Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Song Shijun leaned out of the window, looking back.

The instant noodle factory was already billowing thick smoke. It seemed the fire had reached the ground level and would soon engulf the entire factory in a sea of flames.

Xie Ning sighed. "I’m not worried about anything else, but those rats... their reproduction rate seems incredibly fast."

The smile on Song You’ai’s face vanished immediately. Thinking of the grim situation, she couldn’t help but sigh.

"With things like this, I wonder when they’ll ever get better."

"Sis, those rats... did they all reproduce at once?"

"Normally, you wouldn’t see so many rats pouring out from underground." Xie Ning frowned in thought. "It must be because the zombie rats’ reproduction rate has accelerated."

She was quite worried.

The day before yesterday, on the way back to the Song Family Pavilion, she’d seen a stray cat gnawing on a rotten bird’s head. A faint, terrible premonition had loomed over her ever since.

’I remember animal mutations weren’t this fast in my past life.’

Back then, when she’d encountered the zombified Junjun at the instant noodle factory, she hadn’t run into any Mouse-men or large numbers of zombie rats.

’It’s very strange.’

Therefore, she had reason to suspect that the zombie virus’s mutation process was likely accelerating.

"By the way, Junjun, you awakened a Wind Ability?"

"Yeah, Sis." Song Shijun carefully controlled a wisp of wind, making it swirl up from his palm.

Xie Ning glanced in the rearview mirror, a smile playing on her lips. "Very nice."

Song You’ai looked at her nephew with envy. "Did you have a high fever too, Junjun? How did you suddenly get a superpower?"

Song Shijun scratched his head. "I don’t really know what happened. At the time, Ji and I were running for our lives. A rat crawled into Ji’s pant leg, and I was frantic. The wind just suddenly shot out of my palm."

Xie Ning’s eyes lit up. She nodded and explained, "That must have been your superpower being triggered by a life-or-death crisis. It happens, but it’s quite rare. Not very common among ordinary people."

"Most ordinary people only show changes after a high fever. Your case, Junjun, is actually much safer." It skipped the high fever and the possibility of turning into a zombie.

Hearing this, Song You’ai became even more envious. She turned to her nephew with a happy laugh. "If your mom and dad knew how capable you are, Junjun, they’d be absolutely thrilled."

Song Shijun asked anxiously, "Are Mom and Dad back at the Song Family Pavilion?"

Song You’ai shook her head. "When we left, your parents hadn’t arrived yet. I don’t know what the situation is now."

Seeing the look of disappointment and worry on Song Shijun’s face, Song You’ai quickly tried to comfort him.

"The internet is spotty right now, and no one’s replying to the messages we sent in the group chat. But they should be able to see them."

"Don’t worry. Ningning said before that your parents would be fine, so they’ll definitely be fine." Song You’ai now had a kind of blind faith in her daughter, feeling that whatever she said was right.

Song Shijun was the same. The moment he heard it was his sister who said it, he took it as gospel. "That’s good, that’s good. Are we heading straight home now?"

Xie Ning thought for a moment. "How about we accompany Captain Gu to the Seed Base? I hear it’s on the way."

"Great idea!" Song You’ai was the first to voice her approval. "Xiao Gu has helped us so much along the way, and he was the one who saved us at the factory earlier. I think we should!"

Xie Ning looked away, her expression blank.

’I just want to swing by and see if I can collect anything. It’s not about helping some ’Xiao Gu’!’

Even though she grew up in the city and didn’t know how to farm, she could still keep some on hand.

’They’re seeds of hope, after all. Might as well take them if they’re free.’

’It’s just... isn’t Mom’s attitude toward Captain Gu a little too... enthusiastic?’

...

In the back of the small pickup truck, Dr. Wei was painstakingly trying to persuade Yu Tianfeng. "Oh, Dr. Yu, when you meet people in the future, please, you absolutely cannot say that again."

’How many times has he been beaten up for this? How can he get older but not any wiser!’

Yu Tianfeng turned his head with a wronged expression, looking at Dr. Wei. His bruised and swollen face was scrunched into a pained grimace.

His stomach still felt really uncomfortable!

"What did I say?"

He had just politely asked them if they were willing to let him study them.

’If you’re not willing, just say so. Why resort to violence right away?’

Dr. Wei’s mouth twitched. He gazed at the young man before him, his face full of worry.

How should he put it? When it came to scientific research, Dr. Yu’s intelligence was absolutely world-class, top of the line.

But his emotional intelligence in dealing with people... was cause for serious concern.

"Most ordinary people would feel uncomfortable hearing you say you want to study them. Let alone powerful Superpower Users like them, right?" ’For them, beating up a small fry like you is as easy as pie.’

"But it’s precisely the Superpower Users who need to be studied! What’s there to study about ordinary people?"

Dr. Wei suppressed his irritation and continued to persuade him in a calm, pleasant tone, "Even if your intentions are good, you still have to consider other people’s feelings, right?"

"I did consider them, that’s why I asked!" the single-minded Dr. Yu said, his face full of grievance.

Dr. Wei: !!!

’You just haven’t been beaten enough!’

’If it weren’t for this kid’s outstanding talent and contributions to the medical field, I’d really just wash my hands of him!’

Someone nearby tried to placate him, "Dr. Wei, calm down, calm down."

It wasn’t the first day they’d known that their Dr. Yu was a bit dense and missing a few screws. Why get angry? It wasn’t worth getting worked up to death over it.

Wei Zhengtong put on a serious expression and solemnly warned, "Tianfeng, when we get to their territory later, don’t say a word!"

Yu Tianfeng shot Dr. Wei a wronged glance. "I’ll try my best."

"What do you mean, ’try your best’? I’m thinking of you, looking out for you! Not saying those weird things is for your own safety."

"That’s right, Dr. Yu. For us to do scientific research, we have to stay alive first before we can continue to shine in our field."

If you’re dead, what kind of scientific research can you do!

"We can be considered temporarily safe for now, but who knows where we’ll be settled in the future."

"In short, let’s take it one step at a time. Everyone needs to be careful."

"Hey, why has the truck stopped?"

The truck’s rear door was suddenly opened from the outside, and a young, unsmiling soldier appeared before them.

"The commanding officer has given an order: Everyone is to stay put and rest for a while."

"Rest? What for? Why aren’t we rushing back? What are we doing stopping in the middle of the road?" Fang Jiawen grumbled while fixing her hair and jumping down from the pickup.

But she twisted her ankle on a small stone and cried out "AIIEE!" as she pitched forward.

A research specialist traveling with them quickly reached out to steady her. "Be careful, Specialist Fang."

Fang Jiawen angrily pushed his hand away and shouted at a soldier standing guard, "You! Tell your superior to come over here! We have questions."

"Specialist Fang!" Dr. Wei poked his head out of the truck, a headache already forming. "Stop shouting! Can you just be quiet for a moment?"