Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 35

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FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: MASS RELEASE.
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Yesterday, Lou Lili told her that the blood tests to screen for potential Type A infectees are not 100% accurate, with a 2% to 3% margin of error. Consequently, new arrivals at the refuge can only stay on Islands 1 and 2 temporarily. After five days, they can cross the bridge barriers to Island 3. Island 3 is larger, and after staying there for another five days, they are officially admitted into the refuge and can receive an island pass, which allows them to reside on other islands (Islands 4-14).
The refuge currently distributes one meal a day at the visitor centers on Islands 1, 3, and the central Island 6. The food is usually dry, such as instant noodles, bread, or buns, and occasionally includes sausages, canned luncheon meat, or snail noodles, though the latter is in very limited supply. The food is bland and insufficient to fully satisfy hunger but enough to prevent starvation. To receive food, individuals must present their island pass, which is checked against their photo.
Water resources are available from several wells on the islands, which are currently uncontaminated. Each person can collect 1000 ml daily, using their island pass to queue up, and must bring their own container.
Once officially admitted into the refuge, those with RVs can drive directly to the RV park but need to be cautious of others’ envy and greed. While the wetland park has many islands and a large area, at least half of the islands lack buildings and are overgrown with vegetation. As a result, most people congregate on the islands with suitable buildings. New arrivals prefer to stay in populated areas, setting up tents in open spaces rather than going to other islands. The abundance of tents makes it difficult to manage and maintain order.
To maintain order, the refuge has issued a strict command: no stealing, robbing, or internal fighting. Anyone caught will be conscripted into the frontline troops and forced to perform dangerous missions, such as searching for supplies and rescuing people in zombie-infested cities. This command alone has significantly restrained the behavior of the survivors within the refuge.
This strict rule is why the attackers ambushed the Lou family on the national highway, away from the refuge. External conflicts are not monitored by the military. These attackers were local residents who entered the park with the first group of civilians after the military cleared it. After ten days of observation, they received their island passes but lacked supplies. They targeted new arrivals, hoping to recruit or rob them.
The Lou family is currently on Island 2, waiting to be cleared for entry to Island 3. One member had previous military experience and good relations with the troops, which, combined with their capabilities, led to their current mission. They are expected to return in two days, allowing Yu Xi to meet up with Lou Xiang and her group first.
Yu Xi was mentally prepared for the current situation at the refuge. In the early stages of the apocalypse, old rules are overturned, and new rules are not yet established, leading to a period of chaos. However, since the refuge is managed by the military, the strict command holds significant sway, making the situation better than in other refuges.
Each island in the refuge has daily patrols by the military. Due to manpower shortages, recruitment has reopened for men and women aged 16 to 45. Those who pass the physical examination and training are immediately enlisted. Military duties are not all dangerous rescue and supply missions; they also include building new structures, patrolling, clearing nearby fields, reinforcing barriers, and searching for supplies and rescuing people in less populated areas. Joining the military provides a fixed daily ration of food and water, and occasionally fruits, vegetables, and meat, making it an attractive option for those with insufficient supplies.
Yu Xi soon reunited with Lou Xiang’s group and found a spot nearby to park the RV and settle temporarily. With the RV as cover, the waiting period before being officially admitted to the refuge was manageable.
Yu Xi locked the RV daily and took her parents to collect their meal and water. Although they didn’t need these resources, blending in with the community helped avoid unnecessary trouble.
Survivors on Islands 1 to 3, not yet formally admitted to the refuge, received slightly inferior food, such as porridge and buns. However, many had struggled to escape zombie-infested cities or towns and were grateful for any food in the safety of the refuge.
In a global disaster, simply being alive was already a great blessing.
The Lou family was given special attention by the military and was currently housed in a three-story building on Island 2. The building, with its blue bricks and dark tiles, had an ancient charm and was originally a commercial property. It featured bathrooms and a small kitchen with a stove, allowing them to wash up and cook simple meals, which was a considerable privilege from the military.
Upon Yu Xi’s arrival, Lou Xiang immediately suggested parking the RV in the building’s parking lot. Initially, she considered vacating a room for them, but after inspecting the RV’s living conditions, she decided against it. The RV was still quite new and fully equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, dining table, and bed, even having its own power supply. Although the wetland park had generators, electricity was primarily reserved for the military. Civilians had limited power, with buildings going dark after 8 PM. The RV, however, had solar panels and a wind turbine generator, providing enough electricity for lighting, watching TV, charging phones, and running a fan.
Because they were traveling with Yu Xi, Leng Mian and Zhao Zheng also received a warm welcome from Lou Xiang. However, since they were a man and a woman, sharing a room was impractical. Yu Xi provided two tents for them to set up on the ground floor of the commercial building. The tents were the right size and included waterproof mats and thin blankets, offering more privacy and comfort than sharing a room with strangers.
Lou Xiang, unable to keep things to herself, shared a lot about her family with Yu Xi, who had made a good impression on her. The Lou family was a martial arts family, and Lou Lili, the eldest daughter of her generation, had inherited her father’s skills. Her brother and she were less interested in the family tradition, with her brother leaving to study and work in another city, and she being too young to escape her mother’s strict training.
A month ago, her brother Lou Rui unexpectedly quit his job and returned home with a few friends, expressing a desire to continue the family tradition. He began training his siblings and cousins daily, rented a warehouse near their home to stockpile food and water, and even bought three vehicles: a pickup truck, a small cargo truck, and an off-road vehicle. The family only learned about these preparations after the outbreak. Consequently, when the large-scale infection hit, they didn’t have to risk their lives for supplies, surviving the initial chaos behind closed doors.
“Yu Xi, don’t you think my brother is like one of those male protagonists in post-apocalyptic rebirth stories?” Lou Xiang joked, though she didn’t take it seriously.
However, Yu Xi couldn’t help but ponder. Given her understanding of this world as a post-apocalyptic scenario, whether real or fictional, the appearance of supernatural elements and characters was not surprising. She silently asked the system if Lou Rui was also a mission-bound tasker with a star house.
[Please focus on your current task.]
“I am focused, but the target Shelter 28, hasn’t appeared. How am I supposed to proceed?”
The system remained silent, and despite being used to it, Yu Xi couldn’t help but mutter, “Really annoying.”
No wonder completing the second task would reward 80 star coins. Although she had successfully brought her parents to a refuge, the target refuge had yet to appear. She didn’t know how much longer she would have to wait, and when it did appear, it might be far away, leading to another long and challenging journey.
A few days later, Lou Rui and his group returned, revealing the details of their mission. On their way to the wetland park, they passed by an industrial area with various food canning factories and many manufacturing plants, one of which was a solar panel factory with a prominent, upright sign. Due to the large number of zombies in the area, they only observed from a distance without venturing inside. Upon arriving at the wetland park and noting its high security and orderly management, they decided to inform the military about the industrial area.
However, the local military unit was short-handed and couldn’t spare enough personnel to investigate the industrial area. The military leaders then contacted another squad stationed at a nearby farm through radio. This squad, consisting mostly of battle-hardened soldiers, had been dispatched to secure the farm, reclaiming vast fruit orchards, greenhouse vegetable areas, and fish ponds.
The area around the farm has now been cleared, and everyone is doing further cleanup. After receiving orders, some people remained to guard the farm while the rest prepared to head to the industrial area. The Lou family trio was sent ahead to lead the military team to the factory area and assess whether to clear the entire area or just take the most needed supplies.
Simultaneously, a fully armed convoy from the wetland area set out for the factory to meet up with them. The mission turned out to be more fruitful than anticipated, with the military sacrificing very little to bring back a large haul of supplies. They nearly emptied a solar panel factory, a biscuit factory, a fruit canning factory, and a self-heating hotpot factory. The latter also provided a large quantity of meat products, as the self-heating hotpots contained sausages and dehydrated meat. The neatly stacked solar panels on the trucks were enough to solve the entire wetland park’s electricity problem.
That day, all the survivors in the wetlands were in high spirits because of the additional rations. Each person received a few scoops of fruit cocktail and a sausage. A deputy from the military leaders personally delivered a box of self-heating hotpots, a box of fruit cocktails, a box of instant noodles, and six watermelons to the Lou family. Watermelons were particularly rare due to the hot weather and their fragility.
However, the military had just reclaimed a farm, so rare items like watermelons were still available. These were just the first batch of rewards. Later, when the island passes were distributed, the Lou family’s housing and solar panels would be among the best and most plentiful.
The Lou family decided to celebrate with a hotpot meal and some watermelon, and they invited Yu Xi’s family, Zhao Zheng, and Leng Mian to join them. Initially, Zhao Zheng and Leng Mian were hesitant, feeling embarrassed to be living in someone else’s place and eating their food. Yu Xi assured them, “Go ahead, I’ll bring food over too, so we won’t be eating entirely their food.”
Leng Mian and Zhao Zheng exchanged glances, thinking that eating Yu Xi’s food was no different from eating the Lou family’s food. But they eventually agreed, since they were all staying together. They didn’t want to go empty-handed, so they brought along the cured meat and sausages they had found in the farmhouse, which would be perfect for the hotpot.
The Lou family had an abundance of supplies, including various canned meats and vacuum-packed foods. They brought out several large pots, initially planning to use the seasoning packets from the self-heating hotpots. However, Yu Xi arrived just in time with four large bags of hotpot base, including two bags of spicy butter base and two bags of clear lamb soup base, all vacuum-packed for long-term storage.
In addition to these, she brought bags of dried beancurd sticks, dried wood ear mushrooms, vacuum-packed tender bamboo shoots, vacuum-packed dried shrimp, dried squid, dried clams, a large bag of dehydrated vegetables, a six-pack of canned Coke, and five or six bags of frozen dumplings, each containing 50 dumplings. The dumplings could be cooked directly in the hotpot soup as a main dish.
The Coke and dumplings were frozen, likely taken straight from a freezer, and felt very cold to the touch. Although these items seemed luxurious, the Lou family accepted that Yu Xi’s RV had electricity and a refrigerator, making it possible to keep these items fresh. After all, they didn’t know when or where she had acquired the RV.
Although Zhao Zheng and Leng Mian knew the timeline of their journey from the city to the campsite, they had learned not to ask too many questions about Yu Xi’s affairs after spending time with her. They naturally didn’t say much.
Lou Lili was overjoyed to see the food but felt a bit embarrassed to take it all. However, Mother Yu explained that their family owned a grocery store in the garage of their residential complex, so their supplies were preserved when the outbreak happened. They didn’t lack such items.
Yu Xi was pleasantly surprised, as she didn’t expect her mother to lie so smoothly. Father Yu winked at her, indicating it was his idea.
The hotpot base was heated with oil and then added to purified water, soon boiling. The rich, spicy, and fragrant aroma filled the air, making everyone’s mouth water, including Lou’s family, who were usually well-supplied.
It was authentic Sichuan hotpot, not the self-heating kind that tasted like plastic. This was a rare treat.
The dumplings and dried foods brought by Yu family were a hit, especially since Lou’s family lacked such items despite having plenty of meat. Lou Xiang, sipping her small cup of iced Coke, complained that her brother, being a typical guy, only stocked up on instant noodles, meat products, compressed biscuits, and military rations. He didn’t think to buy snacks, soda, or fruits and vegetables, and she was tired of eating meat to the point of constipation.
After the meal, Yu Xi took out a large bag of mixed vegetable and fruit snacks from the RV (Star House storage) and gave it to Lou Xiang. These were different from dehydrated vegetables meant for rehydration. They were crunchy snacks, seasoned with salt, and very tasty.
She also handed out two bags of chocolate-filled gummy candies, giving one to Lou Xiang and one to Leng Mian. Leng Mian was initially reluctant to accept, feeling that she’d already taken too much from Yu Xi.
“It’s okay,” Lou Xiang reassured her. “In a few days, we’ll all get our island passes, and then we’ll be able to go in and out of the wetland freely. We can search for supplies together, and you can give some back to her when we find more.”
Lou Xiang’s cheerful and outgoing nature, maintained by the support of her brother and mother, easily convinced Leng Mian. Yu Xi looked at Lou Xiang and couldn’t help but think of another person who was similarly protected by her mother and brother.
Though she wasn’t close to that person, seeing Lou Xiang reminded her of their bravery when facing zombies at the gas station and their continued efforts to gather supplies even after reaching a safe zone. It made her reflect on how different people could be, even when starting from the same point.
Yu Xi didn’t expect that a month later, she would see Wu Meiling again on the first island of the wetland refuge. By then, Wu Meiling would be without her protective brother and his followers, accompanied only by an older, haggard-looking woman as they underwent checks and blood tests.