Clearing Emergency Road
strode into the command room on the sixth floor, following behind with a thick ledger. Leather shoes tapped quickly and crisply on the concrete steps.
The moment they entered, Chen Feng and a communications operator standing at attention by the sand table reported, “The wired communication link has been established. Contact with of the is smooth.”
“Report supplies first.” walked to the map. His gaze swept across the full topographic map of mounted on the wall, passing over the three marked points of , the hospital, and the in sequence.
opened the ledger and rattled off the list. “Sixty-five rifles, forty-three thousand rounds. Eighteen handguns, seven thousand two hundred. Forty-two bulletproof vests, fifty-six helmets. Seventy-six engineer tools. The base’s original reserves—one hundred twenty boxes of compressed rations, ninety-six boxes of water, seventeen boxes of medicine. Enough food to hold out, but not much antibiotics left.”
listened without speaking, then turned to look at . The man still had grease on his hands. His voice boomed as he reported, “Diesel generator is normal. Twelve barrels in stock, two hundred liters each—total twenty-four hundred. The generator consumes eighty liters per day. Six Mengshi vehicles plus two trucks consume one hundred twenty per day. At most, we can hold out twelve days. The municipal voltage has already started fluctuating. Power outage will come within a day or two.”
Time was tighter than expected.
pulled up the system map. A pale-blue interface unfolded before his eyes. The area around the main base was mostly cleared, with scattered red dots about a kilometer away. Around three hundred zombie clusters were scattered in the middle section of . In the direction of the hospital, red heat sources were densely piled together—no less than ten thousand. A dozen or so green dots appeared exceptionally dim in the crimson tide.
In the corner of the system interface, the light gray text “Upgrade in Progress” was pinned there like an unwashed stain.
Remaining time: 23 hours, 12 minutes.
“Connect me with at the .”
The communications operator adjusted the frequency. A few seconds later, he nodded.
picked up the handset. “ , complete the supply transport before 12:00 noon.”
“Roger!”
He set down the handset and faced the three squad leaders of First Platoon lined up in front of him.
“ , lead First Squad to guard the main base. Temporarily organize it as the Guard Company. Responsible for full perimeter security of the compound, guarding the supply warehouse, and coordinating with to ensure the diesel generator set runs twenty-four hours a day. Complete the switchover within ten minutes after the municipal power fails. Reinforce the fortifications at all entrances by one layer, and reserve concealed firing positions.”
“Yes, sir.”
“ , —lead Second Squad and Third Squad to advance north along , clearing zombies on the road and at alley intersections section by section, opening the full route from the base to the hospital. Once you reach the intersection with the North Suburb Highway, construct defensive positions on site.”
“Understood!”
With the two orders issued, the command room immediately sprang into action. The communications operator relayed instructions simultaneously. The armorer inventoried ammunition counts. Footsteps sounded in the hallway—but there was no chaos.
stood to the side holding the ledger, watching everything unfold.
Just over ten hours ago, she had been trembling in the , gripping a rusty pair of scissors. Now the hallway was full of troops receiving orders and heading out. She watched ’s back as he stood before the map—spine straight, shoulders never relaxing.
“ .”
“Here!”
“Compile a simplified map of the buildings and streets around the hospital and give it to Chen Feng.”
“Understood!”
Soon, and led the two combat squads in an alternating cover formation, advancing north along .
was the main artery connecting the base and the hospital. It wasn’t very wide, lined mostly with two-story street-front shops. Most windows and doors were damaged, making it easy for zombies to burst out from alley entrances. Second Squad took the lead, Third Squad brought up the rear, maintaining a thirty-meter distance between the two teams.
“Left front alley, a dozen or so,” the scout reported in a low voice.
raised his hand to signal a halt.
Two assault soldiers stepped forward quickly. Using the wall as cover, they aimed their rifles.
Three shots—bang, bang, bang.
Three zombies collapsed on the spot. Black blood splattered the mottled wall.
But the gunfire attracted zombies from farther away.
A large mass of dark figures surged out from the intersection at the north section. Nearby zombies also swarmed at the sound, densely covering the entire road.
squinted. Over three hundred—covering the whole road.
“Everyone take cover against the shop walls on both sides! Second Squad front center, Third Squad right flank—alley entrance!”
The order passed down. The soldiers quickly pressed against the concrete walls and shop doorframes on either side of the street.