Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System novel Chapter 141

Boom!

A large explosion startled them awake from their moment of passion. Julian quickly pulled away and ran down to the living room to see what had caused such an explosion.

In the distance, he could see a small smoke stack rising beyond the forest.

Rayne came down to see what was happening. "Do you see anything?" she asked curiously.

Julian pointed toward the pillar of smoke in the distance. "Looks like something blew up over there. Should we go check it out?"

Rayne nodded and brought over another small space heater to use in the driver’s cabin while Julian started the RV.

He drove the RV down the winding mountain road, careful to avoid frozen sections. It took them a few hours to fully descend from the mountains and reach the first small village where the smoke pillar was coming from.

Julian drove through the center of the town while Rayne held on to her pistol, ready to shoot if there was any danger.

He parked in a small, empty parking lot not far from where the smoke was. "Get dressed, let’s go check it out," he said quietly.

Rayne was already dressed in many layers and only took another thick winter coat from her system to put on. She then gave a similar men’s coat, hat, and gloves to Julian.

After they were fully bundled up and armed, they carefully made their way over to the area where the explosion had happened.

"It looks like the smoke is coming from inside that brick building," said Rayne quietly. She then looked around before proceeding forward.

As they got closer, they heard voices coming from inside. "Did everyone make it out safe? Is anyone in critical condition?" asked an older man’s voice.

"Everyone seems to be doing okay. We brought everyone back to the ranch," replied a younger man.

Just then, the two men walked out of the brick building, only to be met with Rayne and Julian pointing their pistols at them.

"Whoa! Whoa! We don’t want any trouble," said the older man, quickly raising his hands above his head. The younger man followed his movements, visibly scared.

"We just paid our tribute. Why are you back already?" asked the young man angrily.

Rayne lowered her gun and took a step forward. Julian kept his gun aimed and ready in case of any signs of danger.

"Who are you guys? What happened here?" asked Rayne. Her voice was slightly muffled by the scarf she was wearing.

"We’re locals of this town. Some of us are from the city. One of our youngsters tried to start this old generator in the shop, but he wasn’t careful and ended up blowing the place up instead," explained the old man.

He then looked up at her and then at Julian. "I don’t recognize you folks. Are you from the city?"

"We’re from the south. We’re on our way to the city just up ahead to look for someone," replied Rayne.

The old man shook his head. "No, I don’t recommend you go there. That city has always had gang issues since it was a university town, and now it’s only gotten worse since there’s no police to stop them anymore. The whole city has basically been taken over."