Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System

Rayne took a step forward, "We're just normal people who live outside of the city. We noticed a lot of cars in the city recently and wanted to find out what had happened".

The old man looked at her skeptically, after losing his grandson to those bandits, he didn't trust anyone.

"Take a look around. That's what happened", he said without moving.

Rayne felt bad for these people. They were only trying to survive, and now they were robbed.

"We have a small settlement outside of the city, would you like to come back with us?", she asked.

She did her best to sound friendly and inviting, but the old man scoffed, "I only want one thing, and it's not something you can do".

Julian took a step forward, "If you tell us what it is, I can try".

"Ha! Okay then, Mr. Hero. I want my grandson back, can you do that?", the old man laughed sarcastically.

Both Rayne and Julian went quiet. While they could try to find his grandson when they went to attack Damien, they couldn't promise that they would find him.

The old man waved his hand at them after a brief period of silence.

"Leave this place. I don't want to see you or anyone else", he said before lowering his head to his knees.

Rayne wanted to take a step forward and try to convince him to come with them, but Julian pulled her back.

They walked back to their car, "He wouldn't move from that spot even if we presented him with every luxury in the world. His grandson must have met a lot to him, all we can do is hope that everything turns out okay."

Rayne frowned but understood. Images of the completely empty room flashed through her mind.

"I want to at least leave some food and water. He has nothing to live off of, this way he can at least survive until he gets reunited with his grandson", she said.

She opened the trunk of her SUV and piled up a number of items into the trunk. Julian walked over and helped her carry the items inside.

The old man didn't even look up when he heard the door open again, not caring about anything that happened to him.

Rayne left large jugs of water, bags of rice, canned food, dried pasta, and a few clean blankets for the man.

She figured that with these supplies he could survive at least another month or two, and hopefully by then he would be reunited with his grandson.

After delivering the supplies, Rayne and Julian both got back inside the car. A heavy atmosphere lingered in the air as they drove farther into the city.

"Don't let it get to you. We did what we could, the rest is up to him. We can't save everyone", said Julian, placing his arm on her thigh.

Rayne nodded, "You're right. We did what we could."

"Let's hope we have better luck talking to the next group of people", he said as he drove up to a half-broken apartment building.

-

As they exited the car Rayne looked up at the once-tall apartment building. It looked like someone swung a huge knife and chopped the building in half. She estimated that of the original ten or fifteen floors, only three or four were still usable.

"I'm surprised people still live here", said Rayne after observing her surroundings.

"Many people don't know where they could go. We've lived our whole life adhering to certain ways and most people can't let go of it", said Julian.

From the corner of her eye, Rayne noticed a slight movement on one of the third-floor windows.

"Looks like there are people here. Let's go inside and see if anyone would be willing to speak with us", she said.

They stepped forward into the apartment area lobby. There was a small section for mailboxes on the right-hand side and a large staircase in front of them. In front of the staircase, there was a hallway that went left and right that led to the first-floor apartments.

"Let's check here first", she said and walked down the right hallway. She walked over to the first door and knocked on it a few times.

They waited for a few minutes before she tried turning the handle only to find the door locked.

Rayne continued to knock on and check every door on the first floor only to find the same result.

"I wonder if the rooms are empty or if people are simply hiding inside", she said.

It was eerily quiet so she wasn't sure if people were actually inside.

"If you didn't see the movement in the window earlier, I'd think we were in an abandoned building", replied Julian.

He was also unsure if people were simply too frightened from their earlier encounters with Damien's men to come out.

"Let's try upstairs", said Rayne after they finished checking all of the rooms on the first floor.

-

They carefully walked up to the second floor and made their way to the first door on their right.

There was no answer, but when Rayne tried the door handle, the door swung open.

"Oh! It's not locked!", she said and took a step inside.

Julian lifted his pistol, and took a step forward to make sure there wasn't an ambush waiting inside.

They walked through the whole apartment but didn't find anyone or anything.

Rayne looked around and felt like whoever lived here was in a rush to get out. All of the closet doors and cabinets were left open, and boxes and random items were thrown out on the floors and counters.

"All of the important items are gone. Food, clothing, and medicine are all gone, while everything else was left out", said Rayne.

Julian took a look around, "It seems like they were in a hurry. I wonder if they were feeling when they saw Damien's men arrive".

"I think so, I can't think of any other reason why they would leave so abruptly", said Rayne, slightly confused.

Most of the other rooms on this floor were locked, but the two other apartments that were left open were in a similar state as the first one.

Signs of hurried packing and only the essentials were evident in each of the open apartments.

"Well, I'm certain I saw movement on the third floor. Hopefully they're willing to speak with us", said Rayne as they walked over to the central staircase.