Armed Train in the Apocalypse

Chapter 316: Chapter 224: Iron Old Man_3

”Which officers are there?”

”Xiaoba, Licking Rabbit, Pang Tu, Lu Xiao, Jiang Rong, and both the manufacturing and research groups.”

He Jie nodded thoughtfully.

No wonder they wanted to keep him around, with half the train evacuated, it indeed required someone here to maintain order.

But he still felt something was off.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind.

”Where’s Qu Hang?”

Then Shu Wei’s gaze flickered, slightly strange, ”The train needed a sniper, so they left him, wishing you success on your mission.”

The whistle blew, the train had already started, and with the vibration of the factory building, the train slowly moved north.

Seizing the moment before the last few carriages left, Shu Wei sprinted a few steps and jumped straight onto the deck.

She gave a slight bow to the cursing He Jie.

After all, she had completed her task of conveying the message.

The rest wasn’t her responsibility.

...

After the day of change, people’s ways of living altered as well.

For example, rainproofing, although using the same words as before the change, had an entirely different meaning.

The fierce wind from the water blew the empty cans strung with wire by the window, clanging noisily.

This woke up the Iron Old Man sleeping on the makeshift bunk bed.

”Phew...”

Iron Old Man exhaled heavily, lifted his head to look out the window, the sky was a dark mass, the waves reaching up to the clouds, getting closer each time.

Closing the window, he took down the calendar hanging on the tin wall, crossed out the 9th with a pen, sat on the bed dazed for a while, before regaining his composure.

He carefully hung the calendar back on the wall, one of the few old items left.

If there weren’t a couple of familiar objects in the room, Iron Old Man couldn’t sleep at all.

This made him cherish these items that had not been washed away even more.

His grandson used to say his calendar was useless, an outdated relic of the past.

But now, the entire community relied on these old relics to keep track of days.

Iron Old Man hugged the ”Riot Control T5” shotgun by his bed, stood up.

His broad physique stretched the white vest snugly, if not for his grizzled beard, he didn’t look like a man in his seventies.

Iron Old Man pushed open the door, feeling the gusts of wind hit his face, locked the door behind him.

The sentry keeping watch in the community saw Iron Old Man, shortly after, a strong middle-aged man with a gun jumped down from the perch.

”Dad, why aren’t you sleeping?”

Iron Old Man looked at his nearly forty-year-old youngest son, shook his head, ”Zhenbang, it’s going to rain, stay alert, don’t let those things climb up, where’s Jianguo?”

Qi Zhenbang pointed to the shantytown behind, ”We took in a lot of people the other day, my brother is finding place for them to build houses.”

Iron Old Man asked again, ”Has Chen Lei’s group returned?”

”In these times... got scattered, won’t come back in this life.”

Qi Zhenbang looked at the watery expanse below, sighed and said.

Iron Old Man snorted coldly, ”Those kids weren’t any good anyway, it’s better if they don’t come back, the community will be more peaceful, alright, continue your patrol, I’ll go remind everyone.”

He then walked while knocking on the adjacent tin houses, shouting in a low, raspy voice.

”There’s a storm tonight, secure your doors and windows!”

”Check your house thoroughly, don’t let monsters get in.”

”Don’t sleep too soundly tonight.”

The voice was carried by the wind beyond the rooftop into the clouds above.

Viewed from above, the entire community was established atop four adjacent twenty-story office buildings, connected by steel walkway bridges, simple tin houses were even built on them.

(Illustration, in reality, the buildings would be more densely packed)

The protruding parts above water were all inhabited, including the rooftops, layered with overlapping tin houses.

Iron Old Man climbed the steel stairs, up to the second floor, delving into the depths of the community.

People hearing Iron Old Man’s voice came out from the tin houses, racing to greet him.

”Thank you for your hard work, Grandpa Tie!”

”Good evening, Master Tie.”

”Master Tie, I caught a fish today, just made some braised fish, would you like to try it?”

Iron Old Man would kindly greet children, give young people a few reminders, but frowned only when he heard ”Master Tie.”

He looked at the middle-aged man in his forties in front and said coldly, ”What kind of improper title is that, my name is Qi Tieshan, at your age, you can call me Uncle Tie, Master Tie, or Iron Old Man, the country is still here, don’t give me that ridiculous title, and those fish have eaten corpses, cut them open and check carefully, don’t eat something that’ll make you sick!”

The middle-aged man’s face twitched, apologizing continuously.

Iron Old Man didn’t mind, carrying his gun, walked toward the back, deliberately heading into the nooks and crannies of the shantytown, occasionally talking with the nearby residents.

”Xiaoxu, don’t leave your shoe rack outside, or the sea breeze will soak them through.”

”Wang Family’s daughter-in-law, can’t you walk a few more steps, you’re throwing dirty water at the entrance, what about downstairs, these tin houses are not very waterproof...”

”Whose child is this, take them home quickly!”

”Aren’t you afraid of being snatched away by the undead and eaten!”

”...”

Wherever Iron Old Man went, there was a stir, but it also infused the somber community with vibrant energy.

He kept busy until his vest was soaked with sweat, traversing more than half the community, reaching the backmost building.

Compared to the front, there were fewer tin houses here, just two layers stacked.

A group of young men stood on the metal-framed structure, sparks flying from welding torches in their hands.

After finishing the welding of the frame, they pasted tin sheets onto the grids, a standard community house was built, resembling a stack of shipping containers.

Except with some narrow corridors and ventilation holes.

Remaining utilities, lighting were nonexistent.

It’s the apocalypse, a community able to shelter survivors was already a blessing, nobody was particular about that.

For ordinary people, simply staying alive was already exhausting all their efforts.