Kai pushed him away: "Can you still lie here with this damn smell?" After saying that, he stood up and walked over to the window.
Noah also sat up and moved closer. First, he raised his hand to Kai's face to check his temperature again, then tilted his head sideways, chuckling: "Are you blushing? Your ears are about to catch fire!"
"Stop saying unnecessary things. The snowstorm has stopped!" Kai shot him a glance.
"What's there to be shy about? It's just two men together; why are you so thin-skinned?" Noah laughed.
Noah took Kai's hand to remove the bandage to check. Luckily, the wound showed signs of drying up and not becoming infected.
Kai waited until Noah was done applying ointment and changing the bandage before standing up to stretch and relax his muscles. Although his face still looked very pale, his spirit was good.
"We've slept through the whole night like this. I wonder if we've missed our flight." Noah asked.
"Let's leave and talk about it." Kai said, grabbing his backpack and preparing to leave the house.
"Wait, are you just going like that? Wait for me!" Noah hurriedly grabbed his backpack and ran after him.
The two quickly left the house with the disgusting smell. Kai checked the thermometer for a moment. Although the snowstorm had stopped, the temperature had only risen to five degrees Celsius, and the thick snow was beginning to melt in the sunlight.
"Wait a moment! Let me get the packet of meat I threw outside yesterday!" Noah said, then ran back to where he had discarded the packet.
After rummaging through the snow for about five minutes, Noah finally found the last packet of meat for the two of them. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the meat hadn't spoiled; he lovingly kissed the package before putting it in his backpack.
"Let's go!" Noah said as he returned to where Kai was waiting.
Kai stretched as he walked, slowly checking on the changes in his body. After a night that felt like a brush with death, he felt invigorated. It was as if he had been reborn from the ashes.
Noah was used to Kai not responding to his questions, but he couldn't stand the silence between them. The current situation was already depressing enough, and he didn't want to add to his stress. So he started chatting by himself:
"How do you feel? Are you still cold? I feel like it's not cold in the room anymore, maybe the temperature has risen again. Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?"
"Hungry." Right now, Kai felt like his stomach was about to stick to his back.
"Let's find a place to sit for a bit. I'll help you grill this meat." Noah said, patting his backpack.
Indeed, Kai was so hungry he could hardly bear it anymore; he didn't even know why he was so hungry. However, he didn't show it, as he heard some loud noises around him. He had to find a safe spot to eat.
The scene before them was chaotic, resembling a battlefield. They noticed there were more people on the street than yesterday. Everyone passing by was carrying large bags of food.
All the grocery stores, mini-marts, and fruit stands along the street had been vandalized. As they walked past, they could see that the insides had been completely ransacked for food, though most of the food was untouched because it had spoiled long ago. The two of them wanted to try their luck and see if they could find something edible; after wandering around, all that was left were some bottles of water. Noah dejectedly picked up a bottle of water as he walked out.
On the other side of the street, two groups of people were chasing each other, one group carrying a packet of snacks while the other ran after them with weapons, shouting incessantly.
"Either you stop, or if I catch you, I'll kill you."
Just over a day after the "apocalypse" began, humanity had already revealed its true nature. Just for a packet of snacks, they were willing to kill each other.
On a fleeting day, most of the food that wasn't vacuum-sealed and stored in the refrigerator has already spoiled. The evolution rate of bacteria is incredibly fast, not only accelerating the rate of reproduction but also adapting to lower temperatures. Before long, the vacuum-sealed food packages will no longer be able to hold up. The second threat that humanity must face is food, after the act of making food for other species.
From the shops that have been vandalized on the street to people killing each other over a few boxes of snacks.
Now, it is impossible to find food, and most have begun to fight each other for it.
The other man finally collapsed from exhaustion, and the group surged forward to snatch the snack package.
"Please spare me, my daughter hasn't eaten anything since yesterday." the man wept.
"Your kid is hungry, we aren't hungry? Hand it over!" Said the bald, strong man who seemed to be the leader.
"No."
"Beat him!" The bald man ordered.
The crowd rushed to hit the man, but he stubbornly clutched the snack package to his chest until he fainted, unaware of whether he would live or die. After obtaining the snack package, the bald man said: "If you had handed it over earlier, I wouldn't have to lay a hand on you!" Saying that he spat on the man lying on the ground and walked away.
"We should leave here quickly." In their backpacks, there was still a little food. What if these people finished beating each other and then targeted them?
Kai looked at the snack package in the bald man's hand, his expression darkening a bit.
"Let's go quickly, we'll find a secluded place, and I'll cook some meat for you." Noah whispered in Kai's ear.
Kai bowed his head and briefly glanced at his military uniform before retracting his gaze and following Noah.
The two quickly left this place and entered a house that had been vandalized. They decided to hide here, after all, there was a kitchen to prepare food, and it was warmer than outside.
Noah headed straight to the kitchen, hoping to find a little food left. These houses had already been ransacked, so how could anything still be left?
Although he wasn't hungry now, thinking of Kai's hunger made him quite anxious. In his heart, he had regarded Kai as a friend, and he had begun to rely on Kai more after seeing the fire in his hand yesterday. Right now, the only person who could help him survive to get to Moon City was Kai. If he helped him escape danger, he would take care of his meals. This was what Noah was thinking in his heart.
The two sat down in a clean corner of the kitchen, and before Noah could settle down, he heard a sharp "squeak." A large mouse jumped towards his thigh. Noah was startled and instinctively dove into Kai.
Kai quickly pulled out a dagger and stabbed at the mouse. Unfortunately, the mouse was incredibly agile and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"We still have meat; we shouldn't have to eat mice! Just wait a moment." Noah said, seeing Kai's regretful expression as he sheathed his dagger.
"You've already eaten cockroaches, what are you afraid of?"
Noah felt a chill at the back of his neck, not daring to remember how he had boldly called it king crab before eating cockroaches yesterday.
He opened his backpack and took out the pack of meat he had picked up outside in the snow earlier.
Kai also opened his backpack to see if there was any food left. He discovered that there was still a pack of dry rations that hadn't spoiled, and he quickly put it in his mouth and chewed, despite it being very dry and hard.
"Eat slowly, this is incredibly dry, you might choke!" Noah said, handing over a bottle of spring water.
Kai took a sip of water and continued to chew on the dry rations.
"Wait a moment, I'll go cook some meat for you!" After saying that, he went to turn on the stove.
This was truly hard to eat; even though he had eaten it many times during training, now there was no choice. His stomach felt like a bottomless pit; he needed to replenish his food immediately. Kai was eating like a tiger that hadn't eaten for days. The more he ate, the hungrier he felt.
"Did getting that ability make you feel this hungry?" Noah said as he sprinkled a bit of the remaining salt into the meat and put it on the fire. Then he turned to look at Kai.
"For sure!" Kai replied.
"Then the fever you had yesterday might also be due to your evolution. Usually, when the human body receives foreign substances, it tends to produce fevers!" Noah thought for a moment and said.
"That could be it!"
After Kai finished the packet of dry rations and also drank Noah's bottle of water, he still didn't feel full, just as Noah's meat dish was finally done.
He brought it down for Kai to continue eating.
Noah sat and watched him eat, after handing him water, he softly asked: "Are you full yet?"
"We're running late, let's go!" Kai said, looking at the clock on the wall.
"If we keep delaying, we won't make it to the plane to Moon City, hurry up!"
"I hope that once we reach Moon City, we won't have to eat these things anymore!"
Kai said nothing. He stood up, picked up his backpack, and left the house.
Both of them carried a desire for delicious food in their hearts as they continued their journey side by side.