"What's your name?" the man asked.

"Cen Yu."

"I am Song Xia." He extended his hand, shook hands with Cen Yu briefly, and then let go.

The two of them didn't stay outside for long; after finishing their cigarettes, they went back to the basement together.

When Cen Yu returned to the cramped room, He Xueqing woke up groggily. He squinted at Cen Yu and asked, "Little Yu?"

Xiao Yu? Cen Yu was stunned for a few seconds. It was rare for anyone to call him so intimately. Others at school preferred to call him "Brother Cen".

However, Cen Yu was too lazy to correct He Xueqing's way of addressing him. He slowly walked to the sleeping bag and sat down with a thud.

Perhaps because Cen Yu was beside him, He Xueqing drifted off to sleep again. Before he fell into a deep sleep, he heard Cen Yu say, "Let's go to the safe zone."

...

The next morning, they set off for the city where the legendary safe zone would be established.

Neither of them could drive, so they had to walk... Because of the apocalypse, cars without owners were just piled up haphazardly on the road.

Perhaps because news of the safe zone has spread, many people are heading in that direction.

Cen Yu and He Xueqing's hair was a mess. They hadn't had a proper rest for a long time. Every day they were either worried about when the monster would arrive or thinking about where to find food.

When they reached the edge of the city, Cen Yu and He Xueqing saw a marine life exhibition hall.

Years ago, this was a popular destination for elementary school students on spring outings. However, with the establishment of newer ocean parks and aquariums, fewer and fewer people came here.

The ticket booth at the entrance still displays a price of 10 yuan.

He Xueqing watched for a while, then Cen Yu looked at him and asked, "You want to go in?"

It's 1 p.m. now, and there's still a long time before nightfall.

He Xueqing nodded, and Cen Yu simply followed him into the small marine life exhibition hall.

Everything in the exhibition hall was very primitive, but they still saw a specimen pool containing sharks. "I heard there are whale specimens here," He Xueqing said, bending down to look at the shark specimen pool.

“It’s fake.” Cen Yu shattered He Xueqing’s illusion. “That’s made of plastic.”

"The ticket price here is only 10 yuan, and there are whale specimens for you to see." Cen Yu said, leading He Xueqing to another small room. "Here, the whale specimen you want to see."

He pointed to the "whale specimen" in the blue room, which was clearly made of plastic.

He Xueqing was a little disappointed, but he still said to Cen Yu, "We will definitely be able to see whales in the future."

Cen Yu didn't speak. He glanced at the room with the "whale specimen" and thought it was a good place to hide. There were no windows and only one door.

He said to He Xueqing, "Let's rest here tonight."