Cultivator in a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter Ninety Nine - Spice Enthusiast

The cafeteria on base now only provided two basic, small meals a day to non-army staff, plain and a bit tasteless, no snacks and no extras. The food was enough to prevent starvation, but left stomachs rumbling. To prevent an uprising of angry civilians thanks to this change, they had made these meals only cost a minimal of points. A litre bottle of water was still free once a day to each person. Of course this was not just about the amount of food grown, a lot of vegetables produced edible leaves, tomatoes and potatoes amongst others did have high yields, these were things they were learning and would be aware of more in the future.  Things were not desperate at this stage and hopefully things would not get so as long as they continued to adapt and learn.  However if dependency on the army's cafeteria and greenhouses continued over long, no one would want to cook and fend for themselves.

There was still those who grumbled, after all, there was no gas and not enough electrics for people to use to cook their own foods with. A small bakers shop had recently opened, but they only sold a hundred rolls of bread a day and they were not cheap at all.

Others were more entrepreneurial and opened foot stalls in the market place and would serve roasted potatoes and other root vegetables or soups with varying contents. They'd purchased charcoal from a survivor who happened to work in this old occupation before the end and used barbecues to cook upon or nest food within. In autumn, a couple of stalls sold blackberries, crab apples and other wild fruit. It was obvious that these had come from outside and had been washed in the rain, at first, people dare not risk them, but when it came known that squads had eaten these outside, they let down their guard. They'd still wash them in boiling water first though. At this time, the scent of unsweetened roasting chestnuts filled the air.

The five men and one woman had guardedly transported their produce to the market place; thieves still roamed hidden amongst the civilians on base, becoming more of a nuisance since the food rules had changed and they were outsiders, most likely a rich irresistible pie for them. Of course, they wouldn't allow themselves to be so easily eaten.

On base, there were two types of shops; the army-run shops in the main compound, which dealt with produce and spoils obtained via the base farms, hens and their own squads as well as the fees from other squads (though they never really asked for too much and were reasonable in what they did take). Then there was the market that the civilians set up themselves. Each stall's rent was a small ten points a day. These were collected by a man who'd founded this 'official' marketplace. Originally, it was all a free-for-all, people would set up a stall by laying a blanket on the ground. But there was little law and order, the soldiers focused mostly on the wall and by the time someone was free to sort through the remnants of the brawl, all parties involved likely would have left the area with the loot and points. Any losing their wares or victims who'd been defrauded could only lament and hope that the bastards were eventually caught and charged. Truthfully, this never happened too much, especially when the army brought in the punishments for theft and such, but one or two still pushed the boundaries more than once.

So this opportunistic man had joined forces with a small squad who, by themselves, were no longer strong enough to face the increasing threats outside of the base and formed a 'protection' area and rented out their collection of folding tables and wallpaper pasting tables to form this market place. As the cost was not extortionate and the 'protected' zone not encompassing living accommodations, the army turned a blind eye. In fact, no one was forced to pay the fee, but if they didn't, they were seriously on their own if problems occurred.

Dexter still had a few points left from their last visit, but even if he hadn't, the manager would have accepted a couple of apples instead. They'd priced the fruit at five points, the same as the ones in the greengrocer's shop, which was a little dearer than those crabapples sold on the stall a few down from them. However, their apples were larger and sweeter which was enough to attract eyes. They freely told people that they were grown themselves and were not wild, many were also interested in the snack-packs of dried apples. These were priced the same as a whole apple, but they definitely did not contain a whole apple, likely just half. Nonetheless, these would keep longer, perhaps into the cold months when there was a considerable lack of fruit or even some vegetables.