Zachary took caution walking through the city, watching to ensure he wasn't ambushed. He had his wind cannon strapped across his back and his kinetic shield under his shirt, both of which had saved his life on numerous occasions. It was not long before he had arrived at where the military delivered its aid. At first the aid they had given out was helpful, feeding and clothing many people. However, they quickly became very stingy to the point where they hand-outs were almost useless and it was little more than to maintain a presence in the people's lives. So Kaa'is suggested, very pointedly, that they would need to [i]take[/i] what they needed. Zachary had caved, and they soon became good at this routine.

They were in an open area, and soldiers were on a strong watch to deal with any Conduits who decided to attack, or Guardians for that matter. In fact, at present the military were very antagonistic against anyone with a kage, hostile or not. Crates filled with hand-outs were stacked around the plaza and people lined up for the morsels which they would receive. Zachary nonchalantly surveyed the area and soon spotted a blind-spot in the guard formation. Working his way around via the buildings he slipped in through the blind spot and ducked behind a stack of crates. [b][i]Let's get to work,[/i][/b] Kaa'is said to him. Zachary was, of course, nervous. [i]You know they'll probably kill us if they catch us.[/i] Kaa'is gave a mental shrug of indifference. [b][i]You'll be fine. You're just too much of a coward to get even food.[/i][/b]

Looking both ways, Zachary got to work. The crates, he had discovered when he first tried this, were made of wood but held together with metal nails. Placing a finger on the head of one nail, he drew his finger back, taking the nail with it. The extraction of a single nail at contact-range took very little effort, and several nails later he was able to quietly remove one of the planks from the face on his side. Quickly and swiftly he removed as much food and water as he could carry in his bag from the crate. There was a queasy lightness in his stomach from a combination of nervousness and adrenaline. Some people liked that feeling, but not him. He just wanted to get out of there as soon as he could. And so, as soon as he had grabbed what he wanted, he checked to see that his escape was clear and quiet sneaked off.