Entering the City

“Good morning, Miss Qin Yue.”

Beside me, Su Yanlan woke me from my sleep as usual.

The fire in front of us had already gone out, and she was nowhere to be seen.

I guessed she must be at the truck behind the convoy by now.

“Good morning, Miss Yanlan.”

Looking at her gentle smile, I rubbed the corners of my eyes, and the world gradually became clear.

“Are we entering the city?”

I looked up.

The sky was a clear, limpid blue, dotted with a few scattered white clouds.

Sunlight shone on the ground.

The weather had warmed up a bit.

Although it was still cold, it was warmer than before.

Maybe the snow would melt soon.

“Mhm. Get in the truck.”

Saying this, she didn’t give me a choice and pulled me onto the truck with her.

Around us, the soldiers also rose one after another from various ruins, slowly assembling.

“Here.”

I took out two potatoes again, one for me, one for Su Yanlan.

Six left.

In fact, I didn’t want to do this.

I clearly understood that I was a selfish person.

But after seeing Qin Dai last night, I realized that the only person I could rely on here seemed to be Su Yanlan…

I had to double my efforts to curry favor with her.

Otherwise, before the radiation killed me, I would be torn apart by Qin Dai finding trouble or the mutants that could appear at any moment.

“Mhm.”

She gave a soft hum and took the potato from my hand.

After breakfast, the soldiers had mostly assembled, eaten their dry rations, and drunk water.

The engine roared to life, and the truck slowly moved forward.

In the daylight, the tall silhouettes in the distance became more distinct.

Once upon a time, I also lived a carefree life in these forests made of steel and concrete, relying on my parents’ savings.

“…”

Leaning against the side wall, I took the bottle of anti-radiation medicine out of my pocket again.

I really didn’t want to take it.

The side effects of this medicine were too severe, especially since I still had a fever.

But this was a heavy radiation zone…

If I didn’t take the medicine, I would die, right?

Hesitating, I finally unscrewed the cap, took out a pill, and put it in my mouth.

The familiar pain surged from my body again: heat, spasms, throbbing pain, and dizziness.

I closed my eyes, pursed my lips, and silently endured the abnormality in my body.

“Miss Qin Yue.”

Su Yanlan called my name softly again.

She seemed to have discovered that this medicine was the culprit making me suffer so much.

While I was in pain, she took the medicine bottle away.

The bottle was shaken, and the rattling sound made me panic.

I barely opened my eyes and watched her movements.

Unable to speak, I just nodded to show her I heard.

“Eat less of this medicine.”

Saying this, she stuffed the medicine into her own pocket.

“…Don’t.”

Spitting out a single syllable, I bit my lip again and shook my head.

Dragging my heavy body, I lunged at her.

I didn’t want to take this medicine that was almost entirely side effects either…

But I had to take it because I didn’t have a hazmat suit.

If it was taken away, I would definitely die…

“…”

Su Yanlan remained silent.

She easily stopped me with one hand.

She seemed surprised that my reaction was so intense.

After thinking it over, she returned the medicine bottle to me.

Taking the bottle, afraid it would be taken away by someone else again, I hurriedly stuffed it back into my pocket.

Then I continued to lean against the side wall of the truck to endure the side effects.

My stomach churned.

Several times, bile nearly broke through the barrier of my throat, but I swallowed it back.

The acrid taste nearly made me cry.

I couldn’t vomit.

I hadn’t eaten much food to begin with; I couldn’t throw it up.

After a long while, the urge to vomit finally dissipated.

My hands and feet began to turn cold, and my body alternated between hot and cold.

I rubbed uncomfortably against the side wall.

Thus, amidst my suffering, the convoy gradually entered the urban area.

“Urgh… cough… cough, cough…”

The truck stopped on the asphalt road.

I hurriedly got out of the car, found a place with no one around, bent over, and vomited.

There were very few solids in the filthy vomit; it was mostly disgusting mucus mixed with some red streaks of blood.

My mouth tasted very bitter.

After vomiting, my body felt a little better.

Straightening up, I could finally speak normally.

“Miss Qin Yue, do you feel better?”

Behind me, Su Yanlan had followed me at some point.

Did she watch the whole process of me vomiting in front of the barren flower bed?

“Mhm… much better. Thank you for your concern, Miss Yanlan.”

After thanking her, I finally had the chance to take a good look at this city I hadn’t seen for many years.

Beside the wide asphalt road were rows of buildings.

Occasionally, there were scrapped vehicles on the road, ranging from expensive luxury cars to cheap electric cars, and even armored military vehicles were occasionally seen.

These vehicles were abandoned here, and there might even be the remains of the owners inside.

I understood why the convoy had stopped.

The truck’s path was blocked; it couldn’t drive any further in.

On the sidewalks below the buildings, there were lots of debris, broken bricks, and wreckage half-buried in the snow.

A city without the breath of the living. Desolate, cold, and silent.

“Phew, it feels… better than I imagined?”

I exhaled gently.

The scene in the heavy radiation zone was indeed different from what I had imagined.

I thought there would be mutants everywhere and the buildings would have collapsed.

However, these houses… at least the ones I saw now, were still well-preserved.

In the distance, I could see a bent traffic light that had fallen diagonally, crushing a car beneath it.

“Because this isn’t the city center. However, if we want to collect firearms, we definitely have to go to the police station in the city center, and we have to cross the entire city to reach the military base on the other side. There should be legacies left by the army there.”

Saying this, she took my hand and walked toward the truck dozens of meters away.

There, the soldiers had already begun to move rain tarps out of the truck.

After cutting and splicing, three simple tents were set up.

“What is this?”

I was a little confused.

In such a dangerous place, shouldn’t we finish the task quickly and leave?

Why set up camp?

“Setting up camp. The goal of this trip is to get 1,600 guns. The quantity is large; even transporting them back and forth will take some time.”

Su Yanlan answered my question.

“Oh…”

Hearing her words, I was a little distracted.

How long would we spend here?

Did I have enough medicine?

Did I have enough food?

I didn’t know; it was an unknown variable.

But thinking about it, it was probably not enough.

I could only pray that the soldiers’ process of collecting arms would go smoothly and that we could leave Tongda quickly.

Worried, I looked up at the sky; the clouds drifted slowly into the distance.

The sound of footsteps coming and going around me brought me back from my silence.

Raising a smile that I thought looked reasonably good, I looked at Su Yanlan.

“Miss Yanlan, when do we set off?”

My head was still a little dizzy, and the fever hadn’t gone down yet.

Logically speaking, I should find a chance to stay in the camp that was about to be built, rather than asking about this issue that might lead to being arranged to explore dangerous areas.

For the soldiers, exploring was much more dangerous than staying in the camp.

But this didn’t apply to my situation.

I didn’t have a hazmat suit.

If time dragged on too long, I would die even if I stayed in the camp.