Chapter 5 - To Live and Survive

In the living room, Zoey could be found holding her head not believing what Zach was talking about something like an invisible blue screen floating in front of him which shows his stats and such. She could still believe it if it was the blue screen showing the timer for the next calamity since she could also see it whenever she thought about it but what Zach told her wasn't the same saying that it was as if he was like a game character. 

Zach, on the other hand, finally chose to tell her the truth to avoid giving more excuses and lies in the future. He thought that the sooner she knew about it, the sooner she would accept things. He, however, didn't tell her the whole truth, especially about the Survival Inventory and the fact that he had come from a future different from this world. 

Zach knew his twin sister would not just believe such an absurd thing immediately since it was unbelievable in the first place, but it was fine knowing that she was not fond of reading novels or even just playing RPG games because if she had, then she would have another reaction right now. 

"So, you mean that the reason why we avoided all danger up until now was due to the power of what you said system? J-Just. H-How was that possible?" Zoey asked in disbelief as she could still not process everything. The world itself was already a shit but Zach just said that he had a system that helps him to survive. 

"Yes. I don't know how it happened as it only shows itself after that mechanical voice echoed in our ears a week ago. It was also the reason why I was adamant about staying instead of following sister Shiela and the rest to the evacuation site." Zach replied shortly. 

Hearing Zach, Zoey just remained silent in her seat while looking at him. Being her twin, both of them almost knew each other and even had a kind of connection that only they could feel so she was sure that her brother was telling the truth. 

A moment of silence then occupied the place, Zach knew that Zoey would only need time to process the things that he said so he remained silent before the sun went down signaling that night came in. 

After that, Zach and Zoey decided to stay the night in the house they were in after seeing their house didn't survive the calamity. So much talk happened during the time they were having dinner after Zoey started inquiring about Zach's system especially how it works which Zach answered all her curiosity. 

Zoey was in disbelief upon seeing Zach taking out supplies out of nowhere which made the house look like a small warehouse. However, what Zoey immediately did after witnessing such a thing was tell Zach to bring some water in the bathtub as she wanted to take a bath after not having one for the past few days. 

That night was something to remember seeing Zoey full of smiles after taking a nice bath meanwhile Zach felt like something heavy had been lifted inside his heart. The twins stayed a little late as they continued talking in the living room while eating to their heart's content. 

During that time, Zach always reprimanded Zoey to keep things a secret which the latter promised as she knew what effect it would have if the people knew about it. He also talked about going out tomorrow to find more supplies from which Zoey wanted to come along but was ordered to stay behind giving a reason that it was safer for him to come alone. 

Following that, Zach and Zoey got inside their rooms in the house as it was already very late and while Zoey was sleeping in the room that she chose, Zach, however, was doing his mission in the other room before finally putting himself at ease as he slept through the night with a detailed plan stored in his mind.

Before the sun rises, Zach can be found in the room where Zoey is sleeping. Silently waking her up, Zach then told her that the sooner he left the sooner he would be back, gaining Zoey's surprise seeing that it was still dark outside. 

"I promise that I will be back before sundown. Lock the door and here. Take this. When there's a situation that needs such thing to solve then don't hesitate to use it." Zach said before taking out a gun and giving it to Zoey. He shouldn't be giving this weapon but for her safety, having one is needed. 

"Z-Zach." Zoey immediately felt wide awake while holding the gun in her hands. She looked at Zach with many questions like where he had gotten such a thing however, she knew that it was now not the time to ask for it and so, she only got up and embraced him tight. Even though she knew about the ability of the system that he had, she could still not stop herself feeling worried. 

"Don't worry. I will be fine." Zach said as he embraced Zoey before letting her go as he walked out of the room. Without looking back, he then vanished into Zoey's field of vision. There were many things he needed to do today, and he started it by running instead of using his bike. 

It was already seven o'clock in the morning did Zach arrived just at the entrance towards the center of the city because he thought that if there was a place that would have plenty of supplies then it would be in this place where malls and other commercial buildings were located. 

There was a problem, however, because looking at the current situation of the road, he had no choice but to turn off the bike that he found as he could no longer proceed after several abandoned cars, trucks, and such were blocking the way. The only way to proceed was to travel on foot and so he parked his bike and continue moving. 

Truthfully speaking, the place only seemed to be familiar to him after all, he never once came back to this city after that accident back to his past world. He, however, still remembers some of it so he strolled on the road hoping that the place still had some goods and hadn't been looted by the survivors as he thought that since it had been already a week, some people must have started accepting the reality that the rules and orders no longer apply in this period. 

Normally, Zach should have already met with people on the road but even after walking out some distance, no presence of their shadow could be found. He found it strange thinking just how many people should be in this place before the calamity struck but somehow, he didn't find one. After some thinking, he just thought that maybe they had heard the news about the several evacuation sites and left the place in a hurry. 

After some time, Zach then just forgets about it as he heads straight to the place he is most familiar with which is one of the malls in the city. It was the mall that he would never forget due to its uniqueness because, among the malls that could be found in this place, this mall had a large supermarket section inside which is normally not the case. After that, he then just started running not wanting to waste more time in this place so that he could get back sooner. 

Just like in the situation in the neighboring city where they were renting an apartment, the city was also completely devastated. Several parts of the buildings were destroyed, and it closed off the roads. As the second calamity had just happened yesterday, there was even still a trace of fire seeing smoke moving to the sky. 

On the way, Zach passed some buildings like a huge hardware store, a car shop, a pharmacy, and most surprisingly a gun shop. Thinking about it, he couldn't help but want to look inside these buildings, but he stopped as he decided to just visit them later since her priority right now was food supplies.

 Arriving in the area, Zach finally saw the situation of the mall and he couldn't help but feel conflicted. Though the mall had taken some damage from the calamity, the building still looked fine on the outside. However, he was still contemplating whether to enter the place or not upon seeing the building shining in orange color. 

After some time, Zach felt like the supplies inside were worth the risk and thought that the system was there to guide him to survive. So, he steeled himself as he took the first step toward the mall telling himself that it was something that he needed to do in order to live. 

Making use of the system's power, Zach walked inside with caution since the route given by the system was also color orange and not green. The supermarket inside was situated on the ground floor so he didn't linger any longer and walked straight to his destination. 

The situation inside the mall was really dangerous seeing wires hanging everywhere and it gave a feeling that they would fall any second. Not before long, while Zach was slowly moving his way, a red line suddenly flashed through his eyes, so he immediately moved in haste before seeing several fragments of fine glass fall right in front of him. 

"That was dangerous." Zach muttered before moving again. Fortunately, the passive danger perception of the system was there or else something bad must have already happened. With that, he then continues moving but signs of danger keep on flashing which he also always avoided on time with the help of the system. 

After some time, Zach finally arrived at the supermarket section and there he found himself alone with a huge smile on his face. He didn't think much about why no one was inside but he didn't ponder deeper thinking that everyone must have run during that time. As the supermarket was dark, he took out the flashlight from his inventory before moving inside ready to ransack the place. 

Without feeling any guilt about what he was doing, Zach started taking almost everything in the canned goods section. Since his system inventory had an unlimited amount of space, he didn't care whether what he was holding could or could not be eaten as he ran through the shelves without thinking much. 

After almost emptying the canned goods section, Zach then immediately moved shelves by shelves. Aside from food and beverages, he also didn't forget supplies necessary for sanitary and even things that they needed that he didn't have because, since he didn't know when this calamity would end, he might as well take everything that he needed. 

It took Zach two hours before finally taking a round in the whole place however, he still did not head out as he could now be found at the huge freezers at the back of the supermarket. In fact, there were supplies of meats displayed outside but they were already smelling so he thought that the goods in the freezers must still be fine, so he wanted to take his chances. 

There was, however, a problem. The freezers were completely locked, and they needed a certain key to open so he started roaming around the place thinking that there must be a duplicate key somewhere in the area in case the other keys were lost which did not disappoint him after finding them inside an office. 

With great excitement, Zach tried opening one of the freezers from which cold water then got out. He didn't mind getting wet as his eyes were completely fixated on the goods inside. Just like he thought, even though the electricity went down for a week, the goods inside the freezers were still fine and probably continue to be fine seeing that there was still a little bit of ice layer attached inside of the freezer. 

Without wasting any moment, Zach then started getting everything that he needed. Cow meat, pig meat, chicken meat, crab meat, and other food supplies like sausages and everything without knowing that a group of people had also entered the mall with the same thought of looting supplies.