Chapter 421: A Home Worth Protecting
Li Yu stood atop the wall, contemplating another matter.
Since that time in the raging storm, he happened to find that old man Wang and pressured him into revealing information about the Northern Prison.
Knowing the enemy who had murdered his uncle, Li Yu had been scheming ever since.
The torrential rains of the past few days had kept him from going anywhere, but now that the storm had subsided.
Li Yu felt it was time for revenge.
Though the information obtained from old man Wang pertaining to the prison was scant, for Li Yu, such a vendetta was undoubtedly to be avenged.
His aunt and Second Uncle hadn't urged him, but every time Li Yu recalled how wretched they looked when he first encountered them, it truly fueled his anger.
However, even with revenge in mind, comprehensive preparation was necessary.
Li Yu had been urgently making use of the time, hastening Wang Cheng and the others to finish digging the trenches soon, so that he would be ready to leave the base.
To head to that prison in the north, to settle scores with the enemy.
The trench digging had already been going on for over a week now, and was still underway, seemingly requiring more time.
....
Xin City River.
Xin City was a riverside city, with quite a wide river.
Almost a hundred meters across.
Every high tide, the river would flood the small wooden steps on the bank.
Before the apocalypse, there were many big camphor trees and banyan trees along the bank.
Many wooden steps had been constructed along the riverbank where people would take walks after meals.
At night, with the cool breeze gently blowing and walking by the riverbank, surrounded by bright lights on both sides, it was especially beautiful.
At the riverbank, there were also many barbecue restaurants, one of which was notably proficient at cooking snails.
The team leader, who was also from Xin City, had enlisted and for many years had not returned to Xin City, until now, in these apocalyptic times.
However, they had returned on a mission.
But everything had drastically changed.
The wooden steps were no longer cleaned; they were covered with sand, mud, and stones.
Everything looked filthy and disorganized.
"Captain, doesn't this place look a lot like that map we got?" Next to the captain, a man stood at the riverbank, pointing towards a distant mountain.
Luo Tianyan?
The captain murmured to himself as he looked at the mountain.
Before the apocalypse, Luo Tianyan was somewhat of a tourist attraction.
But it wasn't very popular due to its location in the suburban area of Xin City, although some would visit occasionally.
Captain held the photograph in his hands and scrutinized it closely.
Finally, after comparing with the picture for a while, he said, "Alright, let's go there later to take a look, to see if it's possible that a grain storage is hidden there."
The crowd responded positively.
After that, they got up and made their way to the suburban tourist attraction of Luo Tianyan in the Xin City Suburb.
...
Five kilometers from the base was where He Chao had dispatched personnel to be on duty.
A car arrived at their location.
"Zhuzi, I'm coming up," a person called out from the car, shouting towards the upstairs.
The man upstairs who heard the noise from below stuck his head out and yelled, "Didn't we say to keep a low profile? Why do you always shout when you come here? What if someone discovers us?"
The person downstairs didn't seem to care about this, saying vaguely, "You know, we haven't seen a soul around here for two or three days now. Not a single one.
Before, we would occasionally see some Survivors, but now, who knows where they've gone."
The man who had just poked his head from upstairs said, "Recently, hasn't the base issued some emergency collection orders? After the torrential rain, they've run out of food and surely everyone is out helping to search for supplies.
By the way, have we received our food rations for this month?"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~
The man downstairs was carrying two small bundles at this time, tossing one of them to the other man.
"Here, our ration for the month has been distributed. We got some salt as well."
The man who had been on guard upstairs immediately turned around upon hearing this and excitedly caught the thrown bundle.
He weighed it in his hand and felt it seemed a bit heavier, so he asked, "How many pounds did we get this time? You didn't leave out my family's share, did you?"
The other man said with a smile, "Originally it was only seven pounds, but during the torrential rain, when we protected the crops,
and our good performance with the Survivors,
Director Li rewarded an additional two pounds.
Moreover, this time when leaving, Director Li said to give an extra two pounds to those of us assigned to the outskirts.
So in total it's eleven pounds, and I've given five pounds to your old man."
The man on duty beamed with joy and thought for a moment before saying, "Tie Tou, next time you go back to the base, bring back an extra two pounds for me. I can't eat so much by myself."
Tie Tou thought for a moment and said, "Zhuzi, actually you don't need to be so frugal. Everyone is doing much better than before.
Your child and the old man at the base should be fine; Director Li isn't going to let your family starve to death.
Now we have a home of our own in the Outer City too.
If we work hard and protect the base, we are protecting our home."
Zhuzi reflected on everything that had happened over the past year, which felt like a dream.
From the initial outbreak of the apocalypse, his family huddled at home, surviving the first month on their pre-apocalypse food reserves.
After a month, driven by necessity, they had to leave the house to look for food.
Wandering for a long time, his family dwindled from six to three.
After joining Jiefang City, life was very hard, often eating only every few days.
In the end, his family was down to two.
Then, as food got even scarcer and Jiefang City collapsed,
they were set adrift once more.
Surviving in the winter snow, in the bitter cold.
Just when they felt they couldn't hold on any longer, He Chao led them to Li Yu.
That was the first time they traded goods.
They obtained food.
After that, through repeated cooperation, they proved their sincerity.
Even later on, they followed Li Yu for hundreds of kilometers to Safe City.
They witnessed the slaughter led by Director Li and his people.
However, having survived over a year of the apocalypse,
they understood something very clearly, and that was to discard morality.
They'd seen too many people do despicable things for a mere bite to eat.
Some could betray their souls for food.
Only those who've experienced extreme hunger know the agony it brings; it can drive people mad.
Having been part of Jiefang City, they had some experience, so looking back on the Big Camphor Tree Base,
they only felt the base's well-controlled benevolence, sufficient vigilance, and ample strength.
Only such a base can truly last until the end.
Although the Big Camphor Tree Base seemed exceedingly ruthless on the outside, after many encounters, from the lowest ranks to now residents of the Outer City,
they felt that it was Big Camphor Tree Base that truly possessed humanitarian care.
That was their home.
A home worth protecting with their lives.
As members of the Big Camphor Tree Base,
they... were proud.