At 7 a.m., the alarm she’d set the night before woke her. Looking at the unfamiliar room, a flicker of confusion crossed her face before yesterday’s memories settled back into place. She was a patrol member of the First Base now. The morning had already warmed to around 28°C.
Ten minutes later she was dressed and ready to leave, already familiar enough with the route from the day before.
The cafeteria was far livelier in the morning, most people sat expressionlessly eating breakfast at the long tables.
Jiang Lin went to the same counter and swiped her wristband. Breakfast was a strange, warm drink and two pieces of dry bread, not tasty, but she’d eaten far worse over the last three years, and finished it cleanly.
Bus No. 8 had just pulled up when she reached the stop. More people rode it in the morning, and she had to stand in a gap.
On the way, they passed a strange, four-story building of hard metal, ringed by armed guards watching every movement, the whole compound sealed behind walls so tight not even a mosquito could slip through.
Jiang Lin pulled up the virtual map, the building wasn’t marked anywhere on it.
【Detected: a large quantity of discarded batteries in the surrounding area,】 110 said suddenly.
She glanced back at the strange building. 【With that many guards, how exactly am I supposed to dig anything up there?】 she thought, half despairing.
【It’s on the perimeter of the main building. Stay concealed and it shouldn’t be too hard to avoid detection. There’s a large accumulation of batteries forming a soil mound nearby.】
She frowned. 【We’ll see.】
By the time the bus reached the patrol center stop, few passengers remained. She got off and walked to the hall from the day before, a little past 8:10, still ahead of the report time. A small squad had already gathered inside.
Their leader was a very tall woman, about 176 cm, wheat-brown skin, neat short hair, her tight-fitting uniform outlining lean muscle along her arms. Jiang Lin quietly looked away as more patrol members trickled in.
Lin Dehou assigned her to a small team as a junior patrol member, inner-base duty only. The striking woman from before had already helmeted up and led her own team out beyond the walls.
“Morning shift runs 8:30 to 12:30, one-hour break at noon. Remember that.”
Since inner-base patrol wasn’t especially dangerous, Lin Dehou himself didn’t join, he handed leadership to a more experienced officer and headed for his office.
Recently, the death rate among outer patrols had spiked. He’d already sent warnings to every outside team leader, urging caution. On his desk sat a long list of the dead, many of them familiar faces. Something felt off, but death was common enough in the apocalypse that he couldn’t pin down exactly where the wrongness was coming from.
By 8:30 the sun was already glaring, the temperature climbing fast. The moment Jiang Lin stepped outside, heat rolled over her.
The trainee group from the day before had reassembled near the entrance. Her team skirted around them, heading for the free trade market.
Along the way, plenty of people were out trading goods, the inner-city patrol’s whole purpose was preventing conflicts among residents.
The sun left Jiang Lin feeling drained and vaguely bored.
Then a commotion broke out ahead. She snapped to attention instantly, and the team leader noticed too, the whole squad rushed toward the gathering crowd.
“Patrol enforcement! Unrelated personnel disperse!”
The lead officer pushed through the crowd, three layers deep on all sides. Jiang Lin was the first to spot a mother and daughter on the ground.
At first glance the two looked messy, but on closer look something was off. The woman’s face was dust-streaked and her clothes plain, but her skin, visible where the scuffle had torn her sleeve, was fine, her build average, unlike the thin, sallow, prematurely lined people of Area 99.
More than that, her expression. Worn and pale as she looked, there was still life in her eyes, unlike the blank, worn-down look most Area 99 residents wore.
“She stole something from our young lady. Miss Chen sent us to retrieve it.”
A man holding a stick and wearing a helmet spoke up. His clothing wasn’t a uniform, but it looked like quality protective gear.
“You’re lying! My mother didn’t steal anything! These are ours!” The little girl scrambled up and spread her arms to shield her mother, her small face set in stubborn defiance.
“Just because you say she didn’t steal it doesn’t mean she didn’t. Look at what’s on the ground, how could something like this possibly belong to a mother and daughter like them? These are Miss Chen’s things. If she hadn’t stolen them, why would Miss Chen have thrown her out?”
The man pointed at the items scattered on the ground, gesturing for the crowd to look.
On the ground lay an open gray cloth bag, its contents spilled and glittering in the sunlight, finely crafted gold jewelry.
Jiang Lin couldn’t quite make sense of it. In the apocalypse, this stuff wasn’t worth as much as a single vegetable. Only someone still living comfortably would care about it. The woman looked better off than most, but she carried no whiff of real wealth, it seemed unlikely she’d have bought jewelry like this before the world ended.
Tang Zheng didn’t expect to run into something like this today either. He studied the gold on the ground, judging by the quantity and craftsmanship, it really didn’t seem like something this woman could have owned.
The lead man glanced at Tang Zheng’s badge, impatient. “Team Leader Tang, give me a clear answer. This woman stole our young lady’s things. I’ve been ordered to bring them back.”
The woman, seeming to realize how badly the situation was tilting against her, snapped out of her daze. “Captain Tang, I really didn’t steal anything. These were given to me by the Chen family’s young master. I take care of his daily needs, he gave me these himself.”
“Hmph, a recently acknowledged illegitimate son. Where would he even get things like this? You should just hand them back honestly.” The troublemaker pressed. “Team Leader Tang, can you handle this or not?”
“Do you have any evidence these were given to you by the young master?” Tang Zheng turned to the woman.
“He can testify for me. Captain Tang, please, go ask him, he’ll confirm it.”
“I think you’re dreaming. That kid’s bedridden, barely able to care for himself. How’s he supposed to testify for you?”
The woman’s fragile spark of hope crumbled. Her mouth opened, but no words came for a long while.
Wanting to avoid complicating things further, Tang Zheng was about to hand down a light punishment and be done with it when an unfamiliar voice cut in.
“How do you prove these belong to Miss Chen?” Jiang Lin’s voice was cold and clear, and every head turned.
“If you’re claiming these are hers, where’s your proof? Video of her stealing them, maybe?” She stepped forward, eyes on the man.
Tang Zheng’s expression darkened at the newcomer, a stranger, probably a rookie.
“Evidence? You really think she could own something like this?” the man sneered.
“I’d sooner believe she’d steal a few vegetables to resell than own flashy junk like this. Who in the free trade market spends points on something so useless?”
A ripple of laughter ran through the onlookers.
“Exactly, stealing equipment to resell would make more sense than this.”
“Sounds like the Chen young lady’s framing her, if you ask me…”
The murmuring soured the man’s expression. Although his face was hidden behind his helmet, the stick in his hand was clearly rising toward Jiang Lin, its metal glinting coldly in the sun.
Jiang Lin had survived plenty of years in the apocalypse. The instant he moved, she formed an ice spike and knocked the stick from his grip. It hit the ground with a dull thud.
“Attacking a patrol officer, doesn’t that count as illegal?” she asked, genuinely not sure of the rules on her first day, glancing toward Tang Zheng for confirmation.
“Enough! Back to your position.” Tang Zheng snapped in her direction.
“As for you, I’ll confiscate the items for now. Whoever brings evidence can come to the patrol center to reclaim them.” He signaled his team to collect the bag.
The man could only glare at Jiang Lin before storming off with his subordinates.
The woman sat on the ground, still dazed. The little girl, though, kept her bright eyes fixed on Jiang Lin.
Once Tang Zheng’s team had moved on, Jiang Lin didn’t linger either, falling back in with her unit.
The rest of the morning passed without further trouble. At 12:30 they returned to the patrol center on schedule, splitting into small groups for the cafeteria.
Tang Zheng glanced once, quietly, at Jiang Lin before carrying the confiscated bag toward Lin Dehou’s office.
“Hey, Jiang Lin! Want to eat together?” Xu An’an’s voice caught her just as she was pulling off her helmet.
A round, expectant face appeared in front of her, and Jiang Lin found she couldn’t refuse. Besides, a good chance to learn more about the base.
Most people ate lunch in the nearby apartment complex, the same building where Xu An’an had first shown her the courtyard listing, close to work, convenient. The cafeteria occupied the first floor, and lunch was noticeably more generous than breakfast or dinner: even an egg, alongside the usual compressed biscuits and soup.
Jiang Lin stirred her soup, checking for stray vegetable leaves. Xu An’an, misreading her hesitation, said, “The food here’s not great, I know. If you’ve got time, hit the base supermarket, it’s got everything, gear to groceries. Go once in a while, treat yourself.”
Jiang Lin didn’t find the meal hard to stomach, in her world, having enough to eat was already plenty. But the base supermarket piqued her interest, she wanted a monitor she could hook up to her system.
“Thanks, I’ll check it out after work.”
She sipped her soup, thinking about the strange building from the morning commute.
“This morning I saw a strange metal building on the way in, armed guards everywhere.”
“Oh, that one. It’s a lab. Just don’t get too close. Not many people go near it, it’s pretty far out. Speaking of remote, how are you liking Area 99? Want help switching dorms?” Xu An’an, remembering Jiang Lin’s assigned housing, worried she might regret it.
“No need. I like it fine. Thanks though.”
The afternoon patrol passed quietly aside from a quickly resolved robbery. But right after clocking out, Jiang Lin was summoned to Lin Dehou’s office. She had a rough guess why, this morning’s incident.
Knock knock.
She knocked on his door.