Trista had even served as the captain of her school's dance team. During competitions, countless people had vied for her contact information, only to be turned down by her. And why? All because of her enviable figure!
Everyone in the world thought her figure was perfect, so who was Stel to call her fat?
"Just you wait!" Trista snapped, snatching the clothes from Stel's hands. Without another word, she disappeared into the nearby dressing room.
Moments later, the sounds of clothes rustling could be heard from inside. A few minutes passed, and Trista emerged from the dressing room, now wearing the fitted outfit.
Though the supermarket was dimly lit, it did nothing to diminish Trista's allure. In the chaos of the apocalypse, survival was paramount, and appearances had taken a back seat. Stel had overlooked Trista's potential. Now, dressed in new clothes, she was like a ray of light piercing the darkness, captivating anyone who looked her way.
This girl has been hiding her beauty all along... Stel thought, unable to take his eyes off Trista. He realized he'd underestimated her. Especially now, seeing her in the fitted outfit, her figure was stunning, at least a size D. The shorts revealed her smooth legs, hitting all of Stel's interest points. She was truly a rare gem.
"So, what do you think? Do you still dare say I have a bad figure?" Trista asked, striking a confident pose with one hand on her hip, showing off her curves.
As a former campus beauty, she had the confidence and the assets to back it up.
"Hmm... not bad, I must admit. I underestimated you," Stel replied, nodding appreciatively.
"That's more like it... But I don't usually wear such clothes," Trista said. "No wonder so many of my schoolmates wore outfits like this. It is very convenient for moving around."
Trista flexed her arms and kicked her legs, getting a feel for the new outfit.
Changing into shorts and a shirt made her movements significantly easier. Stel, however, wasn't concerned with convenience but with something else entirely. This woman seemed worth taming...
Trista was different from Elsie. Elsie was the type who'd do anything to survive, even act like a dog. But Trista wasn't like that. Although she appeared to be afraid of Stel, if he crossed her line, she wouldn't hesitate to fight back. That kind of woman had her own charm.
"Convenient, yes, but it also makes it easier for zombies to bite you anywhere," Stel joked with a sly smile.
Trista's skin crawled at his words, silently cursing Stel for his insensitivity.
"You told me to wear this, and now you're saying such things!" Trista crossed her arms, glancing nervously around. Shadows of zombies occasionally moved outside the supermarket, adding to her anxiety.
"With such a small courage, you still dared to stay here alone..."
"I wasn't alone! Before you came, I was here with my parents!"
"Oh, right. You mentioned that before," Stel recalled. When they first met, Trista had told him that her family was hiding in the supermarket. But in his rush to gather supplies, he hadn't paid much attention to her parents' situation.
Now, with plenty of time on his hands, Stel decided to ask, "By the way, where are your parents? Since you were all hiding here, they should be around, right? Or did you chase them away?"
"Spit it out! How could you even suggest that?!" Trista snapped. The idea that she would chase away her parents was preposterous, not even a one-in-a-million chance.
"So where are your parents then?" Stel pressed.
"They..." Trista started to speak but then clamped her mouth shut.
She refused to say a word, likely aware of her parents' fate and unwilling to bring it up.
"Before I arrived, the front door of this supermarket was secured with a heavy lock," Stel continued. "Zombies definitely couldn't have locked the door. I guess your parents went out to find other survivors and locked the supermarket to ensure your safety before leaving."
Hearing Stel's speculation, Trista's eyes widened in disbelief. What Stel described matched exactly what her parents had told her before they left. It was as if Stel had witnessed it himself.
"How...how do you know that?!" Trista was astonished, taking a couple of steps back, a cold sweat forming on her forehead.
"Anyone with a brain could figure it out," Stel said casually. "Your parents made the right decision. Taking you along would have been more dangerous, so they left you here."
Stel's tone was slightly mocking. As he passed by a shelf, he picked up a uniquely shaped cup and started fiddling with it.
"No! That's not true! My parents would never abandon me. They wanted me to stay safe. And they promised they'd come back for me after finding other survivors. My parents never lie to me," Trista said firmly, though her trembling shoulders betrayed her anxiety.
Yeah, they'll come back for you...eventually. But how long will that take? Or perhaps, they're already waiting for you in the afterlife?
"Your parents are definitely still alive. I saw many survivors on my way here, and the number of zombies around seems to be decreasing. You probably didn't notice while hiding inside the supermarket," Stel said. He didn't know why he was fabricating this lie to comfort her. After speaking, he even felt a bit self-mocking. Could it be that he still had a conscience?
But his lie seemed to have a positive effect on Trista.
Hearing Stel's words, Trista's expression indeed improved. Her eyes curved slightly upward, revealing shallow dimples.
"Alright, I'll believe you this time," Trista said, smiling at Stel for the first time. For a moment, she felt that maybe Stel wasn't entirely irredeemable.
As they walked, Stel suddenly noticed a hidden door in the supermarket, located behind the shelves in the liquor section. Although the shelves obscured it, Stel spotted it immediately.
He was startled, thinking that large supermarkets usually had more than one entrance. They often had a designated safety exit as an emergency escape route. These exits typically connected to a small door leading outside the supermarket.
Since arriving at this large supermarket, Stel had been preoccupied with gathering supplies and had overlooked such an important detail!