Above the ruins, the roar of a motor passed by from far and near.
Someone among the people working on the roadside looked up curiously, but was scolded harshly the next second.
"What are you looking around for? We only have a limited time to get out, so get to work. Otherwise, if you don't finish today, you won't get any food."
The man quickly lowered his head and continued to move the large stone in his hands. Beside him, there were many other people working as well.
After the supervisor left, someone next to him said:
"New here?"
“…Just arrived yesterday.”
The man's face suddenly showed a puzzled expression, and he explained to him, "That's the patrol team from the base going out to look for supplies."
The young man was stunned, a glimmer of light ignited in his eyes: "Drive out? There are cars in the base?"
"Right." The man knew what he was thinking from the look on his face and poured cold water on him without hesitation. "Forget it. You can't possibly touch those cars."
"Why?!"
"To prevent little brats like you from trying to escape."
The boy panicked after being caught. "Keep your voice down! What nonsense are you talking about?"
Although he arrived late, he knew that running away would not end well.
Besides, all the supplies he had were handed over in exchange for this job. Even if he ran away, he would starve to death if he couldn't find supplies quickly.
At this moment, the manager suddenly looked back, and the two of them hurried to work. After a while, the man continued:
"Only a certain group of people can drive. I heard that the amount of supplies they handed over was much greater than ours."
The man paused, then laughed self-deprecatingly, "People like us who come to the base to eat for free can only do this kind of manual labor."
Although the base has always claimed to be united, friendly and helpful to the outside world, in reality...
"What are you mumbling about? I've been watching you for ages. If this delays the work and exposes everyone to radiation, can you handle it?"
Upon hearing these words, the people around them immediately turned their heads and stared at them intently.
The boy was terrified and apologized repeatedly: "Yes, I'm sorry, we will do it now! We will do it now..."
…
About ten minutes later, the group was gathered and lined up to return to the base.
But instead of being taken back to their rooms, they were taken to another prison complex for isolation.
Ten people were crammed into an eight-person room like canned food, and the next room was occupied by the previous group of people who had just finished work.
The supervisor locked the cell door with a click, isolating them from the outside world.
The young man was pushed forward in a daze the whole time. Now looking at the lock, he was a little stunned for a moment.
Are they now... fighting for the future of the survivors on Earth as the broadcast said, or are they simply sitting in jail?
The young man was puzzled.
But some others have obviously become accustomed to this kind of life and even have default beds.
The boy was a step slow to react and could only watch helplessly as the eight beds were quickly divided up.
In order to prevent others from snatching it, each of them lay on it with their arms and legs spread out, leaving no space for others.
In the end, the boy could only squat silently in the corner and rest against the wall.
At the same time, the door of another cell was opened, and another group of people walked out wearing masks under the supervision of the administrator. If nothing unexpected happened, this group of people should have completed their quarantine period and were going to take over the work they had just left unfinished.
There are never any idle people in the base.
The air today is full of radiation and germs, so after each work day, they will first go through an hour of quarantine.
At the same time, since the human body will become particularly weak after being exposed to radiation for a long time, they must also get enough rest during the one-hour isolation period.
After an hour, they would be sent out to work again. Only after they finished their work would they have the chance to receive some food at 3 pm.
He could only eat two meals a day, morning and night. If he missed dinner because he hadn't finished his work, he would have to wait until the next day to eat.
Due to the scarcity of supplies and the harsh living environment, such regulations seemed to be fine on the surface, but for some reason, the boy always felt that something was wrong.
The young man couldn't help but doubt himself again. Was he really right when he made up his mind to come to this base?
Thinking about these messy things in his mind, the boy did not notice anything wrong around him. A moment later, a scream suddenly came from the side -
"Get them out! They're sick!"
The boy subconsciously turned his head and saw that several people who were lying on the bed resting just now suddenly began to twitch all over. Some of them had swollen stomachs and began to vomit, while some of them had blister-like swellings visible on the surface of their skin, which then exploded with a "pop" sound, and venom splashed everywhere!
"Strangle them to death quickly!"
"I don't want to get sick! I don't want to be kicked out!"
“Bang!” “Bang!”
The bullets passed through the bars—but they didn't hit the people who had fallen ill.
At this moment, the young man seemed to have anticipated something. He turned around in fear and uncertainty, and then faced the black muzzle of a gun.
"Fellow survivors, welcome home."
In the hall, a plump man was talking to four other people who looked tired and exhausted.
"This is the Longhai Shelter, built by many survivors. We call it the Longhai Base. Let me be clear, we're not some evil organization that will forcibly confiscate your belongings upon joining. You can rest assured here from now on."
"Everyone should know that there are not many people left on Earth right now, not to mention if the environment deteriorates further, who knows how many people will die out there every day. As compatriots, although we are also heartbroken, many times we can't even take care of ourselves."
"But with the power of the base, things will be different. Those who plant trees will enjoy the shade. As long as we work together to build a good base, we will be fighting for a glimmer of hope for the survivors."
His eyes swept across the crowd and finally stopped at a young woman with a bag at the end of the line.
"However, before that, there is a rule that must be made clear to everyone."
"We don't keep idlers in our base, nor do we have the capacity to do so. The base was just built not long ago, and we are short of manpower. Anyone who joins the base must participate in labor."
"However, there are many types of labor. To ensure fairness, before entering the base, you can choose to donate some of your supplies to the base in exchange for easier positions."
Upon hearing this, some people's faces turned pale.
"If you can't hand over the supplies, you can't enter the base, right?"
The fat man shook his head. "Supplies are just a transaction, not a necessary condition. If you don't have supplies, you can directly choose to be assigned a job, but the salary will be worse than others. Can you accept it?"
The other party hesitated for a moment and finally nodded.
"Can."
He came to the base because he couldn't gather enough supplies on his own. Here, he could earn supplies simply by working hard, which suited him better.
"I'd like to join the base. When do I want to start working?"
"A wise choice." The fat man said with a smile, "But there's no rush. There are several other survivors who haven't made a decision yet."
The remaining four people were a woman with a four or five-year-old child, a burly middle-aged man, and a young woman with a backpack. The fat man had been acting as a doorman for several days and could tell at a glance that the two people must have abundant supplies.
The woman with the child asked nervously, "What about my child? He's only four or five years old and can't participate in labor."
Fatty: "Boys aged four or five can already help with some things - but if you're reluctant, then you can just do more work."
The woman was overjoyed. In the current situation, it would be difficult for her to raise the child alone, but if she had the base to rely on, there might be a chance of turning things around.
But she agreed readily, forgetting that fifteen minutes is the limit for an ordinary person to stay in a radiation environment at one time. Any longer will cause irreparable damage to the body (note). How can she do more work?
"What have you two thought about this?"
The fat man turned his gaze to the last two people.
Qianyue, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally raised her head.
She asked, "How much material can be exchanged for what kind of position? Give me an exact number."
When the fat man heard this, he was immediately happy.
They like people who are generous.
"We're mainly divided into laborers and management personnel here, and they're further divided into indoor and outdoor areas. If you have any ideas, why don't you wait until I've settled them in and then we can talk in detail?"
Qianyue: "Oh, that's not necessary."
She said, "Didn't we just run into a group of people leaving when we came in? The person supervising them should be considered a manager, right? I'm more interested in that kind of activity, preferably one that's indoors. I don't like going outside and getting dirty."
The fat man who was about to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune: "..."
He looked strange: "That is indeed the management staff."
But it is the lowest kind.
This is like a rich man walking into a restaurant with a whole box of cash, but finally saying to people, I don’t want any Australian lobster or Japanese Wagyu beef, just give me a simple fried rice.
It’s not egg fried rice yet, but soy sauce fried rice that only requires rice and seasonings!
But seeing that the other party seemed to have made up his mind, he didn't say much, but just thought in his mind how to seize more supplies from Qianyue.
Soon, the other person also finished his choice, and the fat man took them to their respective captains.
"As you saw when you came in, our base was built on the basis of a women's prison." The person leading Qianyue was a middle-aged woman named Qiu. Perhaps because Qianyue was a girl, her attitude towards her was very gentle.
Captain Qiu: "Many people in this base are former prisoners, both inmates and guards. Some of them have strange tempers, but you don't have to pay attention to them. Now, I'll take you out to familiarize yourself with the route and also explain your future work area."
Qianyue: "Okay."
Just what she wanted.
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