Chen Yu, who was at the very back, quickly climbed out of the window and shouted at Wang Hui, “Hurry! Get across first!”
Wang Hui could only grit his teeth and pull the steel bar out of his leg. Enduring the intense pain, he staggered toward the other side.
Because of his movement, the steel bars became unstable again.
Meanwhile, the zombies behind them had already broken through the door and were surging toward Chen Yu.
Chen Yu had no time to worry about anything else. He stepped onto the steel bars and rushed across. At one point, he even missed his footing, while the zombies behind him chased relentlessly, some of them even climbing onto the windowsill.
After narrowly making it across, Su Rui, who was waiting on the other side, immediately raised his blade and prepared to cut off the last remaining steel bars and concrete connecting the two sides. At the final moment, he succeeded. The zombies fell one after another, crashing to the ground below and turning into a mess of rotten flesh.
Chen Yu leaned against the rooftop wall, gasping heavily as he tried to steady his breathing.
Su Rui and the others began checking Wang Hui’s injuries. His thigh had nearly been pierced through.
Su Rui used clothing they had found earlier to bind the wound and prevent excessive blood loss, then sprinkled hemostatic powder over it.
This powder had been developed by an underground research institute in A City using available materials, and almost every survivor carried some.
Wang Hui’s face was pale as he collapsed onto the ground. As the powder was applied and before the wound could be fully bandaged, poisonous insects began stirring in the shadows on the rooftop.
Everyone had no choice but to quickly stand up and fight back while retreating toward a safer area.
This building was not very tall, and there was a fire escape nearby. Su Rui told everyone to head down first, while he tied the immobilized Wang Hui to himself using clothing.
With the help of the fire escape, their descent went relatively smoothly.
When their feet finally touched the concrete ground, Su Rui’s group let out a sigh of relief.
However, not long after leaving the building, they encountered another group of zombies. They could only retreat while fighting. After several rounds of dangerous escapes, their stamina was nearly exhausted.
“There’s a wall over there! Let’s go hide there!” Chen Yu shouted. Everyone followed the direction he pointed and saw a tall, sturdy wall that looked newly built. There was no time to question it. Instinctively, they ran toward it.
At that moment, Tang Ye was posting a notice at the entrance welcoming new survivors when she saw a cloud of dust rising in the distance.
Before long, a group of battered survivors stumbled into the Sunrise Shelter’s entrance.
The last person nearly got caught by a zombie behind him. Tang Ye pulled him forward, allowing him to safely enter the protected area.
Su Rui and his group had clearly not expected anyone to be here. Driven by inertia, they ran further inside before realizing that the chaotic footsteps behind them had stopped. Only then did they slow down.
Turning around, they saw that the zombies had stopped at the entrance, as if they had suddenly lost their target, wandering aimlessly.
Combined with the strange woman at the entrance, who was not wearing any protective gear and had her entire body exposed to the air, Su Rui was momentarily speechless.
“Is everyone alright? Has anyone been infected?” Tang Ye asked routinely. Her gaze suddenly fell on Wang Hui, and her expression turned alert. “What caused his injury?”
“It’s not a zombie bite. He was injured by steel bars,” Chen Yu quickly explained.
“I need to check it to make sure it’s not a bite or a scratch,” Tang Ye said cautiously. She had to take responsibility for the shelter. “If it is, you’ll need to throw him out.”
The zombies outside had not yet left, and they had no choice but to rely on this place for shelter. Hearing Tang Ye’s request, they could only cooperate and expose the wound for her inspection.
Seeing that the wound was clearly a puncture and tear rather than a bite or scratch, Tang Ye finally relaxed a little.
“May I ask what this place is?” Su Rui looked around. Aside from the perimeter wall, there was only a modern-looking structure on the otherwise empty ground, resembling the entrance to an underground shelter.
They had lived in this city for years, yet had never known such a place existed.
“This is Sunrise Shelter, recently built,” Tang Ye replied. After a moment, she added, “We’re currently recruiting survivors. Would you like to join?”
“Sorry, we already have our own shelter. Our family and friends are there, so we can’t join,” Su Rui said. After a pause, he continued, “But could we stay here for one night? It’s getting dark soon. Of course, we will pay in mutated crystals.”
“That’s fine,” Tang Ye nodded. Earning some crystals was still good. “Since it’s just one night, I’ll charge one Level 1 mutated crystal per bed. Will all of you be staying?”
Since it was only for one night, Tang Ye did not charge much.
She counted. There were thirteen people in total. That would be thirteen Level 1 crystals, equivalent to one hundred thirty energy points.
“One crystal? That cheap?” Chen Yu blurted out.
Everyone had the same thought as Jiang Qing and Jiang Hong. At such a low price, the accommodation conditions were probably not very good.
This looked like a newly built underground shelter. Could it still be in its most primitive stage, nothing more than bare stone rooms?
But they had no choice. The zombies outside had not left, and for some reason, they were not entering.
Su Rui helped Wang Hui up and said to Tang Ye, “Please take us inside to rest. Everyone is exhausted.”
Tang Ye nodded and walked ahead, opening the door with her fingerprint.
Seeing the high-tech door, everyone froze for a moment, not expecting something so advanced.
After entering, the disinfection chambers surprised and delighted them even more.
Such thorough disinfection was something they had never encountered before.
Even Wang Hui felt that after undergoing this process, the pain in his wound had eased somewhat. The crystal had been more than worth it.
After the disinfection, the survivors were almost reluctant to leave. They had never thought disinfection could feel so comfortable. There was no choking dust, no stinging pain on the skin.
“This…” Su Rui looked at Tang Ye, hesitating.
“My name is Tang Ye, the administrator of Sunrise Shelter,” she said proactively, seeing that he wanted to speak.
“Administrator Tang, what powers this shelter? How can it sustain such high energy consumption?” Su Rui’s voice was filled with doubt. It was not just the fingerprint-activated doors, but also the automated disinfection system and the clearly operational elevator at the end of the corridor.
“That is one of the shelter’s secrets,” Tang Ye said with a faint smile. “Not just the doors and elevator, the rooms also have a continuous twenty-four-hour supply of water and electricity.”
“What?!” Everyone was even more shocked. What did a twenty-four-hour supply mean? How many resources would that require?
“That’s right.” Tang Ye stepped into the elevator and held the door open, signaling them to enter. “Our shelter promises survivors the best living conditions and absolute safety.”
A shelter that could block zombies and poisonous creatures, what else could be called anything less than absolute safety?
Su Rui and the others clearly thought of what they had seen at the entrance.
As they spoke, the elevator reached Basement Level 1 with a ding. The doors opened, revealing corridors on both sides.
Now they truly believed this was a newly built shelter. The elevator only displayed one underground level, and there were very few rooms along the corridors. In some areas, the original rock layer was still visible.
Noticing their gaze lingering on the undeveloped sections, Tang Ye showed no embarrassment. “Sunrise Shelter is still under construction. It will improve gradually.”
As long as she recruited enough survivors, building the shelter would not be difficult.
“Over there are our water purification room and power generation room. Because they require extremely strict sanitary conditions, you are not allowed to enter,” Tang Ye said, pointing toward the side marked with a sign prohibiting unauthorized entry.
Everyone’s eyes fell on the two rooms blocked by metal doors, filled with curiosity and longing. Water and electricity were extremely scarce resources in the apocalypse. How this shelter operated became a question occupying every survivor’s mind.
“Come on, I’ll take you to your room,” Tang Ye said, bringing everyone back to reality.
They followed her down the other corridor. After passing the first room, which was the administrator’s, they stopped at the second door.
The door also required fingerprint access. Since they were only staying one night, there was no need to register their information. Tang Ye used her own fingerprint to open it.
As soon as the door opened, they saw the two sisters sitting in the common area, eating. Immediately afterward, a rich aroma of food filled the air.
“What… what is that smell? It smells amazing!” Zhou Wan blurted out.
“And what is that?” another survivor exclaimed, pointing at the large window directly ahead.
Outside, it was dusk, and the scenery in the window had turned into shades of orange and gold, instantly capturing everyone’s attention.
At that moment, the survivors felt like country folk entering a grand estate, everything seemed astonishing and new.
Hearing the noise, Jiang Qing and Jiang Hong instinctively became alert. Only after seeing Tang Ye did they quietly relax.
“Sorry for startling you. These are survivors who will be staying for the night. As for that, it’s one of the shelter’s features, a 5D landscape display, very calming,” Tang Ye explained, clearly noticing their reactions, and answered the second question as well.
Jiang Qing and Jiang Hong nodded without saying much and continued eating.
What they were eating was the food they had received from Tang Ye. It could be soaked in water or heated in the microwave-like machine.
It was nutritious, delicious, and retained the original flavor of the food.
The others barely heard what was being said. Their attention was fixed entirely on the noodles and rice on the table, which looked incredibly appetizing.