Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

The storage rooms next to the underground garage were all empty anyway. So, she temporarily tossed all these brand-new appliances into a small storeroom in case they were needed in the future.

Rice cookers—took them. Electric woks—took them. Air conditioners, electric fans, refrigerators, space heaters, electric everything—whatever she passed, she grabbed and stuffed it all into the small underground storeroom.

She only stopped when she saw the small storeroom was nearly full.

Yu Tianfeng followed behind her, collecting some of the things she didn’t want.

The trio went up to the third floor.

The zombie corpses had been mostly incinerated by the Fire Ability Users, leaving only the faint scent of ash and a lingering stench in the air.

Xie Ning and her two companions browsed the deserted third floor.

The third and fourth floors were dedicated to men’s and women’s apparel. Since the apocalypse had begun in the fall, the shops had already stocked up on autumn and winter collections, with plenty of cotton-padded jackets and down coats.

Occasionally, they could also spot some spring and autumn wear hanging in the corners.

Yu Tianfeng was clearly more interested in the men’s clothing.

The two of them collected items as they walked, taking a few pieces from each rack so as not to be too conspicuous.

She also had the kid find the shops’ small storerooms for them, emptying out the stock hidden behind the display counters.

They repeated the process on the fourth floor, leaving some clothes on the racks for others and taking the rest, clearing out the storerooms as well.

For the time being, they placed all these clothes in two large guest rooms on the first floor. First, they filled the closets, and when those were full, they stacked the boxes high.

They also grabbed some hangers and filled them with the loose clothing before finally closing the guest room doors and letting out a sigh of relief.

As for the food in the dining areas on the fifth and sixth floors, Xie Ning didn’t plan on competing with Zuo Li and her group for it.

She had collected a decent amount of food supplies recently; it would be a waste to hoard more than she could eat.

Zuo Li had brought so many Superpower User teams with her, so she must have promised them a share of the supplies.

With so many people in her group, there probably wouldn’t be much left after splitting the goods among the various teams.

She’d see how things played out. It wouldn’t be too late to grab more from Tianrun Supermarket if there was anything left over.

After all that work, Xie Ning felt her Space Ability had been significantly depleted, and she finally started to feel hungry.

She pulled out the half-eaten vegetable bun from earlier and munched on it as they walked toward the fifth floor.

”Hurry up and finish that! Someone’s coming,” Cres urged, frowning.

Xie Ning quickly scarfed down the bun in a few bites, her cheeks puffing out from the bread.

It was a rather heartbreaking habit, actually.

In her past life, food had been scarce, and she had treated every meal as if it were her last. She had developed a habit of chewing her food longer to give her empty stomach a false sense of fullness.

Yu Tianfeng quickly pulled a small, pink thermos from his backpack and handed it to her. ”It’s brand new. I got it for you.”

The small thermos held about 200ml and looked petite and cute, fitting perfectly in Xie Ning’s small, fair hands.

Choking on a mouthful of bun, Xie Ning hurriedly took the water he offered and took a sip.

”Girls shouldn’t always drink cold water; it’s bad for your period,” Uncle Yu rambled on. ”Use this to drink from now on. Stop drinking cold water from those pouches all the time. Let me tell you, you might feel young and strong now and think you don’t need to be careful, but you’ll pay the price for it later...”

He was about to continue his lecture when he saw Zuo Li running toward them with two people.

”Hey, little sis, what are you dawdling here for? Hurry upstairs. Everyone’s grabbing ingredients from the food shops on the fifth and sixth floors. You should go get some too.”

Xie Ning scratched her head. ”We didn’t fight any zombies. We probably shouldn’t.”

”It’s fine. Everyone who’s here gets a share! There’s plenty to go around, and it’d be a waste not to take it. Go on.”

”Thanks, Captain.” Xie Ning followed Zuo Li and her group upstairs, chatting and laughing along the way.

Cres was so exasperated he almost laughed.

’Is this woman a fool? Why does it always feel like she’s about to ditch us and run off with someone else?’

Yu Tianfeng hurried to catch up. ”Xiao Kezi, come on! We have to keep an eye on Ningning. Do you think she’s trying to run off?”

Cres was exasperated all over again. ”Who are you calling Xiao Kezi? You’d better make yourself clear.”

As soon as Xie Ning followed Zuo Li and the others onto the fifth floor, she saw several hundred survivors gathered in a hot pot restaurant, each opening packages of hot pot ingredients.

There was everything from meat and poultry to seafood and vegetables.

But after a month, many of the vegetables had rotted.

The few vegetables that were still somewhat firm were wilted and turning black in places.

Fortunately, most of the shops had power from energy-saving systems, so the majority of the beef and mutton was still edible.

The group was actually gathering ingredients on the spot and had started a hot pot meal right there in the restaurant...

They asked the Water Ability Users for water, but most were turned away.

Seeing the disappointment in everyone’s eyes, Xiao Qi Zi created a few blobs of water before explaining that a Superpower User’s energy recovered very slowly.

If they exhausted their energy carelessly, they wouldn’t be able to fight zombies if danger arose later.

Some people expressed their understanding, but others still muttered curses behind their backs.

One of the survivors, an older woman, found several barrels of purified water in the restaurant’s kitchen and rushed to start her own hot pot.

Xie Ning looked around speechlessly, then said to Zuo Li, ”Captain, I’m going to go look around elsewhere.”

While the more carefree survivors started eating in the hot pot restaurant, a small number of quick-witted ones followed behind the Superpower User teams, helping them scout and carry boxes.

A full belly for one meal was nothing; what they wanted was to be full for a lifetime.

If they could build a connection with one of these powerful Superpower User teams and join, life going forward would probably not be too difficult.

They pulled out all the usable ingredients from every shop, including a good amount of staples like rice and flour.

Anything in a brand-new, unopened bag was edible.

The handful of Superpower User teams that had followed Zuo Li on this mission were all thrilled, feeling that the trip had been very fruitful.

Everyone moved all the goods to the center of the fifth floor, piling them in the wide corridor, and assigned several people to take inventory.

Xie Ning, Yu Tianfeng, and Cres scavenged a lot of ingredients from a barbecue restaurant on the sixth floor. After taking a small portion for themselves, they moved the majority downstairs and added it to the main pile of supplies.

There were six or seven Superpower User teams that had come with Zuo Li on the mission, and they all began to divide the spoils on the spot.

Once everything was divided, each share wasn’t all that much.

”Did you guys drive here? Need help carrying your share down?” Zuo Li insisted on setting aside a portion for Xie Ning’s group, which made Xie Ning, who felt she hadn’t contributed at all, a little embarrassed.

Yu Tianfeng, however, accepted it with a clear conscience, raising a hand and taking their team’s share of the supplies.

Only then did Zuo Li’s gaze shift to him. ”I didn’t expect you to be a Space Ability User, Doctor.”

”It’s just a small Space, not comparable to your teammate, Captain Zuo.”

”This is Chen Xiao, from our team,” Zuo Li said, introducing their Space Ability User, a gentle and clean-cut young man who looked like a college student.

”I’m Xie Ning,” she said quickly, realizing she hadn’t introduced herself yet.

”These are my friends, Dr. Yu Tianfeng, and Cres.”

”Our car is parked over by the highway entrance.”

”Alright, we’ll give you a ride there in a bit,” Zuo Li said with a smiling nod.

”Captain Zuo, there’s trouble with the survivors,” another Superpower User team captain said, walking up to them with an angry look on his face.