Prayers Spread

Whether through experience or some form of entertainment, most people know you need three things to survive: food, clothing, and shelter. In a dying world, clothing and shelter are relatively easy. It’s not like anyone will stop you from stealing or squatting on abandoned property. Food is where the trouble begins.

Most people think that supermarkets or food banks are the best places to hunker down in, which is true if you only consider the abundance of food. However, they are also the center of power struggles between groups trying to monopolize as much as they can. Unless you are lucky with who owns the food, have overwhelming firepower, or are willing to submit to tyranny, you should avoid those places.

But that begs the question, what building will have a stable food supply?

Well, you just need to have a bit of faith.

Tick.

“Hmm… it looks like I’ll need to find some diesel,” I muttered to myself, inspecting the fuel gauge. It was barely above zero, but given it displayed anything at all, there were likely no immediate problems to deal with.

After all, traveling by train always made things easier.

It was about a week ago, wandering through another area, scavenging like I typically did, when I stumbled across a train yard. Although most of the place had already been ransacked, many of the trains remained in working order, at least from the few I could find keys for. A bit surprising, but maybe the people in this world weren’t that familiar with driving trains. I wasn’t either, but with my prior experience, it only took a few days to figure everything out. Once I found where the tanks were, I could easily obtain the required fuel.

All that’s left was to–

Tick.

“Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!”

Bam! I whipped my hand around, grabbing the holstered gun hanging from my belt, before shooting the intruder. It nailed him straight in the left shoulder.

“Urgh!” he grunted, stumbling backwards. His foot slipped off the platform, causing him to fall backwards, hitting his head on the way down. I didn’t see him land, but judging by the large thud and lack of crying, he was probably dead.

I made my way over to the source of the alarm and picked it up. “Good job, Jack. Good job.” The baby boy made a happy giggle as I rocked him side to side. For some reason, he seemed to recognize me as his guardian. Why? I didn’t know. Though, if I had to guess, it could be from the clothes I wore. Surprisingly, the mother was a perfect fit for my body type, so I immediately changed out of that cosplay to a more casual outfit. The clothes probably still had the scent of his mother.

Look, I knew I was a hypocrite. Taking care of Jack, the baby, was a terrible choice with the state of the world. Being no older than one or two, he was a burden. Not to mention, he wouldn’t even remember being alive; he would die before then.

Still, I couldn’t abandon him. Was it because of the smiling faces of my past? Or was it the terror and grief plastered moments before they died? Or maybe it was the bit of hope and optimism buried within my wooden body. It was hard to say.

Tick.

Nevertheless, I made my choice, so now I needed to obtain more baby formula. Unsurprisingly, my stock was limited. I didn’t make it a point to pick up any beforehand because who would? I only had a little over two week’s worth from the child’s home, and even that was almost out: Jack had a voracious appetite.

Slinging the child into the carrier on my front, I slowly made my way off the train, taking care not to trip off the ladder. As expected, the intruder was lying dead just below. After checking to make sure my gun didn’t have any more bullets, I swapped his for mine. With how many people that attacked the train yard, I had a near infinite amount of ammo, making my safety much more convenient. Though, that same convenience was offset by how often I switched my weapons.

Tick.

Traveling down familiar routes, making sure to stay hidden, I made my way towards a building that caught my eye yesterday. See, when it came to procuring food and water, picking the correct location was paramount. By now, most people would have joined into groups, taking over key buildings. While there were probably many that were trying their best to survive, there were just as many monopolizing the resources for their own greed. If I chose incorrectly, if I wasn’t killed on the spot, they would probably take Jack away, using him as a bargaining chip to work me as a slave. That might sound harsh, but people were sinful. The number of people who helped was about the same as the number who betrayed me.

The problem was figuring out which group represented what tenets. While I was scouring the area, food wasn’t a necessity. After all, why would a doll eat? So, paying attention to supermarkets and the like wasn’t my priority. I could start, but I likely wouldn’t have enough time to survey every place before Jack starved.

However, there was a better approach, and that was where my destination laid. You see, one thing that could be exploited was people’s morality. Whether due to guilt or some form of mutually assured destruction, places that reinforced morals were the last to be targeted. In addition, they received plenty of donations, including food, to give out to the needy. Even in unstable lands, they tended to uphold the common good, providing necessities to all.

Tick.

So, I ended up at a church – a rather large one at that. As I lumbered up the marbled steps, heading towards the large wooden doors slightly ajar, I made sure to holster my weapon, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. While their beliefs might cause conflict, there had to be at least a few willing to help. And if not, I would try another – there were plenty to choose from.

I slipped in through the open door–

“Freeze!”

Only to find ten people pointing a gun at me. Well, at least they hadn’t fired yet.

Tick.