anwhile in the city:
The once vibrant communities have now beco quiet ghost towns, with many hos destroyed. Scenic parks and tree-lined streets have turned into an unrecognizable landscape, with uprooted trees and fallen power lines.
The survivors have taken shelter in half-broken buildings or underground tro stations, trying to seek refuge from the strong winds outside.
Stores have long been closed, and people are slowly suffering from starvation. While the slightly braver ones went out to scavenge, most of the people are too afraid to leave their shelters.
The building where Rayne lived was one of the few still standing, as it was located in a more remote area and was newly constructed. The residents here were relatively lucky compared to others, as it was still a relatively secure area.
While there was no electricity, making the elevators unusable, the stairwell had a manual key lock, which every registered resident had access to. This prevented outsiders from flooding in... at least for now.
"We are so lucky that nice young lady allowed us to use what she left behind in her house," said the elderly lady who lived next door to Rayne.
Her grandson nodded while opening a can of shelf-stable soup. "Yeah, we would have run out of food and water a while ago. I still feel bad taking her things. Are you sure she said we could take them?" he asked guiltily.
"Yes, I'm sure. She told that she won't be back for a while and that we were free to use anything and everything we could find," answered the elderly lady.
They were heating up the can of soup on a small camping stove they found in Rayne's apartnt.
"Still, don't you think it's a little strange that she had every cabinet stuffed with canned and shelf-stable food? There's probably enough to last us half a year if we ration properly," said the grandson.
He had made it back ho from a business trip the night of the initial earthquake. He was glad to see that his grandmother, his only living relative, was okay. They had been holed up inside their house ever since.
The food they had was quickly used up, but just as they reached a point of starvation, his grandmother pulled out a key that their neighbor had given her. He quickly went next door to find the house fully stocked with camping supplies, non-perishable food, and water.
The two of them were so grateful to Rayne for these items, wishing her a lifeti of blessings.
------
The next morning, Rayne woke up extra early to get ready for the trip back to the city. She needed to see what things were like after the back-to-back natural disasters.
After showering, she got dressed, putting on one of the thermal shirts she had in her system. Although the winds and rains had lessened, they were not fully gone.
She fished out her black backpack from the box of things Ian managed to salvage, giving her a cover if she needed to use her system later, and headed out to et up with everyone.
"Hey, you're up early," greeted Julian from the communal kitchen.
Rayne walked over and greeted him. "Morning! Yeah! I wanted to make sure you weren't waiting on ." She watched as he poured himself a coffee while toasting a breakfast sandwich.
A few minutes later, Noah walked in. "Good morning. Ian is briefing those who will be joining us from Alpha team right now. I expect we'll be ready to go montarily."
"Good, we'll head over once I'm finished eating," said Julian, sitting down at the table.
Rayne didn't have much of an appetite right now, so she just packed herself a water and a pack of crackers to eat later.
Ten minutes later, Julian, Rayne, and Noah t up with Ian and the mbers of Alpha Team in the entry hall of the bunker.
"Okay, is everyone ready? Rember to stick with your assigned team at all tis. Keep your radios on you at all tis and report anything important. The purpose of this outing is to assess the situation outside while securing supplies," said Julian in his usual authoritative voice.
"Yes, sir!" replied Alpha Team in unison. Ian opened the hatch and exited the bunker first, followed by everyone else.
This was the first ti Rayne had been outside since she was rescued. She took in a big, deep breath, filling her lungs with fresh, cold air.
Julian saw her actions and smiled. "Nothing beats fresh air, huh?"
Rayne smiled back and nodded. Although the air in the bunker was filtered and circulated by a state-of-the-art air filtration system, it still lacked the freshness of the outside air.
The group walked through the forest, occasionally having to scale fallen trees. There was still a light drizzle and occasional gusts of wind, but it seed that the hurricane was finally at its end stages.
They walked for a few hours due to the rough terrain until they reached the open field on the other side of the forest. From there, they had just a short walk to a hidden garage where they could jump into a jeep and drive into the city.
They split into smaller teams of four, taking three cars total into the city. Rayne was on the team with Julian, Noah, and Ian, while the other two teams were made up of Alpha Team mbers.
After a few hours of careful driving, they finally made it to the edge of the city. Rayne looked out of the window in shock. The once massive and modern city was now a large pile of fallen buildings. Almost all of the buildings with more than four floors had been affected, toppled to the ground.
The strong winds from the hurricane blew smaller debris around, shattering windows and flipping cars. She couldn't see anyone walking the streets, giving a sense of quiet despair.
The jeeps made it as far into the city as they could before encountering a full roadblock caused by a fallen building. Ian parked the car and got out to signal the other cars behind him.
Rayne hopped out, following everyone else toward an empty gas station that was still standing. All of its windows were blown out, but the building was still standing strong.
Once they entered, they noticed that all of the shelves had been cleaned out, leaving nothing but a few candy wrappers on the floor.
"Okay, we will split into teams of two and search for anything useful. If you encounter anyone who is in need of help, assist to the best of your ability. We'll et back here in three hours. Radio in if anything cos up," said Julian.
(A/N: thank you all who left a review so far! We have reached 10, and as promised I will be gearing up for a mini mass release. I'll do my best to squeeze it in between Christmas and New Years but if not, it will be the start of January! Thank you all again, and hope you all have a good holiday!)
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