Chapter 5

My brother worked tirelessly all day.

He moved all the food from the supermarket back to our home.

Thankfully the water and electricity hadn't been cut yet, so I started sorting everything.

I rewarded my brother with a big chunk of pork.

He sat in the corner, gnawing away contentedly.

I took inventory of our supplies.

Beef, pork, lamb, chicken, duck... the meat filled an entire freezer.

To prepare for potential power and water outages, I decided we should eat the refrigerated food first.

I organized the rest based on expiration dates.

Instant noodles, self-heating hotpots, rice noodles, cold noodles, and other instant foods - over 20 boxes in total.

Vacuum-packed sausages, chicken feet, pork rinds, pork knuckles, pig's trotters, duck necks, etc. - seven large bags.

These foods had long shelf lives and were easy to store, so we didn't need to eat them right away.

Canned fish, canned luncheon meat, canned braised pork, canned pork knuckle, various canned fruits - over a dozen boxes.

Canned goods usually lasted about two years, so I stacked them in the closet to eat last.

For vegetables, we only had pumpkins, potatoes and sweet potatoes - three large sacks.

I put those on the balcony to use as needed.

My brother had also thoughtfully grabbed 15 power banks, 7 charging cables, 13 packs of toilet paper, and two bags of sanitary pads.

After organizing everything, I asked my brother, "How was the supermarket? Anything else left?"

My brother rotated his grayish-white eyeballs, mumbling incoherently: "Roar... veggies... all rotten. Water... fruit... also rotten."

I asked him again: "Did you find any drones?"

My brother shook his head stiffly, "Roar... tomorrow... look again. Getting... dark."

I felt relieved.

With my brother here, our survival crisis was well-managed.

This time, I didn't lock him in his room.

He had worked tirelessly to bring back food, saving my life.

I would no longer be wary of him.