Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”Thank you all so much for your trouble. The Fireballs you Fire Ability Users create can help maintain the temperature for about four hours. It saves us from burning things like charcoal and plastic, which just fills the rooms with fumes.”

The person in charge of A-1 District was a middle-aged woman with a round, chubby face, who greeted the Fire Ability Users with a beaming smile.

”It’s no problem at all,” Xu Bailiang said with a smile and a nod.

”You know, young man, you look very familiar. Weren’t you in that TV show? *Me and the Sun, Shoulder to Shoulder*?”

Everyone was speechless.

Song Kexin couldn’t help but laugh out loud. ”Ma’am, it was *Me and the Stars, Face to Face*.”

”Oh, right, right, right.” The chubby middle-aged woman had a heartwarming smile, her crescent-shaped eyes showing a hint of embarrassment. ”My daughter just loves you. I used to watch the TV show with her.”

While Ms. Fatty chatted enthusiastically with them, Su Xiyue trailed behind her sister, Song Kexin, strolling idly and gazing around with nothing to do.

In the middle of their conversation, a clamor arose from Zone A-1.

Ms. Fatty glanced over, then hurriedly addressed the group. ”Oh dear, excuse me. I have to go see what’s happening. Could you all wait here for me a moment? I’ll personally take you to Zone A-3 afterward; they need a few more Fireballs over there too.”

”No problem. You go take care of it. We’ll wait here.” The Fire Ability Users all nodded politely.

Ms. Fatty cheerfully went over to sort out the issue, but ten minutes later, the commotion from Zone A-1 grew even louder.

The group exchanged uncertain glances.

Zheng Heng suggested, ”How about we head to Zone A-3 on our own? It’s not far from here, anyway.”

”Sounds good.” The others nodded, unconcerned.

Just as they looked up, a woman holding a child burst out from the crowd, screaming, ”Where’s the Healer? Healer, my child is dying!”

She charged out, stumbling recklessly in Song Kexin’s direction.

Song Kexin reacted instantly, pulling Su Xiyue back and taking two steps to the side.

”Hey, ma’am, don’t run off!” Ms. Fatty called out as she chased after her. ”Shouting like this won’t solve anything! Your child’s illness isn’t a physical injury. A Healing Ability User would be useless, wouldn’t they?”

”Nonsense! I heard that Healing Ability Users can cure even the most complex illnesses from before the apocalypse. Why won’t you arrange a Healer for my child?”

Zheng Heng, Xu Bailiang, and the others exchanged a glance and silently took a few steps back.

Ms. Fatty caught up to them and let out a long breath. ”Ma’am, please listen to me. We have to be reasonable about this, right? Where did you hear such crazy rumors?”

”Who told you that Healing Ability Users are a cure-all? The Healing Ability is generally only effective on physical injuries. Some special ones can help replenish a Superpower User’s superpower energy, but that’s it.”

The woman holding the child refused to back down, her eyes red from crying. ”My child is sick from starvation.”

”Why can’t it be treated? It definitely can.”

”How can you say it’s not possible without even trying to find a Healer?”

The woman’s shouting was giving Ms. Fatty a massive headache. She patiently explained, ”This really isn’t my call to make. You know what the situation is like out there. We have to file an official report to request a Healing Ability User.”

”Their teams are highly disciplined. Where they rest, when they eat—it’s all centrally managed. It’s truly not something I can decide.”

”I don’t care. If you don’t find someone for me today, I’m not letting this go.”

Ms. Fatty’s head was ringing from the shouting. Grasping at straws, she turned to Zheng Heng and his team. ”Do you have a Healing Ability User in your group?”

”Ma’am, I’m telling you, I can’t just summon the official Healing Ability Users from the base’s Superpower Team whenever I want. You’d have better luck asking these captains from the independent Superpower Teams. Who knows, maybe they have a Healing Ability User in their group.”

The group was speechless.

’Isn’t Ms. Fatty just trying to pass the buck?’

Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, the woman with the child grabbed the arm of a Fire Ability User and shook it hysterically while shouting, ”Do you have a Healing Ability User in your team? You do, right? Please help me find them, okay? I really need one right now. Please have a heart, save my child, save my child.”

Seeing the woman’s unhinged state, a frightened Song Kexin pulled her sister Su Xiyue back several steps and quickly said, ”Ms. Fatty, if there’s nothing else, we’re going to head out.”

Ms. Fatty, also sensing the situation was spiraling out of control, nodded quickly. ”In that case, you should head to Zone A-3 on your own. I won’t be able to escort...”

”Where are you going? You can’t leave!” The woman suddenly turned and grabbed Song Kexin’s arm forcefully. ”How can you be so heartless? You can’t even help us?”

”Ma’am, please calm down.” Song Kexin winced from the woman’s tight grip. ”Our team doesn’t have a Healing Ability User. We can’t help you.”

”You’re lying! Impossible! How could your team not have a Healing Ability User? If you don’t have one, and they don’t have one, then who does? Who?! Don’t you Superpower Users keep in touch with each other? You’re all Superpower Users; you must be more capable than us regular people,” the woman shrieked. ”Even if your team doesn’t have a Healer, you must know who the Healing Ability Users are!”

”Can’t you just help me? Just a little? Go and bring the Healers here. I’m only asking you to find a few Healers. Is that so hard?”

A female Fire Ability User finally snapped. ”Do you think Healers are a dime a dozen? And you want us to find ’a few’ of them! Let me tell you, in this entire base, you can count the number of Healing Ability Users on two hands!”

”You’re just being unreasonable! They already explained it to you—Healers aren’t gods! They can’t cure every single illness.”

Ms. Fatty quickly stepped in to smooth things over. ”Alright, alright, that’s enough. This woman’s child is sick, and she’s understandably emotional. Let’s not be too harsh. Let’s just try to calm her down.”

Song Kexin used the opportunity to wrench her arm from the woman’s grasp, pulling Su Xiyue along as she turned to make a quick escape.

But the woman seemed to have fixated on her, relentlessly chasing after her and shouting, ”Don’t run, you’re definitely lying to me! Your team must have a Healing Ability User, right?”

Zheng Heng and the others were speechless. Seeing things were going south, they quickly followed Song Kexin and slipped away.

The woman stomped her foot and wailed, ”Don’t run! Don’t you run away! You people are so heartless! Is no one willing to help my child?”

Seeing she had no hope of catching the Superpower Users, who were faster than the wind, the woman collapsed onto the ground. She clutched her child and began to howl at the top of her lungs, ”You’re heartless! All of you! Every single one of you Superpower Users is a heartless monster!”

”Stop crying, ma’am. They’re not going to help you.” A crowd of onlookers—men, women, young, and old—gathered around, each chiming in with their own insults.