"My dear Mom, have you ever seen a single doomsday survival movie where the main character stocks up on spicy meat sticks?"
Harold shook his head and sighed. "We're lucky just to have regular staple food! There are people out there who can't even find expired bread."
Ghania munched on her spicy meat stick while pulling out a packet of oatmeal from the box.
"If that's true, then how come Natalie has all this stuff? Whatever. We're having oatmeal today! My taste buds are dying of boredom ... "
As soon as Natalie's name came up, Harold fell silent. He had to admit, she was way more prepared than he was. He couldn't help but respect that.
Ghania dumped a container of instant oatmeal into a bowl, then opened two bottles of water and poured them in together.
"You know, you really should've stocked up on canned broth. Just add that to the oatmeal, toss in some meat and veggies, and you'll have a savory oatmeal that's way better than those hardtack crackers. We should save half of this oatmeal for the next meal—gotta make it last."
Harold nodded. "Okay."
Look at how the apocalypse has changed my mom. She used to hate leftovers, but now she couldn't even finish a single bowl of oatmeal in one sitting.
He sighed.
This apocalypse was nothing like what he'd imagined.
He started stockpiling food because the Bordurians kept doing crazy things—picking fights, dumping nuclear waste, stirring up trouble nonstop.
With people like that on the same planet, he'd never felt truly safe.
That was why he'd prepared for everything—zombie outbreaks, climate disasters, whatever the apocalypse could throw at him.
Back when he was stocking up, he imagined that if the world really did end, he'd be living the dream—surrounded by supplies in the doomsday fortress he'd built ahead of time.
But now, it turned out that the ordinary, peaceful world they once had was the real treasure.
Too bad there was no way to turn back time. Borduria was gone now, but survivors like them still had to face challenges they'd never imagined.
...
Meanwhile, Braxton made his way up to the 13th floor to ask Owen if he could borrow his kayak.
When Owen opened the door, he didn't even recognize Braxton.
With his face so swollen, Braxton had to explain himself several times before Owen realized who he was.
Afraid he wouldn't get his kayak back, Owen lied and said that Elena had already taken it out.
Still, to keep up his image as the building manager, Owen ended up lending Braxton his bathtub—at the price of two boxes of crackers.
Braxton didn't even have two boxes of crackers to his name, so he got them on credit.
Once he got his "boat," he grabbed Tiffany and hurried over to Building 12, where he knocked on Trey's door.
Trey answered the door excitedly. But when he saw two strangers standing there, he froze.
"You are ... ?"
"It's me, Braxton!"

Is this girl okay?
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: When the World Ends, She Begins