Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

In the end, Li Dawei and his sister delivered twenty catties of rice, muttering and cursing the whole time. They couldn’t bear to part with their cured meat, afraid it would be like a sheep entering a tiger’s den—gone for good.

Her youngest uncle made the final call, promising them ten catties of cooked white rice the next morning before shooing all three of them out.

The meal with Xiao Gu and the others was a great success.

Everyone agreed to pack up everything in the house over the next two days and set off with Xiao Gu’s group the day after tomorrow.

After the dinner party broke up, they settled the two elders into bed.

Song You’ai, Xie Ning, and the five members from their two uncles’ families gathered for a meeting in the small second-floor drawing room, where they began to categorize and inventory the family’s supplies.

”Thick cotton quilts, summer quilts, blankets, bamboo mats, and so on—we’ve sorted them by new and old and stuffed them into three wardrobes.”

”The clothes and shoes for each family, aside from the changes of clothes we’re packing in our own bags, have filled another three wardrobes.”

”All the unopened toilet paper, paper towels, towels, shampoo, facial cleanser, toothpaste, and toothbrushes from the house have been packed into four large storage bins.”

”Then there’s all the miscellaneous stuff, like tools and things, which we’ve crammed into two large metal chests.”

”The rice cooker, various pots, microwave, steamer, and automatic stir-fry machine are all packed up. Ningning, do you think we should take all of these?” Song You’ai asked, her face a mask of worry. ”Will we even have electricity at the safe zone? Once we use up all our backup batteries, we’ll be completely without power!”

”A good safe zone will naturally have reserve power. Take them all,” Xie Ning nodded. ”And take all the backup batteries. Xiao Gu can recharge them later.”

Everyone looked astonished at this news.

”Wow, Brother Gu Chen can even charge batteries?” Song Kexin clicked her tongue in amazement.

”Then what about the refrigerator, electric fans, television, and air conditioner? Should we take those?”

”Take them! Take them all! Dismantle the air conditioner and take the outdoor unit with it,” Xie Ning affirmed with a firm nod.

”Can Tai Xian’s Space even fit all that?” Song Kexin was skeptical.

”It should be fine. If he has a few spasms, he can fit it all,” Xie Ning said, staunchly supporting Ji Taixian.

’In reality,’ she was calculating to herself, ’stuffing all this in will probably fill the villa’s living and dining rooms completely.’

She was even planning to go scavenging for supplies in the area tomorrow. How was she going to load up her haul then?

”Alright, that’s it for daily necessities. Next, let’s discuss food and water.”

”Let’s start with water. Besides the well water we’ve set aside in the vats for the next three days, we’ve filled over thirty large plastic barrels with the rest. It seems like a lot, but water is still in very short supply.”

”None of us have bathed in two days. Just having enough to eat and drink is a struggle.” Song You’ai looked miserable. ”The only other time I went without bathing was during my one-month postpartum confinement. I wash every other day. These past two days have been torture.”

Xie Ning felt just as gross, but there was nothing to be done for now.

There was a lake on the other side of the Song Family Pavilion’s long corridor, a rich source of water, but would they dare use it now? All they could do was endure.

”Don’t worry about drinking water for now. We found several cases of mineral water when we were scavenging earlier.” Xie Ning secretly made a resolution: her main goal tomorrow would be to find water, lots of bottled water.

”The potatoes, yams, Chinese cabbage, carrots, sweet potatoes, and eggplants from the cellar have all been packed into baskets. There are dozens of baskets, weighing several hundred catties in total. We have over three hundred catties each of rice, flour, and oil.”

”We also have a good amount of cured bacon, local-style cured chicken, sausage, and ham,” He Shuping recited as she took notes. ”Two baskets of pickled vegetables. We also made plenty of things that can be stored long-term, like dried radish, pickled mustard greens, frozen cabbage, and chili peppers.”

”The homemade meat floss, pickled cucumbers, pickled watermelon rinds, roasted pumpkin seeds, and other odds and ends have filled two storage bins.”

”It’s just that some things might not last long and will have to be eaten first.”

Xie Ning smiled slightly. ”That’s not a problem. I’ll have Tai Xian store all of those things. His Space is static, so food won’t spoil inside.”

Song Youzhi thought for a moment. ”Right now, our whole family has nine people. Add Xiao Yuan and his two companions, and these reserves should be enough to last everyone for about a month.”

”But we can’t just sit here and eat through our reserves. So, I want to continue participating in the mission to clear out the zombies in the Song Family Pavilion. I can at least bring something back.”

”Thank you for your hard work, Eldest Brother,” Song Youyi and his wife nodded.

Xie Ning looked at her family members. ”I have a suggestion. Tomorrow, everyone except for Eldest Uncle and me will stay home and make rice balls, bento boxes, and steam buns.”

”I was originally going to have everyone get up for a run tomorrow morning, but considering you’ll be working all day, we’ll skip it for now.”

The three Song siblings looked at her with deadpan expressions. ”Then it’s settled.”

”I’ll steam the buns tomorrow. I’m an expert at all kinds—vermicelli buns, vegetable buns, meat buns, and pickled vegetable buns.”

”I can make some meat floss rice balls and cook some vegetables and meat dishes, but will they keep?”

”With Tai Xian’s Space, storage isn’t a problem.”

”I have a question.” Song You’ai raised her hand meekly. ”To make bento boxes, we need the boxes. Where are we going to find so many containers for them?”

Xie Ning gave her a silent look. ”I think Xiao Gu should have some.”

Hearing this, Song You’ai nodded quickly. ”Then I’ll go ask Xiao Gu tomorrow.”

”Thank you all for your hard work,” Xie Ning said with a nod.

The reason for preparing all this was mainly for convenience on the road, to avoid the hassle of cooking with pots and pans, which would attract a lot of attention.

”We still have some leftover zongzi leaves at home. We can probably make over a hundred meat zongzi. We’ll get them all done this time. That should last us a while.”

Her youngest uncle’s wife, He Shuping, nodded. ”Then I’ll also pan-fry some egg crepes and scallion pancakes, and make some sponge cakes. I’ll make over a hundred of each. That should be more than enough.”

”Enough, enough, more than enough,” everyone nodded in unison.

Song You’ai looked wistful. ”I remember when I was a kid, my grandma told me about how farmers used to flee from famine during the chaos and constant wars. That’s what it was like.”

”Sigh, I never thought it would be our turn.”

”It’s okay. Just think of it as hitting a hell-mode dungeon in a game. This isn’t even the most tragic one. Who knows, maybe there’s a 2S-rank nightmare dungeon or a 3S-rank abyss dungeon waiting for us in the future?”

Song Shijun silently glanced at his older cousin. He really wanted to reach out and slap her on the head.

’That wasn’t the least bit comforting!’

Song Youzhi was speechless. ”If you don’t know how to talk, then don’t! Alright, everyone, hurry up, pack it in, and go to bed. We need all hands on deck tomorrow morning.”

Song Kexin sniffed the collar of her shirt. ”I feel like I absolutely stink.”

「The next day.」

While the entire family was up and bustling with activity, Xie Ning had already driven her small minivan out of the Song Family Pavilion alone.

When Xiao Gu arrived with several hundred disposable bento boxes and asked for Xie Ning, everyone realized with a daze that Ningning was gone.

The Song Family Pavilion villa district had three gates. Xie Ning had taken the west gate. As she left, only the family living closest to that gate noticed her, and she didn’t alert anyone else.

Xie Ning drove onward, her expression quite grave.

In the small ashtray on the dashboard lay a small pile of fine, white powder.

It was the mutated Spiritual Zombie’s Crystal Core that Gu Chen had given her.

This is what it had become.