34 Unexpected Encounter at Grocery Run

All the tier 1 gears are basically what you could expect from the current military, without anything special or super futuristic about them. However, when it comes to tier 2, one could see a lot more little gadgets mounted on the gears, and there seems to be even an exoskeleton feature that could potentially boost and assist with physical performance.

Lastly, tier 3 just seems like something coming straight from those futuristic video games, and the light patterns on the suit just look so hauntingly beautiful. Just by the look of it, they don't know what kind of abilities and functions the gears come with. The overall design is a lot simpler than both tier 1 and tier 2, yet the pressure this set brings could make people hard to breathe by just looking at it.

After Jay added a T1 Vanguard series to cart, Elon added a T1 Ghost series. In comparison to Vanguard, the Ghost series looks like it's more about camouflaging, assassinating, and sniping. Alex picked another Vanguard, and Christian picked Aegis, which is basically a tank's setup.

Total cost - 20,000 credits. Now the group in total had 36,395 credits left over. In the gadget section, there's a new item that appeared named "Don't Drop Here" and was selling for 10,000 credits for a limited time online. It's a cylindrical object, and finally, there's a description - "Enemies will not drop within 10 meters of this object."

It had been twice that their house was lucky enough to get crashed by a zombie crate, and the group was tired to worry about it, so they just purchased it as well, leaving their credit balance at 26,395.

This time when the supply drop came, no one disturbed them nor try to rob them, since everyone was fortressing it up to prepare against the next zombie wave. The group quickly put on gears and the group's first impression was-

"Damn, so many pockets."

The gear sets are indeed comprehensive, covering everything from headgear, gloves to boots, weapon holsters to a utility belt. Luckily, it wasn't that heavy after putting everything, but then again, it would be a different story if they had to pack magazines, water and all kinds of other tools on them.

All three series included a basic military marine setup, including night + infrared vision binoculars mountable on their headgear, protective eyewear, watch, first-aid kit, mountable tactical flashlights, and an in-built communication system.

To be frank, the difference between Vanguard, Shadow, and Aegis series isn't vast, at least for the tier 1 gears. The Shadow series has slightly thinner armor and lighter gear for higher mobility, and a body veil for camouflage. In addition, the binoculars and scopes were specially modified to reduce reflection. Then, the Aegis gear just has heavier armor and a shield that could be detached or mounted on the soldier's arm or back.

After trying out the suit, the squad felt like they were in the big boys league now. It was close to 1 PM, with 2 hours left from the next zombie wave. The group couldn't just sit still and wait, so they decided to go for a grocery run.

The food and water supplies on the Nirvana market is super expensive, so they wanted to postpone ordering from there as much as they could.

In almost every zombie movie or show they saw, the survivors would always scramble local markets for supplies, and the resources available for grabs at the local markets and stores would only become less and less. Thus, since they had time, the group decided to go for a quick run to the supermarket right at the exit of the bridge of Island #4.

Driving down the road, they came across a house that got destroyed because a zombie crate was dropped on top of it.

"Hey, should we bring that trailer with us so we can carry more stuff?" Alex asked as he saw a small utility U-Haul trailer in the driveway, with the garage open and no car inside.

"I guess, the owner probably ran, let's just take it."

After backing the Tesla to the trailer, hooked it up, and connected the wires, the group went on their way. There were quite a lot of abandoned cars on the road, Alex had to drive in a bumper-car fashion to bump his way through the street, while Elon took down a few zombies that were left roaming on the road.

"Let's grab what we can quickly can and get out. Elon, stay on guard by the door, and just in case someone's hiding in there, the other three of us will move together while we are in there and push three shopping carts. Prioritize water and dry food that lasts long. We will also hit the pharmacy aisle and grab some first aid stuff," Jay gave a briefing on the road so everyone knew exactly what to do upon arrival.

The group headed out of the island and arrived at the supermarket just an intersection away from the bridge connecting South Beach with Island #4.

From the glass window, it seemed like the place was empty, but it does look like it was robbed many times already.