Looking Around

Alexander sat up. Feeling powerful and exhausted at the same time was a peculiar experience. Plus the feeling of hunger constantly reminded of itself. He got up and started walking. The shop on the first floor looked like it was geared towards hiking. At first, Alexander ignored everything there because it looked like someone had already gone through it scavenging, but you never know before you check.

His goal was simple. Since it was a hiking shop, it was likely they sold hiking supplies. The university campus was basically on the edge of the city, bordering the Ironpeak Mountain Range. It was a pretty popular hiking destination especially since the university's military department regularly trained there, so it was pretty much cleared of dangerous beasts.

To go on such a trip, one would usually pack slow-release food pellets. It was a type of condensed pellet packed with carbohydrates, electrolytes, amino acids, and vitamins, designed to keep one on the move. You only needed to carry some water with you. And even water usually came in cubes of superabsorbent jelly that would allow one to carry larger volumes of water than usual with them. Just two handfuls of those could enable you to go on a three, maybe five day hiking trip. Of course, Alexander hoped to find some of those.

He made his way down to the first floor. It looked like a storm went through the shop. All the shelves were empty or broken. A few tables were overturned. On closer inspection, he saw that the glass windows of the shop were shattered. Even one of the tables was completely burned.

He walked around and inspected the place more closely. Everything seemed to be smashed to pieces. It was pretty obvious that a fight took place here. Traces of blood and damage to the shelves that clearly hinted at a clawed hand breaking them. It probably took place the first day this whole thing happened. Alexander scanned the place with his gaze once again. It was as if someone picked this place clean. At least in the food aisle.

There was nothing left.

He started to walk further inside the shop. He stumbled upon whatever remained of the medicine stand and found some nondescript pills laying on the floor.

'Nah, It would be too funny if I take a sleeping pill when I need an antibiotic.' He ignored the pills and went further. Just a mere second later he stumbled upon a mirror and realized that his sports clothes had already turned into rags. He looked worse than a homeless beggar. Thankfully, he was in a clothing section of the shop. Unlike parts with food and medicine, this one was looking like it was barely touched. He quickly found himself a set of hiking clothes and even stuffed a couple of spares into his ring.

As he was about to turn around and leave, he noticed something. From the place he was standing on he could see behind one of the displaced shelves. A corner of a door barely peeked out. He approached closer. The shelf was clearly hit by a demon, probably to get it out of the way, judging by the damage on it. He moved the shelf and a closed door appeared in front of him.

'If the door was hidden by accident, could it be that no one got into the backrooms of this shop?'

He pushed the door open and peered inside. There was a cold-looking rather long corridor. He stepped inside and looked around. Everything here looked pretty much untouched. No signs of fighting, no broken furniture or anything.

He examined the area around him and discovered another door. This one led to a room which had been completely stripped bare. Cold walls stared back at Alexander. The second one led to what looked like a staff break room. Empty tables and chairs lined the space. There was a small fridge next to a table.

He opened it and found some bottles inside. One was filled with water, another was filled with juice and the last one was filled with alcohol. Alexander picked the juice one and opened it. It smelled like orange juice so he quickly drank it. It tasted good. He stuffed the rest in his ring. The next door led to a bathroom.

He entered the bathroom and immediately froze.

There was blood everywhere.

Blood splatters on the toilet bowl, the sink, the shower curtain, the floor, the bathtub... It looked as if it was a murder scene from some B-list gory movie.

The smell was awful, but his senses did not pick up any danger. When he looked closer, he noticed that blood was already dry. Whatever killed this person is probably already far away. He left the bathroom and approached the last two doors. One was obviously an exit, judging by a sign over it, and the second one was pretty nondescript. He opened it and saw another, this time smaller, corridor. It went two ways and had two doors. One was pretty much the same as the previous one, and the second one was way bigger, and it looked like it was on some kind of railing.

He decided to check the first one. A sticker on the door read "Dry Storage". After he opened the it, a predictable scene greeted his eyes. Several rows of shelves with all kinds of boxes were inside the room. The storage looked untouched. Alexander spotted a printed guide on the wall and skimmed through what it said. It was primarily a list of items and their locations. Some of them caught his eyes.

He quickly navigated between the shelves and opened a particular box. It was full of smaller boxes, each containing a knife. Those were standard survival knives. Each one was around a foot in length, made from a sturdy alloy with a corrosion resistant coating, and equipped with a sheath. They looked durable enough. He grabbed one and stuck it in his belt.

'Better than nothing, I guess.' He thought for a moment and put a dozen more in his ring.

There was more cool stuff here, but none of it was particularly useful for Alexander, so he left the room. He quickly made his way to the big door on the railing. It also had a sticker on it, but this one read "Cold Storage."