The End Of Life

Mark shook his head and threw those thoughts aside for the future. He noticed Suzie's proud look and smiled as he said, "Good for you Suzie. It looks like you were able to get an upgrade for your body. From now on you can also fight with us." Standing up. 

"Yes, I feel so powerful." She nodded excitedly. 

"That's good, but don't exert yourself too much, alright. You are still not used to it so take it slow for now." Walking towards her. 

Suzie nodded and David asked, "Mark, do you have any idea why she gained so much strength in such a little time." Also standing up and walking towards them. It surprised him when he saw the monstrous display of strength from Suzie. 

"Yes, I have a guess. It seems like our bodies are slowly adapting to the changes happening in the world right now. So what my guess is that along with these changes and adaptations our bodies are going through, I think we are gaining enhancements like how Suzie and I gained." 

"Oh. So that's it. Wait. Did you even say that you also gained some upgrades?" nodded David before turning towards him in shock. 

Mak nodded and said, "Yes, even me. I noticed it on the night when we stayed in the Petrol station. My enhancements are different from Suzie's. She has extreme physical power enhancement. While I have more of an all-rounded enhancement. My senses are sharper and I got a bit stronger than before." 

David's and Kevin's mouth were wide hearing him. Suzie also had a tinge of surprise written all over her face. Mark could only cough and bring them back from the shock. He clapped his hands and said, "Alright guys. Let's loot this place up. David and Kevin, you two go around the whole thing and search for useful things. Like more tents and other utensils. I and Suzie will go and search for food." 

David and Kevin nodded before taking a cart each and strolling through the lanes, taking things like solar cookers, batteries, and stuff. But Mark suddenly remembered something and turned towards Kevin before saying, "Kevin, you also search for tools to repair and take care of our jeep. You are the main mechanic in the group. So only you can do it." 

Kevin had a wide grin on his face as he heard him and said while patting his chest in a boastful manner, "Leave the jeep maintenance to me. I will handle it." and continued searching through the items on the shelf. 

Kevin was an engineer who specialized in building and repairing stuff. He would always break a machine apart only to learn how it functioned. One time he was curious about a sports car and broke it apart without even thinking about it for a second. So for Mark, he was the only one who could take care of the jeep. 

As Kevin and David started their search, Mark turned towards Suzie and said, "Well, I have to depend on you to search for edible food. Try to make things more balanced so our body won't go to waste by eating all the junk." 

Suzie nodded and made her way towards the food section. As both of them had a cart, they strolled through the vegetables and fruit area in the section. Most of the vegetables and food were already gone to waste, while only a very few were still edible. Suzie skillfully took out the ones which were edible, showing her proficiency when it came to food. 

Suzie loved to cook and was an expert in it. She always brought them food from her house. Her love for food did not stop at only cooking, as she even had her own farm in her backyard. She learned how to farm and take care of vegetables. So finding the vegetables which were fresh was an easy task for her. 

After going through the whole vegetable area, they only found enough to fill half a cart. Mark frowned, seeing the content. This was nowhere near enough and if possible they needed more. He turned towards Suzie and noticed she was also having the same thoughts. 

"What should we do? Should we raid another market?" asked Mark. 

Suzie did not reply immediately as she continued to think. She suddenly smiled and clapped her hand as she remembered something. She turned towards Mark and said, "We can search the cold storages of these kinds of stores frequently have. Those storages are often closed, and so they would keep the vegetables and fruits fresh by weeks."

Mark smiled hearing her idea and nodded. They looked around for the storage room and Suze identified it at the end of the lane. The door had the 'only staff' board on it and signs that it's a cold area on the other side. Mark smiled and opened the door. 

The door opened, and an icy breeze hit them, enough to make them slightly shiver. It looked like the room served its purpose. Mark entered and immediately noticed three dead bodies in the corner. He frowned seeing them and noticed Suzie also had the same expression. 

"Looks like people hid here when the zombies started rising to save themselves. But could not last long because of the cold here," said Suzie. Mark nodded and said, "Well, let's see if the food is alright." 

Suzie nodded and turned away from the dead bodies. She looked around and noticed the small room was half-filled with food and there was even meat in the cold containers along with vegetables which were fresh. Suzie slowly checked the shelves and the meat too. After finding everything was good, she turned back towards Mark and gave him a nod of approval. 

Mark went out and brought in the cart. They started filling the vegetables up. They filled the carts full of vegetables and meat, which were fresh, making him satisfied. But he suddenly frowned, thinking of a new problem. 

Even though the food was fresh and the amount was large, their jeep would not be able to hold them fresh for long. They will become spoiled after a few days in the sun. Suzie noticed his frown and asked him what happened. 

After he explained the situation to him, she smiled and responded, "Don't worry about that. There should be freezer trucks in the supermarket parked underground. If we find one, we can keep the food fresh from a longer period of time. The trucks these days use Solar energy to run the freezers inside so the fuel consumption would be normal too." 

Mark nodded hearing him and couldn't help but pat her a bit and say, "If it wasn't for you, we would never have thought about the idea. Thanks." Suzie only smiled and removed his hand before replying, "It's ok. We are a group now, aren't we?" Mark could only give a nod to her statement. 

They made their way out with three full crates of vegetables and two crates of meat. They found all kinds of meat, from chicken to fish to even eel. Mark was naturally delighted as a meat lover when he saw the meat they collected. 

After moving all the five carts with food towards the door they used to get in the store, they noticed there were also two carts filled with essentials. One cart was filled with things like tools and spare parts commonly used for repairing machines. This was naturally Kevin's cart. The other cart was filled with things like extra tents, clothes, and solar equipment. 

Mark and Suzie continued to loot things in the food section. Suzie continued to take things like spices used for cooking so the food they eat won't be bland to taste. No one likes bland food. Mark on the other hand was filling food with snacks and other instant foods. After they looted the whole place, they met near the door once again. Mark looked around and saw most of the shelves were missing a lot of things. 

He looked at the 11 crates in front of him, filled with various things. Kevin exclaimed when he saw the fresh food. He went straight for the meat and hugged it like it was his long-lost lover. Mark could only smack his back and say, "Stop it. We need to get moving." 

Kevin could only reluctantly put the meat box down and nod. They slowly carried each cart down the stairs one by one. After transporting all the carts down to the underground parking lot, Mark looked around for the trucks. His eyes were not normal and were easily able to see into the darkness and find the trucks parked in one of the extreme corners of the space. 

They slowly took all the food carts towards the trucks. Mark noticed the 5 trucks and there were only 2 freezer trucks in them. He looked at Kevin and said, "Can you check if the freezer truckers are working?"

Kevin nodded and made his way towards the small room at the end to take the keys. After finding the keys, he made his way towards the trucks.