Ch 125: Opening a Survival School Before the Zombie Outbreak

There were roughly five hours left until 2:30 p.m. The time was extremely tight, and everyone began preparations at full speed.

Inside the conference room, Bai Xianglei printed an enlarged city map and marked all assembly points with bold highlights.

Before Zhou Lingxi could even lower her head to compare it with the map on her tablet, Song Rushuang, a local, had already stepped forward. Using different colored markers, she quickly labeled nearby major population clusters, densely populated residential communities, high-traffic main roads, and major intersections around each assembly point.

“The main evacuation crowds will probably appear from and pass through these areas, and the core security forces should also be positioned here, right?” Song Rushuang said, knowing Zhou Lingxi was about to explain guard placements.

But Zhou Lingxi was from the capital and unfamiliar with S City’s layout. Matching everything against the map would have taken too long.

Zhou Lingxi compared it with her own map in surprise. “…Impressive. That’s almost exactly right.”

Song Rushuang waved it off modestly. “Nothing special. I’m just more familiar with S City.”

“However…”

Just as Zhou Lingxi reached out to take back the marker, it suddenly changed hands.

Fu Qing, who had been standing beside the conference table with arms folded while studying the map, stepped forward. She swiftly circled several shopping malls and supermarkets along the major arterial roads, then casually marked several office towers in the CBD district.

“These places may not be residential areas,” she said, “but they still hold large concentrations of people. Especially malls and supermarkets. They cover large areas, offer few hiding spots, and have heavy weekend foot traffic. They fall quickly, but exits are limited and interiors are complex, which makes zombies easy to trap inside.”

She paused briefly, remembering a supermarket she had once entered during the apocalypse, only to see a dense mass of overwintering zombies suddenly turn their heads toward her all at once.

Seeing it once was enough to remember forever.

“If large crowds pass nearby, the zombies inside are very likely to gather instinctively and be drawn toward the exits.”

As for the office towers, most housed regional headquarters of major companies in S City. Fu Qing did not even need to explain further. Everyone understood immediately.

Overtime disaster zones.

The outbreak had occurred on a weekend, around August twentieth. Most primary and secondary schools had not yet reopened, and the few high schools already in session had been listed as priority rescue targets. Teachers and students trapped there were among the first rescued.

Universities typically reopened later. Like Song Rushuang’s cousin Song Xiang’s school, early starts were rare.

After rescuing those unfortunate “flowers of the nation,” rescue forces had shifted elsewhere.

Office workers scattered across various companies, though not ignored entirely, had been pushed to the lowest priority simply because they were less concentrated.

Yet in reality, these landmark office buildings often rose forty or fifty stories high, housing enormous populations with complex personnel flow. Including cleaners, visitors, and property staff, no one knew how many zombies might now be inside.

Everyone silently mourned those overworked employees for two seconds.

Even Zhou Lingxi and Bai Xianglei fell quiet.

Zhou Lingxi finally said dryly, “That’s right. Including these locations, we’ve basically covered all key guard placements. Nothing important is missing.”

Clearing zombies from inside office buildings would be extremely difficult. Guards could only be stationed outside to prevent hordes from pouring out and colliding with evacuation crowds.

If survivors escaped from within, they could also receive immediate assistance.

Those stranded outside without supplies or water, as well as migrant workers without stable housing, were the primary targets for the first wave of shelter admissions.

For many residents who still had stored food at home, staying indoors with limited electricity and water was still preferable to sleeping in crowded shelter halls and sharing packed restrooms.

To them, the opening of shelters meant an additional fallback option, not an immediate reason to leave.

Going outside still meant risk. Even if the danger had been reduced to a minimum, few people would willingly take that risk unless they had no alternative.

Moreover, later broadcasts had made it clear that the first batch of emergency shelters was meant mainly to provide safety and basic food and lodging for displaced civilians. Most were converted from large public buildings, and living conditions were unlikely to be comfortable.

At best, they would guarantee a meal and a place to sleep.

More advanced shelters were still under construction. These would be entirely different in scale, modeled after Fangzhou itself, functioning more like self-sufficient “micro-cities” integrating living, production, and defense, complete with stronger fortifications, independent power stations, water recycling systems, and waste treatment facilities.

They would take longer to build, but once completed, they would be far safer and more livable than emergency shelters.

After weighing the options, many residents would likely choose to wait.

Discussion continued. Translated on Hololo novels. With time running short, countless scenarios had to be considered. One after another, those present stepped forward to offer suggestions.

At eleven in the morning, the meeting finally concluded. Bai Xianglei hurried off with his team, while Fu Qing issued a notice instructing the already prepared students to head early to the cafeteria for lunch.

After eating and resting briefly, at exactly noon, buses sent by Tian Xuejun would escort them to the stadium where Xue Ran had been training teams, allowing them to regroup with their respective units.

After a short period of coordination and tactical discussion within each team, they would depart again. There was no time to waste.

Everyone left the room and dispersed in different directions. Fu Qing was about to head toward the cafeteria when she nearly ran into an unexpected visitor coming the other way.

Liu Yingchun. Grandma Liu.

She seemed to have been waiting in the hallway for quite some time. With a gentle, kindly smile, Grandma Liu responded warmly to each passing student who greeted her. When she spotted Fu Qing, she quickly stepped forward.

“After lunch… you’re heading out, right?”

Along the path from the dormitories to the administration building, students hurried past one another, all moving with purpose. Everyone had already entered a combat mindset.

“Yes.” Fu Qing stopped. “Is something wrong?”

She noticed Grandma Liu’s hesitation, as if she were carefully considering her words.

Grandma Liu finally spoke, somewhat uncertain. “Before you leave… could you spare ten minutes for me?”

Fu Qing was slightly surprised. This was the first time Grandma Liu had made a request unrelated to lessons.

“Of course,” she said patiently. “But what do you want to do?”

“It’s what you mentioned before…”

*

After lunch, about half an hour remained before departure. Some students returned to their dorms to prepare, while others strolled around the track in small groups to digest their meal.

They were already accustomed to combat, but this would be their first confrontation with the Believers since the apocalypse began. Alongside excitement came unavoidable tension.

Compared with usual days, the atmosphere on the field was far more solemn.

Parents sensed it too. Knowing their children were about to leave, many grew even more anxious than the students themselves. Some had reddened eyes.

“Do you really have to go?”

“Will it be dangerous?”

“If anything happens to you, what will your father and I do?” one mother said, gripping her daughter’s hand tightly. “Isn’t staying here in the shelter good enough? Why must you go out?”

The girl knew her mother had never stepped outside since the apocalypse began and didn’t understand the situation beyond the campus. For a moment, she wondered if she had protected her parents too well.

She explained gently, “This shelter is safe because people go out every day to patrol and clear zombies.”

Her mother fell silent, but her grip only tightened, as if afraid her daughter might disappear the moment she let go.

A bittersweet ache rose in the girl’s chest. She squeezed her mother’s hand back and said calmly, “There’s still time. I’ll walk another lap with you.”

All around the field were families just like them, parents reluctant to part, students doing their best to reassure them.

Near noon, the sun blazed overhead. Translated on Hololo novels. As they walked, the sunlight felt dazzlingly bright. After a brief moment of disorientation, the scene before them suddenly changed.

They stepped directly into a bustling crowd.

It was a park located in a busy urban district. Lush trees filled the space, and beyond the railings lay a city alive with traffic.

Cars honked. Street vendors called out their wares. Construction crews drilled into pavement with a constant buzzing roar. A passing subway made the ground tremble faintly beneath their feet. The city noises that once felt irritating now carried an unexpected warmth.

Fangzhou had everything, except noise. Life near the mountains was too quiet.

Inside the park, couples pushed strollers along shaded paths. Elderly people in exercise clothes practiced tai chi slowly and gracefully. Lovers sat on benches, hands entwined, faces shy and sweet. Children ran past in laughter.

A cotton candy vendor stood beside the bushes, colorful clouds of sugar giving off a sweet fragrance. Balloons tied to the cart handle swayed in the wind, their bright colors vivid and alive.

Light. Sound. Color. Smell. Touch.

All five senses awakened at once. For a moment, it felt as if they truly stood in a familiar park from before the apocalypse.

Everyone on the field stared wide-eyed in stunned silence.

People inside the teaching buildings and dormitories rushed out, gazing in disbelief at the scene.

Parents thought they were dreaming.

The students realized first.

“This is… the principal’s full holographic simulation?”

There had been no announcement, no exam context. The scene looked nothing like any previous simulation.

There was no danger here. No attacking zombies. Passersby even smiled kindly at the bewildered group standing still.

Sunlight filtered through leaves. A gentle breeze carried the scent of trees. Everything felt real.

Perfectly recreating an ordinary corner of the pre-apocalypse world.

Shock turned into nostalgia, and nostalgia into quiet sorrow.

They slowed their steps, even their breathing growing careful, as if the scene were a fragile soap bubble that might burst at a touch. They only dared trace it with their eyes, memorizing every detail.

When the simulation ended, it would vanish.

Never before had they realized so clearly that the ordinary daily life they once overlooked had become so distant.

So distant that standing within it again first awakened longing.

Only what is lost becomes something one longs for.

Families wandered silently from the park’s edge toward its center. A fountain rose in the plaza, forming a rainbow in the sunlight. Children watching nearby clapped and jumped excitedly, drawing smiles from everyone around.

After a long silence, the girl’s mother loosened her grip first.

“Mom?” the girl asked, surprised.

Her mother’s voice was dry as she tried to sound normal. “It’s about time. Go on.”

The girl came back to herself, hugged her tightly, and whispered, “Don’t worry. I’ll come back early.”

The simulation was brief. Soon the image blurred, and the noise faded away little by little.

The people inside the scene remained unaware. Only the observers were pulled away.

Someone instinctively reached out, trying to hold onto it, but the next moment they were standing once more on the athletic field.

A vast sense of loss settled over everyone.

“What a pity,” the girl’s mother murmured. “I wish we could’ve stayed longer.”

The girl suddenly said, “It’s okay, Mom. That was fake anyway.”

“But…” her mother began, meeting her daughter’s bright eyes.

“What’s the point of something fake?” the girl grinned. “I’ll bring the real thing back for you. Later we’ll go to the park every day, until you start complaining again about the dancing grandpas and grandmas being too noisy, about cotton candy getting dusty, about kids splashing water on your skirt. Deal?”

Her mother stared at her in surprise. After a long moment, she lowered her gaze to hide the complicated emotions in her eyes, then burst into laughter.

“Deal,” she said softly. “That sounds perfect.”

₊˚.🎧📓✩