2: Chapter 2 Initial Base Construction

Gunshots exploded in the night sky.

The moment Wang Jie pulled the trigger, his shoulder ached from the recoil.

This was his first time firing a real gun; he had only experienced it in shooting games before.

But he had no time to adapt at this moment, because the zombie he was aiming at had already turned around, its gray-white eyes staring fixedly at him.

"Bang!"

Another shot.

This time he hit—a burst of black liquid exploded from the zombie's chest, but it only swayed for a moment before continuing to charge forward.

"Aim for the head!" One's voice came from the side. "Commander, aim for the head!"

Wang Jie took a deep breath, aimed at that rotting head, and pulled the trigger.

The third shot.

The zombie's head exploded like a watermelon, its body swayed twice, and it crashed to the ground.

Wang Jie gasped for air. Before he could even celebrate, he saw more zombies pouring in from every corner of the square—at least twenty or thirty of them, some wearing pajamas, some shirtless, and some still in security uniforms.

"Free fire!" One gave the order.

Twenty Conscripts opened fire simultaneously.

The sound of the Mosin-Nagant rifles was as dense as firecrackers during the New Year, and those zombies fell one after another.

Some were headshot, some had their spines shattered, and others were riddled with holes.

Black blood splashed everywhere, and the air was filled with a pungent, rotting stench.

Three minutes later, the last zombie fell less than five meters away from Wang Jie.

It was a girl wearing a high school uniform, with a ponytail, her face still bearing the innocence of youth.

Her eyes were gray-white, and there was a bullet hole in her forehead.

Wang Jie looked at her, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind—if the apocalypse hadn't arrived, this girl should be in class right now, or shopping with her best friends, or watching shows on her phone.

But now, she was lying here, her head blown open, dead as could be.

"Commander."

One's voice interrupted his trance.

Wang Jie looked up and saw One standing in front of him, with Conscripts behind it checking their weapons and collecting shell casings.

"The square has been cleared, a total of twenty-seven hostile units, all eliminated. Zero casualties on our side."

Wang Jie nodded. Just as he was about to say something, a system prompt sounded in his mind:

【Hostile units killed × 27, funds obtained + 5400】

【Current funds: 33800】

Wang Jie was stunned for a moment.

Twenty-seven zombies, 5400 funds? Doesn't that mean killing zombies can also earn money?

Before he could think it through, One spoke again:

"Commander, there may be more hostile units in the buildings around the square. The gunshots will attract them. It is recommended to establish defenses as soon as possible."

Wang Jie nodded.

He turned around and returned to the underground parking garage, stood next to the base, opened the system panel, and began to plan.

First, he needed to enclose the base.

Walls, 10 funds per segment, no power consumption.

He calculated that to enclose the entire underground parking garage entrance and the core area of the base, he would need about two hundred wall segments—that would be two thousand funds.

Then he needed defensive weapons.

Machine gun bunkers, 500 funds each, 50 power consumption.

He planned to build four first, one in each corner, to form crossfire.

But four bunkers required 200 power. He currently only had 200 power—just enough, but with no margin. If he wanted to build anything else later, he would need to build another Power Plant.

Wang Jie gritted his teeth and built the walls first.

He opened the construction interface, selected "Wall," and then drew the desired fence range on the map. The system automatically calculated the required number of segments—two hundred and thirty-seven segments, totaling 2370 funds.

【Confirm construction of walls? Consume 2370 funds】

"Confirm."

As soon as he spoke, blue light arrays began to appear on the ground around the entrance of the underground parking garage. Then, from those light arrays, metal fences rose section by section, as fast as growing plants. Thirty seconds later, a metal wall over two meters high appeared in front of Wang Jie.

The wall was silver-white and looked very sturdy. Each wall segment was connected by reinforcing ribs, and there was barbed wire on top.

Wang Jie reached out and pushed—it didn't budge.

He nodded with satisfaction and then began to build the machine gun bunkers.

Four bunkers, 500 funds each, 2000 funds in total, 200 power consumption.

The locations he chose were the four corners of the wall—northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. This way, no matter which direction the zombies came from, they could form crossfire.

Construction time, one minute each.

Wang Jie watched as those blue light arrays appeared at the four corners simultaneously, watching the bunker bases, walls, firing ports, and machine gun turrets take shape one by one. Four minutes later, four gray, circular bunkers stood at the four corners of the wall.

Each bunker had a heavy machine gun inside, with the muzzle pointing outward. The interior of the bunker had an automatic feeding system, requiring no human operation.

Wang Jie climbed into the nearest bunker and looked out through the firing port. The view was excellent; the entire square was within range.

He suddenly felt a sense of relief.

Just then, the system prompt sounded again:

【Survivor signal detected】

【Location: Room 402, Unit 3, Building 7, Residential Complex】

【Number of people: Unknown】

【Status: Trapped】

【Suggestion: Proceed to rescue?】

Wang Jie was stunned for a moment.

There are still living people in this residential complex?

He hesitated for a few seconds.

Save them or not?

If he saved them, he would have to take a risk. If he didn't, those people might not survive the night.

He remembered the girl who was bitten to death by a zombie just now.

"One."

"Present."

"Take five men and come with me."

Lin Waner was awakened by a burst of gunfire.

She had forgotten how she had fallen asleep. Since three days ago, she hadn't truly slept—every time she closed her eyes, she would dream of those patients who turned into zombies, dream of them tearing into people crazily in the wards, and dream of her colleagues' screams.

She had escaped from the hospital.

Three days ago, an infection broke out at Jiangdong City First People's Hospital. She was on the night shift in the emergency department at the time when a patient brought in suddenly went berserk and bit Nurse Xiao Zhou's neck. Blood splattered on her face, and then the entire emergency room turned into chaos.

She hid in the storage room and crouched inside for six hours. After it became quiet outside, she snuck out and discovered that the entire hospital had turned into hell—corpses and zombies were everywhere in the hallways, some still eating people.

She jumped down from the second floor, injured her ankle, and limped her way out of the hospital.

Then she found a relatively safe hiding place in this residential complex—Room 402, Unit 3, Building 7. The door was intact, no one was inside, and there was still some food in the refrigerator.

She had been hiding here for three days.

This evening, she heard dense gunfire coming from outside. She lay on the window looking out and saw a group of people in military uniforms shooting zombies in the square.

Soldiers?

No, they didn't look like regular troops—their uniforms were strange, like the kind of Soviet uniforms in old movies.

But regardless, they were living people.

And they had guns.

Lin Waner hesitated for a long time, not knowing whether she should call for help.

What if those people weren't good people? In the apocalypse, bad people were more terrifying than zombies.

But the gunshots were getting closer and closer, and she heard people talking in the hallway.

Then her door was knocked on.

"Is anyone there?"

It was a young man's voice.

Lin Waner held her breath, not daring to make a sound.

"We are here to save people. If you are inside, open the door. Otherwise, we are leaving."

The knocking stopped.

Lin Waner gritted her teeth, stood up, walked to the door, and looked out through the peephole.

Five people stood outside the door—four soldiers in military uniforms holding guns, and a young man wearing a windbreaker. The young man looked twenty-seven or twenty-eight, quite ordinary-looking, but his eyes were steady.

She hesitated for three seconds, then opened the door.

The young man outside the door was stunned for a moment when he saw her.

Then he asked: "Are you the only one?"

Lin Waner nodded.

"Is there anyone else?"

Lin Waner shook her head.

The young man turned back and said to the soldiers: "Search the room and confirm it's safe."

The soldiers filed in, quickly checked every room, and then came out to report: "Safe."

Only then did the young man walk in, stand in the living room, and look around at the environment.

Lin Waner looked at him and suddenly asked: "Who are you people?"

The young man turned his head and looked at her.

"My name is Wang Jie. What about you?"

"Lin Waner."

"Are you a doctor?" Wang Jie saw the blood-stained white coat she was wearing.

Lin Waner nodded: "Jiangdong City First People's Hospital, Emergency Department."

Wang Jie's eyes lit up.

"Come with me."

Lin Waner was stunned for a moment: "Where to?"

"My base," Wang Jie said. "It's safe there, with food and a place to stay."

Lin Waner hesitated: "Why should I trust you?"

Wang Jie looked at her and was silent for two seconds.

Then he said: "You don't have to believe me. But after I leave, the next time someone comes, it might just be to collect your corpse."

Lin Waner bit her lip.

She recalled her experiences over the past three days—every second spent in fear, not knowing when she would die, not knowing how much longer she could hold on.

The person in front of her, at least, didn't look like a bad person.

And he had a gun.

"Okay," she said. "I'll go with you."

Wang Jie nodded and turned to walk out.

Lin Waner followed, took two steps, and suddenly remembered something: "Wait a second!"

She ran back to the bedroom, dragged a first-aid kit from under the bed—it was one she had grabbed when she escaped. Then she stuffed all the remaining food from the refrigerator into her backpack.

Wang Jie stood at the door, watching her busy, not rushing her.

After Lin Waner finished packing, Wang Jie suddenly asked: "What's wrong with your foot?"

Lin Waner was stunned for a moment.

She had forgotten that her ankle was still swollen.

"I injured it when I jumped down from the hospital."

Wang Jie said to a soldier nearby: "Carry her."

The soldier walked over and crouched down in front of Lin Waner. Lin Waner was a bit embarrassed, but she climbed on his back anyway.

The group walked out of Room 402 and into the hallway.

Lin Waner lay on the soldier's back, looking at the young man named Wang Jie in front, and a strange feeling welled up in her heart.

This person, it seemed, could really help her survive.

By the time they returned to the base, it was already nine o'clock at night.

Wang Jie brought Lin Waner to the temporary shelter—a storage room that had just been cleared out, with a few mattresses and bedding inside.

"Stay here for tonight," he said. "I'll arrange a proper place for you tomorrow."

Lin Waner nodded, sat on the mattress, and looked at the surroundings.

This "base" was simpler than she had imagined—it was just an underground parking garage, surrounded by walls, with some strange buildings in the corners. But those patrolling soldiers with guns gave her an inexplicable sense of security.

Just as Wang Jie was about to leave, Lin Waner suddenly called out to him:

"Wang Jie."

Wang Jie turned back.

"Thank you," Lin Waner said.

Wang Jie looked at her and was silent for a second.

Then he nodded and turned to leave.

Lin Waner lay down and closed her eyes.

For the first time in three days, she truly wanted to sleep.