Chapter 17 Exploration Team (1)

The immense mental pressure put me in a state of high agitation. I wanted to rest but couldn't sleep at all, my mind full of random thoughts. Seeing that I wasn't talking, An Xiaowei stopped talking. She just sighed, patted my shoulder gently, poured me a glass of water, and then went back to her bed to rest.

I don’t know how long it was before a loud whistle brought my confused thoughts back to reality.

I glanced out the window and saw that it was already dawn. I hadn’t slept all night?

I walked to the window and saw people gathering in the open space outside. At the same time, there was a knock on the door. I got up and opened the door. It was a girl, telling us to go downstairs and gather.

An Xiaowei also opened her eyes and sat up from the bed. After the girl left, she looked at me, wanting to say something but stopping herself. In the end, she said nothing, simply washed her face, opened the door and went out.

I couldn't describe how I felt, I just felt a tightness in my chest. The whistle sounded again, I calmed myself down, washed my face, opened the door and walked downstairs.

When we got downstairs, a slightly older woman gave us a brief introduction to the internal situation of the base, and then some daily division of labor.

An Xiaowei and I were assigned to the base's logistics team, responsible for cleaning and sorting supplies.

Jiang Wang and Mo Junfan were assigned to the security team responsible for patrol.

After receiving our respective tasks, we quickly arrived at our respective jobs and performed our duties, as if we had become workers again.

The long-lost sense of stability allowed me to relax my tense nerves a little. I immersed myself in my work and avoided thinking about what happened yesterday.

Night fell again, and my nerves could not help but tense up again. After thinking it over, I decided not to wear a gas mask tonight. I wanted to observe An Xiaowei's reaction and see if there was something wrong with me or her.

Although the risk is great, only by taking the initiative can you give yourself more chances of survival.

The strange thing is that tonight everything was normal and nothing happened.

There was nothing unusual in the following days, which made me doubt even more whether I had really fallen into an illusion that day.

We stayed in the base peacefully for a while. Although I was still upset about what happened that night, it was obviously not the time to be angry with her. I took the opportunity of her apologizing to me and walked away.

After staying in the base for nearly two months, I gradually got used to the rhythm here.

Just as Song Nanxing had said, the base was quite safe. New survivors were strictly inspected, and there was no strange smell at night. Daily patrols inspected the equipment and every entrance and exit, and the military regularly delivered supplies.

Although life is a bit monotonous and boring, in such a special period, having a safe living environment is the greatest blessing.

If I have to say there is any inconvenience, it is that the mobile phone signal is getting worse day by day, especially recently, the signal has almost been completely cut off. If I want to know information from the outside world, I can only use the radio, and even the radio is intermittent.

And that Morse code-like sound can still be faintly heard in the rain whenever it rains, and the content remains unchanged.

"East."

I care about this information very much, but there is nothing I can do. The base is in a completely closed mode and I can't get out at all.

After dinner, I was about to walk towards the dormitory when suddenly the whistle sounded again, urging us to assemble.

Everyone came to the open space downstairs. A middle-aged man with a serious face walked to the middle and announced loudly:

"Fellow survivors, since our base opened, more and more people have been arriving. Although the military has sent a lot of supplies, the base's overall consumption is still very high. If this continues, I'm afraid the base will find it difficult to operate. We've gathered everyone together today, firstly, to redistribute the division of labor within the base, and secondly, to add new teams."

"Since the base is constantly receiving new population every day, I will once again give you a detailed introduction to the internal situation of the base."

"There are currently more than 500 people at the base, so we have divided the personnel into several teams and departments."

"Among them, the logistics team is responsible for sanitation and supply distribution within the base. The security team is responsible for patrolling the base for potential safety hazards and repairing equipment. The kitchen staff is responsible for providing meals to the base personnel. The medical team is responsible for treating sudden illnesses and injuries among the base personnel. The General Affairs Department, headed by our original official personnel, is responsible for ensuring the normal operation of all work within the base."

"Due to the rapid growth of personnel, the General Affairs Department, after consultation with the captains of several other teams, has decided to add two new exploration teams. These teams will be responsible for collecting supplies to supplement the base. They will be composed of official personnel from the base and survivors. Based on the principle of voluntariness, we are now soliciting everyone's opinions. Survivors who are willing to join the exploration team, please register with me."

After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he looked around at everyone present. People were talking and whispering, but no one was willing to stand up.

This is normal. Everyone knows the situation outside. They are called exploration teams, but in fact they are suicide squads. If they can loot supplies, the result will certainly be good. If they cannot loot supplies and sacrifice themselves outside, the number of personnel in the base will be reduced, which can reduce the population burden of the base. It is a good idea for the base.

The exploration team faces the greatest danger. If they are not careful, they may lose their lives. Naturally, no one is willing to join.

Just then, a male voice rang out from the crowd: "I'm in."

It’s Song Nanxing.

People looked at him sideways, with a mixture of surprise, admiration, and disdain in their eyes.

Song Nanxing walked out of the crowd and repeated, "I volunteer to join the exploration team."

The middle-aged man hesitated and said, "Doctor Song, if you join the exploration team... the medical team will lose a strong force. Make your decision carefully."

"I've thought about it. Besides, the medical team has many capable doctors, and they don't need me."

The middle-aged man had a complicated expression on his face and continued to persuade him kindly: "Doctor Song, you are still young..."

"It's because we are young that we like to take risks." Song Nanxing interrupted the middle-aged man's words.

Seeing him like this, the middle-aged man stopped trying to dissuade him and turned to ask everyone, "Everyone, a brave man has already volunteered to work for everyone's benefit. Is there anyone else who wants to join the exploration team?"

There was still complete silence.

Seeing no response, the middle-aged man continued, "Those who are willing to join the exploration team are heroes of the base and deserve the highest treatment within the base."

Still no response.

I chewed over the middle-aged man's words.

If I join the exploration team, I will have enough reasons to go out, and I can take the opportunity to go east.

Although doing so is very risky, after experiencing a series of events, I increasingly feel that this so-called doomsday has serious problems.

For example: People who are bitten or attacked will be directly injured or die, and will not mutate. It should be the red thread that causes people and animals to mutate, but what is the source of the mutation? It cannot appear out of nowhere.

What does the Morse code mixed in with the sound of rain mean, and what sent it?

For example, that night when An Xiaowei nearly suffocated me to death, there must have been something wrong. I can't guarantee whether it was me or her who had the problem, but just wasting time at the base like this wasn't a solution. Taking the initiative might allow me to investigate something.

I suddenly felt moved.

Who cares? It’s the end of the world. I’m probably going to die anyway, but at least I can choose a grand ending.

"I volunteer to join the exploration team." I raised one hand and slowly walked out of the crowd, each step seeming to weigh a thousand pounds.

Song Nanxing looked at me in surprise and raised his eyebrows with interest.

"Hey! Are you crazy?" Jiang Wang stepped forward and tried to stop me.

Mo Junfan also looked confused.

An Xiaowei looked at me in the crowd, her eyes expressionless, and I didn't know what she was thinking.

"What a brave lady!" the middle-aged man exclaimed exaggeratedly, and at the same time looked around the crowd, trying to find a few more people who were ignorant of their own dangers.

"I'm joining in too."

At this time, An Xiaowei also raised her hand and walked out of the crowd. I was a little surprised. An Xiaowei's joining was really beyond my expectation. At the same time, I felt a little regretful. Another reason why I chose to join the exploration team was that I didn't know how to continue to get along with her. What happened that day was like a layer of transparent film. Although it was invisible, a gap had already been created.

"No! You can't go!" Mo Junfan was a little anxious. He walked out of the crowd quickly, grabbed An Xiaowei's wrist and wanted to bring her back to the crowd.

An Xiaowei turned her head and smiled at him, then softly comforted him, "It's okay."

“…”

Mo Junfan's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but he finally pursed them tightly.

"Well, I want to join too." Jiang Wang also stood up at this time.

Seeing him stand out, Mo Junfan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if he had made some important decision.

"I'll join in."

The middle-aged man stepped forward joyfully and said "OK" three times in a row.

"We, the young men, must strive to be strong! Everyone, see? This is the backbone of young people!"

After the middle-aged man had been blowing some rainbow farts for a long time, another person joined the team.

After we filled in our names on the form, we were taken to a warehouse filled with a wide variety of equipment.

Jiang Wang's eyes lit up, and he walked in first. He looked around and said, "The inventory is quite large, but unfortunately there are no guns."

"Only the police, military and special departments can legally possess guns." Song Nanxing explained with his hands folded.

I took a quick look around and picked out a tactical dagger.

"Don't worry about your broken dagger. With your aim, you can even miss an eel." Song Nanxing sneered.

I rolled my eyes and ignored him, lowering my head to continue choosing other equipment.

A long sword engraved with cloud and thunder patterns was handed to me. It was Song Nanxing's Miao Dao. I looked up at him, a little confused.

Song Nanxing looked away awkwardly, but he spoke with the same unchanging sarcasm: "Instead of using a dagger, why not use this? Even if you don't know how to use it, you can still chop, right? At worst, using it as a stick is worse than using a dagger."

Seeing that I was still a little skeptical, Song Nanxing deflated and added, "After observing your movements yesterday, I realized that a dagger is not suitable for you. A tactical dagger requires both accuracy and strength in actual combat. You're not very strong, so a long weapon can make up for your lack of strength to a certain extent, and the requirements for accuracy are slightly lower."

I was a little surprised. It was obvious that this knife was not an ordinary thing. It didn't make sense for them to give it to me without any reason.

"What about you?" I asked.

"Me? Of course I have a better choice." As he said that, Song Nanxing turned his back to the others and took out a gun from his windbreaker in the blind spot of everyone's vision.

???

Isn’t it said that only relevant departments can carry guns?

I looked at him suspiciously, but he avoided the topic and instead talked about the Miao Dao:

"If you encounter a mutant you can't handle, put some of your own blood on the knife."

I was even more surprised. Song Nanxing put his finger on his lips and made a "hush" gesture, then blinked and mouthed to me:

"Secret."