Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 241: Big Haul

After a few discussions, Jun decided to ask Blake to help him gather a lot of food and buy strange things, as long as it looked unique they could buy it if it isn't too expensive.

There was a limited amount of food and the production was on the lower side. The government and military enforced a ration system which limits the amount that a person could buy. With the number of people Blake had together with Jun's hard-earned money from befriending Bernard, the goons set out to buy things to their limits.

Food can only be bought with food stamps. To get food stamps, one must trade money or goods on various channels. Survivors could go to the official exchange channel set up by the government or directly trade with other businesses at the marketplace.

The most common way to earn money was manual labor. Pack mules would be second, and whoring yourself would be the third.

There are various kinds of manual labor in demand. For the skilled and adventurous, the top-paying jobs were escort gigs or acting as bodyguards. For the casual survivors, helping with the creation of the outer wall was already a good fortune.

Jun entered from the south-western entrance of the city, stopping him from seeing the reinforced stone wall on the eastern entrance. Since the acquisition of goods might take a few hours, he decided to make use of the time tp stroll around. He hasn't traveled the entirety of the outer district because of what happened last night, so now would be a good time.

The residential area was bustling with people and each group had their own house. Newly arrived groups were assigned a house by the military after they passed all the required procedures.

A few points of interest were especially brimming with life even in the early morning. The entrances were filled with people looking for job opportunities. Manual labors like construction and chopping trees were a daily thing for the survivors. The person tasked to recruit people for building the wall used the pretext, "I will give chances to others, so I will recruit daily."

The parks found in the city became a social site for old and young people to gather in the morning. Individuals could be seen jogging around the area as if it was just an ordinary day. Some liked seeing this kind of scene because it makes them remember the past, which stimulates the feeling of safety. The past where you could casually go anywhere you want at any time without thinking of the consequences.

After strolling around, Jun finally arrived at the eastern entrance.

A three-meter tall wall appeared before him. It extended from the south as far as he could see towards the north. Soldiers armed with guns and pikes were patrolling on top of the wall.

The first two meters were made from all kinds of cars; jeepneys, buses, and vans, then raised another meter to make the floor before getting cemented together with wood. At a fixed interval, some parts were reinforced with metal to make sure that the wall would standstill.

The engineer who planned to make the wall knows that making a wall with poor materials wouldn't keep them safe from everything. So he focused on the time used to defense ratio the city would receive. The targeted defense of the wall were the regular carriers and the Hunters. Regular carriers don't have the intellectual capacity to climb without ladders or stairs. Although Hunters can jump and climb, it would still take time and the patrols would be able to react.

The three-meter wall had tree logs at a one-feet distance from the outer side of the wall. This helps soak damage while giving the time for the patrols to react and deal with enemies.

"Looking for a group! I have the eavesdrop skill! I can act as the team scout and with me on the team, you will never have to worry what's on the other side of the room!"

"Looking for work! I'm a strong man! I can carry more weight than others!"

Jun passed by after examining the foundation, mid-section, and the upper portion of the wall. He admired the creativity of the build before moving on.

The marketplace still had open stalls and Jun window shopped as he toured around. After making a full circle of the outer district which took around thirty minutes, he found out that not everyone had returned. Blake's subordinates went to fulfill his request to the best of their abilities. They stood in line for a long time and searched for the freshest goods that could be found in the outer districts marketplace.

Instead of waiting, Jun decided to enter the business district's marketplace. Due to the unpleasant meeting with certain people, he missed the chance to scour the business district's marketplace.

After presenting the citizenship certificate, Jun was granted access to the business district. The soldier on duty even advised him to register at the city hall, so he could receive an ID card. It appears that newcomers can enter the social district once, so they could register themselves.

With a new goal in mind, Jun looked forward to seeing the social district.

While passing through the business district's marketplace, Jun found a stall that buys and sells essence shards at one to two food stamps respectively. One food stamp can be exchanged for 100-peso($2) and vice versa. Jun bought every essence shard from the shop, gaining thirty-four essence shards. Since he didn't have much food stamps, he paid with cash.

The owner clad in a robe made from sackcloth, stared at him as if he was a mad man, and hurriedly closed the shop after getting the payment. He warily watched Jun before collecting his things and running away.

"What a strange guy." Jun thought.

The boundary of the business and social district had armed policeman patrols. People in the social and business district were skilled people, so there's not much problem with the security. That's also the reason why soldiers were at the boundary of the outer-business district.

People at the outer district had a higher chance of rebelling or causing riots if things were to turn bad. The army had to be stationed there for more impactful enforcement of security. Another reason might be that people in the social district prefers seeing policemen instead of soldiers.

After stating his reason, Jun was guided towards the city hall by a policeman. He passed by a massive five-meter cemented block of stone. When the policeman saw his awestruck eyes, the man gave him an explanation. It was a new type of barricade invented by the engineer. The block of stone was made from gravel, scrap metals, and wood. Those extra materials were used to save cement and for extra durability.

The block of stonewall was five-meters tall, four meters in length, and three-meters wide. Without a roller to push it, it was impossible to move due to its weight. It even has to be built on the spot to save time in moving them. After asking for permission to touch it, Jun placed his hand on the stone and saved a copy of its blueprint. He made sure that he was in the policeman's blind spot, so he wouldn't get in trouble. 

Unlike the outer district and business district, the social district appeared bright like a cheerful place. Even the rays of the morning sun inside the district felt different. Most of the people found on the road were policemen.

After arriving at the plaza, he could see the city hall in front of him. He tried side-tracking towards the statue, which likely is the Teleport Portal, but the soldiers guarding it didn't let him get closer.

The hotel incident has already passed and these soldiers weren't the ones from before. They were the regular soldiers stationed to watch over the Portal in case people from the other districts using the Portal, further reducing its durability.

The registration didn't take long and Jun didn't even care that he received the business class ID. Although he probably won't use it that much, having one give bring him benefits, right? He then stashed the ID in his dimensional storage before walking back to the outer district.

When he tried strolling around, police officers warned him not to wander, so he steered off certain places. The few places he could roam about was the church and the supermarket. There was nothing notable in the social district except for the restricted areas that he couldn't enter.

By the time Jun got back on the outer district, Blake's men had already come back. Most of them brought back wild vegetables, fruits, several fish, and some meat. However, there were a few ones who brought seeds and unknown plants. All of these came from the vast forest in the north-eastern part of the city.

Jun didn't collect the remaining money from Blake's subordinates since they worked hard and he feels satisfied with his haul.

After collecting all the goods, he received 50kg of rice, several kilos of various vegetables and fruits, dozens of large mackerel, and a few large birds and large snake meats.