Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System - Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Unwanted Attention
Rayne listened to the gossip on her way to the end of the line and frowned. She knew her car would stand out a little, but she didn’t expect this much attention.

“Don’t worry about them; they’re just jealous. Even if we arrived in a half-broken junk car, someone would still be pointing at us saying the same thing,” said Julian after noticing her unhappy expression.

Rayne stood silently beside him, thinking about his words. She felt he was correct; there will always be someone coveting another person’s things.

“At least now we can drive around without worry since everyone knows about the vehicle. It’ll also be harder for people to steal it, since I doubt anyone else has the same model,” added Julian.

“Yes, you’re right. Even in the worst case, it’s not like we can’t get another one,” she smiled, whispering quietly.

The rest of the time was uneventful, just the typical occasional crying by those who could not afford the registration fee.

There was a small tent city forming just outside the base, consisting of those who had been turned away. These people felt that at least living in close proximity to the base would be better than nothing.

After waiting in line for about three hours, Rayne started to feel hungry. They still had a long line ahead of them, so she would have to make do with eating something small for now.

Using her backpack as cover, Rayne opened her system and pulled out a small grilled chicken wrap, handing a second one to Julian.

As she quietly ate the wrap, she spotted two young children from the family in front of them peeking over at her. They looked to be around 10 years old and appeared very thin and dirty, their eyes not leaving the chicken wrap in Rayne’s hand.

Rayne instantly felt sorry for them and pretended to open her backpack once more to pull out two more chicken wraps. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and quickly handed the food to the two children.

Their eyes lit up once they realized she was giving it to them, and they quickly accepted the wraps, biting into them.

Their mother noticed the commotion and looked over to see her two children eating.

“Where did you two get this?! Quickly, tell me!” she asked in a hushed tone. She was worried that they may have stolen the food from someone in line.

Before the children could answer, she turned to look around and noticed the same chicken wrap as the ones her children were eating in Rayne’s hands.

“Miss, did my children steal this food from you? Please forgive them. I will do my best to pay you back as soon as possible! Unfortunately, I don’t have many supplies on me right now,” she said, beginning to apologize profusely.

Rayne quickly went to stop her. “No, it’s okay! I gave it to them. They were adorable, and I wanted to give them a small gift,” explained Rayne.

The woman’s eyes began to tear up. “Thank you, miss. This is the first real meal they’ve had in weeks. We had to pay most of our supplies in exchange for a car ride here.”

“It’s no problem at all,” said Rayne quietly, restraining herself from handing over more food. As much as she wanted to help this family, there were too many people around, and she had already garnered unwanted attention.

The woman quickly bowed her head in thanks. “I wish you and your husband many blessings.” She then turned around, directing her attention to her two children.

Rayne’s face flushed at her comment, but she was too late to correct her.

Julian stood silently next to Rayne, pretending to observe the surroundings. He had heard the entire conversation and was particularly happy about the woman’s comment about him being Rayne’s husband.

What this woman didn’t know was that she had quickly found herself on Julian’s good side.

After a few more hours of waiting, the queue seemed to speed up. Julian looked around and noticed they had opened a second line for the registration counter, speeding up the process.

The second line sped up the queue by a good amount, and soon it was finally their turn.

“Hello, if you are here to register, please fill out this form—one per person. If you have an ID, it will help speed up the process,” said the administrator at the counter.

Julian looked to Rayne and picked up a form for each of them.

“Would you mind if we register you as head of household? And if you don’t mind… may I register under your last name?” he asked Rayne quietly. He wasn’t sure how secure the base’s database was and didn’t want to expose his identity in case Damien’s people were already here.

Rayne nodded, understanding a little bit of why he would ask this. He had mentioned earlier that he had to go as far as faking his death, so his request made sense.

They quickly filled out the forms, making Rayne the head of household and designating Julian as her husband. Even though she knew it was to conceal Julian’s identity, she still felt her heart race.

After filling out the forms, the administrator explained the entrance fee and what items were eligible for payment. She pointed to a second counter where they would accept the payment and finalize the registration.

As Rayne walked over to the second counter with Julian, she overheard the mother of the two children who had been queued in front of them, pleading with one of the administrators.

“Please, we’re only missing a little bit. We’ve starved ourselves for days just to make it here. Is there anything you can do to help us?” she cried out.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am. However, if we make an exception for you, we would have to make an exception for everyone. Please understand that we cannot do this,” apologized the administrator.

The woman hung her head in defeat. She understood the concept but had a hard time coming to terms with the outcome. She had sacrificed so much to get her children here safely, but now she realized she was just shy of a few supplies to gain entry.

Rayne turned to look at Julian, pleading with her eyes. She wanted to help that woman out but wanted to hear Julian’s opinion first.

When he smiled and nodded, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She quickly reached into her backpack and pulled out a plastic bag, pretending to transfer supplies over from her backpack.

She filled the bag as much as she could without it being too suspicious, added some canned food, and a few bags of rice. These items were worth the most points, so Rayne hoped they could help offset the cost, allowing the woman to keep a few supplies for herself.