Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System - Chapter 171

Chapter 171: The Barclays
At a secondary safehouse in the City.

“Mrs. Barclay, I apologize, but our reserve of fruits and vegetables is gone. Please try to understand,” said a servant.

He had just returned from the kitchen, where he was informed that the Madame’s breakfast order of fresh buttermilk pancakes with fresh fruit and freshly squeezed fruit juice could not be made because their food reserves had nearly been depleted.

“Do you know who you’re speaking to? I don’t care where you need to go to find some fruit, but I expect you to find it!” yelled Mrs. Barclay.

Ever since her son, Julian, had risen to the peak of the business empire, she had never heard the word ‘no.’ Everything she ever wished for, she had, and today would not be an exception.

“Madame, the world outside is not safe. There is also no guarantee that we would be able to find anything, even if we went out,” the servant tried to explain.

While Julian built this emergency shelter in the past for his family and others of high society, the stocked food was not an infinite resource.

His family had moved into the shelter with some close family friends when the news of Julian’s death was announced.

They were worried that the killer was going to go after them next, so they decided to lay low until the killer was caught.

From the time of Julian’s death until the initial earthquake, food and other supplies were delivered on a regular basis. However, once everything went to shit, they had to make do with what they had.

“Mom! They just told me I can’t have my chocolate protein shake! Help me!” a girl about Rayne’s age came over crying.

“There, there. I’ll make sure they give you what you want, princess, just wait a little bit,” Mrs. Barclay said, patting her daughter sweetly.

“Can you make sure they bring enough for Samantha too?” the girl said, wiping her tears.

Her mother looked over at the beautiful girl behind her daughter. “Of course, sweetie. Samantha was always meant to be part of our family; she’s like a daughter to me.”

Samantha took a step forward. “Oh, please don’t worry about me. I’m already very grateful for you allowing me to stay here with you. It’s unfortunate… oh, I’m sorry.” She turned her head to pretend to cry.

“Aww, Samantha, are you thinking about my brother again?” asked her best friend.

Samantha nodded. “I’m sorry, Layla. I just can’t help it. I miss him so much.”

Layla shook her head. “If he was still alive, I would strangle him for making you cry so many times!”

“Please don’t say that. I’m okay with the way he is,” Samantha said softly.

Julian had always been her dream man, and ever since becoming friends with Layla, she had worked hard to get into the good graces of his family.

Her plan worked wonders, and Julian’s family accepted her as their future daughter-in-law, even though Julian never once agreed to her advances.

“Don’t worry, Samantha. No matter what, I consider you a part of the family. No one can take that from you,” Mrs. Barclay smiled.

The girls chatted for a while longer until another servant came over with news.

“Madame, there are people at the entrance. They’re seeking an audience with you and the young miss,” he said respectfully.

Mrs. Barclay frowned, but before she could deny them, the servant added another piece of news, “The young lady said she was Miss Layla’s classmate.”

“Very well, let them in,” said Mrs. Barclay. If it was her daughter’s classmate, that meant these people were from high society since the school she attended was meant for those of aristocratic families.

A few minutes later, a delicate young lady with a slightly rough-looking young man walked inside. The lady held herself with grace, adding to Mrs. Barclay’s suspicions that she was from an important family.

Layla looked at the girl with confusion. “Hmm, I don’t remember seeing you in school.” As one of the most popular girls in school, thanks to her brother’s success, Layla was always the center of attention.

She looked the girl up and down but couldn’t remember ever seeing her.

“My name is Katrina, and this is my cousin Cal,” Katrina said sweetly. “You might not remember me much because I was often sick due to my poor constitution, but I remember you. I’ve always been a big fan of yours.”

Layla shrugged but was happy to have a fan. She looked at Katrina’s dainty figure and slightly pale complexion, feeling like her words about being sick were true.

“What brings you here?” asked Mrs. Barclay, respectfully. She saw Layla give her a nod, indicating that this girl was telling the truth.

Katrina looked down pitifully, pretending to be very sad. “I’m sure you know that the world outside is very different now. Unfortunately, I was visiting my aunt’s family when everything happened initially and have been looking for my mother and father ever since.”

She took a deep breath and wiped a few tears away before continuing, “I remember my mother telling me about this bunker a while back and hoped that they might be here. But now I don’t know what to do!”

She burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

Mrs. Barclay’s heart ached watching the pitiful girl cry her heart out. She thought of her own daughter and how this could have been her if they were separated.

“Oh, don’t cry, sweetie. You can stay here with us. If your mother knew about this place, there’s a chance she might come here looking for you,” she said, patting her gently.

Cal stood silently, watching the show with his head down. Before they arrived here, Katrina had told him to simply stay quiet and let her do all of the talking.

She made sure to dress him in whatever brand-name clothing she could find to help their story.

Layla looked over at Cal. He wasn’t ugly or handsome, but something about him gave off a ‘bad boy’ vibe that made her a bit curious about him.

“So your name is Cal? I definitely don’t remember you from school,” said Layla.

Cal stiffened slightly but quickly adjusted. He had memorized his backstory on the way here and knew how to answer.

“Yeah, I’m from City R. When Katrina insisted on coming down to search for her family, I didn’t feel comfortable letting her go alone, so I accompanied her here,” he said quietly.

Layla smiled. “I see, that’s very nice of you.”