Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System novel Chapter 220

Rayne nodded and motioned for Julian to bring the man over to the back of the SUV to see the items that she had laid out.

Receiving the signal, Julian turned to the man, "Here, come to take a look at what we have available, perhaps you will find something worth trading."

The man nodded and walked over to see, "Go call your mother over, I don’t know if there’s something specific she needs", he said to his daughter.

"Okay!", she said and ran into the barn.

The man stood at the back of the car and looked into the trunk of Rayne’s car. His eyes widened as he looked at the various pristine items, unblinking.

"What?! How did you get this stuff?", he couldn’t help but ask. Out in these parts, it was difficult to find nonagricultural resources, so these things were all considered precious to him.

Rayne smiled, "We travel a lot and scavenge items. This is our most recent haul".

"Wow, this is incredible!", he said. He wanted to look through the bins but hesitated, looking down at his dirty hands.

Rayne noticed his struggle and handed him a bar of soap, "Here, take this as a small gift from us".

The man didn’t reach out right away, but after a momentary thought, he accepted the gift.

"Thank you, I will go wash my hands and I will be right back. Please don’t leave, I’ll be right back", he said and hurried back inside the barn.

He intercepted his wife and daughter on the way inside, "Come with me, let’s wash our hands and faces", he said holding the bar of white soap.

"Soap! Where did you find that?", his wife asked looking surprised!

"They gifted it to us. I felt a little uncomfortable touching their items with my grimy hands. I think they noticed my hesitation so they gifted the soap", he explained.

The family washed their hands with the soap, washing away all of the dirt that had accumulated over time.

"Mom, smell my hands! They smell so nice!", the little girl called out. Her face was glowing as she happily waved her hands around.

The man and his wife smiled as they looked at their cute daughter whose face and hands were cleaned up, revealing her bright and smooth skin.

"Let’s go, I don’t want to keep them waiting for long", said the man. He led his family back over to the car and showed his wife the goods that were being offered for trade.

The woman looked around, reaching out to touch the soft fabric of the clothes and blankets. "Honey, all of these items are so nice...and are much needed", she said in a low voice.

The man understood her implied meaning and nodded, "Very well. I trust your judgment", he replied. He also felt that these supplies were too good to pass up. They had plenty of food here, but when it came to other resources, such as clothing and everyday items, it was a different story.

He thought about how he should approach Rayne and Julian for the trade offer. They had many chickens and eggs, but he wasn’t sure if he would have enough to be able to trade for all of these things.

Looking over at Rayne he cleared his throat, "So, um, how many chickens do you guys want?"

Rayne did a little calculation, counting the number of people at their settlement.