novelzi Chapter 109 - 109: Port City 2
Chapter 109 - 109: Port City 2
They walked around the store until Rayne spotted a few tracks leading toward the back of the store.
"Hey, Julian, look. Whoever it was seems like they might have been injured. I can see wrappers from the bandages along the way," said Rayne, pointing at the ground.
"Good find. Let's see how far we can follow them," smiled Julian. They followed the tracks to the loading area in the back of the supermarket and toward an apartment building that was still standing adjacent to the store.
When Rayne stepped inside the apartment building, she noticed that it appeared to be in relatively good shape. Even most of the windows were still intact. Rayne marveled at the architect's skill in designing such a building that still stood straight, even after back-to-back natural disasters.
They walked inside, following the small blood trail on the ground until they reached the second floor.
"The trail ends here," frowned Rayne.
Julian looked around,
Julian looked at him sharply. "You still haven't explained why it's not safe."
The man pressed against his side again, inhaling deeply. "Right. Well, you guys probably already know that this is one of the top tourist spots in the country."
Both Rayne and Julian nodded, as they were both aware of this.
"Well, just before the disaster, the city opened a new zoo. It was said to be the second-largest one in the country, featuring all sorts of exotic animals."
The man stood up and peeked out of the window, observing the street below, and continued, "Well, after the initial earthquake, nearly all of the animals escaped. I'm sure you can imagine how fierce a family of lions can be when starved."
Rayne's eyes widened in shock. "You're saying that right now there are lions loose on the streets?!"
The man nodded. "Not just lions, but all sorts of animals, even reptiles. Even the smaller animals like monkeys are dangerous. I just recently got injured running away from one." He lifted his shirt to show a deep gash in his side.
"Is that why there's no one around? We noticed that most of the shelves were still stocked in the supermarket," asked Julian.
The man nodded. "Yes, most of the people ran away once the animals were released. It happened pretty early on, so many people still had access to their vehicles... while others got eaten."
The room fell into silence, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Rayne glanced over at the young man, focusing on his injury.
"Do you need anything for your wound?" she asked. While she wasn't a doctor, she did have an unlimited amount of basic first aid supplies.
"I found a few smaller bandages in the supermarket earlier, but they're not large enough for the size of this gash," he explained, looking down at his side.
Rayne unzipped her backpack and pulled out a fresh first aid kit, handing it over to the young man. "Here, there should be a good variety of bandages and disinfectants in here," she said calmly.
"Oh, thank you so much!" he said, lifting his shirt to clean his injury.