Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System - Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Fish Market
Dillon stayed inside the empty apartment for a long time until he cooled off. Instead of feeling discouraged, the desire to make Rayne his woman grew even stronger. He felt as if they were playing a cat-and-mouse game, one chasing while the other ran away.

When Dillon finally left the apartment, he noticed an older lady sitting on the bench by the entrance.

“Good evening, ma’am. I’m looking for an old friend of mine. I heard she lived here, but no one is answering. Her name is Rayne Weston. Do you happen to know her?” Dillon asked in his best ‘good boy’ voice.

Old Lady Barton looked over at Dillon, seeing a handsome young man. “Oh… you’re looking for that rude girl? Yeah, she moved out a few weeks ago. She didn’t tell anyone, nor do I remember seeing any moving trucks.”

Dillon was surprised! If Rayne moved out a few weeks ago, then she must’ve moved shortly after his first visit!

“Thank you for the information. I’m guessing there’s no one who would know where she went then?” Dillon probed.

Old Lady Barton looked at him and frowned. “I suggest you forget about her. She may look sweet on the outside, but she’s rotten on the inside. Never met such a rude girl before. She probably keeps a lot of men on the side too…”

Dillon’s eyes darkened slightly at the mention of men, but he quickly hid his emotions.

“I’ll be honest with you, ma’am. She actually owes me a lot of money, so I’m trying to find her,” he lied, trying to squeeze out any kind of information.

“Haha! Oh, you should’ve said so earlier! See, I knew that girl was no good! Although I don’t know where she went, the main office should keep a record of it,” laughed Old Lady Barton.

She was excited to finally get her hands on some gossip and couldn’t wait to share it with the other ladies in the building.

“Thank you so much for your help, ma’am!” Dillon thanked her politely.

He turned to walk toward the main office, smiling evilly.

Dillon finally left the main office of Rayne’s old apartment building. He was there for almost an hour, trying to convince the staff in charge of leasing to give him the address Rayne left when she moved.

The staff member was stubborn, refusing to give out any information until Dillon pulled out a wad of cash. As soon as the money was on the table, the staff member quickly pulled out the paper that Rayne filled out when she moved out.

Dillon quickly took a picture of the address she wrote and left, feeling victorious.

“You can’t hide from me, Rayne,” he said, walking out into the dark night.

—-

A few days later…

Rayne grabbed an iced coffee out of her system and hopped into her car. Today was the day of her planned road trip to gather more items. Seafood was currently in season, and Rayne wanted to capitalize on that.

She also decided to visit a number of farms along the way to try and store fresh meat, produce, and seeds/gardening supplies.

She planned to be gone for a few days, so she prepped for a few days of travel. Her system was very convenient for this, as she didn’t need to pack. She simply tossed a few random shirts into a larger bag to avoid suspicion and set off.

After driving for a few hours, she arrived at one of the largest fishing ports. She timed her arrival so that the sun had just begun to rise, and the first fishing boats had just finished docking.

As she got out of her car, the strong smell of fish and salt made her scrunch her nose. There was a large warehouse-like building right in front of the boat docks that acted as a fish market. Many people wearing raincoats stood huddled in front.

Although it was still relatively warm out, the intense sea breeze made it feel very cold, so most people came prepared, wearing coats or jackets.

Rayne realized she was very underdressed as soon as she stepped out of the car, rubbing her arms with her hands.

She quickly got back inside her car and pulled out a waterproof long jacket. It was a thinner material than a winter coat but was perfect for protection against the wind.

She walked over toward the group of people who were waiting for the fish market to open. The majority of the people there were wearing chef uniforms or jackets branded with a restaurant’s logo.

“I hope they caught more tuna today; there wasn’t enough last week,” said an older man.

“There wasn’t enough because that new sushi restaurant bought most of it,” replied a fierce-looking woman.

Rayne listened in on all of the small talk, waiting for the market to open.

Before long, a dock worker came out and opened the door. “Okay! Come on in, everyone!”

Rayne let the chefs and restaurant workers flood in first so she could avoid being trampled. Inside the warehouse market, there were many stalls with hundreds of freshly caught fish laying on top of ice.

Many workers were busy cleaning and cutting fish into filets. Rayne walked around, admiring the vast amount of fresh fish and seafood on display. Despite the strong fishy smell, her eyes twinkled once she noticed the king crabs and juicy lobsters.

Rayne queued up and bought a little of every item. She realized that she was once again unprepared, her hands running out of space to hold more seafood.

Rayne quickly walked back to her car, storing the seafood she just purchased, and took out a large cooler on wheels. It was at least double the capacity of a standard cooler, and she remembered thinking how silly it was to make a cooler this size when she first stored it at the camping store.

But now, this cooler came in very handy, allowing Rayne to walk from stall to stall and buy a little bit of everything.

Thankfully, the sight of Rayne going around buying everything was not uncommon, and many of the people there just assumed she was a private chef preparing for a seafood feast.

By the time she finished, the massive cooler was stuffed with every kind of fish fillet, smaller whole fishes, oysters, clams, various crabs, lobsters, urchin, many different types of roe, etc.

Her inner foodie was extremely delighted at the bountiful seafood harvest. To maximize freshness, Rayne stored the cooler with all of the contents directly, deciding that she would take the time to store every seafood item individually later.

The sun was shining brightly, and the warm air was creating a pleasant breeze throughout the car, pushing out the residual fishy smell. Rayne had been driving for a few hours toward her next destination, a large cattle ranch.

—–

Remote valley.

Sounds of large construction vehicles mixed with other power tools sounded through the area. Julian had just arrived, stepping out of his off-road jeep.

“Boss, you’re here!” greeted Noah, quickly approaching.

Julian nodded and quietly observed the construction site before speaking.

“How’s the bunker construction going? Have we encountered any setbacks?”

“There were a few small issues that have now been solved. We are still on track to meet your deadline,” replied Noah.

Julian let Noah walk him around the entire construction site, comparing the progress to the blueprints he was holding.