Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System - Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Parting gifts
The next few days felt like a blur to Rayne. She spent her days practicing shooting, watching TV shows, and aimlessly walking around.

She felt that even the food didn’t taste as good when eating alone.

“Girl, you need to snap out of it. He’s most likely already got someone he likes, and there’s no point in suffering over someone you only knew for a few days!” she told herself, snapping back to reality.

She felt like she had gotten too comfortable in her little outdoor paradise and needed a reminder of the reality she was living in. The world around her was slowly changing, and the apocalypse had already begun.

She closed her eyes and replayed the scenes from her nightmare in her head. This was the reality that awaited her, and she didn’t want to waste her time feeling sad that someone she only knew for a few days had left.

“Okay, Rayne, it’s time to get back into the swing of things!” she announced. It had been some time since she had last practiced any of the close combat moves she learned from Brent.

She took a few steps away from the picnic table to give herself some space and began to practice some move sets.

About 30 minutes later, Julian arrived at the hill that contained his bunker. He walked over to the secret entrance, unlocked the door, and entered to meet Ian and Noah.

“Boss! You’re back!” exclaimed Noah.

Ian walked over and noticed Julian’s slight limp. “Boss, are you hurt?”

Only after Ian said something did Noah realize that something was wrong.

Julian greeted his two friends. “Hey, guys, I’m back. And I’m fine, just twisted my ankle, I think. I’ll ask Anna to check it out later.”

Noah and Ian both wanted to ask where Julian had been these past few days, but since he didn’t bring it up, they decided not to ask.

“I’m going to get settled. I’ll call you in for a meeting later,” said Julian as he walked toward his room.

The bunker was designed to have a few different living quarters in different areas. There were a few dorm-style rooms with bunk beds, where the people from Alpha Team resided.

Further down in the bunker was a ‘residential’ wing, where there were a few apartment-style rooms designed to mimic studio apartments. Each room had a bed, a small living room area, and a decent-sized bathroom.

Down the hall opposite the apartment-style rooms was a large communal living area with a fully equipped kitchen.

Julian walked to his room, the largest one at the end of the hall. He sat down on his bed and opened the backpack Rayne had given him.

He carefully pulled out the water bottles and snacks, treating them as if they were made of gold. He pulled out the carefully packaged turkey sandwich and smiled.

“I’m almost too reluctant to eat this,” he chuckled.

Reaching in once more, he felt a heavy object. When he pulled his hand out, he realized it was her silenced pistol!

He frowned, looking at the gun in his hands. She must’ve been really worried about my safety.

He held the gun, feeling its weight. While he was incredibly touched by her intentions, he was now worried about her safety. This was the only gun they used when practicing, and he knew that obtaining firearms was extremely difficult.

“I swear, if she gave this to me and left herself defenseless…” he muttered under his breath, slightly frustrated.

A few weeks went by since Julian left, and Rayne’s life normalized a little bit.

She distracted herself with constant shooting and close combat practice, only resting in the evenings.

She had taken out a training dummy that was commonly used by fighters and boxers and used it to help her with close combat training. While it couldn’t fight back, it still provided a place for Rayne to land her kicks and punches.

One thing Rayne was happy about was that the earthquakes seemed to have stopped. The day Julian left was the last time she felt an earthquake, and it was very short in duration compared to the previous ones.

She felt that, in the world’s current state, things should still be recoverable. A part of her wanted to venture back into the city to see how bad things really were.

She didn’t have much of a plan staying in this valley. While she could probably live here for the rest of her life, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to live so isolated without any socialization.

Rayne was currently watering a small vegetable patch she had planted two days ago. While she didn’t need to grow anything to survive, she found it a fun and calming activity to pass the time.

Just as she finished watering, she felt a few drops of rain fall on her arms.

“Looks like it’s going to rain,” she said, looking up at the dark storm clouds in the sky.

Rayne quickly walked around, gathering any small, loose items that would get wet, and walked inside the camper.

After Julian left, she folded his bed back into a couch, giving her a sitting space in the living area.

Shortly after entering, she began to hear the soft patter of raindrops on the camper. She pulled out a book from her system and curled up on the couch, reading to pass the time.

As time passed, the rain got heavier and heavier, mixing with the strong gusts of wind. Rayne felt the camper shake due to the intense winds and began to feel a little unsettled.

Thankfully, the extra supports kept the camper in place, even through the biggest wind gusts.

When it was time for bed, Rayne decided that she would sleep on the couch because it was the central point of the camper. Every time the camper shook, Rayne tensed up, feeling worried that it could topple or even get blown away.

By the time she finally fell asleep, it was already very late into the night. The howling wind and the shaking camper kept her awake. She was only able to fall asleep from pure exhaustion.