Reaching the door of the store, Nile extended his hand to reach and pull the door’s handle, before sliding himself inside. He also did not forget to close the door before going in to prevent any zombies outside from coming in, or from hearing anything if something ever happened inside.

Right after he closed the door, Nile immediately slumped to the ground while breathing heavily. He felt even weaker than before as the remaining energy that he had has now been spent.

After resting for a bit to calm himself, Nile finally decided to look around the store. Not a moment later, his eyes went wide in bewilderment.

The store is as messy as the situation outside. The display stands were no longer standing, the goods were no longer there and the store was now devoid of any foods left. Only the empty display cabinet remained intact. 

‘Damn it’ Nile cursed inwardly as he suddenly realized that this was indeed something he had overlooked before.

Not all the people here are as cowardly, or as dumb as the previous ‘Nile’. They must have realized that during an apocalypse, food will become scarce and hence, will become a very important and luxurious commodity. 

Those brave people must have already emptied the store while escaping. He could even somewhat imagine just what sort of chaos this grocery store experienced during that time.

But not giving up, Nile mustered his last bit of strength to stand up and scan through the store with his eyes for the second time.

Although this store was considerably small, it was actually bigger than his room or house earlier. 

Fortunately, Nile wasn’t destined to be disappointed again as he quickly spotted a packet of uncooked noodles placed right under one of the stands that had collapsed. 

This packet of noodles was akin to shining gold in the eyes of the famished Nile.

He did not waste any more time as he immediately rummaged through and pulled the noodles out of its packaging. Without even boiling water, he gobbled it up, like a man that has never eaten a bar of chocolate before.

However, due to his hasty actions, the situation has become even more dreadful for him.

It has already been days since he drank water and his mouth and throat were already so dry that he felt it was like a desert. And due to that, the uncooked noodles could not be swallowed easily and it got stuck in his throat, forcing him to stop to try and cough it out.

However, his coughing was futile as the noodles somehow stuck like glue on his gums and throat. 

In desperation, Nile forcefully glanced around to search for something that could salvage his current situation. And at the very corner of the counter, a coffee vending machine was standing upright like a flowing fountain in his eyes. 

Without any delay, he instantly got up and ran towards the coffee vending machine like a madman. 

He circled around the vending machine and immediately pulled its back cover. And at the moment the inside of the vending machine was unveiled, Nile’s eyes could not help but tremble in delight. 

The water gallon that was used for the coffee machine still had a decent amount of water stored inside of it.

Nile immediately pulled the gallon of water out of the coffee vending machine, but due to his meager strength, the gallon fell straight to the floor. 

Water instantly gushed out of the gallon’s mouth like a flowing river. However, Nile no longer had any care about it. Dirty or not,  water is water, and he needs to drink it.

He kneeled on the floor, and like a thirsty dog, he drank the water gushing out of the gallon’s mouth and licked the water that had spilled onto the floor.

After satisfying himself, he then went back to pick up the uncooked noodles before gobbling it again like a beggar on the streets. 

Nile soon finished the entire packet of noodles, while panting as he leaned his back on one of the collapsed stands.

After resting for a bit, Nile slowly felt his energy returning. His stomach, though aching, was no longer screaming for food like before.

He stood up and glanced around the store once again. Because he was in a state of hunger before, he did not have the luxury of time to inspect the inside of the store more thoroughly.

Now, glancing around the store, he noticed that there were a total of five stands inside. Four of which were lying on the floor; the packet of noodles earlier was under the first stall near the door. The remaining one was the furthest and was the only stand left standing.

At the counter, Nile searched for a handbag that he can still use. He then went towards the rest of the stands to search and pick up the leftover goods that he could possibly find.

Although some people still had the rationality to gather food, the panic inside them must have always been present, because after searching every corner of the store, the handbag that Nile got from the counter earlier was now slightly full.

Inside the handbag, there are now four canned goods, three packs of noodles, a pack of biscuits with twelve pieces inside, one bottle of 1-liter water, and a 1-foot long bread. But this bread was already moldy, so Nile decided to abandon it after smelling its foul odor.

He then went back to the counter and sat at the turning chair that was placed inside the counter. ‘This chair must be the one the teller sat on while dealing with the customers before the apocalypse happened’. He thought.

With the amount of food in his hand, Nile decided to eat again, as what he ate before was a mere packet of noodles, which was obviously not enough to satiate his hunger.

He wolfed down a can of canned goods and three pieces of biscuits. Although he still wasn’t full, without a stable source of food, he decided to only eat them sparingly. 

After all, he knew that this amount of food can only last him for a few days even if he only ate once a day.