I moved a good distance away from the survivors' camp and halted, taking a breath; only now did I notice that it stopped raining: clouds gradually began to dissipate, birds began to chirp again, and somewhere in the distance a dim rainbow appeared. Warm sunrays quickly warmed up damp air.
I looked at the sky in surprise, unable to believe that it was not even noon yet - I felt like at least ten hours had passed since me waking up.
"Achoo" A sunbeam blinded me for a second. At that moment I really wanted to throw away my wet clothes and collapse into a clean soft bed, cover myself with a blanket, and sleep for five days.
«Indeed, I've already moved an adequate distance from the camp, and I need to find some secluded place all for myself. »
I didn't have to search for long - everywhere I looked were gray five-story buildings, in which there were a lot of empty apartments. My main objective for now is not to run into these hideous creatures, cause right now I'm in such a deplorable state that I won't be able to fight off even a dog.
After wandering around for some time, I spotted an apartment on the first floor without bars on the windows. Picking up a weighty pebble from the ground, I threw it at the window - the stone hit right in the center with a loud sound, and bounced to the side without breaking the glass. The next moment the curtain was torn off, and a toothy mug appeared in the window. Monster began to bang its forehead into a plastic barrier with all the strength it could harness, to my luck - unsuccessfully.
“Sure,” I sighed frustratedly and wandered towards another «gray box» building. Stopping at the first entrance, I picked up another pebble and threw it into the window on the second floor - no reaction from inside.
«An optimistic start» After a few more attempts to completely calm myself, I decided to enter. I left my backpack on the ground just in case, until I needed it. In a flower bed next to the entrance, I found a hefty-looking cobblestone and threw it onto the concrete canopy above the entrance.
“Umph,” Letting out a heavy breath, I jumped up and, latching my fingers on the concrete edge, pulled myself up with some difficulty. Putting stone in my pocket, I began to approach the window along a flimsy, long unpainted pipe. Behind lace curtains was the kitchen. It only took me one hit to shatter ordinary glass into shards. Carefully, so as not to hurt myself on the small glass fragments sticking out in the frame, I crawled into someone else's apartment. Inside the room it was stuffy and dusty, as if it had been vacant for a long time. However, as soon as the old shabby linoleum creaked under my feet, a large cat flew into the kitchen, furiously meowing, and immediately began to fawn, demanding either food, attention, or both.
Stepping over that chubby chunk of wool, I hurried to check the other rooms: the bathroom stank of dampness and old clothes; the living room floor was covered with a huge shabby, faded carpet that apparently hadn't been vacuumed for twenty years, if not more. There was very little furniture in the apartment and everything was at least twice as old as me. In a small back room opposite a wooden bed, on high legs, there was an old pot-bellied tv, the likes of which I had not seen since childhood. I wandered back to the kitchen after checking everywhere and finding out that I'm alone.
Cat, who went with me through all the rooms, was already right there, and rattled his tin bowl - demanded food. Although I was terribly hungry, I decided to feed the poor abandoned animal first. Rummaging through the drawers and shelves, I found some cat food in a frayed plastic bag. The starved animal greedily crunched its brown kibble, while I began to check the supplies of the now-absent owner of the apartment.
In the refrigerator there was some boiled sausage, a couple of eggs, jams, and pickles jars. There are also meager stocks of cereals and pasta in the lockers.
«Not a lot, of course, but I think that's enough for today» I decided to postpone the problem of food to the next day.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Stepping out of the house into the fresh air, I picked up my few belongings and looked around. The new inhabitants of this world clearly liked the warm weather - In the distance, along the road from where I came, the silhouettes of bipedal game hunters already loomed.
«Enough problems for today! » No longer tempting fate, I took refuge inside a temporary shelter.
Pakhom's backpack contained several cans of stew, canned sprats, and a loaf of fragrant rye bread. Swallowing saliva, I suddenly felt a raging hunger inside of me. It is surprising that I couldn't feel it at all before.
Initially, I planned to have a bite to eat and go to bed, but in the end, I ended up in a frenzied state and ate all the supplies in the house, not even disdaining old jarred mushrooms. I hope the system interface is not lying, and Aqen's body really gives resistance to diseases and poisons. Rummaging around the empty shelves, I then began to look greedily at the chubby cat circling around.
«No, no, no», Discarding such thoughts, I went into a small room. I closed the windows and threw off my damp, foul-smelling clothes, sitting down on the bed. Because of that severe hunger, I completely forgot about the wound on my stomach. I expected to see a hole with protruding intestines or some other organ; however, in place was only a huge black crust. It was too hard and hot to the touch. I quickly examined the other wounds: almost all of them looked like they were two or three weeks old.
«That's fucking... great! » I jumped up and walked around the room. A bunch of thoughts and ideas on this subject going through my head - from increased natural regeneration, to hidden passive features of my skill.
«I wonder, if I cut off my hand, will it grow back? »
However, my line of thought returned again to an insatiable desire to eat something, to gobble it up, gobble it up! Thoughts about food became more and more intrusive.
«AAAH! » I quickly rubbed my face with my hands. «There's for sure a store somewhere nearby, right? »
Glancing down at my wet rags, I peered into a shabby-looking locker in the corner of the room. Now it is clear: a very old senior lived here. All things turned out to be feminine and so dilapidated that they were ready to crumble into dust at the slightest touch.
Even though it's warm outside, I didn't really want to go out in my underwear.
«Maybe I should wait for my stuff to dry? » The inner voice tried to call for prudence, but the empty stomach growled negatively in response to vile little thoughts.
I would have to ruin some of the senior's clothes - she likely would never need them. Woolen gray trousers turned into short pants, and a rather «stylish» T-shirt with a deep neckline came out after tearing off the sleeves of a multi-colored blouse; it's good that granny wasn't thin, and things didn't sit tight on me.
“If it weren't for the apocalypse and the severe famine, I wouldn't wear this even if someone paid me a fortune.”
In a rather bizarre outfit and with a saber unsheathed, I ran out into the street. Where are the grocery stores? Brushed by the warm spring breeze, I ran through several yards, meeting only a couple of beer stalls on the way. Already rather angry, I ran out into a wide square with flower beds and fountains.
“Finally found it!” On the first floors of the buildings next to the square, large and small shops with food, clothes, stationery and other things needed in the post-apocalypse huddled.
Looking around, I first rushed to the hypermarket. Thinking of nothing else but food, I almost fell into a trap. Part of my vigilant mind was always on alert and warned me in times of danger. A distinct trail of slime, left on the puddles and asphalt, went towards the red and white porch of the hypermarket. With caution and maintaining a distance of twenty meters, I walked in a circle, peering intently into the panoramic windows. Then looked attentively at the entrance itself: the sliding doors of the store were crushed deep into the passage, and traces of blood and the same mucus remained on the frames and walls.
«Perhaps I should choose another department store »
I thought gloomily, and moved away from the sinister place. The next five-story building turned out to be a small basement grocery store. Going downstairs, I almost slipped on the last step. Cursing and holding my saber at the ready in front of me, I tumbled inside.
“Hello, is there anyone alive?” I asked out loud just to break the oppressive silence.
Alas, or thank God, but no one answered me, and then I swept through the shop shelves like a hurricane. In my fit of gluttony, I was completely irrational. Biting off a piece of sausage, I drink it with milk, so that next moment I could eat a candy bar.
«Finally, this insatiable belly calmed down»
After about twenty minutes, with sleepy eyes, I blissfully leaned back in the chair. Face, chest, hands - everything was smeared, and stained with food leftovers, but I didn't care. «Taking a nap for a couple of hours would be awesome...»
In those moments, I directly felt how the newly-amassed energy spreads warmly through my body. Raising my left hand, I stared at my once bitten and burned wrist. Traces of wounds disappeared right in front of my eyes, leaving no reminder of themselves on the white skin.