The Comprehensive Evolution of American Comics.

Chapter 620: Current Situation in New York

In the dark basement garage, Reed was writing and drawing on a wall. Looking closely, he saw that there were already quite a few "ghostly drawings" on the wall.

These scribbles are actually some special symbols in mathematics or other subjects. Basically, they are combined into groups of two or three symbols, but there is no connection between the symbols in the combination, so they look similar to scribbles.

In the blink of an eye, Reed had drawn another set of symbols. These symbols looked messy, but in fact they were really like that. Only Reed could understand these messy symbols.

These were all codes he had come up with on the spur of the moment, but these codes were not used to record things. They were actually some kind of numbers, and recording them was purely to make it easier for Reed to recall what he had memorized. It was a kind of associative memory method.

But only he can use this thing. Susan and others feel that using this method will only increase the difficulty of memorization.

He carefully put the charcoal pencil in his hand back into his pocket. Resources were scarce now, and Reed couldn't bear to waste even a small charcoal pencil.

After realizing his behavior, Reed couldn't help but sigh. He didn't know when this kind of life would end. Even if he was not a materialistic person like Johnny, he couldn't stand his current life.

Reed wanted to thoroughly study what happened to himself and several other people. In his opinion, he and several other people were simply untapped treasure troves. However, due to the lack of various professional equipment, Reed could only test some basic data.

The unknown is clearly right in front of him, but he has no way to solve it. For Reed, this is like the most severe torture in the world. He is anxious and helpless.

Reed shook his head to drive the unhappy things out of his mind, then looked down at his watch. It was almost time for breakfast, and Susan would come to call him.

Sure enough, Reed heard familiar footsteps behind him. He slowly turned around and saw Susan walking into his room. She was wearing jeans on the lower body and a men's plaid shirt on the upper body.

There is no way around it as resources are scarce. It is good enough to have clothes to wear. The plaid shirt Susan is wearing is the best and cleanest clothes she can find.

But even this plaid shirt, which is loved by otakus and older men, could not drag down Susan's appearance. She only buttoned the top two holes of the plaid shirt and tied up the long hem.

She turned a plaid shirt into a bikini, which looked very sexy. Reed couldn't help but take a few more glances.

"Time to eat, Reed." Susan smoothed her hair. "Canned chickpeas again today."

"Then I guess Johnny must be complaining again," Reed said with a smile.

Canned chickpeas are a classic American canned food, but they don’t taste very good. Eating them is simply to fill your stomach but not to satisfy your taste buds.

"It's good to have something to eat." Susan got a headache when she thought of Johnny's noisy look. No one likes to eat canned chickpeas, at least not in their group.

"Johnny's just grumbling," Reed consoled Susan as they walked. "That's just his personality. He might be nagging, but he knows he's really ruthless."

"That's why he will never grow up." Susan ended the topic. In this environment, few people can maintain a good mood. Johnny is like this, and so is Susan.

The only ones who haven't been affected much at the moment are Reed and Ben. The former is too smart, so he has always been rational and will not let those negative emotions affect himself.

The latter was because he was naturally good-natured. Although being turned into a stone man had left him feeling down for several days, he wouldn't take his anger out on his friends. Susan and her brother simply disliked each other. At first, Reed and Ben were worried they'd start a fight, but later realized that despite their constant bickering, they made up quickly. Their arguments were more like a way for them to vent, so they stopped interfering.

After all, the four of them are not fools. They know that internal friction is unacceptable under any circumstances. Now the changing situation outside forces them to work together.

Only by supporting each other can we feel at ease with each other.

As soon as we arrived at the hall, Johnny was no longer complaining. He was pulling Ben to review an old football game. The latter also looked very interested, and his two stone eyebrows were constantly jumping at this time.

"Finally," Johnny said, noticing the two people who had just walked in. "I thought you were going to wait until dinner time to eat together."

"I was calculating some data, and Susan waited a while before notifying me."

Reed smiled and sat on a metal block that Ben had pressed out of a motorcycle. There were still Ben's finger marks on the irregular metal block, and a car seat was placed on it to prevent his butt from getting hurt.

The table they ate on was also a car that was flattened by Ben. It was a byproduct left over from testing Ben's strength and was just a good way to recycle it.

"The Vipers seem to be getting more aggressive." Ben carefully poked open the can with his finger. "From what I heard on the radio, it seems someone made a makeshift radio and tried to call for help."

"There is such a thing? When did it happen? How come I didn't know about it?" Johnny frowned and took a bite of beans.

"In the morning, weren't you out scavenging supplies today? Of course you didn't hear what happened."

Ben poured the can of beans into his mouth like Popeye the Sailor, without even chewing it, touched his mouth and continued.

"They said they stole supplies from the Viper Gang and were discovered by them. They had no choice but to ask for help. The Viper Gang will raid their camp tonight, and they are now desperate."

"How dare you steal the Vipers' supplies?" Johnny's eyes widened. "Those guys are cold-blooded. I heard their leader even eats people."

"Don't talk about such disgusting topics while eating." Susan glared at Johnny in dissatisfaction. The latter knew that he had indeed said something inappropriate, so he could only scratch his head and change the subject.

"So what should we do? Just leave it alone?"

The restaurant fell silent for a moment, even the sound of spoons colliding with each other was gone. After a while, Ben's voice was heard faintly.

"I want to go. I heard a baby crying on the radio."

"Is there such a thing? Then you have to count me in." Johnny raised his eyebrows. "We're a good team. You'll be in the front while I'll set the fire in the back. It's a perfect combination."

As the two of them said this, their eyes glanced at Reed who was eating. After all, he was the backbone of this team.

(End of this chapter)