After Andrew left, June finally asked curiously, “Did you need something from me?”
“I just came to ask if you’re heading out to search for supplies today.” The reason Leon wanted June to come with him was simple: she had one of the old world’s ultimate arbiters of truth in her hands.
More importantly, aside from being a little softhearted, there was almost nothing wrong with her as a teammate.
Whenever trouble came, she was willing to charge in first, and even more remarkably, she was genuinely willing to stay behind and cover his retreat.
“Where do you want to go?” June asked.
“How about we take a look around the third floor?” Leon suggested.
The mall’s basement level housed the supermarket, the first floor had the food court and various restaurants, the second floor was dedicated to health products and cosmetics, while the third floor was the clothing section.
Hearing that Leon wanted to go to the third floor, June gave him a thoughtful once-over.
“Sure. I need some new clothes anyway.” June nodded.
Ever since water had become scarce, she hadn’t showered or washed her clothes.
Besides, what woman would ever complain about having too many clothes?
“Wait here for a minute. I’m going to change.” With that, June turned and entered the bedroom.
Calling it a bedroom was generous.
It was actually a small converted storage room.
Leon had been inside before, and the space was cramped, with nothing but a simple single bed.
June usually stayed over in the women’s dormitory area.
She only rested in the bedroom behind her office when she was especially busy.
Before long, June emerged in flats with her hair tied back, looking sharp and capable.
Neither of them said much.
They left the office with an unspoken understanding and headed straight for the third floor through the emergency stairwell.
“Are there any monsters on the third floor?” Leon asked curiously.
June shook her head.
“Quite a few people have already gone up there to scavenge, and none of them encountered any monsters.”
Hearing that there weren’t any Pokémon on the third floor, Leon relaxed a little.
He had never dared gamble his life on luck.
After all, he couldn’t guarantee that every Pokémon he encountered would be one with little inclination to attack humans.
Once they reached the third floor, the two deliberately made a cautious circuit of the area.
After confirming there was no danger, they split up.
June headed into a lingerie store, while Leon entered a men’s clothing store.
First things first: underwear.
He had been wearing the same pair for nearly three days.
He now had two choices before him: put on a brand-new, unwashed pair, or keep wearing the old one.
Leon decisively chose the new pair.
Choosing the rest of his clothes was even easier.
He looked for anything suitable for strenuous activity, with plenty of pockets being the most important requirement.
After all, in an apocalypse, survival would always come first.
Leon deliberately picked out seven pieces of clothing, then found several loaves of bread in a box by the counter.
They had probably been meant as breakfast or dinner for the clothing store’s staff, but now Leon was the one benefiting from them.
During the early stages of the apocalypse, living in a mall really was a luxury.
You could practically go on a zero-dollar shopping spree every day.
After changing into his new clothes, Leon went outside the women’s clothing store to wait for June.
The third floor used one-way glass throughout.
You couldn’t see inside from outside, and it let plenty of light through, but June had still warned him not to go near any of the clothing stores along the outer perimeter.
Women had always taken their time shopping for clothes, especially in a relatively safe environment.
Even June wasn’t immune to that.
Leon helplessly pulled out his phone and glanced at the time.
It had been almost an hour, and she was actually still inside trying on clothes.
Leon sat outside, bored out of his mind as he waited.
Just then, a thunderous crash erupted.
BOOM!
A faint tremor ran through the floor immediately afterward, and Leon shot out of his chair.
June hurried out of the clothing store with her gun.
She had even come out carrying nothing but a handgun.
“What happened?” June asked, her face tense.
Leon shook his head blankly.
“I don’t know.”
“It probably wasn’t an earthquake, right?”
Gradually calming down, Leon analyzed the situation.
“An earthquake wouldn’t just shake once. That felt more like something slammed into one of the mall’s load-bearing walls.”
June’s expression instantly darkened.
They both immediately thought of the culprit.
“Those damned rat monsters aren’t gnawing through the load-bearing walls, are they?” June gritted her teeth.
Never in her life had she hated rats as much as she did today.
Leon reassured her, “It doesn’t necessarily mean a load-bearing wall collapsed. Something might’ve just hit one really hard.”
Rattata had habits similar to ordinary rats, and because of their two large incisors, they were almost constantly looking for things to gnaw on and wear down their teeth.
More importantly, Rattata were highly mobile.
They spent practically every day either eating or searching for food.
Thinking about it, Leon realized that the mall might not be as safe as he’d imagined.
There were at least close to forty Rattata living in the mall’s basement level.
That was actually a terrifying number.
After all, Rattata were far stronger in combat than Pokémon like Caterpie.
A Rattata that knew Tackle could easily ram an adult human to death, while stronger ones might even know moves like Quick Attack or Hyper Fang.
Leon’s expression grew somber.
“What we need to worry about now is whether this was an isolated incident.”
“If it was, that’s fine. It means the mall might still hold up for a while. But if those rat monsters really are deliberately damaging the load-bearing walls…”
“Then what are we supposed to do? It’s not like we can go down there and check what those rat monsters are doing.” June looked equally frustrated.
All they could do was stand there and speculate, and the more they speculated, the more worried they became.
Leon patted June on the shoulder and reassured her, “Hopefully it was just a coincidence. If something like this happens more than three more times, we’ll have to consider relocating the camp.”
June nodded with an uneasy expression, then went back into the store and brought out the clothes she’d picked.
“Let’s head back to camp first. Things are probably already in chaos because of what just happened,” June said.
Just as June had expected, the camp had indeed descended into chaos because of the tremor.
Fortunately, Lily had stepped forward at the critical moment and calmed everyone down.
“Lily’s really good with people. I heard she owned a dance academy before the apocalypse, and it was even part of a nationwide chain,” Ray explained.
Leon narrowed his eyes as he watched Lily reassuring the crowd.
He privately thought that the woman certainly knew how to handle herself.
The moment June stepped in, Lily cooperatively handed the “stage” back to her.
‘She steps up when it matters, but doesn’t try to claim the credit or take the spotlight.
This woman really knows what she’s doing,’ Leon thought approvingly.
Seeing Ray still standing there smugly singing Lily’s praises, Leon rolled his eyes at him.
“Next time something like this happens, you need to step up yourself. That’s your responsibility, after all.”
Ray awkwardly rubbed his nose.
What management experience did he have?
Before the apocalypse, the closest thing he’d ever done to “managing” anyone was looking after his younger brothers and sisters at home.