Chapter 226 New Life

"Yes, yes, you've grown up and are a little man now."

Josie assumed he was going through puberty and had developed a strange competitive spirit and obsession with height, so she readily agreed with him with a smile.

The sound of hurried footsteps from the other end of the corridor broke the delicate atmosphere between the two.

Josie's attention was immediately drawn to it.

Xie Jue looked at her profile as she quickly turned away, a barely perceptible hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes: Sister, when will your gaze linger on me for even a moment longer?

Two patrol members came running up, panting, and immediately reported to Josh: "Sister Josh! A pregnant woman from the safe zone has suddenly gone into labor! The situation doesn't seem good; we need to find someone who knows how to deliver babies right away!"

Josie's expression hardened: "I understand! You all should split up and ask around to see if there are any doctors, nurses, or people with delivery experience in the base!"

"Yes!" The two hurriedly ran off again.

Qiao Xi immediately said to Xie Jue, "Xiao Jue, you go ahead and do your thing. I'll talk to you properly after I've finished dealing with this." Before she finished speaking, she had already run quickly towards the medical area.

Production is a major undertaking, a matter of life and death even in peacetime, let alone in this post-apocalyptic world where medicine and medical care are scarce and the environment is harsh.

If a difficult childbirth occurs, it could very well result in the loss of two lives, one adult and one child...

Josie ran around almost half of the base, asking everyone she met.

However, the base has a complex personnel composition and high turnover rate, making it extremely difficult to find professional medical staff in a short period of time.

Less than twenty minutes later, news came that the pregnant woman was showing signs of exhaustion and bleeding due to her weakness and extreme fright.

Josie's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and her heart sank lower and lower.

Just when she was almost in despair, three men and one woman approached her.

A middle-aged man with a refined demeanor and wearing tattered glasses spoke first: "Miss Qiao, my name is Li Wei. Before the apocalypse, I was the chief physician of cardiac surgery at the city hospital. Although obstetrics is not my specialty, I know the basic first aid and treatment procedures, so I may be able to help."

A slightly younger man next to him then said, "I am Zhang Tong, an internist."

“I used to be a midwife,” the woman, whose face was haggard but whose eyes were resolute, said in a slightly hoarse voice. “I have experience.”

The last taciturn man simply said, "Field hospital, surgery."

Before Josie could even ask about their origins and details, she nodded excitedly and said quickly, "That's wonderful! Please come with me right away, thank you so much!"

She practically ran to bring the four saviors to the makeshift delivery room.

Even before getting close, you could hear the faint, painful groans of a woman in labor coming from inside. They were intermittent and made your heart tighten.

The former midwife grasped Josie's cold hand, pressed it firmly, and comforted her, "Don't worry too much, Miss Josie. Life is tenacious; both mother and child will fight to live. Leave it to us."

After saying that, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door to enter the room filled with the smell of blood and a tense atmosphere.

A group of people who had rushed over after hearing the news gathered outside the door. Everyone held their breath and stared nervously at the tightly closed door.

In this age of despair, the birth of a new life signifies an ineffable hope and continuation.

Everyone was praying silently.

Time ticked by in the oppressive wait.

From dawn to dusk, the afterglow of the setting sun bathed the buildings of the base in a poignant orange-red hue.

From inside, one could hear the doctor's calm instructions, the mother's intermittent cries, and the midwife's encouraging voice.

The crowd outside the door came and went, and then new people came to wait silently.

Many people had given up hope and couldn't bear to hear the possible bad news, so they left in silence.

But Josie never left.

She leaned against the opposite wall, praying silently.

It's already difficult enough for women to survive in this world; becoming a mother requires immense courage and sacrifice.

As night completely enveloped the land, and the base lit up with scattered lights,

A faint yet remarkably clear cry, brimming with the indomitable will to live, suddenly shattered the heavy silence!

Josie suddenly stood up straight, almost thinking she was hallucinating.

Immediately afterwards, a series of chaotic yet clearly joyful noises came from inside.

Those who had held out until the very end outside the door fell silent for a moment, then a tremendous, indescribable joy and excitement surged into their hearts like a tidal wave.

Many kind-hearted people waiting outside had tears in their eyes and showed genuine smiles they hadn't seen in a long time.

That cry, though faint, symbolized the hope of dawn.

It tells all those struggling to survive in the apocalypse that no matter how long the night, life will eventually find a way out, and the future may truly be worth looking forward to.

Josie leaned against the cold wall and slowly let out a sigh of relief.

"Look, 38 weeks, it's a healthy boy."

The midwife brought the baby out, and everyone looked on with curiosity.

As the end times approached, they hadn't seen a baby born safely in a long time.

Josie also stood outside and glanced at it.

The newborn baby was so ugly... but the smile on her lips never faded.

Excellent! In the future, newborn babies will be born in their base, life will continue, and they will defeat those zombies and become the masters of this world again!

Time slipped away quietly amidst the base's busy operations, and a week had passed in the blink of an eye.

Looking at the reddish clouds in the sky, Qiao Xi couldn't help but wonder if Jinxing's trip had gone smoothly...

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city, in a desolate state.

Fu Jinxing's team was lying in ambush in a half-collapsed office building. Through the broken glass windows, they could clearly see a pool in the corner of the park below that was constantly emitting strange energy.

The pool was an ominous, dark blue color, and it seemed to be slowly writhing as if it were alive, emitting energy fluctuations that caused the air to distort slightly.

This immense energy is an irresistible attraction for zombies.

Inside and outside the park, hundreds of zombies were densely packed together. Most of them had completed two or three evolutions. Their movements were no longer stiff and slow. Some of them had even begun to be covered with a hard keratin layer. Their roars were deep and powerful, making people's hearts tremble.

“Professor Fu,” a team member beside him said in a low voice, unable to hide his shock, “this energy is astonishing…no wonder it can spawn so many high-level zombies. Ordinary people don’t dare to approach this area.”

Fu Jinxing pushed up his glasses, his gaze calmly sweeping across the area below, his brain rapidly calculating the distribution and number of zombies, as well as the radiation range of the energy pool.

"This energy pool must be brought under control."

His voice was not loud, but it carried an undeniable determination: "Immediately send someone back to the base to inform Xixi to send thirty more ability users, at least level two or above, with at least ten of them reaching level three."