Seeing Etta’s pleading puppy-dog eyes, Mandy Donovan casually replied, “Once you and Gary improve your superpowers, I’ll take you to kill mutant sea beasts.
Then you’ll get to see where they live.”
“But superpowers aren’t that easy to improve, are they?
You need Mutant Beast Crystal Cores, and I’ve never even seen what a Crystal Core looks like,” Etta Moore said, tilting his head, his puppy-dog eyes sparkling.
“Mandy, have you seen them?
And the sea?
So much water, so, so much water!”
“I saw them in my past life, and in this one, I’ve only seen them in my dreams,” Mandy Donovan told the truth, knowing no one would believe her anyway.
She had swum in rivers and surfed in the ocean.
In The Wasteland, she even had a waterless swimming pool.
Food and water were rationed in The Wasteland.
Although she was married now, with the right to buy a house and get a job, she was still a long way from having all the food and water she wanted.
At least, that was the case on the surface.
Etta Moore opened all three of their bundles.
Each contained a set of ragged clothes and one worn-out bedsheet.
The only things they could lay on the floor were three single sheets.
“Mandy, look—”
“We’ll spread two sheets on the floor and use the last one as a blanket for the three of us.
That’s the plan,” Mandy Donovan said, looking at their three identical bundles, at a loss for words.
The most valuable property the three of them owned was this house.
She pointed out a spot.
The three of them would sleep there until the earthen bed was finished.
Etta Moore obediently did as he was told.
Mandy Donovan, meanwhile, was busy.
She measured out the dimensions for the earthen bed and the stove in the kitchen.
Then, she calculated how many adobe bricks they would need to fire the next day.
Making the bricks and building the bed and stove would require a lot of water—more than their ration provided.
They would have to dig a well.
Firing bricks also required fuel.
Gathering firewood in the desert was basically a fantasy, which gave Mandy Donovan a headache.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
Someone was knocking at the door!
“My brother’s back!” Etta Moore jumped up to open the door.
‘There’s no peephole on the door.
Lame.
I’ll have to figure out a way to install one later.’
‘It can’t be Gary Moore.
He only left a few minutes ago, so he couldn’t be back this quickly.
Besides, he has a key.’
Etta Moore opened the door.
“Brother—”
A middle-aged woman stood outside, an awkward expression on her face.
“I’m a neighbor, not your brother!”
Etta Moore was taken aback.
“Oh.
Ma’am, can I help you?”
The middle-aged woman pointed to the door next to theirs.
“I’m your neighbor.
I moved in a few days before you.”
‘This floor has eight units per stairwell, and Mandy Donovan had picked the largest apartment—the one with a bathroom.
Is this woman here to ask to use it?’ Mandy was instantly on guard.
“I just came to let you know, there’s a public restroom in each building section,” the middle-aged woman said, introducing herself as May Grant.
She lived next door with her husband and daughter.
Her two sons had both been married off, one into a family in the New Sharn District and the other elsewhere.
Her family’s apartment was twenty square meters with a two-square-meter kitchen, but no bathroom.
Since the woman had made the first move, Mandy Donovan couldn’t be too cold.
She went to the doorway and asked about the weather patterns in the New Sharn District.
May Grant stared at Mandy Donovan’s youthful face, a strange look flashing in her eyes.
“In three months, once December hits, it’ll start getting cold.
The temperature will drop from twenty degrees Celsius to negative ten, and it’ll keep falling after that.
It can get as cold as negative forty.
Heating supplies are tight in the New Sharn District, so we all—”
She paused.
She stopped, looking like she wanted to say more but was holding back.
“Ma’am, just look at our place.
The three of us only have one set of ragged clothes and a single bedsheet each.
We have to buy everything,” Mandy Donovan said, enthusiastically taking May Grant’s arm and lowering her voice.
“You were about to mention the Black Market, weren’t you?
I’ve been trying to find it since we arrived but had no one to ask.
You’d be doing us a huge favor if you told me about it.”
She stepped aside to let May Grant see her bare room.
It was truly empty.
May Grant’s lips moved, and she too lowered her voice.
“I’ll take you when the time comes.
We’re neighbors, so we should look out for each other.”
“Of course, of course,” Mandy agreed.
‘Our home is completely bare,’ she thought.
‘How does May Grant expect me to ‘look out for her’?
Relationships are built through interaction, I get that, but this is The Wasteland!’
‘I’ll just have to wait and see.’
‘In any case, my Space and supplies must never be revealed.’
When May Grant returned home, her husband hadn’t come back from work yet; only her daughter was there.
She let out a sigh.
“A new family moved in next door.
One wife and two husbands, no parents.
Their home is completely empty.
It’s a family of three, and the wife is just a little bit older than you.”
“Mom, are you being a bleeding heart again?
You act as if we have everything.
You’re only a temp, and I don’t even have a job,” Holly Grant bristled.
There were people in the other six apartments on their floor, but her mom was the only one who went to knock on the new neighbors’ door.
“Every time my second brother complains about being poor, you give him whatever he wants.
There are three of us living here!
My eldest brother was married off too, but he’s never come to us for a handout.
Instead of helping strangers and our second brother, you should be helping our eldest!”
“I’ve stopped helping him, haven’t I?” May Grant retorted.
The woman her second son had married had taken five other husbands besides him.
The entire family of seven was unemployed, living entirely off the support of the six husbands’ families.
Nowadays, just hearing her second son call her “Mom” gave her a headache.
She chose to ignore her daughter’s suggestion to help the eldest son.
‘It wasn’t that simple.’
Holly Grant rolled her eyes, strode out of her home, and knocked on the new neighbor’s door.
It was Etta Moore who opened the door again.
Before Etta Moore could ask what she wanted, Holly Grant spoke rapidly, “There are signs for the gathering zones just outside the city.
If you’re willing to work hard, you can go there.”
“Oh, thank you,” Etta Moore said, a bit stunned.
Holly Grant turned and went right back to her own home.
“Our neighbors are pretty enthusiastic,” Mandy Donovan commented with a peculiar expression, the compliment insincere.
Etta Moore missed the undertone in her voice and readily agreed.
“Yeah, they are.
I didn’t think there would be gathering zones in the New Sharn District.
What kind of mutant plants could possibly grow in the desert?”
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” Mandy said.
‘If there are mutant plants, that makes things easier.
That’s one material for the bricks sorted.’ She was actually looking forward to making them.
She only knew the theory; tomorrow would be her first practical attempt.
‘I miss the internet, short-form videos, and food delivery!’
‘Sigh.’
The sound of a key turning in the lock came from outside the door.
Etta Moore’s enthusiasm for opening the door hadn’t diminished.
He jumped up from the floor.
“This time it’s definitely my brother.”
Before he could reach the door, Gary Moore opened it with his key.
“I picked up our seven-day rations,” he said.
“And I bought this.
I’m sure you’ll need it.” He handed her a small bag.
It was small and square.
The sight of his reddened earlobes told Mandy Donovan exactly what he had bought.
Back at the welfare center, they received a free monthly supply of sanitary pads.
She’d forgotten that this benefit no longer applied now that they’d left.
“How many points?
I’ll transfer them to you.”
“Twenty.
This stuff is expensive,” Gary Moore said, looking away awkwardly and just holding out his wristband.
Etta Moore’s gaze darted around the room, also avoiding Mandy Donovan’s eyes.
‘These two silly kids,’ Mandy thought.
‘Do they really have to be so awkward?’ Completely unfazed, she took the bag and transferred the points.
“There are toilets on the first floor.
If you need to use the restroom, go down there.”
The so-called public restrooms were all dry toilets.
Her mild germaphobia had been thoroughly cured during her time at the welfare center.
The three of them ate their daily rations and lay on the floor, chatting.
“There are gathering zones outside the city!
I can’t believe we didn’t see them on the way here!”
“Let’s get the apartment set up first.
Once you two start your jobs, you can leave the gathering to me.”
“By the way, can your Gold Element Superpower make water buckets?”
Mandy Donovan was being unusually talkative.
“If you mean the kind of jugs they use for water delivery in the kitchens, I can give it a try,” Gary Moore said, curious.
“What do you need a jug like that for?”
“To use at home.
Plus, we can trade them for points.
If you can make them, Etta probably can too.
You should both make them,” Mandy said.
She was still thinking about the uncontaminated water from the secret base.
Etta’s face flushed.
“But I don’t know how!
What do I do?
What does a water jug even look like?
I’ve never seen one!”
Mandy Donovan was speechless.
“…You two helped out in the kitchens, and you’ve never seen the water jugs?
The kind with the indented handles, the ones that can be stacked when they’re full.”
‘The wristbands only had simple communication and testing functions.
They couldn’t connect to the internet, make video calls, or send pictures like the ones in novels.’
‘Now she was once again hoping the wristbands would get an upgrade.’
‘Life without the internet was just too inconvenient.’