Chapter 42 Bonus : Trapped

Trapped

[Ace POV],

Anna headed straight to the food area, as I expected.

The layout of the mall was simple, so it was easy to find what you were looking for after a little searching around, and the direction board in the mall was still up, despite looking old.

I also noticed a food court as we moved toward the shelves for the food, but the chairs and tables were dispersed all over the place.

I walked in with Chris, ignoring the scene.

Of course, we ignored anything in the freezers.

Anything kept there would have already spoiled, so we made our way to where the canned food was kept.

I decided that following them would be a waste of time and informed Anna that we'd do it as we did in the relaxation center.

I told her that all I needed her to do was grab everything she thought was necessary and useful and place it in an open location in the store and wait for me.

In this case, all I had to do was place anything she had brought in the storage ring.

I made this decision because I believe in her judgment.

Though she is slow, she is intelligent enough to enter the royal academy.

I asked Chris to join them, which he readily accepted.

Maybe it was because he was close to his sister.

"What are your plans?" Anna inquired soon after I gave her the instructions.

When I heard this, I responded, saying;

"I'm going to look for supplies on my own," I said, continuing;

"Doing it this way will increase our efficiency."

"That's why I told you guys should look for supplies together while I look for supplies alone."

"We'll be able to stock up on more things this way," I explained.

She nodded after hearing what I said and then led Mia and Chris to wherever she was taking them as I separated from them.

Though I was looking for supplies in general, I was also searching for specific ones.

If I had the others with me, we would have wasted a lot of our time when we could have just stocked up on additional supplies.

I was looking for long-lasting foods such as crystalized honey, sugar, salt, dried spices, and other items.

These specified items would be our backup supply.

I had plenty of room to keep them as well.

Of course, while seeking for these things, I also stored whatever I felt was edible.

As long as I discover packs of a particular food or any food at all, I'll loot everything.

This will cause people who come to this store later to lose out on a lot of stuff, but I don't care.

I can't affect myself by considering other people.

After a while of looting the place, I had finally acquired enough food supplies to sustain my group for months, and looking back, everything else was plundered save the spoiled food.

I also discovered some of the things I was looking for.

After looking around and seeing nothing of value that could be looted, I traced my way back to where I separated from Anna, and when I arrived, I noticed an open space not far away from where I stood packed with packs of supplies, so I went there.

When I arrived, I examined the supplies and saw that the vast majority were canned goods.

Good.

I also saw several snacks that could be stored for an extended period of time and still be eaten.

Even after three years, they were still edible like hardtack.

These hardtacks were not like the ones manufactured in the past when not many people wanted them.

They were better in the modern period.

Although the food supplies were right in front of me, I didn't place them in my storage ring and instead waited for Anna and the others to arrive to confirm they were the ones who put them there to avoid confusion.

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long as I noticed Anna, Mia, and Chris approaching me.

Mia was no longer in Anna's grasp as she held a jar of ghee and hardtack.

Strange combination, but at least she had something to eat.

Anna and Chris were holding food packs in their hands, and as soon as they dropped them near the ones in front of me, I placed the entire supply in my storage ring.

Looking at Anna, I asked her a question:

"Anything else?" I said, but just as she was about to respond, a loud scream interrupted us.

'What's that?' Anna asked, frowning, as she immediately took up Mia and directed the crow to the source of the sound.

After this, I knew she was sharing visions with the crow.

I didn't have to wait long before she told me what her crow had seen.

"A lot of zombies are attacking them," she remarked, pointing to a specific location.

The 'them' she was referring to was the other party who entered the mall with us.

When I heard this, I asked her a question.

"Where are they?" I asked.

I only needed to come to the side to check what was going on downstairs because we were upstairs, but I didn't see a single zombie when I did.

When Anna heard my question, she responded,

"They're in the parking lot underground," she said.

After hearing what she said, I had an idea of what the other party did there.

I don't see any other reason besides the warehouse.

While I was thinking about this, I remembered something and stated;

"Isn't it dark if they're underground?" I asked.

"My crow can see in the dark," she stated simply.

When I noticed Anna crow heading back to her, I just nodded and asked another question.

"Have any zombies come to the surface?" I inquired, and she said, "No."

In other words, the people downstairs are trapped.

While I was thinking, Anna asked me a question.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

True, what do we do?

"Well........