Ch 119: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

Lying flat on the ground like this was not a solution. Besides, who knew how many zombies had crawled here before them. Maybe it was just her imagination, but Song Rushuang felt she could smell decay in the air.

“Where’s the entrance to the basement?” she asked decisively.

“You have to go around outside the complex,” one elderly man who still had some strength replied. “Next to the noodle shop entrance, there’s a staircase going down…” He hesitated, then added fearfully, “But we tried pushing the door before. There’s a monster outside. It even bit Old Zhang to death.”

The two girls’ brows twitched. They had already encountered zombies face to face.

From the sound of it, the old man who encountered the zombie had been killed outright. Tragic, yet in a grim way fortunate. If he had survived long enough to be carried back inside for treatment, everyone in the room would probably already be infected.

“Got it. Wait here,” Sun Wei said.

As the two turned to leave, worried voices came again from the small window behind them. “Girls, be careful out there! Shouldn’t you call more people for help?”

Whether because elderly people naturally had poorer hearing or because hunger left them too weak to observe outside, they seemed unaware of what the three girls had just done outside.

After calling Zhang Han over, they drove the car out of the complex and parked along the street beside the former noodle shop.

A few zombies still wandered the street. Unfortunately, unlike the enclosed space inside the complex, clearing them completely would not be easy.

After a quick discussion, they decided Zhang Han would stay in the car on standby. If any zombies moved toward the entrance, she would honk the horn as a warning and drive off to lure them away.

Song Rushhuang and Sun Wei would go down to rescue the people, maintaining constant contact through their wristbands.

With the plan settled, the two rescuers got out and searched around the noodle shop. Sure enough, they found a concealed staircase leading downward.

Two or three zombies lingered near the door, persistently scratching at it, perhaps having heard movement from inside through the panels.

They dispatched the zombies in a few swift moves and dragged the bodies aside. Song Rushhuang knocked on the door.

After a delay, the sound of furniture being moved came from within.

Sun Wei listened for a moment, impressed. “How much stuff did they pile against this door?”

Then again, it made sense. A group of frail elderly people had few other means of protecting themselves.

After a while, the door opened a narrow crack. When the people inside confirmed it really was them, the wrinkles on an old man’s face trembled, and cloudy tears rolled down immediately.

They guided the sobbing elder inside to sit down, afraid his agitation might cause another medical emergency.

Once the door closed, the choking stench inside made both girls frown.

More than a dozen people had been trapped in a poorly ventilated basement with a corpse for three days. The smell was exactly what one would expect.

Sun Wei used her wristband to notify Zhang Han that they had located survivors and asked her to use the car’s radio to try contacting nearby soldiers or armed police for evacuation support. Meanwhile, Song Rushhuang began asking questions.

“How did you all end up here? We came because someone heard a little girl crying. Where is she?”

With rescue finally arriving, everyone’s spirits lifted. Two or three elders who still had strength began explaining all at once.

The two girls finally understood.

This really was a hidden card and mahjong parlor, quite well known among nearby elderly residents. Many retirees, bored during the day while their children were at work, would come here to play cards and mahjong.

The basement environment was poor, but once people got absorbed in gambling, no one paid attention. Many arrived after lunch and stayed until nearly midnight.

On the day the virus broke out, plenty of people had come as usual. They started playing after noon and continued until around five or six in the evening. Translated on Hololo novels.Only when some people left early to cook dinner did anyone realize something was wrong.

Weekends were normally lively here. Why, aside from the lunchtime group, had no one else come all afternoon?

Old Zhang, who hurried out to go home, screamed shortly after leaving. He stumbled back into the parlor, slammed the door shut, and died against it before he could say a word.

The others discovered in horror that his throat had nearly been torn apart by a bite.

At the same time, beastlike growls came from outside.

There was more than one. Footsteps paced back and forth, accompanied by pounding and scratching at the door.

Terrified, the group first assumed animals from a wildlife park had escaped, or perhaps tigers or wolves from the nearby mountains had entered the city.

It was not impossible. The area around City S was mountainous, and every few years rumors spread about starving wild animals descending into urban areas.

They had thought someone would eventually notice the disturbance and call firefighters to rescue them.

Instead, they waited an entire night with no help arriving.

With no other option, they turned to the only small window and asked Jiājia, the youngest child present, who had been brought there by her grandparents, to try climbing out and seek help.

The crying people heard came from Jiājia as the others lifted her toward the window.

Unfortunately, the window was too narrow. Even for Jiājia, squeezing through was extremely difficult. Her head and shoulders easily became stuck. Worse still, during the first attempt, after struggling for a long time to push half her body outside, several monsters in the distance heard the noise and began shambling toward them.

Jiājia burst into terrified sobs, and the elders hurriedly pulled her back inside.

Their strongest attempt had failed. Later, when the monsters wandered elsewhere, they tried again several times. But with no food, Jiājia grew weaker and weaker. Each attempt became harder than the last and took longer, yet none succeeded.

That had been the source of the crying.

As for why no one had called for help, it was because Jiājia’s first attempt had shown them that noise attracted the monsters’ attention. After that, they no longer dared make a sound.

“There wasn’t any food in the card room?” Sun Wei asked, puzzled.

“No,” the elders shook their heads weakly.

They were too exhausted; even answering took effort.

It turned out there were many cheap eateries upstairs, and most customers were elderly people unwilling to spend money. Many even arrived carrying leftover steamed buns from breakfast wrapped in plastic bags. Snacks like biscuits or instant noodles simply never sold.

Over time, the owner stopped stocking such items altogether. The only thing provided in the parlor was hot water for tea.

Banning outside food was impossible. There were several similar parlors nearby, and if the owner tried that, customers would disappear the next day.

After becoming trapped, the elders survived three days solely on the small amounts of food and water each had brought.

On the final day, hunger grew unbearable. Translated on Hololo novels. They even divided and ate the tea leaves that had already been brewed in their cups.

The basement’s soundproofing was too good, and the signal too poor. They had no idea what was happening outside and had even missed the live news broadcasts from the previous two days.

When they finally went out, the shock awaiting them would likely be immense.

Sun Wei and Song Rushuang exchanged a glance and quietly stepped outside, using their wristbands to notify Zhang Han and the incoming rescue personnel to temporarily conceal the situation outside from the elders.

They would wait until the group had eaten, rested, and recovered some strength before telling them.

Song Rushuang continued asking, “Where’s Jiājia?”

“She’s here.”

Several elders hurriedly led her over. In a separate mahjong room, Jiājia lay sleeping on a mahjong table, covered with a short-sleeved shirt. At the sound of movement, she barely lifted her eyelids. Her breathing was faint.

The elders, many of whom had grandchildren of their own, looked both heartbroken and guilty.

“Her grandparents saved all their food for her,” one said softly. “But the child is sensible. She secretly saved some and fed it back to them when they were too hungry to endure. Now she’s starving too.”

In the corner, the grandparents leaned against the wall, half-asleep, guarding their granddaughter.

The grandfather’s upper body was bare. The shirt covering Jiājia was likely his.

When they saw Song Rushuang, they tried to speak excitedly, but no strength remained beyond faint sounds.

For a moment, Song Rushhuang did not know what to say.

Could she say they loved their granddaughter? Yet they had brought a seven- or eight-year-old child into a smoke-filled gambling parlor because of their obsession with playing cards.

Could she say they did not love her? Yet at the edge of life and death, they had given her their only food.

She swallowed the swirl of emotions and rummaged through her pocket. To her surprise, she found a lemon candy she did not remember putting there. Melted once by the heat and hardened again, it stuck to the wrapper. She struggled to peel it open and quickly fed it to Jiājia.

“Hold on a little longer. The rescue team will be here soon.”

Hope lit up the elders’ eyes, followed by a stream of grateful thanks.

Song Rushhuang waved her hand. “You’re being saved because someone outside noticed something was wrong, and also because of Jiājia’s efforts.”

After being terrified by zombies like that, and still trying again and again afterward, even many adults might not have had that courage.

The elders nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, we’ll remember this kindness.”

They had tried to save as much food as possible for Jiājia, but there simply had not been enough.

After waiting so many days and finally seeing hope arrive, a surge of strength seemed to return to their exhausted bodies, sustaining them a little longer.

About twenty minutes later, nearby armed police arrived. They efficiently cleared the remaining zombies and even moved the bodies farther away before escorting the elders out.

Seeing sunlight again after three days, their knees nearly gave way beneath them. But soon they noticed something strange.

Why was everything outside so empty?

And why were all the people who came to rescue them carrying guns?

They boarded a bus used for evacuations. Emergency personnel distributed IV fluids and blankets, while another medical team boarded with equipment, checking each elder’s temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and overall condition.

These medical staff also wore heavy protective gear.

The situation was better than expected. Aside from four elders with underlying conditions like hypertension and diabetes whose states were more critical, everyone else, including Jiājia, was simply weakened by hunger and dehydration. A few days of recovery would be enough.

All of them would be transported to a nearby elementary school.

Under normal circumstances, the four more serious cases would have been sent to hospitals for further examination. But now every hospital in the city was already overflowing, with no beds available, so nearby facilities had to be used instead.

The bus curtains were tightly drawn and even sealed with wide tape along the edges, completely blocking the outside view.

Though uneasy, the elders’ weakness dulled their thoughts. Under the reassurance and care of experienced medical staff, their emotions gradually stabilized.

Outside the bus, the leading officer expressed his thanks to Song Rushhuang and the others.

“…If you had arrived even half a day later, those four probably wouldn’t have survived. The rest would have been in serious danger too. You saved the lives of nineteen people.”

“I’ve heard of Fangzhou for a long time. I didn’t expect to encounter its students personally today. Truly impressive young people.” His gaze held clear admiration before he straightened solemnly. “On behalf of these nineteen citizens and their families, I once again offer you our sincere gratitude.”

Song Rushhuang hurriedly waved her hands and briefly explained how they had received Shi Yue’s help request.

“So I have one request,” she added. “When you leave, could the convoy pass by the main entrance of the complex?”

The officer blinked, then immediately understood and agreed with a smile. “Of course.”

…

Some time had passed since Song Rushhuang and the others had driven away.

From what Shi Yue and her roommates saw before they left, the girls seemed to have discovered something behind the flowerbeds. But once the car moved out of sight, they could not see what happened next. All they could do was sit anxiously by the bay window and wait.

What if those people came back?

“Do you think they found the child?”

“I don’t know,” Shi Yue shook her head, then suddenly perked up. “Wait. Do you hear that?”

It sounded like several gunshots.

The three immediately pressed themselves to the window. About ten minutes later, they finally spotted a familiar white car slowly passing the entrance of the complex.

“It’s them!” Shi Yue recognized it instantly. “Did they rescue the people?”

They were so anxious they could hardly bear it, wishing they had telescopic vision to see whether the little girl sat in the back seat.

The white car disappeared from view. Just as they were about to look away, they froze.

Behind Song Rushhuang’s car appeared an armored riot-control vehicle. Its pure black body and imposing shape radiated authority.

The armored vehicle led the way. Behind it followed a large bus, flanked and guarded by additional vehicles.

As the convoy passed Qinghuanli’s entrance, it deliberately slowed, as if intentionally conveying a message.

Shi Yue trembled all over, suddenly on the verge of tears.

After a long silence, one roommate said uncertainly, “Did they slow down… for us?”

“It was just rescuing one child. Why would they dispatch a whole bus…”

The other roommate trailed off midway, realization dawning. “Wait… could it be more than one person trapped inside?”

Enough people to require a bus for evacuation… just how many had been trapped down there?

The three stared at each other, dazed.

It felt as if, without realizing it, they had done something truly significant.

₊˚.🎧📓✩