Lu Xi had finally finished feeding Paopao. He casually took Paopao’s pajamas out of his space and handed them to his sister.
“Paopao, go to the bedroom and change into your pajamas. Then get into bed and get ready to sleep.”
Paopao obediently nodded, took the clothes, and went into the bedroom.
“How many people are there at Dawn Base?” Bai An’an asked.
“There are about thirty thousand registered survivors. The actual number is probably higher. Once ability users enter the base, they receive an official position, housing, and daily food rations. Their treatment is much better than that of ordinary people. The base is divided into an inner city and an outer city. The inner city is where the families of ability users, core research personnel, and important military and government officials live. The outer city is mainly occupied by ability users and ordinary survivors.”
Shen Hanzhou paused before adding, “Ability users enjoy more resources, so they have to take responsibility for protecting the base.”
Bai An’an had not expected ability users to live in the outer city. She had assumed that, like in many novels, ability users would live in the safest areas and enjoy more resources.
“What about ordinary people? How do they survive?”
“Ordinary people exchange their labor for food and housing. The base has farmland, factories, and supply recovery teams. As long as they’re willing to work, they won’t starve. But compared to ability users, their quality of life is certainly much worse.”
Bai An’an nodded thoughtfully.
She quickly calculated things in her mind.
Ability users had official positions, housing, and food at the base. It certainly sounded like a decent way to live.
But she was an evil supporting female character!
The evil supporting female character in the original novel was also an ability user. She had an official position at the base too, yet she still managed to get herself killed.
The key issue was not whether the conditions were good. It was that she could not get too close to the protagonist group.
She had to run.
Once she reached the base and settled down, she would find an opportunity to leave the group and join another base.
The feasibility of this plan was quite high.
“What are you thinking about?” Shen Hanzhou suddenly asked.
Bai An’an nearly choked on her rice. After coughing twice, she finally recovered.
“N-Nothing. I was just thinking about what the base looks like.”
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
Shen Hanzhou smiled. His expression carried a meaning that seemed to say, I know you’re making a little plan of your own, but I’m not going to expose you yet.
Bai An’an lowered her head guiltily and concentrated on eating.
Fu Shen had finished wiping his military knife. He stood up and went to check the door lock again. He pressed his ear against the door for several seconds, confirmed that there was nothing unusual in the hallway, then returned to the window and lifted a corner of the curtain to look outside.
“What did you do before?” Bai An’an could not help asking.
Fu Shen turned to look at her. After remaining silent for two seconds, he said a few words.
“Special forces. Retired.”
“What about you?”
Bai An’an turned to Shen Hanzhou.
“Teacher. Later, I became a doctor with Doctors Without Borders.”
Shen Hanzhou raised his eyebrows slightly.
Before she could ask Lu Xi, he spoke up.
“Doctoral student.”
“Ah… haha. Everyone is so impressive. Unlike me, I’m just an ordinary college student. Haha.”
Bai An’an gave an awkward laugh.
“Alright, it’s getting late.”
Shen Hanzhou stood up.
“Time to rest. We’ll leave as soon as it gets light tomorrow morning. We’ll try to reach the next supply point before noon.”
Bai An’an looked at the sky outside. It was already completely dark.
Although the residential compound was temporarily safe, no one could guarantee that zombies would not sneak in during the night.
Someone had to keep watch.
“Fu Shen will take the first half of the night, and I’ll take the second half,” Shen Hanzhou arranged. “Paopao and An’an will sleep in the master bedroom. Lu Xi will sleep on the folding bed in the study.”
Bai An’an walked into the bedroom and closed the door.
Paopao was already asleep. Her little face was flushed, and there was still a little bit of clear drool at the corner of her mouth.
Bai An’an changed into her pajamas and lay down beside Paopao, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Too many things had happened today.
Transmigrating into a book, the Apocalypse, zombies, abilities…
These were all words that should have existed only in novels, but now they had become her reality.
How was she supposed to survive?
How was she supposed to get home?
She turned over and buried her face in the pillow, letting out a muffled sigh.
They were going to a place called Dawn Base. She had never heard of it, and there was no trace of it in the original owner’s memories either.
But she could be certain of one thing.
The evil supporting female character in the original novel must have gotten herself killed during this process.
So all she had to do was avoid getting herself killed.
The first step to avoiding death was to stay away from the two male leads and not get involved in anything between them.
The second step was to find the right opportunity, leave the group, and run away on her own.
The third step was to find an unofficial base where she could lie low and wait for the plot to finish. Maybe then she would be able to return home.
The plan was practically perfect.
At least, that was what Bai An’an thought for now.
Just as she was becoming drowsy and was about to fall asleep, an extremely faint sound came from outside.
Footsteps.
They were very light but steady, coming from the living room. Step by step, they approached the master bedroom door.
Bai An’an’s sleepiness vanished instantly. Her entire body became tense like a tightly stretched string.
The footsteps outside stopped.
Then she heard a sigh.
Bai An’an held her breath and remained completely still.
About ten seconds later, the footsteps sounded again.
This time, they were heading toward the living room. They gradually moved farther away until they disappeared completely.
Bai An’an slowly let out a breath, but her heart was still pounding.
Who was it?
Who had stood outside her door in the middle of the night and sighed?
Fu Shen? Shen Hanzhou? Or Lu Xi?
The more Bai An’an thought about it, the more confused she became. In the end, she could only close her eyes and force herself to fall asleep.
In the living room, Fu Shen sat back down by the window, his gaze fixed on the dark street outside.
Shen Hanzhou leaned against the sofa with his eyes closed and asked in a low voice, “Did you check?”
“Yes.”
“Is she asleep?”
“Probably.”
Fu Shen thought for a moment before continuing.
“There is something wrong with her.”
Shen Hanzhou opened his eyes and looked at him.
“What?”
“She said she survived alone for more than three months, but her reactions don’t match.”
Fu Shen’s gaze remained fixed on the world outside the window.
“Someone who has spent three months alone in the Apocalypse and survived until now would not panic and run blindly the moment they saw a zombie.”
Shen Hanzhou did not immediately respond.
Instead, he tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling for two seconds.
“Maybe she’s just lucky.”
“Lucky enough to survive for three months?”
There was obvious disbelief in Fu Shen’s voice.
“The zombie density in this area isn’t low. A person with no combat experience surviving until now by relying solely on stocked supplies? Do you believe that?”
“I don’t.”
Shen Hanzhou admitted it straightforwardly.
“But I don’t care either.”
Fu Shen glanced at him.
Shen Hanzhou smiled. Under the weak yellow light of the emergency lamp, his smile seemed somewhat meaningful.
“She has secrets. All of us have secrets. Don’t you? Don’t I? What about Lu Xi? What’s important is that she currently has no hostility toward us, and her ability is real. A Healing-type ability is highly sought after at any base. We’ve practically gotten one for free. What exactly are you dissatisfied with?”
Fu Shen remained silent for several seconds before saying, “I don’t like uncontrollable factors.”
“What is still controllable in this world?”
Shen Hanzhou countered.
“Are zombies controllable? Are mutated creatures controllable? What about all those people at the base who each have their own schemes?”
He paused, and his tone softened slightly.
“Fu Shen, you were used to having control over everything when you were in the military, but things aren’t the same anymore. Sometimes, you have to accept that there are people and things you simply can’t see through.”
Fu Shen said nothing more.
The living room fell silent for a while. The only sounds were the occasional rustling of the wind outside the window and the faint, distant howls.