Ch 86: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

Early the next morning, Song Rushuang was awakened right on time by her biological clock.

To prepare for the battle ahead, she went outside for a brief warm up exercise. When she returned home, Xu Mingyu and Song Jianguo were still asleep.

The bedroom was dark, a thin line of sunlight slipping through the gap in curtains that had not been fully drawn shut.

Moving quietly, Song Rushhuang tiptoed inside, carrying a soft cloth bag.

Over the past few days, she had secretly been packing luggage for the two of them.

The three large suitcases meant for returning to school were already filled to the brim, each weighing more than twenty kilograms. The last time Song Jianguo casually lifted one, he nearly strained his back.

Her parents had joked that she seemed to be moving the entire house just to go to school, never realizing that most of what was packed actually belonged to them.

At the moment, the wardrobes and storage cabinets in their bedroom looked completely normal from the outside, but inside had already been quietly emptied by someone.

Song Rushhuang opened a drawer and, amid Song Jianguo’s thunderous snoring, secretly took out several of Xu Mingyu’s clothes and stuffed them into the bag.

Seasonal clothing and daily necessities had already been prepared in multiple sets inside her storage space at Fangzhou. But these particular pieces were ones Xu Mingyu had carefully chosen at the mall, including a garment Song Rushhuang had bought her with New Year gift money. Xu Mingyu treasured them, and if they were left behind, she would surely feel heartbroken.

After double checking the bedroom for anything missed, Song Rushhuang sneaked back into the living room and packed Song Jianguo’s treasured purple clay teapot, along with a box of tea leaves.

The teapot was something he used every evening, practically his most beloved possession. Afraid he would panic if he noticed it missing too early, she had waited until the final day to pack it.

The cherished teapot was carefully wrapped inside Xu Mingyu’s silk clothing, bundled tightly, and tucked into a heavy suitcase corner.

At that moment, her parents woke up.

Song Jianguo shuffled out of the bedroom, hair sticking up in the back, still half asleep. He looked around while muttering, “Strange… kiddo, why does the house feel emptier lately? Feels like a lot of things are missing…”

He looked at Song Rushhuang in confusion. “Did you notice?”

Song Rushhuang, calmly eating breakfast at the table: “……”

She laughed it off. “No? Probably just your imagination.”

Song Jianguo blinked. “Really?”

The changes she made were subtle, like a cartoon mouse nibbling around the edge of a block of cheese until it became slightly smaller but still looked the same at a glance.

Still groggy, Song Jianguo accepted her answer and wandered off to wash up.

Song Rushhuang quietly sighed in relief.

The next second, a shout came from the bathroom.

“Who took my towel?!”

Song Jianguo rushed out looking as though the sky had collapsed.

Song Rushhuang blinked. “Wasn’t that just a rag?”

It had been so worn it was practically falling apart, riddled with holes and impossible to recognize its original color. Translated on hololo novels. She had tossed it while cleaning.

“How can you say that? That’s insulting. That was your dad’s face towel for nearly ten years,” Xu Mingyu said, rolling her eyes as she entered the bathroom.

A moment later, another shout rang out.

“Who threw away my toothpaste?!”

Song Rushhuang felt even guiltier. “…It was basically empty. I couldn’t squeeze anything out this morning, so I threw it away.”

Xu Mingyu was heartbroken. “Nonsense. You could roll it with chopsticks and still use it for days. Why throw it away?”

She muttered as she walked away, “You really shouldn’t suddenly decide to do housework. What’s that saying online? The most useless person in the house always throws away the most useful things…”

Song Rushhuang: “……”

At that moment, she had a sudden realization. With parents like hers around, she probably never needed to worry about running out of supplies.

One pair of parents was already formidable. Two thousand pairs…

She suddenly could not imagine what future Fangzhou would be like.

*

At noon sharp, Zhang Han arrived with her parents to meet Song Rushhuang.

Only after meeting did the two girls realize they had scheduled their gathering right at lunchtime. It took considerable effort to stop both sets of parents from insisting on treating each other to a restaurant meal.

Thinking quickly, Song Rushhuang suggested they all eat at the school cafeteria instead and take a walk around campus afterward. Only then were the four adults persuaded to head to the school first.

Before leaving, Song Rushhuang walked through the house one last time.

She had lived here since birth, eighteen full years. Every corner held traces of family life and memories of growing up together. Her gaze lingered reluctantly over each piece of furniture. The next time she returned home, who knew when that would be?

She closed all doors and windows tightly, afraid that zombies or fleeing strangers might break in and destroy those warm memories.

“Xiaoshuang, remember to lock the doors and windows,” Song Jianguo called while carrying suitcases downstairs.

She answered softly.

She carefully checked every window. But just before leaving, she hesitated, standing still in the center of the living room for a long moment. Finally, she walked back to the bathroom and gently unlocked the window she had already secured.

A drainage pipe ran along the outside wall. If someone climbed up while fleeing zombies, this route would be the most likely path. That window might save a life.

In case she could not return home later, she had already stocked food supplies inside.

If her family never needed them, then perhaps they would help someone else lucky enough to survive.

As for the memories belonging to the three of them…

She glanced at the family photo on the coffee table, picked it up along with the frame, slipped it into her bag, and turned to head downstairs.

As long as family stayed together, new memories could be created every day. There was no need to cling only to the past.

…

Downstairs, Song Jianguo and Xu Mingyu waited beside the car.

Seeing her arrive last, Xu Mingyu joked, “What were you doing up there?”

“You’re just going back to school. Why does it look like you’ll never come back? If you miss home, just come back on weekends. I’ll make braised chicken wings for you.”

The casual remark made Song Rushhuang’s nose sting.

She swallowed her emotions and placed her backpack in the back seat.

Two large twenty eight inch suitcases already filled the trunk. The extra suitcase sat in the back seat, with her backpack placed on top beside Xu Mingyu. Song Jianguo took the front passenger seat to help with navigation.

Song Rushhuang was the one driving.

Zhang Han had rented a car as well. Because they had so much luggage, the two decided to travel separately. If something unexpected happened on the road and one car broke down, they would still have the other vehicle and would not lose mobility.

Over the past year, they had not only earned their driver’s licenses but had also practiced driving countless times inside simulation chambers.

Almost any scenario could provide terrible road conditions for training.

Roads littered with corpses, zombie blockades, highways jammed by chain reaction accidents… some forum users had even shared specialized maps containing these extreme situations so everyone could quickly adapt to all kinds of driving environments.

Although Song Rushhuang and Zhang Han had less than a year of real driving experience, their skill level already rivaled veteran drivers, especially their unusual calmness when facing sudden emergencies.

Only occasionally… after getting used to speeding through simulation scenarios, they sometimes forgot that real roads had traffic police and cameras.

Of course, Song Jianguo, sitting in the passenger seat, had no idea how skilled his daughter actually was.

He cheerfully instructed, “Just listen to me later. Don’t get nervous, alright?”

Song Rushhuang glanced at him. “Got it.”

The response filled Song Jianguo with immense satisfaction.

As they reached the neighborhood entrance, they unexpectedly ran into Grandma Zhang returning from outside.

“Xiaoshuang, heading back to school?” Grandma Zhang spotted her in the driver’s seat.

“Yes.” Song Rushhuang quickly pulled over and got out to chat briefly. “…Please take good care of your health.”

As she spoke, she glanced at the sky and adopted a serious, concerned expression. “By the way, I checked the weather forecast before leaving. This afternoon’s temperature will be the highest this month, over forty degrees. It’s easy to get heatstroke outside.”

“If you don’t have anything important today, please stay indoors this afternoon.”

Her earnest concern delighted the elderly woman.

Though she felt the weather was actually quite pleasant, she did not suspect anything and smiled warmly. “Alright, alright. I’ll stay home and watch TV this afternoon.”

Song Rushhuang gently held her hand, hiding the worry and reluctance in her heart, and said goodbye with a smile.

Back in the car. Seatbelt fastened. Engine started.

Her gaze lingered in the rearview mirror.

The hunched figure remained standing there, growing smaller and smaller. Translated on hololo novels. Even as the car turned the corner, she could still faintly see the old woman raise her hand and wave with a smile.

Goodbye, Grandma.

Song Rushhuang silently mouthed the words.

…See you after the apocalypse.

*

“Countdown: one and a half hours.”

Inside Fangzhou’s administrative building conference room, all faculty members had gathered.

Above the large round table, a holographic countdown floated in midair, seconds ticking down one by one.

From the window on one side, the school gate was fully visible below.

Students were already arriving one after another with their parents.

They had tried every possible excuse, campus tours, cafeteria meals, asking for help cleaning dorms or organizing luggage, anything to delay their parents’ departure.

Fangzhou had never been open to the public. For many parents, this was their first time stepping onto their children’s university campus. Curious and excited, they wandered around enthusiastically, completely unaware of the tension in their children’s expressions.

The laughter and casual chatter drifting in from outside sharply contrasted with the tense silence inside the conference room.

After Fu Qing announced the countdown, the room fell into complete stillness.

After a while, Grandma Liu spoke softly. “Only a little over fifty students have returned so far… could some fail to make it back?”

“What if they encounter danger on the road, especially those traveling long distances…”

Because the apocalypse could not be revealed, students had to invent excuses to bring relatives to Fangzhou, which inevitably delayed early returns.

Many students living far away had already prepared to begin their journey only after the apocalypse started.

After all, parents might accompany freshmen to enrollment, but after a full year of school, few would travel long distances just to send their children back for a new semester.

And convincing entire families to come along was even harder. Even using travel as an excuse often failed.

No leave from work, too expensive, poor health, wanting children to learn independence… parents always had reasons, leaving students frantic with worry.

No matter how much training they had undergone at Fangzhou, once home they were still eighteen or nineteen year olds without much authority.

A few students, like Shen Qingqing and Song Rushhuang, had earned trust through extraordinary events.

But most lived ordinary lives and could only wait helplessly for the apocalypse, hoping to prove themselves when true life and death struggles began.

In response to Grandma Liu’s concern, Fu Qing said, “I gave them half a month to return. Half a month is enough time to drive here from anywhere in the country. For trained students, that is sufficient.”

In fact, those living extremely far away had mostly returned early, fully aware of the risks of long travel.

Half a month was already the maximum time Fu Qing could allow.

The longer they waited, the less controllable the Zombie King’s movements would become, and the more infected it could create.

She had given the students time to save the people most important to them.

But she could not wait forever.

“When the half month ends, operations will begin immediately.”

Her words drew a worried sigh from Grandma Liu.

Beside the countdown floated a massive three dimensional map of the country. Countless glowing points representing Fangzhou students were scattered across it. At the top displayed the real time survivor count: 2370 people.

The teachers were familiar with this image. During every monthly assessment, they had watched similar displays, holding their breath as lights disappeared one by one.

Only the strongest students survived until the end.

But this time was not an examination.

Over the past year, the teachers had worked tirelessly, sacrificing sleep and pouring their hearts into preparation so that even the weakest students might survive to the end.

Fu Qing had already made extensive preparations, but before the apocalypse arrived, there was one final task left.

More precisely, ninety percent of it had already been arranged. Only a small final portion required her direct action.

She lowered her head. In her hands was a tablet.

With system panels and holographic projections available, she rarely used such “outdated” devices. Thus, when she took it out, every teacher’s gaze shifted toward her.

Under their watchful eyes, Fu Qing calmly opened a livestream.

Streamer: @Dormitory Escape Battle Royale

Status: Not yet live

Title: [One Year Anniversary Livestream! Apocalypse Countdown: 3, 2, 1… Are you ready?]

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