Merging with the flow of people, Xu San San finally stood atop the ruins, pulling her small flatbed cart with her left hand and clutching a small hoe in her right.
Tilted buildings crisscrossed and blocked the distant streets, while shattered glass fragments mixed with concrete rubble revealed sharp, jagged edges that glinted menacingly under the high morning sun.
Broken walls and debris were everywhere. Occasionally, metal plates jutted into the air, their pockmarked surfaces bearing witness to the fierce gunfights that had once taken place here. The air was thick with the smell of dust. If not for the certainty that countless Infected and Xeno-beasts were hiding within, Xu San San might have mistaken this for a long-abandoned ghost town.
Watching other Scavengers—some slowly navigating armored vehicles over the uneven debris, others already driving professional climbing mechanical spiders deep into the ruins—Xu San San lifted her beloved small flatbed cart with her right hand and quietly followed behind a group of people wielding steel shovels and rakes, trudging step by step into the depths.
Ah, she was really paying the price for her lack of experience.
Who knew this ruin would be so hard to traverse? Wasn’t there even a slightly smoother path?
Her small flatbed cart had no chance to prove its usefulness!
One by one, people began to stop and swing their shovels to start digging.
Xu San San stared at concrete blocks that seemed taller than herself, gripping the hoe in her hand—which wasn’t even as long as her forearm—and sighed.
“Ah! Supplies are everywhere, but my tools are just not up to the task!”
Sighing, she pressed onward.
Not long after, a girl of about twelve or thirteen appeared beside her. The girl carried a backpack basket and timidly asked,
“Big sister, maybe we could team up…”
Xu San San turned to look at the girl, who was much shorter than her, and frowned.
“How would that work?” You don’t even have a tool…
The girl curved her lips into a slight smile, turned sideways, and pointed at the backpack basket on her back.
“I have the basket, and you have the hoe…”
Xu San San caught on—so the girl had her eye on her hoe. She patted her small flatbed cart.
Well, fine. She did need a carrying tool.
“How do we split what we find?”
The girl’s smile widened.
“Let’s make it fair—fifty-fifty. How about that?”
Xu San San thought for a moment.
“Alright, but we split everything before boarding… No, wait… After we dig something up, I’ll carry the basket with the items inside. What if you run off midway?”
The girl pouted.
“What if you run off?”
Xu San San thought, fair point.
“Then we’ll take turns carrying it…”
The girl thought it over and reluctantly agreed.
Still feeling uneasy, Xu San San took a photo of her and added, “If you try to run off, I’ll send your photo to the Patrol. I know Captain Wang from the Patrol!”
Well, borrowing the authority of Captain Wang from the 9th District—he probably wouldn’t mind, right?
The girl widened her eyes, clearly never having encountered such a “connected” person before, and was visibly intimidated by this half-truth, half-lie. She nodded repeatedly.
Hmph!
Trying to trick me? Not a chance!
And so, the two began to move intermittently, mainly searching for areas where the buildings were more thoroughly destroyed—places where her small hoe might actually make a difference.
11:47 AM. The two had been digging through the rubble for nearly an hour. The surface layer of concrete blocks was piled thick, and Xu San San swung her pickaxe with effort. The young girl beside her wasn’t idle either, using her bare hands to dig through the debris bit by bit.
This made Xu San San glance at her sideways. Truly, survival was tough—the apocalypse spared no idlers.
After digging a while longer, they finally spotted a splash of bright color.
It was a small red plastic basin. Though its color had faded, it was intact and undamaged.
They quickly picked it up and placed it in the girl’s backpack basket.
Not long after, near the basin, they found a plastic cup. It looked like acrylic, and though the surface was cracked from pressure, the inside remained smooth, showing it was still perfectly usable.
“Looks like we’ve hit the supply layer!” the girl exclaimed excitedly as she pocketed the cup.
From time to time, they could hear the sound of continuous gunfire in the distance. Whenever shots rang out, the two would immediately stop what they were doing, stay alert to their surroundings, and prepare to flee at any moment.
As she dug, Xu San San kept an eye on their surroundings. Fortunately, though they had stopped six times that morning, they had managed to avoid any real danger.
By noon, the sun was at its fiercest. Xu San San took a sip of water, downed a Nutrient Solution, wiped the sweat from her brow, and quickly rewrapped the cloth around her head and face. She suggested, “The sun is at its strongest now. Though it’s the hottest, it’s also when the Infected are least active. Since we’ve already found supplies, why not push on, dig up as much as we can, and head back early?”
The girl nodded in agreement, though her eyes occasionally drifted toward the Nutrient Solution in Xu San San’s hand.
Xu San San didn’t offer to share—this was the apocalypse, after all, and food was far too precious to give away. Obviously, this was the unwritten rule of the wasteland, so the girl just glanced and said nothing, continuing to dig through the rubble with her hands.
Soon, they unearthed a sealed pack of toothbrushes, three tubes of toothpaste, two plastic cups with handles, a rust-covered razor, a shattered hairdryer, several heavily weathered towels, a mirror broken into three large pieces, a chipped ceramic washbasin, a toilet that had long lost its shape, a shower stall reduced to shards of glass, a rusty showerhead, faucet, pipes, and three nested plastic basins of increasing sizes…
The toothbrush pack contained twelve brushes. After sterilizing them in boiling water, they’d be ready to use.
The toothpaste had long hardened into lumps, but the tubes were metal and could still be recycled.
The plastic cups were in the best condition—they seemed usable after a simple wash.
The razor was badly corroded but still worth recycling.
The hairdryer’s casing was completely shattered, but its internal components appeared intact.
The weathered towels were frayed and full of holes, requiring specialized skills to repurpose…
…
Given the limited carrying capacity of the backpack basket, they decided to leave behind the heavier items—the washbasin, toilet, shower stall, showerhead, and pipes. The smaller items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and faucets went straight into the basket. The nested “matryoshka” basins were carried in the girl’s hands.
It was already 16:12 in the afternoon. The bamboo basket was full, and judging by the little girl’s expression, their harvest for the day must have been quite substantial.
“Big sister, we shouldn’t waste what’s left here. When we get back, we can sell the coordinates of this place to those who have vehicles. We’ll split the Contribution Points we earn equally. How does that sound?”
Xu San San raised an eyebrow—you could actually do that?
She nodded deeply in agreement, then bent down to pick up several large concrete bricks and stuffed them inside.
Since they were going to sell the location, it was better to hide it properly.
After everything was ready, the two began heading back.
Xu San San tucked the small hoe into her waistband, freeing her right hand to support the bamboo basket on the little girl’s back. On one hand, this lightened the load on the basket; on the other, it was, of course, to firmly secure her share of the spoils.
The little girl carried the basket for the first half of the journey, and it would be Xu San San’s turn for the second half.
As they walked, Xu San San sensed something was wrong—a persistent feeling of being watched. She pulled the little girl onto a different path, but the eerie sensation remained.
Suddenly, several figures flashed rapidly in the mirror fragment protruding from the bamboo basket, glaringly reflected in the sunlight.
Damn!
They were being followed!
Xu San San tightly clutched the small flatbed cart, whispered a few words into the little girl’s ear, and swiftly pulled the mirror fragment from the basket. Then the two immediately split up, sprinting off in different directions.
“Huff… huff… huff!”
The path was littered with protruding or sunken rocks everywhere. Gasping for breath, Xu San San mustered every ounce of concentration to watch her footing, running for her life with all her might.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the mirror fragment in her hand—two large, ferocious-looking monsters were charging straight toward her.
Could these be the legendary Infected?!
Weren’t they supposed to slow down under the scorching sun?
Watching the monsters grow larger and larger in the mirror fragment,
Xu San San felt like crying but had no tears, inwardly complaining:
This… this isn’t slow at all!
They’re freaking flying!
This won’t do. As a combat weakling, how could I possibly escape the clutches of the Infected, especially two of them.
No, no, I need to calm down, calm down. Think of a way, think of a way…
Just then, they reached a fork in the road. Xu San San made a quick decision and turned into it, then sprinted another 50 meters to the next intersection.
Seeing that the Infected hadn’t caught up yet, she immediately pulled the small hoe from her waist and threw it onto the left path. Without looking back, she turned into the ruins on the right.
At that moment, her Optical Brain suddenly issued a warning:
“Beep! Approaching the limit of the protective shield. Please take note!”
Dammit! Even the protective shield is working against me at a critical moment!
Xu San San didn’t dare go any further. She had to make do with what was around her. Taking advantage of her small stature, she quickly climbed up the rubble pile on the right and hid in a gap high up. Then she flipped the small flatbed cart over, gripped the wheels, and concealed her entire body behind it.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
Xu San San curled up, holding her breath, alert to her surroundings, not daring to make a sound.
Sweat beaded on her forehead, forming streams that slid down her cheeks into her collar. The cloth wrapped around her head and face was already soaked.
Trembling with extreme fear, her legs shook uncontrollably.
Time passed second by second when suddenly,
“Ah!”
A woman’s scream echoed from the distance, followed by a series of gunshots.
Xu San San had no time to determine whether the scream came from that little girl, because at that moment, she heard the sound of “thump, thump, thump” footsteps outside the ruins.