Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System - Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Secrets Explained
She was happy to find a large variety of items inside. She went through Reginald’s duffel bag first, admiring the warm clothes one by one.

“Oh, I also picked out this sweater because I thought it would complement your eyes,” he explained. They went through each clothing item together, with Reginald explaining his reason for every article of clothing he had picked out for her.

“Ah, darling, you’re so sweet. You know me so well,” she complimented him back. Ella looked over and could practically see the hearts in the air surrounding them.

She was too exhausted to care about their over-the-top display of affection, so she just laid on her bed quietly to recover from her exhaustion.

Ella’s mother continued to sort through the items, pulling out the food and water from the bags. “Wow, you guys got so many good things! This bag of rice alone will make for a number of good meals!” she said cheerfully.

Overall, with all the new items, they easily doubled their existing food supply. The clothing was also a nice extra for the coming colder months.

“Honey, what are we going to do about the winter months? I’m afraid we won’t survive if we continue living here in this cold basement,” she said worriedly.

Reginald frowned. “You’re right. We’ll have to find someplace new to live through the winter months. I’m surprised the government hasn’t opened up a shelter or a base yet.”

“Maybe they have, and we just don’t know about it yet,” Ella said, sitting up and replying to her father.

He sat still, mulling over Ella’s words. He felt that she could be correct. With most of the power out, it would be difficult to spread the word. Living in the basement wasn’t a long-term solution, and he felt it was worth going out to see if there was indeed such a place.

“You could be right. I think it’s worth looking into. We don’t have that much time before the colder weather sets in. It would be nice to move somewhere more comfortable,” he said.

With this new idea, he began making plans for relocation.

—–

At the broken post office building…

Rayne continued to cry in Julian’s arms until she let out all of her overwhelming emotions. She slowly pulled away, wiping her red, swollen eyes.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” she said quietly, looking at the wetness on his chest from her tears.

Julian looked her in the eyes and flashed a reassuring smile. “Rayne, you don’t need to apologize. It’s important to let your emotions out; it’s a normal thing.”

She nodded, wiping her eyes some more.

“So how are you? I did my best to bandage your back. Do you need painkillers?” she asked with concern.

“Thank you for your care. I can handle this kind of pain, so no worries,” he replied as he reached out and gently wiped a tear off her cheek.

Rayne blushed at his gesture. She could feel her face heating up.

Julian watched her turn away to hide her flushed cheeks and smiled. He felt that Rayne had gotten more and more beautiful with each passing day.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes until Julian finally broke the silence. “Rayne, I hope I’m not overstepping, but I am curious about this mattress and blanket…”

She turned to look him in the eyes, seeing his gentle expression. “Ah… Well… I don’t know what to say…” she mumbled, fidgeting with her shirt.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Julian, but she was worried he would think she was a freak if he knew about her system. Today, she finally realized that he was someone very important to her and that perhaps she had developed feelings for him. She didn’t want him to push her away due to this abnormality.

Julian saw the hesitance in her eyes; he could tell she was worried about something.

“Rayne, you can trust me. I swear on my life that I won’t tell anyone,” he said, doing his best to reassure her.

She quickly shook her head. “No, no! It’s not that I don’t trust you, because I do… It’s just… I’m worried you’ll think… that I’m… weird,” she finally said, her words getting quieter and quieter, reaching a low whisper.

Rayne kept her eyes pointed downward, scared to see how Julian would react. She waited for his reply, but no words came. Just as she felt her stomach knot from the anxiety, she felt his arms wrap around her.

Julian was surprised to hear that she wasn’t worried he would share her secret with others, but instead was worried that he would think she was weird.

He felt his heart warm, and he leaned over to pull her into his arms. He pulled her over so that she was nestled up against him, holding her firmly.

“Rayne, nothing will make me think that you’re weird or freakish. And even if it turns out to be something extremely outlandish, I like that,” he said gently, his eyes looking down at her.

He lifted his hand slowly and ran his fingers through her long blonde hair, making Rayne blush even more. She felt her heartbeat ringing in her ears, his words playing on repeat.

After hearing his words, she didn’t hesitate any longer and rested her head against his chest.

“Well, where do I start? I guess the day I woke up from my coma…” she said, retelling her experience.

“So now I have this multiplier system bound to me, allowing me to make infinite copies of anything I store inside of it,” she said as she opened her system panel and pulled out two more cans of soda, handing one of them over to Julian.

Julian couldn’t believe his ears! Something like this was beyond his wildest dreams! Every part of his logical brain wanted to brush it off as a joke, but seeing it firsthand provided him with solid evidence.

“So this mattress and blanket are also items you’ve stored?” he asked with amazement, opening the can of soda to see if it was real.

Rayne looked up at him and nodded. “Yep! Actually, it’s also thanks to this system that I knew about the apocalypse!”

“The apocalypse?” Julian asked. “You’re saying that these natural disasters are the start of the apocalypse?”

Rayne nodded once more. “Yes, I got the notification over a year ago.”

Julian thought to himself for a minute, then said, “Wow, I would have had a hard time believing it if it were me.”

“Well, even before the apocalypse, I started having these horrible nightmares. They were all about people suffering from either cold or starvation. Families went as far as killing each other over scraps of food. It was horrible. So when the notification appeared one morning, I quickly accepted it as fact,” explained Rayne.

Julian squeezed her closer as she explained the contents of her nightmares, hoping to bring her a sense of security.

“I’m sorry you had to experience those nightmares. It must have been difficult knowing that something this catastrophic was going to happen,” he said.

Just as he was about to ask her another question, his stomach growled. Since Rayne was lying against him, she heard it loud and clear.

Giggling, she turned around. “Haha! My bad, I should have offered you something to eat earlier. Let’s see, what would you like?” She opened her system panel and started scrolling through the prepared food section.