Chương 20: An Outdoor Garden

The glass door closed behind them again, and Jack stood beside it, watching the three figures slowly disappear into the distance. Cass's last question still lingered in his ears. What exactly are you? Jack watched them walk farther away, then let out a soft laugh.

"Maybe I'll tell you next time." The words left his mouth, and Jack almost laughed at himself. Tell them what? That he was just some unlucky guy who had been thrown into this damn place together with his store? Or that he had a system that talked like it was asking to be punched and kept handing out missions whenever it felt like it? Jack shook his head and pushed the thought aside. That was not something he could explain anytime soon. For now, the hose mattered more. He opened the door and stepped outside.

Heat rolled over him at once. Jack narrowed his eyes and crossed the sand to check the hose. Nothing much had changed. Clear water still flowed from the end of the hose, landed on the reddish-brown sand, and quickly seeped down. The hollow beneath the hose had grown a little deeper, but beyond that, the area around it looked almost the same. Holding water? Not even close. It had not even left behind a proper wet patch. Jack crouched beside the hose for another moment, then scratched his head.

"How many years has this place been dry?" Hot wind blew across the sand. That was the only answer he got. Jack stood, brushed the sand from his hands, and headed back to the convenience store. Forget it. If he kept watching, he was going to dry out before the ground did. After returning to the store, Jack first dragged the little excavator over to the wall. After searching for a while, he finally found the charging port on the side of the driver's seat.

"So it really has one." He plugged in the charger, then found an outlet and connected it. After the excavator started charging, Jack moved a chair over to the glass door and sat there in a daze for a while. In the end, he still could not sit still.

"Let's find something to do." But what should he do? A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Then he remembered the camping gear in the storage room. There should be a few dome tents in there. They were the kind that did not take much effort to set up. Maybe he could start by making a shaded area in front of the convenience store. It would still be hot outside, but shade was better than standing directly under the sun.

Add a table, a few chairs, and maybe some potted plants, and at least the entrance would look less like a place designed to cook people alive. That thought gave Jack something to do. He got up and headed straight for the storage room. After digging through the storage room for a while, Jack realized he had seriously underestimated that batch of camping gear. There were tents. More than one.

Folding chairs, folding tables, camping lights, moisture-proof mats, sleeping bags, portable stoves, storage boxes, and even several strings of solar outdoor lights. Jack looked over the pile, more surprised than he expected. This was no longer just "a few camping items on the side." It was practically a whole outdoor setup. Right then, Jack silently thanked the old friend who had talked him into ordering the stuff back then. He was also glad none of it had sold.

In the end, all of it had ended up benefiting him now. Since he had more to work with than expected, the plan had to change a little. At first, Jack had only wanted a bit of shade. But now that he had this much gear, one lonely tent felt a little underwhelming. If he put up the tents, set out the tables and chairs, hung the string lights, added a few potted plants, and cleaned up the ground a little... Wouldn't that basically be a simple outdoor garden? The idea sounded more practical the longer he considered it.

"Yeah. Let's start with an outdoor garden." Jack started picking things out. Two dome tents first. Then several folding tables and chairs, followed by the solar outdoor lights, camping lights, and a few moisture-proof mats. After a brief search through another corner, he also dragged out several outdoor planters and a few bags of organic soil. Finally, he found several packets of seeds. He had no idea what kind of seeds they were, but whatever. Plant first, figure it out later.

One item after another piled up near the storage room door. Jack looked at the small pile of gear and, for a second, felt like he was getting ready for a camping trip. If the camping spot had not been a Mars-style wasteland. Jack grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper, then sat down by the checkout counter to make a quick plan. Step one: plant the seeds in the planters first. He could do that inside the store, without going outside to roast under the sun.

Step two: once the little excavator finished charging, clear a patch of ground near the entrance. Step three: set up the tents, arrange the tables and chairs, and hang the decorative lights. Step four: move the potted plants over. Jack stopped there. What came after step four? Water them? Watch them? Block the sand? Guard against Red Sand Badgers? Guard against giant birds? He looked at the paper for a few seconds, then wrote one more line. Step five: finish the first four steps first. Jack nodded.

"Perfect." Plans were the kind of thing that could slap you in the face if you wrote them in too much detail. Better to finish the simplest steps first and slowly fill in the rest later. While Jack was enthusiastically finding work for himself, Cass, Reed, and Vane finally returned to the settlement in the distance. The supplies they brought back quickly drew everyone's attention. Water, potatoes, bread, anti-inflammatory medicine, and salt. Susan noticed the medicine first.

For a moment, she did not even look at the bread or the potatoes. Her eyes went straight to the small box in Cass's hand.

"Is that really anti-inflammatory medicine?" Cass nodded and handed it to her.

"Jack gave it to us." Susan took the box carefully and checked the label twice before letting out a slow breath.

"It's real," she murmured. Then her grip tightened slightly around the box.

"Mara's wound might not get worse now." Elias heard the commotion and walked out from inside. Marg, Ray, and the others also gathered around one after another. Cass set the supplies down, already eager to explain everything, but Vane spoke first.

"Don't hand anything out yet." Everyone froze and turned to look at him. Vane rarely spoke first, and even more rarely interrupted others at a time like this. He looked at Elias. His voice was not loud, but it was serious.

"What we brought back this time isn't just supplies." Cass had originally been holding back a stomach full of words, but after hearing this, he slowly closed his mouth too. Vane continued.

"Jack gave us another offer."