14.
He pulled open the pantry door and prompted himself not to cringe. Three cans of chunk tuna fish sat scattered on the shelf. There was a half a box of buttery crackers and two tins of corn. Krillin sighed and closed the door. He'd known what was awaiting him, but he felt his stomach sink just the same.
"Well?" a voice asked, and Krillin turned to find Yamcha watching him with an oddly calm expression given their circumstances. It had been weeks since the television broadcasts had come to a crashing halt. Their electricity had cut off a few days later and now water was an issue. On an island surrounded by ocean it seemed silly but somewhere in the back of his mind The Rime of the Ancient Mariner taunted him.
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
"It's bad," Krillin admitted.
Yamcha nodded. "I know. I looked this morning. We have to make a run into town. Who knows, maybe things aren't as bad on the mainland as we think."
Krillin wanted to beat his head against the pantry door. He knew things weren't good, worse than they could imagine, probably, but they'd starve here. Or go stir crazy. Roshi and Oolong were oddly calm about the whole thing, but they'd put Yajirobe on food rations six days ago and panic had set in.
"We need food. Fishing gear, at least. The ocean stocked but we only have one net." Krillin scrubbed a hand over his face. "We could use some extra blankets. Some water filters."
"We'll need weapons."
"In the trunk upstairs," a third voice said. Krillin and Yamcha turned to find Roshi standing in the kitchen. His skin was red and peeling at the nose. They'd spent the last few days taking turns with the fishing net, trying to branch outside of their stash of canned tuna. They had each been wildly unsuccessful. The added sun made the old man more withered and frail than usual. However for someone hunched at the back a bit, he was surprisingly dexterous.
Roshi lead the group up the creaky stairs and to the dusty old trunk in the corner. When he pried back the lid, his students' faces lit up. Yamcha had half expecting porn. What they found was something else entirely. Like eager children, Yamcha and Krillin grabbed for the weapons inside.
"Why didn't you tell us you had this stuff?" Yamcha asked, picking up a katana a holding it up for inspection.
"Your training hadn't progressed beyond hand-to-hand combat," Roshi replied.
Krillin sifted through a satchel containing a total of six throwing stars before retrieving a pair of sai. The weapons boasted three pointed prongs, the longest situated in the middle, the outer prongs curved inwards. The handle was wrapped with butter soft leather and took one in either hand. He felt a bit like a ninja, holding the weapons. He thought of his best friend Goku. It was probably a good thing they hadn't discovered this trunk as kids.
"If you would've taught us how to use these, we'd probably fair a lot better out there," Yamcha grumbled. At the bottom of the trunk was a bo staff, but when he looked closer he saw that it had a curved blade at one end. If he had to come face-to-face with a zombie, he'd rather like the safety of having a long staff between them.
"We can do a quick tutorial with the others."
When the men came back downstairs, Oolong and Yajirobe were waiting on them. When Yamcha announced that they were going into town for supplies, Oolong snorted.
"Count me out."
Yajirobe cross his arms in front of his sizable chest. "Me too."
"We need men on the ground."
"No. We need food. And I'm not risking my life for it," Oolong said.
"Fine. You can stay. But we're taking Yajirobe," Yamcha decided. Which prompted Yajirobe to spew a few choice curses.
"There's a sword," Krillin interrupted. "I know you're good with one. We'll need your help."
And after a crash-course in how to lodge a throwing star in a tree trunk and wield a bo staff with mild finesse, Krillin, Yamcha and Yajirobe settled into the island's sole boat. It was a rickety little boat with a thrumming motor. The paint was peeling off the sides, the woman kneeling in a bikini no longer had a face. Or a left boob.
"Move fast," Roshi called, untying the rope and watching his students with a bit of reluctance. It wasn't a good idea to trek into the unknown, but they'd all die if they continued to wait it out. "We'll be waiting."