4 hours later, Sasuke stood once again on the fourth floor. The past few hours had him locate and loot many useful things.
One of them being the time and date, 2010, October.
A whole 15 years back from what he last remembers.
He didn't know exactly if this was his world even; he doubted it. Still, this at least gave him some ideas about how long it has been since the pandemic started.
2~3 months.
Which was both long and short depending on the subject view.
But that wasn't the only thing; Sasuke got a good haul, eliminating many zombies too, which secured him a third thread of chakra. Still useless.
Unfortunately, no survivors.
The most baffling situations were the few zombies who were turned with no visible bits on them, not even a scratch.
They weren't badly rotten, which made him inspect them and find that.
From what he studied along the way, those zombies were most sensitive to sound, and smell if you are close; they can see too, which wasn't as strong as a human's, as you have to be in their direct line of sight for them to react.
Like every zombie story, he found bite marks on all the corpses, but the two other cases still made him wary.
He even wondered if water and such things were infected, or worse...air. And that's why they turned without being bitten, everyone.
That shit worried him. But he found that there was no need to put in so much concern.
Being tossed here just to die shortly due to something uncontrollable like aerial infection would be the greatest joke made by that crow.
Thus, until now, Sasuke secured more than enough food to last 10 days, or more if he was careful with his consumption.
Although the quality of said food wasn't good, it was the only possible option.
Other than food and water, he came across many things worth looting.
Weapons: knives, axes, and even a pistol with few bullets.
Tools: Crowbars, multi-tools, wire cutters, hammers, saws, wrenches, duct tape, zip ties, utility shovels, hatchets, machetes, fishing gear, can openers, ropes, clean water containers, chains, padlocks, locking doorknobs, barbecue grills, camping gear of all sorts,
Other miscellanea: backpacks, prescription meds of all kinds, especially painkillers, playing cards, alcohol, tobacco, condoms, flashlights, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, nail clippers, tweezers, floss, water filters, feminine hygiene items, salt, candles, cooking oil, socks, toilet paper, Tylenol, books, lanterns, bug spray, sunblock, lip balms, batteries, rechargeable entertainment devices, etc.
And surprisingly, small generators, 2000 watts, that use little fuel.
Thanks to his storage seal, Sasuke focused solely on taking everything useful, no matter how little it seemed.
He doesn't have to worry about heavyweight; thus, he spent the four hours emptying every house on the first three floors of their worth.
But the situation changed once he started looking around the 4th floor; the first two rooms he entered were already looted, not his style of take-them-all. But food, water, potential weapons, and medicines were clearly taken.
And there were even two corpses of killed zombies in one apartment.
With the same injuries as the one he found in the previously opened apartment.
Whoever was here before cleared the two apartments.
Still, Sasuke wasn't really bothered as he kept stripping them bare of whatever worth was left on them.
He knows he will be leaving this place on the first chance, and thus he keeps moving forward.
This complex was merely the beginning, and he wanted to be able to help if he ever ran into survivors.
Ones who deserve to be helped. God knows he wanted a human presence in this kind of world.
Going back to the apartment that was open the first time he got down here, he did a quick job of it after finding it looted too, with the zombie still dead there, and emerged from it after ten minutes, heading to the last one of this floor.
Once again he tapped, and then he heard a growl, but it never moved and sounded to be far from the door.
He tapped again and waited, yet to his surprise a voice called to him.
Dry, weak, and so low he almost didn't hear it.
"W-who?"
'Someone is in there.' Sasuke felt happy hearing something other than the annoying growls. Something alive.
"Hello, I'm a tenant on the 5th floor. I secured the building from zombies and checked the apartments up to this one," he spoke with a clear voice, trying to show that he isn't a danger. He knows trust in this kind of world is the thing that is hardest to gain or to offer.
"Are you okay in there?" He called again.
There was a brief silence before the sound of small taps closed in—steps, he figured.
unbalanced and dragging. Either injured or too tired.
"No, I'm hungry. Who are you...mister?" This time it sounded from the other side of the door, still dry and low, but Sasuke heard it clearly; it was coming from someone young, probably a little girl.
"Hey, my name is Sasuke. I have food and water on me. Is there someone with you?" He knows there was a zombie inside, but since it didn't move close, he figured it was trapped; otherwise, the girl wouldn't be talking now.
"I'm Ciri, My grandpa told us not to open the door to strangers, but I'm hungry, and my sister is sick." Sasuke's heart clenched hearing the pain in her voice; she was struggling to even talk to him loud enough to be heard.
"He was right, your grandpa. But I promise I'm here to help, okay? If there is someone older, you can call them to talk to me. I will give you food and water, alright, Ciri?"
"It's only me awake here. I—I will open the door, but you won't hurt us, right? Only villains hurt little girls." Hearing that, Sasuke felt complicated; he was relieved the girl accepted his help but also felt a sense of worry seeing her naive side.
With the sound of a click and creak, the door opened with clear hesitation, only a little for a small head to peek outside.
And as expected, Sasuke saw a little girl around 8-10 years old looking at him with curiosity and caution.
Her hair was light blond and somehow dirty, her wide blue eyes were reddened with dark circles, her face was a little pale, and her body looked way smaller than her age should be.
She was clearly weak and malnourished.
The sight in front of him twisted his guts; this world brought only terror and tragedies to the weak.
"Mr. Sasuke?" "Yeah, that's me." Taking off his mask, Sasuke knelt down to her level, showing a small smile and his empty hands not to make her fear him.
The girl looked somehow surprised seeing his face, but she focused more on hearing his next words.
"I have food in my backpack; I will give it to you now. You told me you have a sister and grandpa; do you need me to give food for them too?" Taking off the backpack, he rummaged inside, summoning a chocolate pack, which was unfortunately melted, and a bottle of water from his seal.
It's clear that she needs energy before consuming any heavy food.
"Here," the girl's tired eyes lit up seeing what he offered, but she still hesitated before shaking her head, muttering with a low voice.
"Can you help my sister first, please? She slept yesterday but didn't wake up; she only spoke a little early in the morning before sleeping. Please help us."
"Alright, here, take them first, and let's go see your sister." She nodded, taking the food before opening the door for him to enter.
The place inside was the cleanest so far, but it reeked with the smell of a corpse, clearly from the one growling behind the room at the end of the hallway.
Following the girl to another room, he saw her glancing briefly at the noise with a pained expression before opening the door to the other room.
Sasuke was ready for anything behind the doors to keep them safe, but his worries were uncalled for as he saw a figure lying on the bed, clearly human.
A young lady, maybe two or three years older than the current him, was sleeping on the bed; her expression was bad. With a glance, Sasuke figured that she had passed out from exhaustion.
"I need to examine her body to be sure what is wrong with her; is that okay?"
Ciri thought for a moment, eyes drifting between her sister and the handsome man before nodding. Beautiful people won't hurt them, right?.
"Alright, sit there and eat those first; do it slowly, okay?" He told her before turning to the lady on the bed, removing the cover from her to look for injuries, and once he found none, he checked her pulse and eyes.
'Her heartbeat is weak; she passed from exhaustion and hunger.'
He looked for his backpack, or more accurately, rummaged mentally through his storage seal. Unfortunately, he didn't have an IV solution on him; thus, the only option was to make a syrup solution from water and sugar before she was good enough to consume the soldier pill.
If something was good about soldier pills, then that would definitely be their effectiveness.
The energy they give is enough to sustain a body long enough for her to recover and start eating again.
With the solution ready, he explained to the little girl what he was doing while holding the older one, helping her sit, and supporting her neck with his arm before he started feeding her the drink, pressing at pressure points to make her body react and swallow.
The lady looked almost like a woman he knows from his world, a famous actress.
Which made him ask the little girl about her name.
"She is Katniss, and I am Ciri Everdeen, 9 years old." Ciri smiled, introducing herself, her complexion now a little better.
'Yeah, of course it's not her; there are many like-looking people anyway.'
"Well, nice to meet you, Ciri. I'm Uchiha Sasuke, 20 years old." Sasuke smiled at her as he kept feeding her sister slowly while he felt her about to regain her consciousness.
"Outchi...ha? Sasuke. This is the first time I've heard a name like this."
"Mhm, Uchiha. Well, it's because I'm not from here."
"Oh, can I ask from where?" She tilted her head cutely, enjoying the melted chocolate on her finger.
"Haha, sure, Japan. You know it? I grew up there before moving here."
'Bullshit, but since I took his identity, I might as well use the country that introduced him. Better have it clear from now on for anyone asking me; no one would care to verify anyway, and it's 2010.'
"Ohh, I know Japan. I love Doraemon's cartoon, and my sister said it was made there. awesome!!" Ciri nodded with an amazed smile, clearly just happy to be talking to this kind man about her favorite cartoon.
Their conversation was cut by a cough from the older girl, who opened her eyes and suddenly started struggling, seeing an unfamiliar blurry man holding her in their bed.
"Katniss!" Ciri put her bottle down and ran to her sister, jumping at her bed before hugging her, while Sasuke finally calmed her down with words before backing away to show that he means no harm.