Chapter 35 – As Long As Breath Remains
That morning, though the sky hung overcast as if hiding something, the sixteen survivors stood in silence. Their faces still showed the exhaustion of a sleepless night, but their eyes were steady—their resolve had been made.
"Everyone knows their job," Altair said, standing by the door of the building they had occupied for the past three days. "Team A comes with me northwest to the old supermarket supply depot. Team B goes with Sofia to the former aid distribution site."
Sofia added, "No fighting unless absolutely necessary. Our top priority is food and water. I’ll say it again—no recklessness."
There were no objections. Everyone understood what was at stake.
The teams split without a word. Each slipped out through the pre-planned routes from the night before. Their movements were swift and efficient, the result of drills under intense pressure. Strangely... everything went too smoothly.
"This is... weird," Rina muttered as she looked up at the gloomy sky.
Sofia nodded, eyes sweeping cautiously around them. "Too quiet."
But the silence gave them time.
While much of the food was spoiled or ruined by age, they managed to gather a decent amount of canned goods and some medicine from the old depot. More importantly, they were lucky enough to find a stockpile of sealed clean water. A rare blessing in terrain like this.