Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”What’s going on?”

Zhao Jianjun hurried over to them, snapped to attention, and saluted. ”Captain Gu, we’ve already questioned them.”

”They’re a hastily formed team. They set out before dawn for the container terminal twenty kilometers away.”

”Several of them are now showing signs of infection. The entire group needs to be checked and quarantined outside for at least a day.”

”But we’re not injured! If we’re not injured, can’t you let us in first?” the dog-holding woman shouted. ”Squad Leader Zhao, we came into the base with you. You know our situation!”

”Where are the live infected?” Yu Tianfeng asked, his expression one of keen interest, which made the dog-holding woman’s hair stand on end.

Seeing Gu Chen’s gaze sweep over, Yu Tianfeng quickly wiped the creepy-looking expression off his face and said innocently, ”We won’t do a live dissection. We just want to extract some blood samples.”

”That should be fine, right? We’ll still leave the zombies for you to handle.”

Dr. Wei nodded gravely. ”The zombie virus is iterating to its next generation. It’s evolving too quickly. We need the latest data for our research.”

Gu Chen gave his orders with calm composure. ”Take the ones who have turned over to the side and dispose of them. Let the research institute extract a blood sample. Dr. Wei.”

He turned to Wei Zhengtong with a serious expression. ”Don’t get too close. Be careful.”

In times like these, everyone in the research institute was a precious asset. He didn’t want to lose any of them for no good reason.

”Yes, yes.” Wei Zhengtong and the other white-coats nodded repeatedly, promising to wait until the zombies were cold before putting on gloves and getting close.

”Ma’am, before you enter the quarantine room, could you please register your name?”

The dog-holding woman was sobbing, her makeup a streaky mess. She pounded on her husband beside her. ”I told you we shouldn’t go! You insisted there were lots of goods on the cargo ship. What good can come from a hastily formed team? Everyone was just a disorganized mess.”

The man shoved his wife away in frustration and roared, ”Who was I doing it for? It’s for our survival! Life is already this hard, and you’re still keeping this damn dog. We should have stewed it for an extra meal yesterday!”

”WOOF, WOOF!”

”Officer, we were set up too! It was all Shen Jinsui and his wife, they tricked us! They said there were tons of supplies on a cargo ship at the container terminal, but when we opened the hold, hundreds of zombies poured out.”

”It was horrible, just horrible.”

Whoever opened that blind box was doomed!

Gu Chen raised an eyebrow.

’The container terminal? A cargo ship? Could it be the one Aunt Song mentioned?’

’That just goes to show how cautious and clever the girl is. She only took a look around the container terminal and came right back. She didn’t try to open the hold and unbox a deadly surprise, effectively avoiding a whole chain of dangers.’

”Captain, what are you smiling about?” Wang Bingwu asked, looking at his boss in confusion and scratching his head.

Gu Chen wiped the smile from his lips, his handsome face turning serious. ”Was I smiling?”

Wang Bingwu rubbed his bald head and shot his boss a surprised look.

’But you clearly were just smiling!’

Lu Wei, walking beside Gu Chen, said in a low voice, ”Old Du just came by. They’re planning to have Mr. Wu return to the Capital soon, and they want us to go back with him.”

Gu Chen frowned. ”When?”

”A week at the latest, I’d say.”

’So soon?!’

A trace of displeasure washed over Gu Chen.

’But if Mr. Wu was returning to the Capital, they would definitely have to escort him for protection.’

”I’ll go talk to the old man later,” Gu Chen said calmly. ”We’ve only been here for a couple of days, and this place is a wreck that needs rebuilding. Zhang Defan isn’t exactly reliable, either. It would be better to observe for a few more days before leaving.”

Lu Wei’s lips curled slightly as he gave a deadpan ”Mhm.”

Gu Chen turned to him and blinked. ”Say, if I invited my little sister and her family to the Capital, do you think she’d agree?”

Lu Wei gave him a blank look. ”What do you think?”

Gu Chen knew deep down it was a long shot and couldn’t help but sigh.

”What a headache,” he muttered before striding forward, his back straight as he walked away with purpose.

Xie Ning was completely unaware that someone was just talking about her. The young woman went downstairs, had some breakfast, and then joined Song Shijun and the others in the training room to practice shooting.

After watching Wang Zongxuan fire the small Crossbow several times, Xie Ning held out her hand for it.

But Wang Zongxuan flinched back, a look of reluctance on his face. ”Ms. Ning, this Crossbow is great. Please don’t take it back.”

”Oh, honestly. I’m going to improve it for you,” Xie Ning said, glaring at him in exasperation. ”I was just looking at it. The front can be modified to increase its accuracy.”

Wang Zongxuan’s eyes lit up, and he quickly handed over the Crossbow. ”Really?”

”You’re amazing, Sis!” Ji Taixian sidled up, laying on the flattery. ”This Crossbow, can I use it?”

”Your aim is even worse than little brother Shijun’s. Don’t you go wasting a good Crossbow.”

Ji Taixian huffed.

”Tai Xian, we of the Space System can also instantly kill enemies. I’ll spar with you in a bit.”

”Alright!” Ji Taixian’s eyes glittered. ”Sis, you’re so smart. Have you figured out a way for the Space System to fight enemies?”

Xie Ning nodded. Then, with a wave of her hand, she instantly summoned an electric fence from her Space and slammed it heavily onto the ground.

”You can do something similar. Stock your Space with things like bricks and steel bars. In a life-or-death moment, you can use them to smash zombies. It’ll be a direct hit every time.” Xie Ning patted the dumbfounded Ji Taixian on the shoulder. ”But this requires a lot of practice, and it depends on your aim and feel for it.”

Ji Taixian nodded in deep thought. ”Then if I put some knives in my Space, can I practice the art of knife throwing?”

”First, you’d have to be able to aim for their heads,” Wang Zongxuan said, rolling his eyes. ”With your aim, you’d probably need three to five months of practice.”

Ji Taixian shook his fist at Wang Zongxuan’s back. ”Don’t you underestimate me.”

”Sis, I think I can make my Wind Vortex even bigger. Come take a look and help me out.”

The training room buzzed as the group sparred and practiced. It grew even livelier when Song Kexin bounced in to join them.

...

”You don’t know the child’s father’s name?”

”The father’s name is Zhu Yong.”

The female administrator in charge of registration glanced at them and curled her lip in disdain.

’Surviving in the apocalypse was hard. Makeshift couples were everywhere—just dodder vines clinging to men to stay alive.’

”The base provides a free tent area for temporary residence of up to three months, starting from today. Come over here and sign.”

The woman nodded repeatedly and wrote the name ”Song Youxuan” on the paper.

The female administrator glanced at it, muttered, ”Her handwriting isn’t bad,” and tossed her a plaque-like object. ”Off you go.”

She looked up and yelled at the middle-aged and elderly women pushing from behind, ”What are you pushing for? Can’t you see there are children up front? How many times do I have to say it? Go get your physical examination over there first, then come back to register!”

”But I’ve already waited in line to get here.”

”What line? You cut in, didn’t you?”

Seeing a commotion about to break out at the entrance, Song Youxuan quickly pulled her two children aside.

”Mama, I’m so thirsty,” the little girl said timidly.

A pang of pain hit Song Youxuan’s heart. She hugged her daughter close and whispered, ”Mama will go find you some water.”