Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Introductions
Rayne finally got up from her bed when she heard the water stop running, bringing her back to reality.

She felt bad for the man because of how badly swollen his foot was. She knew that it must be very painful for him, even though he didn’t show it at all. She waited a few minutes inside the camper to give him time to get dressed before she walked out.

“Hey, thank you for letting me shower, and for the clothes!” said Julian, smiling at her. He was seated at the picnic table, wearing the new clothes she had picked out for him.

Rayne was glad to see that the clothing fit, but she couldn’t help but admire his handsomeness now that he was cleaned up.

His messy brown hair curled up slightly at the ends due to being wet, and his blemish-free skin provided a delicate touch to his muscular physique. What drew Rayne in the most were his ice-blue eyes. She felt like those eyes had seen many difficult moments, giving her a subconscious desire to go up to the man and hold him.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she sat down next to him.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad the clothes fit you,” she said shyly as she reached over to grab the first aid kit.

“Sorry, I’m not professionally medically trained, but I do know how to bandage up your swollen ankle,” she added.

Julian watched as she took the large compression bandage from the first aid kit and squatted in front of him, carefully bandaging his ankle.

Flustered, Julian quietly thanked Rayne. “Oh… um… thank you, you didn’t have to do so much for me… I mean, of course, I’m grateful!” Julian was horrified at the stuttered words that came out of his mouth! He’d interrogated criminals and negotiated multi-billion dollar contracts, and never once had he stuttered!

Maybe I need to ask Noah to bring a doctor with him to make sure my brain is still functioning properly!

Rayne took her time bandaging his ankle, adjusting the tightness as needed along the way. It took her a few minutes to finish, and just as she stood up, her stomach growled!

She froze at the sound, her face turning red from the embarrassment! She just realized that since she left her house this morning, she hadn’t had a bite to eat all day! It was already past lunchtime, and her stomach was reminding her to eat.

Julian laughed at her cute embarrassed expression. “Haha, my stomach has been growling too, don’t worry.” He only said this because he wanted to help ease her embarrassment. However, moments later, his stomach growled even louder than Rayne’s!

They both stood still, looking at each other, then burst out into laughter together.

“Haha! I’ll go make us something to eat, I’ll be right back!” said Rayne, laughing at the situation. She walked inside and made her way over to the small kitchenette. This camper was a luxury model and had a double-burner stove along with a mini-fridge included, allowing Rayne to prepare hot dishes.

However, she was really hungry and didn’t want to waste a lot of time cooking, so she opened up her system panel instead.

She scrolled through the various prepared foods that she had collected over time, carefully deciding what to choose. She couldn’t choose anything too flashy like king crab or sushi, but she didn’t want to resort to something basic like a sandwich either.

She decided to go with a creamy pasta dish with chicken and a side salad. She figured that pasta was relatively quick to cook, so she didn’t need to spend a lot of time pretending to cook inside the camper.

She spent about 15 minutes playing a game on her phone before she took out some nice plates and the two copies of the creamy chicken pasta. She took the pasta out of the takeout boxes and arranged it neatly on the plate, leaving some room for the side salad.

Scrolling through her ‘Salad’ tab, she found a nice dark leafy green salad and split it between the two plates. She made sure to throw all the takeout boxes into her system trash bin before walking out of the camper.

Julian was sitting quietly on the bench of the picnic table, admiring the beautiful view of the river. He felt that Rayne really picked out a good spot to camp at, even though he still wasn’t sure what brought her here.

After a while, he heard the door to the camper open and saw Rayne carrying two large plates of food. He was surprised to see the delicious pasta on the plate when she placed it in front of him.

He saw her quickly run back inside and bring out two glasses of water and the utensils before she sat down across from him.

“Wow, this looks so good! Thank you for treating me to such a nice meal,” said Julian. He’d been living off of pre-packaged meals mixed with his terrible cooking for over a month now, and seeing this restaurant-quality meal felt like a blessing!

“By the way, I’m Julian. I feel like you’ve helped me out so much today, yet I haven’t even introduced myself.”

Rayne looked over at him, slightly flustered. “How rude of me! I’m Rayne, nice to meet you, Julian! And you’re welcome, I’m glad I could help!”

“Nice to meet you, Rayne,” replied Julian. So I was right! It really is Dr. Weston’s daughter!

Although he confirmed her identity, Julian still decided to pretend like he didn’t know her, which, in a sense, was true. He knew her father, but this really was the first time they’d met.

They chatted occasionally as they ate.

“So, what brings you out here? I don’t think this is a campsite, right?” asked Julian, feigning ignorance.

Rayne stayed silent for a minute while she thought of an appropriate answer.

“Well, I’m sure you saw it too. All of the disaster happening in the city. Most of the taller buildings have collapsed, killing thousands, I’m sure… I felt like coming somewhere remote, such as here, would be the safest option. I don’t think things will get any better anytime soon. What about you?”

Julian was surprised to hear her answer. What she said was what his instincts had told him earlier today when he was on the phone with Ian.

He wasn’t really sure how to answer her. “Well, I guess my reasoning is similar to yours, but you’re clearly a lot more prepared.”

“Yes, I’m lucky in that regard. I was actually planning on going on a camping trip with my friend, which allowed me to leave with this whole setup early this morning.”

When Julian heard her say that she left this morning, he was a little surprised. At least from the outside of the camper, it looked like she’d been living here for a little while.

“If you don’t mind sleeping on the fold-out couch, you’re welcome to stay with me until your ankle heals,” offered Rayne. Although she didn’t know what kind of person Julian was, she felt comfortable around him and decided to let him stay for at least a little while.