. Whoever it was seems like they might have been injured. I can see wrappers from the bandages along the way,” said Rayne, pointing at the ground.

“Good find. Let’s see how far we can follow them,” smiled Julian. They followed the tracks to the loading area in the back of the supermarket and toward an apartment building that was still standing adjacent to the store.

When Rayne stepped inside the apartment building, she noticed that it appeared to be in relatively good shape. Even most of the windows were still intact. Rayne marveled at the architect’s skill in designing such a building that still stood straight, even after back-to-back natural disasters.

They walked inside, following the small blood trail on the ground until they reached the second floor.

“The trail ends here,” frowned Rayne.

Julian looked around, searching for any additional clues as to where this injured person might have gone, but found none.

“Looks like we’ll be doing this the old-fashioned way. Let’s go door to door,” he said, walking toward the first door.

He turned the handle, and surprisingly, the door swung open. “Oh, it’s open. Let’s take a look around,” he said and stepped inside.

When Rayne stepped inside, she realized that this building must have been a luxury apartment building. Even though the exterior was made from red brick and had an old-time charm, the interior was spacious and well-decorated.

She walked around and admired the paintings and antiques displayed inside china cabinets and on shelves.

“I’m really surprised that most of these delicate items are still intact. I figured the first earthquake would have destroyed them all,” she commented as she picked up an antique teacup.

Julian walked over. “You have a good eye. If I’m not mistaken, that’s a Victorian-era teacup and would have been worth a fortune before this disaster.”

Rayne’s eyes quickly lit up as she stored the teacup along with the other teapots, vases, and platters on display. She also stored the paintings and various pieces of furniture as they were all in very good shape, hoping to restore them one day.

She explored the rest of the apartment, storing anything she found novel or interesting, but did not find any signs of people living there.

“There’s even some food left in the cabinets. I’m surprised others haven’t moved in yet,” said Julian from the kitchen.

Rayne had just finished storing a vintage jewelry box filled with pearls and precious gems and walked out of the bedroom.

“Yeah, everything seems very intact, nothing missing. I wonder where everyone is,” she said, looking at the shelves full of food.

After they finished looking through that apartment, they checked the doors of other apartments, knocking on the ones that were locked in case people were inside.

After checking the whole second floor and finding no one, they went up to the third floor to continue searching.

Most of the doors were locked, but on the second-to-last door on that floor, someone answered after Rayne knocked.

A young man, between 18 and 20 years old, opened the door, cracking it open warily. “How can I help you?” he asked quietly.

“Oh! Hello! We’re looking for someone. Would you be able to help us?” asked Rayne, smiling.

The young man frowned. “Did anything follow you here?” he asked warily.

Rayne looked around. “No, what would follow us?”

The man looked a little surprised and opened the door. “Quickly, come inside and keep your voice down.”

Rayne walked in with Julian, while the young man quickly closed the door, making sure that he did it as quietly as possible.

“What’s going on here? Where is everyone?” asked Julian.

The young man sat down on his expensive-looking leather couch and motioned for Rayne and Julian to sit down across from him.

“You guys must not be from around here if you’re asking that,” he said while applying pressure to his side.

“No, we’re not. We’ve come from the government base to look for a scientist in this area,” explained Rayne.

“Oh, the base? I thought that place was a lie. Listen, can you take me back with you? It isn’t safe here,” he said.

Julian looked at him sharply. “You still haven’t explained why it’s not safe.”

The man pressed against his side again, inhaling deeply. “Right. Well, you guys probably already know that this is one of the top tourist spots in the country.”

Both Rayne and Julian nodded, as they were both aware of this.

“Well, just before the disaster, the city opened a new zoo. It was said to be the second-largest one in the country, featuring all sorts of exotic animals.”

The man stood up and peeked out of the window, observing the street below, and continued, “Well, after the initial earthquake, nearly all of the animals escaped. I’m sure you can imagine how fierce a family of lions can be when starved.”

Rayne’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re saying that right now there are lions loose on the streets?!”

The man nodded. “Not just lions, but all sorts of animals, even reptiles. Even the smaller animals like monkeys are dangerous. I just recently got injured running away from one.” He lifted his shirt to show a deep gash in his side.

“Is that why there’s no one around? We noticed that most of the shelves were still stocked in the supermarket,” asked Julian.

The man nodded. “Yes, most of the people ran away once the animals were released. It happened pretty early on, so many people still had access to their vehicles… while others got eaten.”

The room fell into silence, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Rayne glanced over at the young man, focusing on his injury.

“Do you need anything for your wound?” she asked. While she wasn’t a doctor, she did have an unlimited amount of basic first aid supplies.

“I found a few smaller bandages in the supermarket earlier, but they’re not large enough for the size of this gash,” he explained, looking down at his side.

Rayne unzipped her backpack and pulled out a fresh first aid kit, handing it over to the young man. “Here, there should be a good variety of bandages and disinfectants in here,” she said calmly.

“Oh, thank you so much!” he said, lifting his shirt to clean his injury.