Shanghai Orphanage.
The room's windows were completely covered by thick curtains, and a white candle burned on the table. Through its faint orange light, one could vaguely see the situation inside the room.
Li Yiyuan rummaged through the medical kit under the light. The nanny, Tang Ling, was holding a baby who was squirming restlessly. She patted the baby's back and whispered to soothe him.
Around the round table sat several children of different ages, all wearing thick down jackets and wrapped in thick quilts.
They stared wide-eyed at the two adults' actions, their eyes also filled with anxiety and worry.
While Li Yiyuan was searching, everyone in the room seemed to be deliberately suppressing their breathing, making it frighteningly low.
"Sister Ling, is this okay?"
Li Yiyuan finally found the medicine and picked it up to ask Tang Ling.
Tang Ling nodded excitedly when she saw the familiar packaging.
"Yes, yes, this is it."
When the temperature suddenly dropped in the afternoon, the little one couldn't adapt and developed a fever.
Too young to take many medications, but fortunately, they were found among the medicines left behind by Li Xin'er...
Tang Ling was feeding the child medicine, while Li Yiyuan sat beside her, leaning against the door and window, occasionally turning his head to lift a corner of the curtain to check on the situation outside.
They had been in the orphanage for quite a while, and even if they tried to hide it, he had dealt with them and driven away many people who wanted to take advantage of the orphanage.
There were quite a few people who knew that people lived in the orphanage, so Li Yiyuan dared not take it lightly.
He discovered that the snow outside was very thick, and the zombies were basically trapped and unable to move.
But the current dire situation makes it easier for those who are desperate to take risks and fight to the death.
After giving the child the medicine, Tang Ling looked at Li Yiyuan, whose face was exhausted and whose eyes were dark and swollen, and said with heartache:
"Yi Yuan, shall we go to the base after the snow stops?"
Every day, they rely on Li Yiyuan to run around and take care of everything. This burden is too heavy.
Upon hearing this, Li Yiyuan stiffened for a moment, then lowered his eyes and rubbed his index finger and thumb together.
He originally thought he could take good care of everyone, but now he realizes that he is indeed willing but unable to do so.
If it weren't for the supplies Li Xin'er left behind, he didn't know how long he could have held on, or how he would have survived this heavy snow...
"good."
His voice was somewhat hoarse, and coupled with his stubble-covered, slightly disheveled hair, he looked old and tired.
Seeing him like this, Tang Ling felt very guilty and remorseful. She gently comforted him:
“You’ve done a great job. Don’t overthink it. I just don’t want to add to your burden by taking care of the children.”
Li Yiyuan was about to deny it, saying that they were not a burden.
Tang Ling didn't give him a chance to speak. Turning to the little ones beside her, she smiled lovingly and continued:
“They always have to learn to grow up. Perhaps going to the base and changing their environment would be good.”
They are well protected by Li Yiyuan here and are unaware of the cruelty of the outside world.
But as the days went by, the broadcasts from higher-ups, which used to be constant, have stopped altogether...
Now this unusually heavy snow is falling again; it seems like there's no end in sight.
Since there is no hope of the apocalypse ending, we can only let them integrate and learn to adapt to this world.
Li Yiyuan understood Tang Ling's meaning as well, and without further hesitation, he once again made a firm decision:
"After the heavy snow, we'll go to the base."
·
The long railway tracks were completely covered by snow, and the only recognizable feature of the place was the abandoned waiting station.
In a small duty room, Xiaomai's hair was cut so short it looked like a dog had chewed it, all bumpy and short, so short you could see her scalp.
"Xiaomi, hang in there! We promised to go home together!"
She was still wearing a thin sweatshirt, sitting on the ground trembling, holding Xiao Mi, whose face was covered in bruises and wounds, in her arms, crying uncontrollably.
Tears flowed uncontrollably, washing away the grime on her face and creating a palette-like effect.
Xiao Mi struggled to open her eyes, and with her twisted, swollen, and unrecognizable hands, she tried to push against Xiao Mai's arm that was holding her, and through her dry, cracked lips, she managed to make a weak sound.
"Let's go... let's go..."
Xiaomai shook her head vigorously, and kept covering Xiaomi with a thin, gray-black cotton-padded jacket.
"I'm not leaving. If we have to leave, we'll leave together."
Xiao Mi didn't even have the strength to open her eyes. Her eyelids drooped shut, and tears silently streamed down her cheeks, dripping onto the ground and soon turning into a puddle of icy water.
The two of them had originally joined a team to return to Province C from Haishi.
The journey through Haishi was quite smooth, as I was traveling with military personnel from the Haishi base.
Later, after their team got on the highway alone, countless unknown dangers followed one after another.
At the beginning, we faced zombies, and their numbers gradually increased, which was quite a challenge, but thankfully we managed to get through it all without any major incidents.
Little did they expect that on their very first night, while resting at a service area, they would encounter a horde of zombie rats...
They barely escaped the service area, but not only were half of their personnel lost, they also lost a lot of supplies during the escape.
At that moment, someone secretly drove off in the only car that was still in their team's possession.
Later, the captain had to change to a more remote route, walking along the train tracks.
From that moment on, those who were initially polite in the group revealed their true colors and disgusting faces when they were short of food and water.
Those middle-aged women who once comforted them, now spouting all sorts of sarcastic and unpleasant nonsense, would do anything for a bite to eat.
The team leader, who initially promised not to let them suffer, went from maliciously withholding food to unfairly assigning tasks, and finally to blatant exploitation...
Unable to bear it any longer, the two decided to sneak away from the group. Unfortunately, before they could carry out their plan, they encountered a gang that made a living by robbery at a train station.
The other side had dozens of people, all of them ruthless and desperate, and some of them even had superpowers.
There was no chance of a direct confrontation, so the two youngest girls became the targets that the captain deliberately abandoned in order to save his own life.
Although the captain and his team ultimately failed to escape safely and became food for those people, the two of them also did not escape death.
They had been tortured for days without a chance to escape, and were on the verge of giving up.
Until the sudden heavy snowfall this afternoon, the guards were unwilling to leave their warm beds at night, and the two finally found an opportunity to escape.
After days of torture and beatings, Xiaomi collapsed halfway there and couldn't get up. It was Xiaomai who carried her here step by step.
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