Chapter 48 Living Large
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While Logan had been expanding the territory earlier, he’d pushed forward to a highway and spotted several big rigs that had crashed into each other in a pile–up.
His team cleared out all the zombies in the area, stuck Iris‘ flags in the ground to claim the land, and discovered that a bunch of the vehicles were still functional.
Even better, several of them were huge delivery trucks loaded with cargo!
They’d fixed up the trucks right then and there and driven them straight back to Iris‘ base.
“Iris! We’ve got supplies!”
When Iris saw the haul they’d brought back, her eyes lit up like Christmas morning.
“Hell yeah, nice work!” She praised Logan directly, and suddenly everyone else looked a lot better in her eyes too. “Everyone’s getting extra meat for dinner tonight!”
“Woohoo!”
“I’m actually moved to tears right now. Never thought I’d see you have a generous moment.”
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“Screw you!” Iris kicked Derek’s leg. “You’re not getting any
now.”
“Wait, no! I’m sorry. You’re like… a saint, okay?”
Iris snorted. “Call me boss.”
Derek struggled with himself for a second, weighing meat versus pride. In the end, he made his choice. “Boss!”
“That’s more like it. Now get all this cargo unloaded. No food
until the work’s done!”
Derek muttered under his breath but got to work.
Iris waved Logan over and told him to follow her inside to grab meat and vegetables. Tonight they were making potato and pork stew for everyone.
After Logan grabbed the meat, he checked on their
unconscious captain like he always did. By now, all of Damon’s wounds had healed completely. His face had good color, his breathing was strong and steady, but when Logan tried to wake him, there was still no response.
“His head and spine aren’t injured, so it shouldn’t be nerve damage,” Iris said. “But I gotta be straight with you. There’s still a chance he might never wake up.”
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Logan’s expression darkened. “I understand.”
He knew Iris had done everything she could. She wasn’t a professional doctor, and when she’d agreed to help, she’d only promised to save Damon’s life. She’d never guaranteed anything beyond that. No matter what happened, they owed her their gratitude.
He picked up forty pounds of pork and twenty pounds of potatoes and headed back outside.
Iris glanced at Damon on the floor one more time before following Logan out. Just as she turned to leave, Damon’s fingers twitched slightly.
Outside, Derek and the others were buzzing with excitement like it was Christmas morning. They worked together to unload all four cargo trucks, hauling down roughly two thousand packages of all different sizes. They stacked everything neatly in the yard according to size for Iris to go through.
When they saw Logan carrying out the cooking supplies, everyone rushed over to help. Some washed vegetables, others scrubbed pots, and a few set up tables.
Meanwhile, Iris walked over to the mountain of packages and started tearing into them. She called Logan over to help her
out.
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By the time dinner was ready, they’d gotten through most of the packages.
Iris had never had this much fun opening mystery boxes
before.
Out of everything, about six hundred packages contained food, mostly snacks. Chips, cookies, cakes, sodas, candy, you name
- it.
The variety was insane, way more than Iris could’ve imagined. She found at least a dozen cases of Coke and Sprite alone, and she generously handed out one bottle to everyone there.
Of course, plenty of the perishable stuff had already gone bad, like the fresh groceries people had ordered. All that rotting food got tossed in a pile off to the side.
The rest of the haul included toiletries, household goods, bedding, and some items that were, well, not safe for work.
Iris wasn’t picky. If it had value and wasn’t spoiled, she kept it. There was a decent amount of dog and cat food too, though Iris never fed Summer and the others that dry kibble anyway. They ate whatever she ate. Still, it was good to have as backup.
She also opened packages with clothes, shoes, socks, several brand new smartphones and laptops, and even some furniture.
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This really was like opening a bunch of mystery boxes, and honestly, it was pretty satisfying.
Iris was in an excellent mood and actually sat down to eat with everyone for once.
“What’re you staring at? It’s my food, I can eat wherever I want.”
“I thought you were gonna go off with Logan for your special dinner again.”
“I’ll eat however I damn well please! Mind your own business!” Iris grabbed her pot and settled in.
Everyone had their own pot. Thank god Iris had raided that appliance store when she’d cleared out the mall, because these things were seriously useful. Each person basically ate straight out of their own pot.
Iris served herself first, ladling a huge spoonful of tender pork belly and soft, melt–in–your–mouth potatoes over her bread. The rich, savory sauce soaked into the bread and it looked absolutely mouthwatering.
The moment she started eating, everyone else dove in like a pack of wolves. They all went straight for the meat like a pack of starving wolves. Every single one of them had that feral gleam in their eyes as they stared at the big chunks of pork in 5/6
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the pot.
The fatty, tender meat had been stewing for hours and smelled absolutely incredible. When they bit into it, that rich, satisfying flavor just exploded in their mouths.
Then they’d grab a potato that had been soaking up all that meaty goodness, and it was pure heaven. These were fresh potatoes they’d just harvested from the garden, and for some reason, they tasted sweeter and better than any potato they’d ever had. Maybe it was just because they hadn’t eaten anything this good in forever, but damn, these potatoes were something special.
Of course, they had no idea these came from Iris‘ upgraded soil. All they knew was that everything at her place tasted amazing.
One bite of meat, one bite of potato, then some bread soaked in that rich gravy. It was so good they could’ve died happy right there. Absolutely perfect, just absolutely perfect.
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ir Gifts
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
