One morning, a little girl approached her mother hesitantly.
Her mother, noticing her daughter's movements, immediately approached. "What's wrong, honey?"
"Mama, I'm still hungry."
She had eaten just a moment ago, but over a week of physically and mentally exhausting exploration had made her hungry more easily.
Their group seemed to have plenty of food, so she considered asking her mother for more, as both her parents seemed to have authority over the food. However... her mother remained silent and thoughtful.
Dahlia knew this was the sign of reluctance. If her mother could, she would have been given food immediately.
Dahlia felt sad, but she tried to smile to reassure her mother.
Just as she was thinking about leaving, her mother suddenly stopped her and picked her up.
She allowed herself to be carried somewhere. Being in her mother's arms made Dahlia feel better.
When she arrived at a quiet room in an abandoned building, her mother placed her on her lap and pulled out one of her enormous breasts.
Dahlia was surprised by her mother's actions. She knew her mother wanted her to breastfeed, but she felt she was too old to continue breastfeeding.
"Mama, I..."
"This is all I can give you. Let me feel you... so I can be more certain of what's important."
Dahlia didn't quite understand what her mother meant, but she knew... she was trying hard.
She slowly brought her face closer to her breast and hesitantly took her nipple in her mouth.
Dahlia tasted the soft, supple texture of her nipple with her teeth and tongue.
After feeling her mother's nipple and feeling herself getting used to it, Dahlia instinctively shifted position and lay on her mother's lap.
The nipple hardened, and she began to suckle. She was a little confused at first, feeling like she hadn't figured it out, but it didn't take long for her to remember it as her mouth sucked naturally.
When the first stream of milk entered her mouth, she was a little surprised. But after a while, she got used to it.
Her mother's milk didn't taste as good as cow's milk or other types of milk she was used to, but she found it more delicious and more suited to her.
Every sip and sip made her feel comfortable and calm. Then, slowly, her hungry stomach began to fill. Until finally... she began to sink into the pleasure.
*****
On a rooftop, Kyle and a man were squatting down, observing the situation below them.
"Two people were seen entering the alley, one hiding in a public restroom, and another camouflaged near the garbage dump."
"There's still one missing. Let's help them."
Kyle nodded and immediately went down to help their comrades gather resources.
During the disaster, various people had formed groups like theirs. The cause was nothing more than differences of opinion.
So, occasionally, they would clash and fight over things.
Kyle calmly approached a young man who was packing snacks into a bag.
Seeing Kyle suddenly appear, the young man immediately became alert and pulled out a knife.
"What do you want?! I-I don't have anything important. There's no point in robbing me!"
"You may not have anything important, but you can still get me to get it."
Kyle charged forward.
A cautious battle ensued.
They might be on opposite sides, but still, neither of them wanted to kill anyone.
"Enough!"
"Are you giving up?"
"I don't know."
Right after the young man said that, a woman suddenly appeared and attacked Kyle from the side.
"Trying to create a hostage? Don't even think about it!"
"Why?"
The woman, who had just successfully launched a surprise attack and incapacitated Kyle, was suddenly thrown into a pile of canned goods.
Kyle and his partner knew the frail-looking young man might be a trap, so they decided to set a trap against it.
As they tied up the two men, Kyle noticed some yogurt falling out of the young man's bag.
He then checked the contents of the young man's bag, which contained various snacks.
"Is there more in here?" Kyle thought, remembering his daughter, who had been fussing lately.
"Hey, are you going to help me?"
"Oh. Yes."
Kyle continued to tie the two up, occasionally glancing at the store shelves.
*****
One day, a commotion broke out.
Dahlia, ensconced in her mother's affection, quickly turned her attention away while still nursing.
She glanced at several adults who seemed to be discussing something anxiously.
A few minutes later, her father approached them.
He watched her for a moment, before looking at her mother.
"Dozens of magis monsters appeared. Some of them seem very powerful. We need to deploy more people to defeat them."
Her mother suddenly removed her nipple from her mouth and lowered her from her lap.
"Dahlia, you wait here, okay? Mama and Papa will be back."
Dahlia watched her parents leave.
This wasn't the first time this had happened. Every day or two, creatures called magis monsters would appear, and the adults would go to confront them.
But this time Dahlia felt the situation was a little different, and it made her more afraid than usual.
Dahlia looked downstairs. There were people discussing and preparing themselves.
Children didn't seem to be allowed near, so she didn't know what they were talking about.
After everyone finished discussing, her parents returned to her.
Dahlia's eyes widened when she saw them.
Usually, only her father would carry a weapon, but this time she saw her mother also had a rifle slung over her back.
"Mama is going too?"
"Yes. These people are quite troublesome, and hard to trust. Why? There's no way Mama's beautiful daughter would cry just because of this, right?"
Dahlia didn't answer.
Seeing his daughter lower her head and still looking worried, Kyle went to get something for Dahlia.
"Dahlia, look, Papa and Mama have something for you." Kyle took out a black dress still wrapped in a protective plastic wrap.
"We've been thinking about this gift for your graduation as the top student. This dress is very special, so you have to take care of it—"
Before Kyle could finish, Celia suddenly hit Kyle on the shoulder. "Don't say something like that! Dahlia, you don't need to worry about it. We'll be right back as soon as we're done, just wait."
Dahlia accepted the dress and nodded.
"That's just Mama's child."
Celia hugged Dahlia, and Kyle immediately joined them.
After a while, all the adults began to gather and leave.
Along with the other children, Dahlia watched their silhouettes exit the door.
The room then fell silent. The other children began to turn to each other, wondering what they should do, only to find the child they wanted to ask also wanted to ask the same thing.
They all began to spread out and sit down to wait for their family, relatives, or friends to return.