It was the fifth month after the virus outbreak. Big survival bases were already set up. Most of the people who were still alive had moved into these bases.
Near the city where Tracy's small shop was hidden, there was a base called Dawn Base. People in the base lived by searching for supplies. The disaster had come so fast that no one had time to prepare.
Many people had died. It was hard to say when life would return to normal. Right now, it had only been five months since everything collapsed.
Most of the food and supplies in the city were still usable. Since they couldn't make new things yet, everyone tried to find what was left.
While Tracy sat and read a novel to pass the time, she didn't know that a search team was slowly getting close to her little shop.
Tracy was lucky. She didn't put her shop in the middle of the city. Instead, it was near the edge of town. If her shop had been downtown, maybe no one would come for a long time.
Even though the area around her shop looked empty, search teams often came by.
The edge of the city had already been cleaned of most zombies. Only a few were still around, but they were not hard to deal with.
That's why search teams came here often, hoping to find something useful.
"Captain, many teams already searched this area. I don't think we'll find any food here. If we don't find anything, we won't even make back the fuel money. That's a big loss," Gelmer said.
"Where else can we go? Our team isn't strong enough to go deep into the city. If we meet a big group of zombies, we might not make it out. I heard there are evolved zombies in the center of the city now. Things are only going to get worse. Normal zombies are scary enough. Now they can evolve? How are we supposed to survive?" Kei answered.
"But if we don't find food, we'll starve anyway. The base stopped giving food for free. We're only out here because we don't want to die hungry," Gelmer said.
"I know. The sun is strong now. Zombies like to hide in shady places during hot times. Let's take this chance to search carefully. Maybe we'll get lucky. If we still don't find anything, we'll move a little closer to the city center and try again," Kei said after thinking.
"Yes, Captain," the others answered.
They kept walking while looking around. They checked different shops but didn't find much.
Most of the food had already been taken. They only found things that others had ignored. But even those small things could be traded for food now, so they took them.
Soon, they reached the street where Tracy's shop was.
Because they didn't find much, everyone started to feel annoyed. This trip had already cost them a lot of fuel. If they didn't get something useful, they didn't know how they would live.
They weren't rich. They often didn't eat enough.
If they found nothing this time, they might end up like the poorest people in the base, starving quietly in a dark corner.
That's why Kei said if they didn't find anything, they would risk going deeper into the city. If they had nothing to bring back, they would die anyway.
Going into the city was dangerous, but maybe they could be careful and get supplies without facing too many zombies.
"Captain, look, someone's over there," Isa said.
Everyone looked where Isa pointed. They saw Tracy's shop.
The door was open. The shop was very small, only around ten square meters. They could see inside clearly.
Tracy was sitting calmly on a chair, playing with her phone.
In normal times, this would be nothing strange. But this was the end of the world. How could someone sit there playing with a phone so relaxed?
Was she super strong and not afraid of anything? Or was something wrong with her mind?
But she looked clean and tidy. She didn't look crazy. That meant she was strong. She didn't fear zombies.
But why would someone like that stay in this place?
"Let's go take a look," Kei said.
As the group walked over, Tracy noticed them.
She saw five people slowly getting closer. They were all covered tightly in clothes. The weather was hot, so they were probably sweating like crazy.
But with the sun so strong, it made sense to cover up. It helped protect them from sunburn.
Tracy was very happy to see people.
People coming meant she might get a customer. Even if they didn't buy anything now, they might tell her what they wanted.
If she could prepare it, she could still make a deal.
"Hello, I'm Kei, leader of this search team. Why are you here alone? This place isn't very safe. There are still zombies around. If you're by yourself, why not join our team? When we go back to the base, we can take you with us," Kei said.
As the team walked into the shop, they all felt cool air around them.
It was like going from a hot oven into cold water. The temperature inside felt amazing.
Everyone thought Tracy was strong and mysterious.
Kei especially hoped she would join his team. In this world, strength meant everything.
With a strong person like her, their chances of staying alive would go way up.
After a powerful person joined them, it became much safer to go into the city. The city still had a lot of supplies because zombies were everywhere, and most scavenger teams didn't dare to go deep.
"I'm the owner of this shop. You can call me Boss Tracy. Thank you for your kindness, Captain Kei, but I don't plan to leave. I opened a small shop here to sell some things. Do you want to take a look? Maybe you'll find something you need," Tracy said.
As soon as she said that, the people in the group looked uncomfortable. Was this girl crazy? Didn't she know it was the end of the world and full of zombies? How could she think about opening a shop at a time like this?
If someone really wanted to open a shop, they should do it inside a base. Opening one out here made no sense. If their scavenger team hadn't come out looking for supplies, they would not have found this place. Even if she was strong and not afraid of zombies, who would come here to buy things?
They thought she was definitely crazy. It was a pity. She was beautiful and strong but seemed to have lost her mind. Still, even if she was mentally unstable, they didn't dare to offend her. In this world, if someone could stay clean and healthy after so many months, that person was not easy to deal with.
And if they made her angry and she killed them, no one would care. That would be a very unfair death.
"Boss Tracy, why are you opening a shop here? Hardly anyone comes. We are only here to search for supplies. This area has already been searched many times. Fewer and fewer people will come in the future. If you really want to open a shop, why not go to the base? There are more people there. You can sell more things," Kei said.
Tracy knew what he said made sense. But when she first opened the shop, the location was chosen randomly. She had no control over it. Once the shop location was set, she could not change it. It had to stay here.
Now she felt lucky to meet Kei's team. At least there were still some humans nearby. If the shop had appeared deep in the mountains or on a cliff, she might never meet another person.
If no customers ever came, this small shop would be nothing more than a storage space.
"There's a reason I placed the shop here. Right now, I only sell instant noodles and bottled water. But I also take custom orders. If I can get it, I'll sell it," Tracy said.
"You have instant noodles?" Isa asked with surprise.
Everyone knew how rare food was now. They didn't need to be told. So when they heard that Tracy had food, they were very happy. Even if she seemed a little crazy, if they could buy noodles, then this trip wasn't wasted.
But they also remembered that she said she would sell the food, not give it away. What could they use to buy it?
"Yes, I have several boxes of instant noodles. Are you interested?" Tracy asked.
"We're definitely interested. But what can we use to buy them? You know money is useless now. The base uses points. What do you want in exchange? Tell us, and we'll see if we can pay," Kei said.
"It's simple. I don't need anything complicated. Anything with value will do. For example, gold, jewelry, jade, or anything similar," Tracy answered.
They understood now. There was no free lunch. At first, they thought Tracy was not right in the head. But now it seemed she was thinking clearly. It made sense why she wouldn't open her shop inside the base.
Inside the base, everyone used points. If she didn't accept points and only wanted gold or jewels, she would attract too much attention. People might follow her or try to rob her. It would be hard for her to stay safe.
Opening a shop in the outskirts of the city was actually smarter. There were fewer zombies here, and Tracy was strong. She could protect herself. And sometimes, scavenger teams like theirs would come by.
Even if the chances of meeting people were low, once someone visited and spread the word, others would come. If the shop got a good reputation, more people would return to trade. Most importantly, she didn't have to follow the base's rules.
They were not fools. They knew that if someone without power tried to open a food shop inside the base, they would face nonstop trouble.
They also knew that food was very expensive now, but this wouldn't last forever. In the future, people would start farming again. Once food became easier to get, the prices would go down.
Tracy was using this chance to trade food for gold and jewels. These things would be more valuable later. Even though money was useless now, things like gold, gems, and jade still had worth.
She wanted to earn more in the future. They didn't feel jealous. They didn't have the ability to store those things. Right now, gold and jewels couldn't be eaten or drunk. Even if they had a lot, they were useless.
But if they could trade those things for food, it would still be a good deal. The only problem was, they didn't have anything valuable with them now. Was this trip a waste?
They were planning to go into the city center. But now that they knew about Tracy's shop, they didn't need to take that risk. If they could find some gold or jewelry and come back, they wouldn't go hungry.
Of course, it depended on the price. If the prices were good, they could even make a profit from trading.
"How do you do your exchange?" Isa asked.