It has been three years since the end-of-the-world war. The air still contains various forms of radiation and smog. The sun has not shone on the ground for a long time. Everything around is in a desolate state.
A tall but thin man named Glen managed to struggle out of the tattered blanket and stand up.
Due to long-term malnutrition, there was not a single ounce of fat on his body. His skin was merely clinging tightly to his bones. His eyes were sunken and dark, his high and straight nose revealing his former handsome appearance. His limbs were extremely slender. He looked very much like the drug addict before the disaster, but now there are no more drug addicts. Every surviving human being has a similar appearance.
The single-row hospital beds and scattered medical equipment indicate that this place was once a hospital. But the broken glass and fallen cement blocks tell us that it was also once swept by the shockwave of an explosion.
Last night, Gran arrived at this hospital. His original destination was a large supermarket a block away. He wanted to try his luck and see if he could find some remaining food. But he was too weak. After walking only half the distance, he was completely exhausted and had to take a temporary rest in this seemingly intact hospital.
Fortunately, there were still many beds in the hospital that had not been destroyed. He lay down on the blanket he brought and fell asleep. He finally enjoyed the softness of the bed instead of the hard floor or the ground. This "blanket" was obtained by Gran from a certain technology company. Its original design purpose was to help firefighters insulate and keep warm during rescue operations and prevent radiation. Anyway, that's what the advertisement said. Gran was an engineer before the disaster. This technology company was the first engineering project he participated in after graduating. Before the disaster, he happened to come to this company to check for roof leaks. He watched as two bright white lights appeared on the distant ground plane from above, and then he lost consciousness. The next day after being carried to the basement by the employees of the technology company, he woke up. After waking up, everything had changed.
Glen struggled to his feet, slowly arranging the weapons and armor that had been disordered during his sleep. These weapons and armor had saved his life many times. He swore that he would never leave them even if he slept. The situation was very bad now. Everyone was very hungry. He had been captured and nearly eaten in his sleep. Fortunately, the blade hidden in his hair saved him and killed those lunatics in return.
Glen used the blanket as a cape and draped it over himself. Although the city he was in was not the explosion center, the ubiquitous radiation still existed. He could only hope that this blanket would work as advertised and protect him from radiation.
About 2 kilometers away from this hospital, there is a supermarket. This supermarket is actually quite far from the city center. Therefore, Glen hopes that there will still be some food left. The supermarkets in the city center were emptied by the hungry people a year ago. Since then, incidents of mutual attacks have increased. So everyone has to explore further away, and the dangers along the way are also increasing.
After checking that there were no medicines or usable tools in the hospital, Glen left decisively. He knew that places like hospitals had been searched over and over again by people, and he was just searching out of luck. After just a quick look, he knew that there were no supplies left here, because he saw that the cabinets in the doctor's office were all emptied, the shelves in the pharmacy had been removed, and the wall of the dean's office had been chiseled open to look for hidden safes or lockers. He knew that there would be no gain here.
Without hesitation, Glen jumped out of the window on the side of the hospital and slowly approached the next building in the shadows. Going out from the main gate and swaggering around the streets might have been common before the disaster, but now it is undoubtedly seeking death. You can't know how many pairs of eyes are staring at you hiding behind the buildings, whether they are coveting your supplies or your body, in front of hungry people, you can't imagine how crazy they will be.
Glen walked along the narrow alley behind the hospital and approached a convenience store next to it. Without looking, Glen knew that it was empty. Who would refuse to look for some supplies while searching for medicines?
Past the empty convenience store, there is a clothing store next to it, and there are similar stores in this row. If Glen, who has been malnourished for a long time, were to walk through them one by one, it would be too much for him. He could only turn into the box behind the store and try to cross the street from the back of the alley.
Glen was lucky and did not encounter any obstacles along the way. There was a shop with its back door open, so he ventured in to take a look. It was a bakery, but it had been emptied long ago. However, there was a fire axe that could still be used. He might need it when he got to the supermarket across the street, so Glen took the axe with him. Although it was a burden for Glen, he would have to come back again if he needed it at the supermarket. He was sure that he did not have the strength to walk back again. His legs were already trembling slightly, his hands were shaking, and his stomach felt like it was on fire. He could only take a sip of water from the bottle to fill his stomach. He did not dare to drink too much. If he did not find any supplies in the supermarket, he would have to rely on this little water to find the next supply point.