Sierra Sullivan crouched, her gaze fixed on the vegetables for a long moment before she reluctantly stood up.
She had bought some fruits and vegetables, but her supply was limited.
'If farming proves too difficult, I'll have to ration them,' she had thought.
But that was completely unnecessary now!
Now she could eat as much as she wanted!
Instead of rushing to take a bath, Sierra Sullivan found the various fruit tree saplings she had previously bought in one of the shipping containers. She planted two of each.
She didn't plant many of any single type, but the sheer variety was staggering!
Even with only two of each, they already filled half the space.
She used the remaining area to plant all sorts of vegetables.
As for grains, Sierra Sullivan had no plans to plant them for the time being.
The rice and flour she'd bought were enough to last her for two lifetimes over.
She had bought grain seeds as well, but that was more of an afterthought; she had no real intention of planting them.
By the time Sierra Sullivan had watered every fruit tree, she was ready to collapse from exhaustion.
She took a long, comfortable bath, then flopped onto the sofa to eat something. After a two-hour nap, she finally felt recovered and left the space.
By now, it was the middle of the night outside.
The room was pitch-black.
Sierra Sullivan walked to her bed, flashlight in hand, but the motion-sensor light under the bed didn't turn on.
Sierra Sullivan froze for a second before immediately trying the switch for the overhead light.
She flicked the switch, but the light didn't come on.
The power was out!
Just like in her previous life!
On the third day of the apocalypse, the power grid had been damaged by the sand and the Aberrant Beasts. With no one left to perform maintenance, it failed completely.
'The power is out, so the natural gas must be out too, right?'
With that thought, Sierra Sullivan turned and headed for the kitchen.
Just as she'd expected, the natural gas was out too.
For people living in modern society, losing electricity, running water, and natural gas was like being thrown back into the primitive age.
Food and water became an issue, to say nothing of everything else.
'This building is about to descend into total chaos!'
A sense of urgency washed over Sierra Sullivan.
She needed to get stronger!
She needed to awaken a Superpower!
It was the only way to survive longer in this apocalypse, the only way to protect herself.
Sierra Sullivan took a deep breath to calm her racing heart and lay back down on the bed.
She had to get a good night's rest to have enough energy to continue her training tomorrow.
Until she figured out how to awaken a Superpower, this was the only way she could increase her combat strength.
...
「The next morning.」
After washing up, Sierra Sullivan carefully selected a breakfast for herself.
A plate of vegetarian potstickers, a plate of pan-fried buns, a bowl of peppery hot soup, and two eggs.
After finishing her meal, she had some strawberries, blueberries, and oranges to get her vitamins.
It wasn't a good idea to train immediately after eating, so Sierra Sullivan went to the window and used her binoculars to observe the situation below.
The sandstorm today was a little weaker than the day before.
Her visibility with the binoculars had improved as well.
Looking out past the residential complex, Sierra Sullivan watched for more than ten minutes. In that short time, she saw dozens of people devoured by the Dunescrawlers, leaving nothing behind.
Her face turned pale as she watched them get devoured down to their skeletons in the blink of an eye.
In her last life, after the apocalypse began, she had never once left this building before she died. She'd never come face-to-face with an Aberrant Beast.
She didn't want to be afraid, but fear wasn't something you could simply will away.
Sierra Sullivan sighed. Just as she was about to lower the binoculars, her gaze subconsciously drifted back downstairs.
This time, she saw a group of people emerging from the building's entrance.
They were all fully geared up.
That wasn't surprising.
Anyone who dared to go outside was.
What surprised Sierra Sullivan, however, was that each of them was holding a torch.
The people forming the outer ring of the group had their torches lit.
Those surrounded in the center held unlit torches, likely keeping them as spares.
Their formation was too tight for Sierra Sullivan to see their faces, but their movements betrayed their tension; they were constantly scanning their surroundings.
'That must be Sebastian Crawford's group!'
'They actually dared to go outside!'
Sierra Sullivan was instantly riveted, her eyes glued to their movements.
She was most curious to see if Sebastian Crawford's Superpower was effective against the Dunescrawlers.
...
Sebastian Crawford, surrounded by the group, was in fact extremely nervous himself.
But no matter how nervous he was, they had to go find supplies.
Who could have imagined that he would wake up to find not only the gas cut off, but the electricity as well.
He had rice, flour, and water at home and could have cooked for himself.
But with no power or gas, cooking was completely out of the question.
He'd had to make do with snacks and bread for breakfast.
He didn't have many snacks, though—not enough to last more than a few days, and he certainly didn't want a diet of junk food.
He remembered an outdoor supply store just outside the complex. They would have grills, charcoal, alcohol lamps, portable gas stoves, and other similar items.
If they could get their hands on that equipment, then swing by the supermarket for some food and drinks, they'd be set for a good while.
As Sebastian Crawford thought this, he looked at the people with him, his expression hardening with resolve.
The group moved slowly, but their progress was steady.
Ten-odd minutes later, they finally reached the gate of the complex.
'Just through this gate, and we'll be at the supermarket in no time!'
...
Sierra Sullivan watched until Sebastian Crawford's group disappeared through the complex gates, then lowered her binoculars with a hint of disappointment.
From her vantage point, she couldn't see what was happening outside.
All she could do now was wait for Sebastian Crawford and his group to return.
'If they can make it back at all, that is.'
With her mind preoccupied, Sierra Sullivan had no desire to train. She simply waited.
Meanwhile, Sierra Sullivan took out her phone.
She didn't own a radio.
But her phone had a radio tuner feature.
Others might not have power, but she did!
She was, after all, the person who'd had the foresight to buy a generator and gasoline!
It was too noisy to use out in the open, but there was no problem running it inside her space.
Charging her phone and other devices was incredibly convenient!
Sierra Sullivan fiddled with the tuner for a while before she finally caught a human voice.
She listened for a bit. The broadcast was saying pretty much the same things Sebastian Crawford had mentioned yesterday.
There was no mention of when rescue would arrive, nor anything about Superpowers.
Just as a disappointed Sierra Sullivan was about to turn it off, she finally heard something new.
"The government will be establishing nine safe zones in the city, located at... Survivors living nearby may proceed to these locations if they are able. If you are unable to travel, please shelter in place and await rescue. Once the safe zones are established, search and rescue teams will be dispatched to retrieve survivors. Please be patient. I repeat..."
Hearing this, Sierra Sullivan's pupils contracted sharply.
One of the nine survivor safe zones was to be established in her very own residential complex!
This hadn't happened in her previous life!
'Or maybe... in my past life, I just never heard the broadcast? Or maybe the government response was delayed for some reason? Was it that I just didn't live long enough to see it?'