"You're sure you're okay with this ? You have a say too, you're the major shareholder of this company !"
Paquerette rolled her eyes and turned around to graze on the fresh grass. Sandrine laughed and went back to bathing the little puppy in the washbasin. She had thankfully put some clothes back on and even brushed her hair and tied it in a fluffy ponytail, she didn't look as crazy as before.
Maybe the puppy had been really scared, he had absolutely no mental barrier when Sandrine used the taming skill on him earlier. He directly accepted her as his master and became Sandrine's pet. She now had one more travel companion !
With Paquerette's permission, of course.
After making sure that the puppy was clean and dry, they left the park. Sandrine would have gladly stayed a bit more in order to clean Paquerette as well, after all it wasn't common to have so much water around, but she was too tired and didn't have enough arm strength to bathe an entire horse.
It would also be more dangerous to stay on the roadside, and Paquerette was already wounded. It was in their best interest to just stop here for today and spend the rest of the day on the road despite the chests appearing less often.
"Careful, there's a bear trap here."
Sandrine signaled to Paquerette, and they both made their way to the road fairly easily. Once they were back on the familiar asphalt, they finally relaxed. Sandrine took the puppy out from the kind of kangaroo pouch she had formed with her vest, keeping him safe.
He was a pretty puppy - 'he', yes, it was a little boy - with two floppy ears, black and white fur, and seemed to be about two months old. A bit withdrawn, he was the typical age to bite Sandrine's ankles, but instead was sitting politely in silence. The total opposite of the cheeky Paquerette.
"You're also mostly grey. Are you forming the colorless duo ?"
Sandrine laughed and absentmindedly twirled a lock of hair between her fingers. Maybe she should dye her hair too, to stay on theme with her pets.
"Oh, I almost forgot, I have to give you a name !"
His fur seemed white with splashes of black, as if someone had been scribbling on him and spilling ink. It was quite easy to find a suitable name.
"Let's call you Gribouille ! Are you okay with it ?"
The puppy kept looking at her with wide wet eyes. Sandrine wasn't even sure he could understand.
"You're a bit less fun than Paquerette… Maybe it's because you're young ?"
She shouldn't discriminate against her pets, this isn't a nice thing to do.
Sandrine put Gribouille down and opened Paquerette's panel. The mare had leveled up two times this morning, during their sweep of the commercial street and during their battle with the pack of dogs. Her stats were starting to look quite impressive.
[Name : Paquerette
Species : Earthen equine
Lvl : 4
Favorability : 25
Health : 89
Fatigue : 27
Strength : 15
Constitution : 20
Agility : 15]
"Woah, 15 in agility ! If things continue this way, we won't lose when faced with vehicles ! Way to go, girl ! And with 20 in constitution, I'm a bit less anxious…"
She didn't know exactly what those values represented, but Sandrine was sure that with 20 in constitution, most illnesses would feel like a cold. Even if the dog bites had infected Paquerette's wounds, the outcome shouldn't be too dangerous. Of course, knowing this and not worrying were two different things.
Sandrine checked the time. It was already 2pm.
"Do you need to rest a bit ? You're still wounded."
The mare snorted and presented her flank to Sandrine, as if urging her to hop on.
"Got it ma'am !"
The girl laughed and picked up the puppy who had finished relieving himself, and put it back in her kangaroo pouch. She then used her chest and rope technique to get on Paquerette's back and held on tightly while the mare started to trot.
Sandrine was still flopping around like a ragdoll, but it was a bit less dramatic than before, thanks to her newly developed leg muscles. She could somewhat tighten them around the mare's belly to avoid flying around. It was a tough work out, quite painful in the calves and thighs, but lessening the burden on the body was a win anyway.
That way, she felt a little less dizzy than before. With a clearer head, she could take a look at the server chat.
[Server chat (8,376/10,000)
-I give up. I'll go back to the road, I can't take this anymore
-I'm lying in my own blood. If only I remembered someone to address my last words to…
-I'm cold
-helpshagusbb,x]
The chat was mostly filled with people despairing, and the number of players on the server kept dwindling. It was only the first event, and a fairly nice one with a few traps and packs of weak enemies. If things got worse later, they might be losing thousands of players a day. They needed to become stronger.
Sandrine kept trying to exchange what she had scavenged today for useful things, but most people wanted food. A few were complaining that the stuff was old or dirty, refusing to buy unless she washed them, but she ignored every single one. She didn't need to try and appeal to them, what she was trading was too valuable.
Pots don't seem like much, but they can be used for cooking, or for boiling water in order to make it drinkable. Without a pot, you can't survive properly.
Right now with the lack of food being a huge issue, if you found rice or grain but didn't have a pot to cook it, you could only munch on it dry like an animal.
Sandrine had found a sack of potatoes and a lot of useful things during her exploration, and she was not self-centered enough to think she was the only one. As much as people were dying, there were others succeeding in entering the buildings and finding the chests. There were people with food and comfort, people who would need what she had to offer.
As she had guessed, despite the complaints her stuff was selling pretty quickly. Satisfied, Sandrine was about to browse through the trade tab to find stuff for Gribouille when she noticed the red notification in her private messages. Now that she thought about it, yesterday she sent a few animal corpses to AlphaWolf before passing out. The guy might be worrying a bit.
She selected her conversation with him and saw more than a hundred unread messages.
"Woah… Does he never get tired of typing ?"
Sandrine laughed and read everything thoroughly. It started with AlphaWolf taking the caracasses and asking if she was okay. It kept asking, then apparently the guy had seen that she had posted some trades in the trade tab and stopped panicking. Then, it said to contact him when she had time and that he would be sure to pay her back for the animals she gave.
In the next messages, there were a lot of pictures taken with the game screen.
AlphaWolf might have been a survival expert, or at the very least he was used to hunting and making his own food, because the pictures taken inside his vehicle showed the cargo bed of a truck, and meat was everywhere. There were sausages and saucissons dangling from hooks fastened to the ceiling, cured and smoked meat on the walls, and racks of ham and jerky tied to the ground with ropes. The guy might as well open a butcher shop.
Sandrine couldn't help but burst out laughing and typed a message.
[84jojo84 : Bro, you don't realize how dangerous it is to show such a thing. What if we have the opportunity to meet later and I want to rob you ?]
The response came instantly.
[AlphaWolf : Big shot is my bro, no need to rob. I'll share everything with my bro !]
He was really a naive guy. Who would have thought, seeing all the weapons and the carcasses in his truck, that he was a trusting nice guy ? Sandrine shook her head. Such a cute brother, she will have to protect him.
[84jojo84 : Then I'll share a secret too. Big bro got a little pal and needs some help to feed it]
Sandrine took out Gribouille and took a picture of his head against the sky. She made sure that no part of her was visible, and that there wasn't a glimpse of Paquerette. AlphaWolf was a good friend, but she didn't trust him enough yet.
She sent the picture and had to wait quite a bit to get an answer.
[AlphaWolf : Bro, you're so lucky ! He is so cute ! What's his name ? Wait, I got a bit of unsalted jerky, it should be good enough to give him. I also got a few bones I haven't processed yet, there should be a lot of marrow.]
[AlphaWolf : You know what ? Send me every animal caracasses you want, I'll process them for free. In exchange, can you send me some pictures of the little guy ? That's all I need to go on !]
Then there was a flurry of gift notifications. Sandrine grinned and put Gribouille back in her kangaroo pouch.
"Honestly ? Understandable."
As a fellow animal enjoyer, Sandrine could understand the feeling of powering through hard times thanks to puppy pictures. After joking for a while and talking about Gribouille, they both calmed down and started serious trade.
[84jojo84 : I scavenged quite a bit. Do you need anything ?]
She sent a screenshot of her inventory, showing only what she wanted to trade.
[AlphaWolf : I definitely need a pan, mine is not as big. Can you trade me a cloth drying rack ? I could use it to dry meat. Also… Is that a metal bed frame ?]
[84jojo84 : Yes. Don't need it]
[AlphaWolf : I found a mattress so that's great]
[Trade initiated]
[Trade accepted]
[AlphaWolf : That doesn't make up for the animal carcasses from yesterday. There was also last time's fuel and today's stuff, as well as lil' Gribouille's pictures… Here's my stuff, tell me if you need something]
[84jojo84 : The dog bed, for sure ! Are those blankets ? Yeah, I need that. Can you take a closer picture of the tools ?]
[AlphaWolf : Like this ?]
[84jojo84 : Yeah, give me the thing on the far right, and the thinning scissors. Also, I need the flat hammer and the tool above it. Thanks !]
After a round of trade, Sandrine had obtained a few great things. She was silently thanking the Gods for giving AlphaWolf such strange luck with miscellaneous objects, because what she got was exactly what she needed.
There were a set of fairer tools that she could use to trim Paquerette's hooves, a nail trimmer for Gribouille's paws, thinning scissors that would be enough to take care of the animal's fur and Sandrine's hair, as well as a few other things she needed to take care of her colorless gang. She had also gained food and sleeping supplies for Gribouille.
This set of trade was done, but she still needed to check out on the trade tab. Her stuff was selling pretty well, and her stockpile of cans, water and hay was growing by the day. Sandrine wasn't worried about a famine anymore, even though she would prefer to have fresh food instead of preserved one.
She was browsing through the pages, making small trades for stuff she wanted, like pet shampoo, when she noticed a peculiar listing. A player was selling 1L of water in exchange for 3 empty bottles. Sandrine immediately understood : The guy had a source of drinking water, and needed bottles to sell it.
She needed a lot of water for her and her pets, as well as for baths when she needed to clean them and herself. And that was without talking about washing dishes and laundry !
Sandrine didn't hesitate and directly sent a private message. This player was called "MomImThirsty" and didn't have his friend requests opened, so she had to first trade with him and send a message along with the transaction.
[84jojo84 : Need lots of water everyday, got about 50 empty bottles. Might want to fill tanks for daily use. Can exchange food or whatever. Contact me if interested]
This was a very good offer by Sandrine's standards, she thought the player would answer immediately. But the guy seemed cautious. It took a while for him to accept the friend request and send a message.
[MomImThristy : I know you, you're the famous big shot. Can I know what you need so much water for ?]
Sandrine frowned. Cautious guy. A bit too curious, though.
[84jojo84 : What's the source of your water ?]
A question for a question. The guy got the message.
[MomImThristy : Sorry, got ahead of myself. Can provide 50L a day. Clean drinkable water. You need to provide the containers.]
[84jojo84 : Deal]
Sandrine searched on the trade tab for a bit and eventually found several listings for 50L water tanks. She exchanged a bit of food and got them for cheap. People were really desperate.
She sent them directly to MomImThristy, he would keep them on hand for the trades with Sandrine.
[MomImThristy : Got them I'm sending you something as collateral]
Sandrine received a leather jacket, probably something that was valuable for MomImThristy. That way he would be dissuaded from using the water tanks for something else.
She took out the jacket from her inventory. It was really an exquisite jacket, not from cow leather but rather from lamb's. The grain was really small and it shone brightly in the light.
Suddenly, she heard a little chomping sound and froze. Lowering her eyes, she saw her worst nightmare. Gribouille had taken his little head out and was munching on the jacket.
"No ! Bad dog !"
The puppy let go and went back into the pouch, shaking. But it was too late. The exquisite leather jacket had little bite scars and saliva on the sleeve.
"Tell me I'm dreaming… This is a nightmare…"
She had finally found someone who would help her get water everyday, but now that player would probably hate her for life !
Sandrine sighed. She should be honest.
She took a picture of the jacket and sent it.
[84jojo84 : I'm sorry, my puppy munched on it. How can I compensate ?]
Once again, the answer took a while. Sandrine was ready to get insulted, but curiously this wasn't what happened.
[MomImThristy : Not a problem, you can keep it. As compensation, can I get a picture of the puppy ?]
Sandrine stayed silent. Then she turned to Gribouille, who was still shaking in her pouch sending little vibrations to her belly.
"Baby, you're a real lucky charm !"
The puppy didn't seem to understand, studying her face to make sure she wasn't mad. But Sandrine couldn't get any happier. How come having a puppy could make life so good ?
"Paquerette is the best vehicle and body guard, Gribouille is the best lucky charm and friend-maker. With you two, my life is set !"
She had such great pets, she needed to make sure she treated them well !
Sandrine looked at her inventory. She didn't have much to offer, but with the tarp, plastic sheets, and steel pipes she had gathered today, couldn't she make some kind of shelter ?