Having stuffed the useless plastic into my empty wallet, I headed for the store door. As I entered, I kept my hand on the pistol grip in my jacket pocket, just in case. But my fears were unfounded; the store was already empty. The shelves were significantly thinned, but our predecessors were primarily interested in alcohol, canned meat, and fish, which were indeed completely gone. However, there was a sufficient supply of cereals, fresh and canned vegetables, spices, tea, and even frozen poultry and fish.
We loaded up like draft horses and headed outside. It was getting dark. It was already too late to leave Shchyolkovo for the distant boarding school. Apparently, we were going to spend another night in the apartment, and I really hoped my neighbor Zhenya wouldn't make a fuss about it. A
