Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System - Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Increased Prices
After filling the bag, Rayne quickly walked over to the woman and directly placed the handles of the bag into her hands. She didn’t wait for the woman to thank her and walked back to Julian’s side to take care of her own payment.

The woman didn’t realize what had happened until Rayne disappeared from her view. She looked down at the plastic bag in her hands, noticing the generous amount of supplies inside.

She turned her head to look around to find Rayne but couldn’t spot her in the large crowd. Walking over to the counter once more, she placed the goods on the table. “Hi, will this be enough to register me and my children?”

The administrator looked at the high-quality goods in the bag, inspecting each one. “Oh, why didn’t you bring this earlier? This is more than enough!” she said happily.

She even returned a bag of rice and a few cans of vegetables. “Here you are. I’ve finished processing your registration. Here are your resident cards—don’t lose them!”

The mother accepted the resident cards with shaking hands. She felt so lucky and grateful. The journey had finally been worth it. Now she could relax a little, knowing her kids would be safer here than on the streets.

Rayne and Julian had also just finished their registration and received their residency cards. They were registered as a married couple, under the last name of Weston.

“Well, we finally managed to register as residents. I guess now we need to secure a place to live,” said Rayne as they walked back to her SUV.

“Yes, we need to be quick about it before all these other people beat us to it. Although this resort is huge, the number of refugees is even greater,” agreed Julian.

They quickly got off at the base, driving through the second checkpoint entrance. As they drove in, Rayne was shocked to see the sea of tents set up in every available corner of the base. Only major walkways and parking lots were enforced to not allow any tents, leaving only a few free areas.

Rayne parked her car in the main parking lot and walked over to the main lobby area with Julian. They quickly found the housing office and walked inside, squeezing in like sardines.

Julian frowned at how many people there were. “I hope we’re not too late. I’m not sure if there will be any free rooms left.”

Thankfully for them, they quickly learned that the cost of renting was astronomically high. The line in front of them dwindled quickly after everyone learned of the cost.

The administrator saw the chaos inside the office and stood up, making an announcement. “Hello, everyone. To save time, I would like to announce that the cheapest room to rent is currently 600 points. Based on the current conversion chart, that’s over 100 cans of food a month.”

The room quickly erupted into an uproar. “What? I was just here two weeks ago and the cost was 450 points! The cost went up again!”

Another person yelled out, “Yeah! I was here just three days ago and it was 500 points! Why is the cost skyrocketing so much?!”

The administrator felt flustered. “Hello, the cost fluctuates with supply and demand. We don’t have many rooms available. I’m sorry for any inconvenience.”

The room got even more chaotic at the knowledge of the low availability of rooms. Some people, who knew they didn’t have a chance to come up with that many points, left quietly with their heads lowered.

Those who were on the edge ran out to see if they could borrow a few supplies from friends and family.

A guard finally showed up, making those who wanted to yell and complain quiet down and leave. After a few minutes, only Rayne and Julian were left in the housing office.

The administrator looked over, doing her best to appear happy and polite. “Hello, are you interested in renting the room?” she asked quickly.

Rayne walked over to the desk with Julian. “Yes, we would like to take it.” While the cost was high, it naturally meant nothing to Rayne, who had an unlimited amount of supplies.

The administrator nodded and presented them with a list of goods along with their point values. “This is a list of common items and their values. While this over here is a list of in-demand items, which are worth more,” she said, handing over two pieces of paper.

Rayne looked over both lists, gaining more insight on the value of certain items. She focused more on the ‘in-demand’ items since they were what the base was currently in need of the most.

While Rayne and Julian looked through the item exchange sheets, the administrator continued. “I will be honest with you, we only have one unit available. If you can make a payment today, it’s yours. I’ll take you to see it afterward.”

Rayne looked over at Julian and saw him nodding. She then turned to the administrator and agreed. “Yes, we will definitely take it today.”

Some of the in-demand items this month were basic medical supplies and personal hygiene items like soaps and feminine care. Shockingly, even condoms were on the list, worth 100 points a box.

“I’ll be right back with the payment. Luckily, we just recently obtained a number of these items,” explained Rayne as she pretended to go back to the car. In reality, she left the housing office, leaving Julian to stay in her place, and walked into a remote corner of the lobby.

She put her hand inside her backpack and began to fill it with a variety of medical supplies and hygiene items, including a few boxes of condoms of varying sizes. She waited outside for a few minutes before walking back inside the housing office with a full backpack.

“Here are the items, please take a look,” she said to the housing administrator as she placed her backpack on the desk.

The housing administrator quickly got to work, inspecting every item and noting down its value. “You have way over the needed amount. Would you like to add electricity to your room? It’s an additional 50 points a month.”

Rayne quickly nodded. “Yes, please. I believe there should be enough for four months of rent with the electricity included.” She initially took out enough items for five months of rent, but with the added cost of electricity, she would have enough for four months.

“Let me quickly add up the cost… Yes, looks like you are all set for four months with electricity!” she said happily. She handed over the keys to Rayne and motioned for them to follow her to the unit.