Chapter 12

The off-road vehicle, filled with fuel, headed north, leaving the city behind.

"In a few months, the weather will get colder. The efficiency of solar power generation will be reduced by at least half. There's a coal plant in the western suburbs, right next to a railway transfer station. We should get a truck and stock up on winter fuel."

"Many things in the supermarket have already rotted. The edible food mostly consists of rice, flour, and canned goods. This won't do. If possible, we should establish a new base outside the city, grow vegetables, or find something else..."

Xinyan and the old man kept talking, while Su Hao, holding the steering wheel, occasionally joined in. The fear and despair they had at the beginning of the virus outbreak were gone, replaced by the calm and composure that come after experiencing a disaster. The old man's composure came from his age and the passage of time, while the young girl had matured through the brutal and bloody battles she had experienced.

Following the river that flowed through the city center, they crossed the unfinished bypass road to the north, and the off-road vehicle stopped in front of an open iron gate on the roadside.

This place was on the outskirts of the city. Nearby was a construction site for a new housing development. The elegant sales center was on the east side of the intersection, with a luxurious interior that contrasted sharply with the concrete foundation, which had just been set up with scaffolding and no safety net. Further away, there were large fields, mostly planted with corn, and some slightly yellow wheat.

In the distance, the figures of zombies could still be seen. They had become one of the most numerous living beings in the world, almost everywhere.

Su Hao got out of the car and pushed open the iron gate. A courtyard with several warehouse-style buildings, covering at least a thousand square meters, immediately came into view.

The warehouse entrance faced the iron gate. Under the eaves, which were exposed to the sun, sat a mangled corpse. The flesh had been almost entirely gnawed away, and the spine held the skull in place. Next to it were a blood-soaked, dried-out bra and a high-heeled shoe covered in mud. From these items, it could be determined that the deceased was a woman.

Su Hao swung his axe and smashed the chain that was locked to the warehouse door handle. He pushed open the heavy sliding steel door and had Xinyan drive the car inside.

Inside the warehouse, dozens of bulging woven bags were neatly stacked. The old man walked over, leaned in, and poked his hand into the gaps between the bags, exclaiming in surprise, "Rice, this is rice."

Su Hao smiled and nodded, then picked up the battery and walked to the corner of the warehouse on the south side. He connected the power and pressed the green lever on the control panel. With the heavy clanking of the motor and gears, the flat ground suddenly split open, revealing a sloping ramp about ten meters wide.

The inside of the passage was dark, exuding a chilling cold.

The battery's power was limited and could not supply enough electricity for the entire facility or maintain lighting.

Su Hao opened the car door and climbed into the driver's seat, glancing at the shocked old man and the young girl. He turned on the headlights, pressed the clutch, and slowly drove into the ramp.

...

Returning from the future to the past, Su Hao, of course, had to take various precautions.

The weapons and medicines in the supply box were just the basic equipment. While choosing the city where the prototype drug was lost as the landing point for the teleportation, Su Hao also frantically researched all the information related to this city through various channels, including computers and libraries.

In the 1950s, just after World War II ended, the new government spent a lot of manpower and resources to build a large number of underground shelters and air-raid shelters, not knowing whether the war would break out again.

The predecessors could never have imagined the changes in the future. The long period of peace made the underground facilities, originally built to resist war, gradually fall into disuse. To make better use of resources, most of them were renovated, filled, or repurposed. The warehouse in front of them was built by a businessman who rented an old shelter and added ground-level facilities.

The construction quality of the early days of the country was incomparably solid compared to later buildings. Despite the passage of time, the groundwater extraction pipes were still functional, and the small solar power system set up by the businessman on the ground was sufficient to maintain the ventilation system. After waterproofing and leakage treatment, the underground warehouse was dry despite the low temperature. When the off-road vehicle entered the underground warehouse, the three of them saw countless bags of grain neatly stacked in piles, measured in tons.

Old Song Zhong stood there in a daze, his face full of disbelief. He swallowed hard and asked with difficulty, "Here... all... these, how... many are there?"

Although the words were muffled, Su Hao understood what the old man meant. He recalled the data he had seen in the old files of the future library and said seriously, "There are five standard warehouses, each with a capacity of 200 tons. The ground-level warehouse has the same capacity, but it doesn't have as much food stored."

According to the records, the businessman imported 3,500 tons of high-quality rice from Thailand after converting the shelter into a warehouse. Part of it was directly sold on the market, and the remaining 1,600 tons were stored in the warehouse. This is why the customs declaration documents were recorded in the computer, becoming historical archives that could be accessed decades later.

"The small power system on the ground can be repaired, and the nearby well water can be drunk directly. This place is very hidden, and no one will know the location of the underground entrance when the power is cut off. If an emergency occurs, this will be our second shelter."

The old man took a deep breath and slowly sat down on the nearby concrete pillar. He needed time to digest this information and to calm his rapidly beating heart. At this moment, he had no thoughts of claiming everything for himself, only a heavy sense of responsibility.

"You... shouldn't have told me this. At least, not so soon."

Su Hao understood the hidden meaning in the old man's words. He smiled faintly, "We should trust each other."

The old man was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded, his gaze toward Su Hao becoming more gentle. He sighed, "You have done a lot for us... too much."

Su Hao shook his head indifferently and said nothing.

Xinyan stood beside them, her eyes shimmering with a faint light, and she slowly smiled.

...

Since the day before yesterday, the three men in the small building began to take on different responsibilities.

Su Hao took Tao Yuan and Xinyan to the outskirts and spent a whole day teaching them how to use the existing firearms. He used bottles and other objects as targets for live-fire training.

He taught each member of the team to shoot, including Li Xiaomei, who was still breastfeeding.

Perhaps because of the gun control during the civilized era, the survivors were very curious about these unfamiliar weapons. However, the tedious and boring training quickly wore down their enthusiasm. The heavy guns made their arms sore, and the repetitive actions of holding them up for a long time were monotonous and boring. If it weren't for the occasional trigger pulls at distant targets, no one would have endured the scorching sun, repeating these puppet-like actions.

Su Hao knew very well that not everyone could become a qualified soldier. Moreover, most of the team members were the elderly, weak, and women. But no matter what, they had to learn how to use firearms, know how to shoot, and have practical shooting experience.

The sound of gunfire was not out of place in the open wilderness. The survivors received training every day. Tao Yuan and Xinyan made rapid progress in this area, and Su Hao was able to free up his hands to let them train others when he was busy.

Considering the consumption of bullets and the wear and tear of parts, the shooting training could last at most two weeks. Even so, the expected ammunition consumption would exceed 800 rounds, or even more.

There would probably never be a marksman among the survivors, but they had learned how to use weapons, not to forget to turn off the safety in a panic, and to know how to change magazines and reload. "1" and "—1" level zombies moved slowly. At 30 meters, 20 meters, 10 meters... the elderly and women would not actively attack large groups of zombies, and Su Hao had never had such a crazy idea. He just needed these people to be able to protect themselves in times of crisis.

Zombies kept visiting the trap yard. The task of harvesting the necrotic fungus hormones and silver bones gradually fell to the Han sisters and Li Xiaomei. At first, they were very resistant and repulsed. Su Hao equipped them with bulletproof vests and helmets, and Tao Yuan and the old man demonstrated the same actions dozens of times. Encouraged and scolded, and with the demonstrations of all the men, they finally hesitantly raised their axes, gritted their teeth, and with wide eyes, like the wicked witches in fairy tales, roared as they chopped off the zombie arms that reached out from the iron cages.

"You must learn how to use weapons. Not just guns, but also daggers, clubs, and anything that can harm the opponent. This is not cruel, but self-protection. No one knows what will happen in the future. One day, you may have to take on the responsibility of protecting your loved ones. Yes, the rotten flesh, the stinking bones, the brain matter, and the eyeballs... these things do look disgusting, but they pose no threat. What you need to do is to discard the useless notions of beauty and ugliness and do your best to kill every monster, smashing their heads."

Everyone has a first time.

When Li Xiaomei swung her steel axe with trembling hands and heavily chopped open the zombie's head, she felt a wave of nausea and vomited a mass of sour, foul-smelling, half-digested matter mixed with milk and soft rice grains.

Han Jing lacked strength, and the axe blade got stuck in the zombie's head. The enraged zombie became even more violent, reaching out its hands through the iron cage and howling like a starving beast. Feeling helpless, Han Jing felt her body go limp and collapsed on the ground, sobbing.

Han Ying clearly learned from her sister's experience. She swung her axe with unusual ferocity, using all her strength, but she didn't pay attention to accuracy, and the strike landed on the zombie's left neck. Blood immediately spurted from the ruptured blood vessels, splattering the girl's entire body. She stood there, pale-faced, and after a few minutes, she screamed with all her might.

Su Hao kept teaching them how to fight.

In addition to axes and hunting knives, there were also steel bars with sharpened ends and baseball bats from the sports store. Watching the zombies in the yard being chopped to pieces, the women gradually overcame their initial fear. The blood and bones, which they once found repulsive, became commonplace. They began to try, under the safety of the men, to hold the back of the zombie's head, inject the solution, extract the necrotic fungus hormones, cut open the buttocks to remove the silver bones, and finally load the broken bodies onto a small cart and dispose of them like garbage.

It was more like numbness than habit.

They had learned how to survive in this terrifying world.

Every evening, the survivors would gather in the small building.

Those who went to the wilderness for live-fire training would bring back fresh wild vegetables like water celery, fiddlehead ferns, green beans, and peppers. These were common in the suburban fields and were very popular in the survivors' kitchen.

Those who collected supplies in the city would bring back various necessities and a large amount of food that was still within the expiration date.

As for the necrotic fungus hormones, there were already many stored in the underground vault, but Su Hao still felt it was not enough.

The old man pulled out the shrubs from the green belt downstairs, cleared the soil, and planted some tomatoes and green vegetables, although they had not yet sprouted.

They were all trying to adapt to this chaotic and disorderly world.

To be precise, they were living.

...

In the early morning, it had just rained.

The ground was damp, with puddles in the grooves and indentations. The fallen leaves were still green, and the sunlight slanted through the gaps in the treetops, making the water droplets on the edges of the leaves shine with brilliant colors. In the distance, the faint chirping of birds could be heard.

The bloody smell that had permeated the city had faded, largely thanks to the rain at night. The zombies were still around, but the number of living beings in the city had greatly decreased compared to the early days of the virus outbreak. They were feeling hungrier and more frenzied.

Su Hao drove the car from the side road next to the small building onto the main road.

Xinyan and Han Ying sat in the back seat, vigilantly watching the buildings and movements along the way. They both held thick, heavy rebar, with pistols tucked into their waistbands or belts. The two girls, similar in age, had become familiar with each other. In their nervousness, they would whisper about topics of interest, occasionally bursting into hearty laughter.

The car turned right at the intersection and drove at a steady speed on the empty street. Half an hour later, it stopped in front of a "Dell" computer specialty store.

The three of them picked up their weapons and got out of the car, quickly forming a perimeter in different positions. They were already very familiar with these actions and knew what to do in such situations.

Su Hao stood on the wet sidewalk and stared at the store for a long time.

The glass door was open, and a red banner with "Festival Discount" was hanging crookedly from the eaves. The terrazzo floor was littered with leaves and trash. There were scattered papers, plastic milk bottles, and drink bottles. On the street-facing glass wall, there were several blood handprints. Due to the passage of time, they had turned black and were no longer fresh.

Su Hao picked up a flat "Coca-Cola" can and threw it behind the shelves that blocked his view. The "ding ling dang lang" sound was abrupt and jarring. This deliberately created, unattractive noise indeed had the desired effect—a zombie in a light green employee uniform, with a gray, shriveled face and only one arm, slowly emerged from behind the shelves.

Su Hao turned around and signaled to Han Ying, who was standing by the off-road vehicle. She understood and ran up, gripping the rebar tightly and thrusting the sharpened end into the zombie's left eye socket with great force.

She had learned how to deal with these monsters and had the courage. What she lacked was experience.

Harvesting necrotic fungus hormones in the trap yard was very safe. Su Hao did not want to take risks elsewhere and tried to minimize unnecessary dangers.

He selected two high-performance laptops and various accessories, put them in a bag, and left.

Su Hao was very curious—what secrets were recorded on the USB drive that was with the prototype drug?

...

The "Carrefour" sign, washed clean by the rain, was clearly visible from a hundred meters away.

Closing the car door and locking it with the key, Su Hao and the two girls who followed him walked onto the sidewalk, pushed open the street-facing door of the "KFC" on the first floor, and entered the supermarket from another direction.

The stores near the bank branch had been mostly emptied. To get more things, they had to go further. After all, large supermarkets had a wider variety of goods and more in quantity.

It had been sixteen days since the virus outbreak.

The fresh meat on the shelves had long rotted, emitting a strong odor. The fish in the tanks had bloated bellies, white bellies, and scattered scales, with a thin layer of brown pus on the surface of the water.

At the entrance to the elevator, there were several highly decomposed corpses. These victims had their necks bitten off, preventing them from mutating into zombies. Their abdomens were hollowed out, and their ribs were broken. Dark yellow pus oozed from the depths of their empty eye sockets, and their cheeks and armpits still had some rotten flesh. At the point where the corpses touched the ground, there was a layer of extremely viscous, dark brown liquid, the product of decomposing skin and muscles. Inside, countless fat, round white maggots wriggled, treating this place as a swimming pool and a comfortable, nutrient-rich cafeteria before they turned into flies.