Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 113: Chapter 107: Abandon Illusions, Face Reality

Five days later, on the 80th day of the apocalypse.

"WAAH! WAAH! WAAH!"

With a clear cry from apartment 501, Qiao Ping successfully gave birth.

Shen Xinyi cut the umbilical cord and dressed the wound. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she smiled and called out to the others waiting anxiously outside:

"Mother and son are both safe and sound!"

"YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!"

Huang Zhiqiang was overjoyed. Over the past 80 days, he had completely stepped into the role of the baby’s dad.

He entered the room and looked at the weakened Qiao Ping and the little guy lying on the bed, his face filled with happiness.

"Sister Qiao, he’s so cute... Mwah~"

"What are you doing? He’s a baby, not a puppy!" Qiao Ping shot him a reproachful glare, then turned to look at her child, her face glowing with bliss.

Wang Xiuying, who had been assisting with the delivery, faltered for a moment upon hearing this. She turned her head away, her somewhat cloudy old eyes welling up.

Once, she had been just like Qiao Ping... until the year her son was killed in a car accident. The driver had fled the scene and was never caught.

Wang Xiuying wiped the corner of her eye. "Remember to feed him on time. Breastfeed if you can..."

Then she took off her gloves and gown, and with small steps, left the room and went back upstairs.

"What’s wrong with Auntie Wang?" Qiao Ping glanced toward the door.

"Maybe she’s just tired. Right, when should you feed him? Now? Should I get Sister Xinyi to come in? Or maybe we should use formula? I grew up on formula, and I turned out just fine, didn’t I?"

Huang Zhiqiang’s flustered fumbling made Qiao Ping chuckle. In that moment, she had a fragile, vulnerable sort of charm, like that of a young widow.

"Sister Qiao, you’re so beautiful..." Huang Zhiqiang couldn’t help but say.

"No, I’m not. I’m old now... Bring the baby to me. I’ll feed him."

"Oh, oh, okay..."

Huang Zhiqiang carefully placed the baby beside Qiao Ping, then planned to step outside to give them some privacy.

From behind, a hand grabbed his. Qiao Ping said softly:

"Zhiqiang... I want him to take your last name. Is that okay?"

Hearing this, a rush of blood went straight to Huang Zhiqiang’s head.

"Sister Qiao, are you saying..."

"Mhm, if you’re willing..."

"Sister Qiao, I’m willing!"

Qiao Ping smiled as she looked at Huang Zhiqiang, who had agreed in a heartbeat.

"From now on... call me Pingping."

...

One more member for the team.

After the entire team had nervously awaited Qiao Ping’s delivery, the smooth outcome allowed everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

Especially Shen Xinyi.

"I’m not kidding, I’ve never even stepped into an obstetrics operating room... To think I just performed a delivery, it’s incredible."

Liu Ye’ye covered her mouth with a smile. "It just unlocked your hidden potential. Who knows, maybe when the world is at peace again, you could become a doctor, Xinyi."

"I’d have to study hard then... I still have a lot of medical books. I was following them for the procedure this time. Thank goodness it was a success."

Yu Dong suddenly said, "Hey! Let’s give Qiao Yunliang a call. We can share the good news with him."

"But he said he was busy clearing out zombies."

"It’s fine, we can call tonight. He’ll definitely be free before the official broadcast. He’s the baby’s great-uncle, after all."

"That’s true. I’ll go tell Sister Qiao."

Naturally, Qiao Ping also wanted to share the good news with her uncle.

7:50 PM.

Everyone gathered around Qiao Ping’s bed and dialed Qiao Yunliang’s satellite phone.

Qiao Ping’s face was full of happiness.

Then... after the third call went unanswered, everyone sighed.

"Looks like... Uncle’s pretty busy. We’ll try again tomorrow," Huang Zhiqiang said, trying to laugh it off.

Yu Dong felt something was very wrong. ’Logically, the military shouldn’t be active at this hour.’

But since they weren’t on the front lines, he didn’t know their actual situation.

"Let’s listen to the official broadcast. See what new tips they have for building small shelters."

Lately, Yu Dong had noticed the official broadcasts were teaching people how to use their surroundings to build shelters capable of withstanding zombies.

They especially focused on how to counter climbing zombies, a new variant that had been appearing frequently in various places recently and posed a huge threat to the major settlements.

Following the official instructions, Yu Dong and the others had recently reinforced their angled fences.

They had added lots of large spikes, wooden stakes, and blades. Not only did this make it difficult for climbing zombies to scale the angled surface, but the sharp objects would also pierce their palms. They’d be injured the moment they grabbed on!

It was a highly effective counter.

After listening to the official broadcast as usual, Yu Dong took out another radio to continue listening to Officer Wang’s personal post-apocalyptic talk show.

It had recently become a must-listen program for the whole team.

Not only could they learn useful knowledge, but they could also understand the local situation from Officer Wang’s vivid descriptions.

"This Officer Wang’s broadcast manages to be both informative and entertaining. The more you listen, the more you want to listen!" Zhao Youcai had recently become a big fan of Officer Wang.

"Of course! We folks from the Northeast are just talented. You can’t deny it!"

Huang Zhiqiang had recently started claiming Officer Wang as a fellow Northeasterner, feeling as if his own overall abilities had improved by association.

But Yu Dong had been feeling uneasy lately.

Especially the content of the official broadcasts...

’Why have they recently started teaching everyone how to build shelters, how to band together to survive, how to deal with various types of zombies?’

’Before, they were clearly talking about how to gather resources, avoid zombies, and wait for rescue.’

The two sounded similar, but in reality... Yu Dong sensed a subtle shift in the wind.

When he looked at the other team members, he saw that none of them had noticed it...

After staying in the residential complex for almost a month, everyone was becoming more and more relaxed. Aside from clearing out the zombies that wandered nearby each day, they would play and do as they pleased.

Even he had been frequently engaging in a battle of wits with Shen Xinyi lately...

"Hey! Yu Dong, I was just thinking there’s an area where our team could optimize..."

Shen Xinyi leaned in and whispered.

Yu Dong was startled, then looked at Shen Xinyi warily.

’Speak of the devil! I was just thinking about her, and here she comes!’

"What are you up to now?"

"The officials have said that this winter will be very cold, right?"

"And?"

"Although Youcai brought back a lot of coal, it’s still a finite resource. With so many of us needing it for heating, it should be enough under normal circumstances. But what if the winter is especially long, a global freeze... then wouldn’t our coal supply be insufficient?"

"Uh... I suppose so."

"So shouldn’t we be a bit more frugal with it? Don’t you think it’s a huge waste for one person on our team to live in a whole apartment by himself, burning his own furnace for heat?"

Yu Dong’s eyebrow twitched. ’So that’s her angle. The dagger is about to be revealed.’

"Why don’t you just say what you mean?"

"You should move into 301 and live with us! We can all huddle together for warmth!"

Shen Xinyi grinned at Yu Dong, her eyes bright and her teeth pearly, her smile enchanting.

Yu Dong: "!!!"

His heart pounded traitorously, struck once again by Shen Xinyi. She was just too good at going on the offensive.

"KSHHH... KSHHH... KSHHH..."

"Hello, hello~ Can you hear me? Can you hear me?"

Yu Dong quickly turned his head toward the radio.

"Time to listen to the broadcast!"

A smile played on Shen Xinyi’s lips as she gave Yu Dong’s side a hard pinch.

"Hmph!"

Yu Dong’s expression didn’t change. He stared at the radio as if he were Officer Wang’s most devoted fan.

"Alright, those of you who can hear me, please pass on our channel to those who can’t. A single sentence from you might just save a few lives."

"Today’s content may be a bit heavy, but it’s something every survivor in Yanhai City should know..."

"Regular listeners should know that here in Yanhai City, besides my own shelter, there’s also the settlement established by the military at the Zongshan Civilian Training Base. It has taken in many survivors, and I have been in constant contact with their highest-ranking leader."

"However... five days ago, we lost contact with them. For five days, our calls have not gone through."

"Until noon today, when I received a satellite call from a concerned citizen near Zongshan. They said... on the afternoon of five days ago, a massive zombie horde surged out of the Urban Area without any warning. They estimated the number to be no less than one hundred thousand. The horde rushed toward the Zongshan Base, and after being discovered by the military, a fierce battle erupted!"

"The troops at the Zongshan Training Base fought the zombies while covering the evacuation of the settlement’s residents. After eliminating a large number of zombies... they were ultimately overwhelmed. The horde broke into the training base. In the end, they detonated the base’s explosives, burying most of the horde in the rubble and stopping them from pursuing the retreating civilians."

"As of now, the Zongshan Settlement has been completely wiped out."

"The small remaining portion of the horde has returned to the Urban Area... their movements are unknown."

"The soldiers of the Zongshan Base... are the heroes of Yanhai City. They fought to liberate all of Yanhai City and protect our people... right up until their deaths."

"Today, I ask all survivors in Yanhai City to join me... in observing three minutes of silence for our heroes."

"That is all. Salute!"

After the radio went silent.

The cheerful atmosphere in the room instantly froze. Expressions of shock, disbelief, fear, and confusion... a complex mix of emotions appeared on everyone’s faces.

The news was too sudden!

One second they were daydreaming about how to spend gold bars after peace was restored, and the next... people were gone.

"The phone... give me the phone..."

Leaning against the bed and holding her baby, Qiao Ping’s lips trembled as she reached for Huang Zhiqiang.

However, no matter how many times she redialed, she couldn’t connect with someone who was already gone.

Qiao Ping suddenly remembered her last phone call with her uncle, five days ago.

His words...

"Remember, no matter what happens, never give up hope. I... and many others like us, are fighting for the people of the Dragon Country!"

Qiao Ping covered her mouth as large tears streamed down her face.

Only now did she realize... those were her uncle’s last words.

When they spoke that afternoon, the zombie horde must have suddenly attacked. Her uncle probably saw what was coming and left her with those words.

"My uncle... he knew I was about to give birth... He... he didn’t want me to know he was going to die... I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye....."

She had a chance to say goodbye, but in the end, Qiao Yunliang had ’deceived’ her one last time over the phone. His ’deception’ was ultimately a cut above.

He fought alongside the soldiers of Zongshan to the very last second, ultimately perishing with the zombie horde.

At this moment, all words were pale and powerless.

No one on the team could make a sound.

Like the silent radio, everyone was observing a moment of silence... for the soldiers of the Zongshan Base.

They spent their final moments evacuating civilians, choosing to detonate explosives and perish with the zombies rather than retreat a single step!

These were the soldiers of the Dragon Country.

This was why millions of ordinary people, like Yu Dong and his team, had always firmly believed that peace would come.

It was because they believed in this country, and they believed in these soldiers.

Zhou wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"We should properly commemorate these soldiers..."

"If commemorating them was enough, what would be the point of revenge?"

Everyone turned in astonishment to look at Yu Dong, who had spoken such wild words.

There was a fire in his eyes!

It was the fury against this fucked-up world! The indignation for all the fallen soldiers!

"Starting tomorrow, we’re recruiting people. We’re going to kill zombies!"

"This world isn’t going to see peace!"

"It’s time to abandon our fantasies and face reality!"

After Yu Dong finished speaking, he suddenly felt the floor tiles beneath his feet begin to tremble slightly.

Faintly, the building itself began to sway...

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