30: Arrival at the base

The survivors were settled in the East District living area. Zhang Long stood on a makeshift high platform, his voice booming as he arranged for the survivors to move into the base:

"Listen up, everyone! Four people to a room! Clean up the zombie corpses and bloodstains in your rooms yourselves! Dinner will be served at the cafeteria promptly at 6:00 PM! Don't be late!"

His gaze swept toward the obsequious County Magistrate Luo in the crowd. "Luo Xun!"

"Present, Officer Zhang!" County Magistrate Luo immediately straightened his back and jogged forward.

"You are responsible for organizing manpower and arranging room assignments and cleaning! Make sure it's done properly!"

"Yes! Rest assured! I guarantee the task will be completed!" County Magistrate Luo patted his chest, making a solemn promise.

The shaken survivors entered the ancient city, looking up at the eight-meter-high, thick, and solid ancient walls. On the wall towers, Machine Gun Bunkers glinted with cold metallic light and ferocious-looking sentry guns pointed outside. An unprecedented sense of security welled up within them. With such powerful fortifications, the night no longer seemed so terrifying.

County Magistrate Luo quickly utilized his organizational and coordination skills, directing the survivors into the antique-style buildings in the living area. The architecture was traditional, but the interior space was large; each building could easily accommodate dozens of people. As for beds and bedding? In the apocalypse, having a relatively safe roof over one's head was already a luxury. People began silently cleaning up the traces of death left in the rooms.

Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Jiang Jun and Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Yun were directly assigned to the Barracks dormitory in the West District military base. They stayed on the same floor, enjoying the highest level of security.

At dusk, the aroma of food drifted from the cooking squad. The survivors lined up in an orderly fashion, waiting. Although it was just simple food, seeing fresh vegetables and rare slices of meat made the meal feel exceptionally precious and hearty after the day's life-and-death struggle and days of fear. Holding their steaming food, many people sat on the ground, eating silently, their faces reflecting the relief of surviving a disaster and a faint hope for the future. Compared to their friends and relatives who had fallen in pools of blood, being able to sit here and eat was a great fortune.

Zhang Long, surrounded by a group of officers including Jiang Xin, Chen Hao, Li Ang, Yang Wen, and Li Hong, walked to the front of the crowd.

County Magistrate Luo was very observant and immediately stood up with his bowl. His "capable assistants" beside him also hurriedly rose. Some clever survivors followed suit.

Zhang Long waved his hand, signaling everyone to sit down. "Sit and eat, I have a few words to say." His voice was steady and powerful, drowning out the slight clinking of utensils.

"Let me introduce myself again," Zhang Long pointed to his shoulder straps. "I am Captain Zhang Long, the temporary person-in-charge of this base." He then pointed to Jiang Xin, who was wearing a standard second lieutenant's uniform. "This is my deputy, second lieutenant Jiang Xin, responsible for the base's daily operational coordination."

Next, he introduced the officers behind him one by one: "This is first lieutenant Chen Hao, the commander of the First Company, responsible for frontline combat! first lieutenant Li Ang, commander of the Second Company! first lieutenant Yang Wen, commander of the Third Company, responsible for the base's city defense! And first lieutenant Li Hong, commander of the Fourth Company, responsible for logistics support!"

After the introductions, Zhang Long's expression turned serious, his gaze sharp as he scanned the crowd. "From today onwards, with the ancient city's east-west central axis as the boundary, the West District is a restricted military zone! No resident may enter without permission! Violators will be expelled from the base without exception!"

He paused for a moment and announced personnel appointments: "Luo Xun is appointed as the Director of the Residential Area Office! Li Qin, Chen Jun, Liu Jie, and Zhang Fu are appointed as clerks to assist Director Luo in managing daily work assignments, dispute mediation, and order maintenance in the residential area. Note," he emphasized, "the distribution of living supplies in the residential area will be unified and managed by Commander Li Hong of the Logistics Support Company! The office is only responsible for registration and assisting in distribution; it has no authority over supply inventory!"

"In addition, the City Defense Company will arrange for soldiers to patrol the residential area starting today! If anyone is found being lazy, refusing to follow reasonable work assignments, fighting, or snatching others' supplies..." Zhang Long's voice suddenly turned cold, "they will be punished with thirty strokes of a military cane and then expelled from the base! No mercy!"

"The daily schedule for base residents is as follows: wake up and gather at 7:00 AM for work assignments; lunch break from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM; and continue working from 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM! Specific work content will be announced by the office!"

In fact, the base was currently in a state of neglect, and the work available was nothing more than basic labor like cleaning, moving zombie corpses, and assisting the cooking squad with washing and cutting vegetables.

However, the base's modern facilities still provided a sense of civilized comfort. The Power Plant was already running, and the bright electric lights dispelled the darkness of the ancient city, as well as the gloom in people's hearts.

Just as Zhang Long was about to finish his speech, a young voice rang out with a hint of nervousness and determination:

"Officer! I... I want to sign up for the frontline units! To kill zombies!"

Everyone looked toward the source of the voice; it was a young man who wasn't very tall but had bright eyes.

"I want to go too!"

"Count me in!"

Following that, several more young men plucked up the courage to stand up and raise their hands. Although their voices weren't very loud, they were exceptionally clear among the crowd that had just experienced terror.

Zhang Long looked at these mere seven people, a flash of approval in his eyes, but his expression remained serious. "Good! Courage is a good thing! You're real men!" he affirmed, then changed the subject. "However, the army's equipment is currently limited, and we cannot issue weapons to you immediately."

He looked at County Magistrate Luo. "Director Luo, those who want to sign up for the army later should register with you! After registering, you will complete your assigned work during the day, and the City Defense Company will arrange time in the evening for basic military training! Once you have mastered basic skills and the army has surplus equipment, we will naturally arrange for you to gain experience on the battlefield! If you perform exceptionally well in training and combat, the base will issue zombie crystal cores as appropriate to help you awaken Superpowers! Once you awaken a powerful Superpower," Zhang Long's gaze swept over the few men, "the base will not hesitate to promote you!"

His words ignited a fire in the eyes of the few young men, but looking around, they were still the only seven to respond. More people lowered their heads and silently ate the food in their bowls. Facing those man-eating monsters required not just passion, but the immense courage to face death. Courage, in the apocalypse, was a scarce commodity.