Chapter 5, Dawn: Zombies Appear

At 6:30 p.m., as darkness fell, lights were turned on in each tent.

One of the pointed green tents had its door wide open, and two armed soldiers stood guard at the door.

Inside the military tent, a beautiful woman wearing a white coat, shirt, and suit pants stood in front of the window, looking down at her phone screen.

A dot flashes on the 2D map, with four lines of simple text arranged in a small box next to it.

Number: S04

Name: Qi Shuihan

Abilities: Skilled in disguise, proficient in marksmanship, S-class metal ability user.

Distance from current location: 218° southwest, 70 meters away.

Ji Fenglan raised his dark amber eyes to look out the window at dusk. The dark grass was filled with the sounds of frogs and insects, and the golden river flowed quietly ten meters away.

"Sergeant Yue, could you please bring someone to me?"

Ji Fenglan spoke in a normal voice, and with her phone screen lit up, she handed it to the female soldier, avoiding the sentry at the door.

The female soldier glanced down.

"Dr. Ji, who are you bringing? I can ask Lieutenant Li."

"Oh, that's Li Nai's mother, the one who's afraid of needles and screams a lot."

"What's wrong with her? Is she infected?"

"No, I think this mother may have some mental health issues, and I'd like to prescribe some medication for her."

Ji Fenglan deliberately lowered his gaze.

"Okay, I'll go find Lieutenant Li right away."

"Thank you, Sergeant Yue. Oh, please don't disturb the others; it's not easy for everyone to escape death."

Sergeant Yue nodded.

Ji Fenglan put her phone away.

C2 emergency relief tent.

A dozen or so newly arrived survivors scrambled to claim beds, leaving their personal belongings on the single spring beds before anyone else could.

Adults shoved each other, while children squeezed between people, crying and howling.

Li Nai hugged the child, protecting Su Momo with her body, and placed her heels against the edge of the wall to shield her from the wind.

Several soldiers entered through the gate to maintain order, and the chaotic scene was quickly brought under control.

The emergency tent was small, and there wasn't enough room for the remaining few people, so they were taken out and put into the tent next door. Su Momo waved goodbye to Li Nai with a worried smile.

"I'll come find you later," Li Nai waved and called out.

The five men followed the soldiers out of the tent.

Li Nai sat down with her host in her arms, and a familiar little girl's voice came from behind them.

"Little sister, we're together again."

Li Nai turned her head and saw it was a family of grandparents and granddaughter.

She got up and sat down facing them again.

The little girl couldn't wait to grab Mimi's chubby little hand, but her grandmother pulled her back.

"Minmin."

The little girl looked back and saw that her grandmother's kind face was now etched with a serious expression.

"Before playing with your younger sister, you should ask her mother if she agrees."

It was Mom again. Li Nai couldn't hold back any longer, "Grandma, actually I'm not..."

"Auntie, can I play with my little sister?"

The little girl was quick-witted and timely, and she clasped her little hands together, pleading with expectant eyes.

"I want to play with my sister."

The little host followed suit, clasping her little hands and looking at her expectantly with her sparkling eyes full of pleading.

Little brat, do you really think I'm your mother?

Li Nai sighed and nodded helplessly.

One cheer followed another.

The little host climbed down her knees, and the two children squatted to one side, with the older sister teaching the younger sister to play cat's cradle.

Li Nai looked at it for a few seconds, then turned to ask the grandmother who was helping the old man lie down in bed and cover him with a blanket.

"Grandma, do you have a cell phone? I lost my phone and want to call my family."

Grandma touched herself and muttered to herself, asking about the location of the phone.

Grandpa, who was lying on the bed next to me, suddenly started coughing repeatedly, and then he coughed up gagging sounds.

Grandma quickly bent down to feed Grandpa water from the bed.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I'll look for it again later."

"It's okay, I'll ask someone else."

Li Nai stood up, her eyes scanning the surroundings. She walked towards a woman, who looked wary and shook her head repeatedly. Then she moved to another spot.

After asking around, she found that many people were so tired that they were lying in bed resting. Whenever she approached, these people would impatiently wrap themselves tighter in their blankets to cover themselves.

Li Nai stepped out of the tent, looking around.

On the right side, several soldiers were distributing hot rice and canned food around a makeshift stove. Two long lines were waiting in front of the stove.

She stopped walking towards her right and decided to ask a soldier to borrow a telephone. Perhaps her family was in some relief force camp?

"Excuse me, do you have a telephone? I'd like to make a phone call to my family."

Li Nai stopped the patrol team.

"If you need anything, you can ask Lieutenant Li. Just walk forward from here, there's a tent with a half-open door."

"Okay, thank you."

Li Nai hurried along the makeshift fence erected along the riverbank. A few glimpses of golden light kept flashing in her eyes. She looked to her left; the golden river shimmered, reflecting the shattered red sun. Her eyes unconsciously followed the river forward, to the end where a black wooden bridge hung on the dark bank.

It was an abandoned bridge used for decoration, and there was a person sitting under the bridge where there should have been no one.

Li Nai walked closer and looked through the fence. The mysterious person was motionless, wearing a large hood, making it impossible to see his appearance or determine his gender.

Am I seeing things? It looks like a person, but it's actually a big rock?

She leaned against the fence and slowly stretched out her upper body.

The large rock that resembled a person moved, and it threw out a stone, splashing water.

Oh, you read that right, it's a person. But how did that person sneak out? Doesn't the rescue camp have rules against going outside freely?

Li Nai was so focused on looking at people that she didn't even notice that her waist had already stretched out.

"Hey, you can't step over the railing."

A gruff voice came from behind.

Startled, Li Nai jumped over the railing.

Ouch!

She landed face down, her legs flipped backward, and she landed perfectly headfirst on the fence.

Looking up at the dark face turned upside down above her, a pair of small, hawk-like eyes gave her a disdainful look.

"Hey, Lieutenant Li." He raised his right hand in greeting.

The two stared at each other for a minute.

"How does it feel to lie down?" Lieutenant Li asked.

"fine."

Lieutenant Li appeared to close his eyes. The next moment, a strong, long arm swept over her by the collar, lifting her like a chick from outside the fence into the fence.

After finishing everything, Lieutenant Li looked around.

The onlookers immediately dispersed.

Li Nai lowered his head to brush the grass roots off his body as he listened to the other person's question.

"Did you need something from me?"

"Oh, right! Do you have a cell phone or landline here? I'd like to contact my family."

"have."

Lieutenant Li gave it to her.

After thanking her several times, Li Nai quickly dialed several times, but no one answered. She tried a few more times after a while, but the result was the same.

Li Nai's heart ached terribly.

The phone was returned to Lieutenant Li.

Lieutenant Li remained calm; he had seen too many scenes like this before.

"Lieutenant Li."

At that moment, a female soldier walked over and saluted Lieutenant Li. Then she said that she was Dr. Ji and requested to take Li Nai away.

Li Nai stared nervously at the female soldier, recognizing her as the one who had stood next to the female doctor when she gave the injection.

When Li Nai heard the female soldier say that she had mental problems, she was furious.

"Who's sick? I'm not sick. Don't talk nonsense!"

Lieutenant Li glanced at her and tacitly allowed the female soldier to leave with her men.

Li Nai was so weak that he could easily be taken away by the female soldiers.

"Lieutenant Li, could you please contact other bases or rescue teams to see if you have any news about them?"

Lieutenant Li nodded at her. After the two left, he turned his head and looked thoughtfully at the black wooden bridge, the grass below the bridge was empty.

On the way, Li Nai tried his best to strike up a conversation with the female soldier, but she remained silent, just like a heartless NPC leading the way.

There was no trace of dusk visible on the horizon.

The bright light from the emergency tent's main light shone through the thin canvas, and flying insects hovered incessantly. Inside, through the open, ventilated chain door, several people coughed incessantly.

Li Nai slowed her pace and glanced inside the tent. She saw medics inside.

She was momentarily lost in thought when she remembered Mao Xiaomin's grandfather.

Please do not fall behind.

The female soldier in front stepped aside to give a warning.

She snapped out of her daze, nodded quickly, and followed.

We arrived at a military tent.

Two young guards with rifles stood watch at the entrance. They were spirited, their eyes sharp as knives, seemingly determined to protect the highest leader to the death.

Li Nai froze, not daring to take another step forward.

Didn't I say I was going to see a doctor? What kind of judge is inside? I don't think I did anything wrong.

The female soldier gave them a brief report, then turned and invited Li Nai inside.

She entered the tent cautiously, and the woman at the desk looked up at them.

The overhead light made the other person's gold-rimmed glasses sparkle, and their delicate and bright eyes shone with a dazzling brilliance.

It turns out there's a female doctor living there. But is it really necessary for two soldiers to be on high alert for just one doctor?

On second thought, it's not surprising that doctors are a valuable resource in the apocalypse.

"Excuse me for calling you over at this time."

Ji Fenglan stood up and politely invited Li Nai to sit in the chair opposite him.

Forced by the imposing presence of the female soldier beside her, Li Nai sat down.

A small aluminum briefcase was placed on the table.

Ji Fenglan opened it, and inside were a needle and two bottles of medicine. One was red, and the other was blue.

Seeing this, Li Nai thought he had stepped into a movie and become the protagonist, choosing his own destiny.

Her wide-eyed, frightened expression made the female doctor opposite her laugh.

"Excuse me, I took the wrong first-aid kit."

Li Nai, having her thoughts exposed, nonchalantly looked away.

“Mom, I can tell you’re easily stressed and have a lot of mood swings. I understand your situation, especially with a child in tow.”

Ji Fenglan took out an ordinary medicine box with a Red Cross logo, which was filled with all kinds of medicines, tablets, liquids, and powders.

Her fair, delicate fingers deftly manipulated the contents, pulling out a box of medicine.

He unscrewed the cap, poured out two white pills about half the size of a fingernail, and then took out a 300ml bottle of mineral water, handing them to her.

"To relieve neurasthenia, take one pill every six hours if you have a headache. Do not take more than one pill."

Li Nai thanked her twice, thinking she would eat it when she got back, but the female doctor watched her gently as she drank it.

The medicine tasted slightly sweet. She licked her lips.

"Report!"

A medic entered through the main gate; she had seen him see a doctor just ten minutes earlier.

The medic rushed in without saying a word, glancing at her and then at the female doctor. Li Nai understood his gaze, then got up to say goodbye.

After Li Nai left, the female soldier did not follow her.

She was thinking of going to find Su Momo, but halfway there she was stopped by a patrol team and sent back to her tent.

It was only seven o'clock, and the rescue camp was quiet. No survivors were wandering around, and only a few small teams were patrolling closely.

Around midnight, Li Nai was awakened by the urge to urinate.

She took out of the tent to relieve herself at a designated spot, and when she returned, she noticed the tent next door. She remembered her promise to Su Momo.

His eyes scanned the surrounding darkness; it seemed the patrol team hadn't arrived yet.

She sneaked into the adjacent B3 tent, which was dark and gloomy, with occasional sounds of teeth grinding and snoring.

Among so many people, which one is Su Momo?

She was stumped and cursed herself for being stupid. She didn't know the location; coming in was like groping in the dark.

"Su Momo~" she called out in a low voice.

After shouting, she cursed herself again. Everyone was asleep; Su Momo had been found, and now she was exposed. She wouldn't be able to explain herself then.

Thinking of this, she turned to leave.

At that moment, a lying shadow shifted, shifted, shifted, and shifted again.

Li Nai was confused and wondered if Su Momo had heard him while awake and was making noise to attract her attention.

She reached out and touched it.

Squatting by the bed.

"Momo, it's me."

The body under the thin blanket was trembling.

"Don't be afraid, it's me, Li Nai."

Her hand touched the blanket, and the trembling body beneath her palm stopped. She grabbed the blanket and lifted it up.

Moonlight streamed through the torn blue canvas, casting its light on a pale, unfamiliar face, where bright red blood still oozed from the mouth.

*Smack*

The blanket fell back onto her face.

Li Nai maintained the gesture of lifting the blanket, squatted down and backed away, bumping into someone.

The man quickly covered her mouth and pulled her outside with his other hand.

She backed away from the tent and saw the person who had vomited blood sit up straight and lunge at the person next to him. Then, the tent's zippered door closed in, and several screams erupted.

Su Momo is still inside.

Li Nai struggled.

"Don't move."

The person behind him gave a cold warning.

An unfamiliar young female voice.

Li Nai grabbed the hand of the girl with the mouth on her hand. The other girl didn't give her a chance and dragged her behind a truck.

“My friend Su Momo is inside.”

With her mouth and hands gone, Li Nai turned her head and said that she saw the other person wearing a large hooded hoodie with the brim hanging down to the tip of their nose.

In the shadows, only a sharp chin and a serious lip line could be seen.

Isn't that the person from under the bridge?

"Su Momo? There's no such person." The girl's voice was as cold and clear as a mountain spring in the night.