After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

[183:34:56]

After walking for hours, Althea, Sheila, and Fufi finally found another cave to rest.

Even if moving was torturous, they had no choice but to change places.

The cave they found was a small cave with an entrance just big enough for them to enter while leaning down.

She opened her solar-powered flashlight to ensure there were no surprises before formally setting up camp.

Sheila immediately set up their cooking tools and made a fire to cook another meal, but this time they covered the cave opening with mats. They also chose food with a mild smell to be safe.

Fufi laid down next to the pot, while Althea sat down against the wall thinking of their way there.

The system had actually given them a map for reference, but the only places available were places that the person himself had stepped on.

She had taken note of the features she had seen from afar and made some calculations about their distances, placing digital notes on the map for recording.

Along the way, she tried to look for signs of a decent water source, but she didn’t have much luck regarding it.

A good territory should have a good stable water source, preferably one that could be used for other things like trade. However, any source of fresh water was acceptable to her.

Her trance was interrupted some time later, when Sheila called for her. ”The food is ready!” Sheila said, making sure the solar lamp was stable next to them as they ate.

After finally getting to eat their fill, the trio took out their sleeping bags and prepared to sleep.

Althea was thoughtful and placed some manual alarm system in front of the cave. The mouth of the cave was very narrow, and it was very easy to place one so that no one needed to stay up in vigil.

It was actually not that dark yet, but they were used to the 24-hour-a-day cycle and they needed time to adjust.

Not to mention they had fought so much, it was no wonder they felt heavy as lead. They slept so soundly that they barely even noticed it had started raining.

They had starkly different conditions than the other people who came with them…

____

Ansel and Tom shivered in the cold and in fear as they squeezed themselves in a hollow tree trunk.

The two of them were in incredibly sorry states. Fortunately, the rain covered up their scents so that the monsters didn’t go after them.

”What do you think happened to the others?” Tom asked with that demure voice of his.

When they were teleported here, there were over thirty people in the vicinity. Unfortunately, so many people attracted a large group of monsters.

Those monsters were really strong, the weakest ones were more difficult to deal with than a number of upgraded zombies attacking together.

They didn’t even get a chance to adjust from the transport and they were quickly reduced by half.

”Most of them are dead, probably.” Ansel shrugged. But anyone who survived that long in the city would have some sort of skill.

He still remembered among the ten people, two people were policemen, one was in a gang, and another was mysterious but he could tell he was pretty strong. He smelled like a soldier, probably a veteran.

In the end, he was still more worried about a certain pregnant woman.

A lot of things happened during his travel to Z city and he only made it to a few stations before he was teleported out. His eyes twitched when he recalled the huge amount of zombies and upgraded zombies that flowed in the train car when it stopped at those damned stations.

However, seeing that Tom was with him the first time they transferred, although he was not sure how the survivors were distributed, it could mean that the distance between places could’ve been compressed.

This meant that perhaps, Althea was closer to him than he originally thought.

This made him feel energized that his spirit actually increased by a point.

In contrast to Ansel’s relatively better mood, Tom was very depressed. He was clearly almost in his brother’s house, but there was no sign of him among the thirty people they transferred with.

”What… What is this place?” Tom asked, pale as a ghost. Not only was he shivering from being wet in the rain, the image of people being eaten alive was still fresh in his memory.

It was horrifying. It was even worse than the horror movies his nieces forced him to watch.

When they found out they were getting taken away from the world filled with zombies, he had a faint hope in his heart.

At the time they naively thought: Would they finally escape the hell Terran had become? Would they finally find peace again?

Who’d have known they would face bigger opponents, instead?

”Was the protection period a lie?” He couldn’t help but voice out, still shivering from the cold.

”Probably not.” Ansel responded almost immediately. The system probably wouldn’t bother to lie about such a little thing. ”It means that in their standard, this is indeed the protection period.”

Tom’s bushy face turned grimmer. ”Such an environment...How many of us Terranians would be left in the end?”

At this, Ansel didn’t have any answer.

Terran was a peaceful planet. The period of wars had long passed and most people didn’t have access to brutality outside movies.

Such people, how many will survive this world of strong-eat-weak?

Tom felt like crying.

The sight of his friends and family turning into zombies wasn’t enough, now he had to watch those few people who survived die in the mouths of weird monsters.

They couldn’t even have the luxury to die in their homeland.

Becoming a zombie would’ve been a better option for those people.

Ansel was also a bit emotional, but he was more bothered by the fact that he was squeezed in this tree with a smelly man.

He couldn’t help but push his face away in disgust. ”Your damned beard is poking me.”

”Ah. Sorry.”

Ansel wanted to go out and fight monsters rather than stay in this awkward position. At least he’d get experience. He could feel his Spirit dwindling at the moment when he was not even fighting.

Awkwardness abounded for a few hours until the rain finally ended.

They both heaved out such a heavy sigh that it would look like they didn’t take a breath inside at all.

They took out their weapons as they squeezed out of the tree. Ansel’s weapon was a bolo while Tom’s was an axe.

They obtained cold weapons on the way to the station, they swept many of the weapons there. It was just that the previous attack destroyed most of their weapons and now they only had a handful left on-hand.

They traveled to the direction where their previous companions ran to, soon encountering some monsters who attacked at the smell of them.

Because they no longer had guns, it took them longer to take out the monsters.

However, it was notable that they had become used to the speed and strength of the monsters and didn’t struggle as before.

At worst, they would get nicked and get a few wounds, but their lives were intact, and that alone was something to appreciate.

Back-to-back, the duo used their familiar dynamic from dealing with zombies to these new monsters.

One-hit kills were no longer possible, but they could deal with them with a few attacks.

”Distract it for me.” Ansel said, and Tom nodded.

Tom moved back a bit to have an alternative backing, swinging his axe around, trying to hit the monsters with his erratic movement.

Using this, Ansel zoomed in on the monster’s weaknesses and used his weight to deal with fatal wounds on them.

[Killed Lv1 Hui Mouse: +30 Copper, +30 Experience]

For those who didn’t die immediately, he simply repeated the actions, yelling as he put all his strength in each attack.

[Killed Lv1 Hui Mouse: +30 Copper, +30 Experience]

[Killed Lv1 Hui Mouse: +30 Copper, +30 Experience]

He heard an ugly squeak next to him and saw Tom managed to kill one and injure another. Seeing that he was struggling, Ansel immediately came to help.

[Killed Lv1 Hui Mouse: +30 Copper, +30 Experience]

They continued to encounter monsters for hours afterwards. Fortunately, they did not come in droves and could be handled by the two of them.

However, the quantity was still there and they had a harder time as time went on. They could almost feel their spirits dwindling at a palpable rate.

However, all was not lost, because after about half an hour, as Ansel finished off a a monster, the familiar ding sounded in his ears.

[Congratulations on upgrading to Level 3!]

Thank you!

Ansel almost prayed to the skies.

His Life and Spirit had already reached the very ominous less than 10%! He was almost dead!

[Learned! Stab (E) : Adds 1% power to an attack. Cost: 2 Mana]

.

.

Hmn?

Skill?

Ansel gaped at the unfamiliar new notification. His heavy heart lit up by something.

Although it didn’t look as cool as he would’ve liked his skills ought to look like, it didn’t matter.

This meant that even if the opponents were strong, they would also be given more chances to get even stronger.

They wouldn’t be so hopeless, after all!