Chapitre 32: Chapter 32: Gunfight
With these thoughts, David went back to his bedroom to sleep.
Unlike others, he had the luxury of leisure. It was already two in the morning, way past his usual bedtime.
Typically, he would check in at midnight and then go to sleep. But today's events had been many: he received three rewards from the check-in and learned some details about the apocalypse, followed by his conversation with Charles. This led to his 'irregular' sleeping pattern today.
Waking up the next day around ten, David had slept for a full eight hours.
After stretching, he started to prepare for his new day.
After washing up, he went to the window and noticed that the world had indeed changed. The sun was out.
Previously, the sun was often obscured, its rays hardly penetrating the gloom. But now, the clouds had thinned, and a huge sun dominated the sky, its fiery presence bringing warmth and light back to the world.
People on the streets were cheering wildly, running about. They navigated through the world covered in hail, which was dangerous as some hail still fell sporadically. Although the sun was out, the world hadn't thawed yet, as temperatures were still below zero.
But compared to before, it felt like paradise.
The warmth and comfort were only relative to the previous conditions. People from a few months ago would still find it bitterly cold.
Watching the people below, David couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for them.
How long would their happiness last? How long would their praises and prayers for the sun continue? Maybe in a couple of days, they would start cursing the sun for its scorching heat. They might find the days of freezing cold preferable to the upcoming heat.
People are like that, always yearning for a past situation when faced with a new challenge, even if the two situations are equally bad. Perhaps they just miss the fact that the previous disaster had passed.
But what did all this have to do with him? David closed the window and began his daily exercise routine.
Maintaining a strong physique was crucial; he didn't want to die in this beautiful world due to physical weakness rather than from the extremes of cold or heat.
After an hour and a half of exercise, he relaxed, took a bath, and then decided to check the surveillance to see what Charles had been up to.
Charles had been busy. He hadn't slept since he went down last night, commanding his men to carry out an 'excavation' operation. They used all kinds of container-like objects from the building to collect and compact the hail from outside.
Their first target was a pharmacy nearby, conveniently located under their apartment complex.
Their area was rich in resources, with department stores, snack streets, restaurants, and pharmacies. However, most of these resources had been looted in the early days of the disaster, especially thick clothing and any available food. Later, the hail had practically buried the ground floor, making it inaccessible, and the constant hail outside kept people trapped in their homes.
Although they had protective gear to move outside, it was cumbersome, and there were still useful items stored in the building. For instance, medicine for treating heatstroke – a product overlooked by looters who focused on cold and anti-inflammatory medications.
However, the efficacy of these medicines, after being frozen in the extreme cold and potentially thawing in the upcoming extreme heat, was questionable.
The best scenario would be to acquire a generator or, failing that, power banks.
Most unprotected electronic devices were already damaged, but occasionally they would find some still functional.
Besides, they also scavenged other usable items from the shopping mall. Whatever was left and useful, they took as much as they could.
David didn't interfere much with Charles's actions. After all, he didn't depend on Charles for survival, but having a reasonably decent neighbor was necessary.
He was about to close the window when he suddenly noticed a new group of people approaching on the street. They too were heavily armed and wearing thick clothes. Although they lacked protective gear, the current weather with less hail made it sufficient.
As they arrived, they immediately started shooting, not caring whether the people on the street were a threat. Gunshots filled the street below.
David frowned. Was this going to be a serious firefight?
As expected, Charles's people quickly retaliated. They too had guns, and a gun battle erupted amid the heaps of ice.
"This is too intense," David thought, watching the battle between the two groups below. Some people were frantically running, seemingly unaware of why the recent respite from disaster had suddenly turned into human conflict.
The new group seemed to have come for the resources of the area. After a brief exchange of fire and failed negotiations, the initial gunfight resumed.
This was Charles's territory, and his reinforcements were quick. Soon after the second round of the gunfight started, a large number of people rushed out from the complex. Some even opened windows in the building to strike from above.
Seeing they were outmatched, the invaders retreated. Charles's people immediately pursued them. They were accustomed to dominating this area and could not tolerate this insult.
The enemy couldn't just come and go as they pleased; how would they survive here otherwise?
David watched with interest, but it wasn't long before he saw Charles's people retreating in a somewhat disorganized manner.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone