"Don’t worry, gentle coercion is the way if they don’t work together."
She turned sharply, boots crunching over gravel. Her voice rang out over the temporary camp. "New plan. We’re not securing the whole hotel anymore—it’s too big. We’re building a flood-resistant shelter on higher ground. Small, fast, and strong enough to keep 50 of us alive through the surge."
Heads turned.
Xu Tianming blinked. "Wait, where? What about the hotel?"
"Abandon the hotel periter for now. We don’t have ti to reinforce everything." She jabbed a finger toward a raised hill just east of their current position. "There. That’s where we’re building. One room, one kitchen, one bathroom. That’s it."
Yu Song stepped up beside her, glancing at her pale face. "You’re burning up. You look like you haven’t slept in days."
"I’m fine," she said again, then paused. "No, I’m not fine. But I’m still standing. That’s enough."
He looked at her hard, then nodded. "So what do you need from us?"
She exhaled. "Everything you’ve got." "Now is the ti for us to get out and the materials we need. The rest of you, clear the building site. And morning shift should get dinner and get so rest. We night shift, will get the ball rolling."
Yu Song, Xu Tianming, ng Nian, the man that worked in the construction site Zhang Leiu, Fang Mokin the man that had doubted if they’ll be able to complete the dam in ti and Su Yaoyao, the lady who promised to give it her all.
All headed to the car.
"Lingquan since we’re not rouding the hotel. Revise the materials were going to need."
[Already recalculating. I’ll send the list to your display in thirty seconds. I’ve also optimized the floorplan for reduced material waste and maximum water resistance.]
"Good" Qingran muttered. "Make sure the foundations are reinforced. No shortcuts."
[No shortcuts for sure. I’ve run the flood modeling again, too. If the water crests higher than predicted, the structure might still hold but only barely.]
She nodded and turned back to the team heading toward the SUV.
Yu Song had already taken the driver’s seat.
Xu Tianming climbed into the back with ng Nian and Su Yaoyao, while Zhang Leiu settled in with an ease that only ca from years of manual labor.
Fang Mokin slamd the door harder than necessary but didn’t complain. Maybe he’d finally accepted the urgency, but he didn’t release he would be riding with Qingran.
[Revised Materials for Ergency Shelter — Capacity: 50 people]
• Waterproof concrete mix — 45 bags (50 kg each)
• Steel reinforcent bars (rebar) — 120 rods, 12mm diater, 6m length
• Fast-setting adhesive foam — 30 cans
• Polyr insulation panels — 60 square ters worth, 5 cm thickness
• Precast composite floor panels — 10 units (2m x 3m each)
• Brackets, fasteners, and sealant kits — 1 box each (heavy duty)
• Lightweight tal roofing sheets — 20 sheets (3m length)
• PVC plumbing pipe — 40 ters, assorted diaters (for 1 bathroom)
"So many things. We might need to find a construction company. A site won’t have everything we need or in bulk rather."
She stroked her chin, she was unfamiliar with this zone. She had no idea where was where here.
"Show the nearest construction company or at least a place where we can get this materials in bulk."
[Hai! Running...]
[Got it.]
[There’s a depot 5 miles north, where you are right now, is known as the business district. Towards north is the people’s market, you can get anything there, the depot happens to be there.]
Qingran nodded, with a idea of where she was going, she could co up with a plan.
"The people’s market huh...I have a feeling there will be a lot of zombies there."
She opened the car door, to see Zhang Yi in the driver’s seat.
"..!!!"
"Why the hell as you here?!"
Zhang Yi lips twitched, she hated him that much huh.
"Relax, I’m just pulling my weight like you asked. You’re probably heading to the people’s market, I’m familiar with the terrain there and you’re looking awfully pale..so let drive."
"..."
"I don’t trust you enough to let you drive. Get out, if I cant drive..another person will take the wheel." Qingran wasn’t buying it, she felt Zhang Yi had a different agenda for wanting to pull his weight.
"..."
"Geez, you’re such an ass. Ti’s running fast, it takes quite the strength to arrange those materials, the more ti we spend..the more soone gets tired."
Qingran sighed and got into the passenger seat, if he tried another by she would just say kill him.
"Very well. Start driving, they’ll follow behind us."
Zhang Yi didn’t smirk or look triumphant, he just shifted gears with the cool efficiency of soone who used to drive a lot more than just cars.
As the SUV rumbled to life, Yu Song’s vehicle pulled up behind them, headlights flicking on in silent signal. ng Nian gave her a thumb’s up from the back window.
The convoy rolled out into the night, sky heavy with fog.
Qingran didn’t speak. Her arms were crossed, back pressed against the cool leather. Her skin was clammy despite the rising heat of her core.
She wasn’t stupid, Zhang Yi knew she didn’t trust him, and letting him drive was a tactical gamble, not a white flag.
The mont he veered even a hair off course, she’d slit his throat without hesitation.
"Construction depot’s just off the main road past a burnt-out delivery center.." Zhang Yi offered quietly after a few minutes. "If it hasn’t been looted clean, we’ll find what you need."
"And the people’s market?" she asked without looking at him.
He tapped the wheel. "It’s crowded, chaotic. Lots of narrow alleys and vendors’ stalls. If zombies spilled in during the early outbreaks, they could still be lurking in the shops. Not great for a large team. But if you’re lucky, most of them would’ve followed sound or moved south by now."
Qingran gave a noncommittal hum. She didn’t trust luck. Luck was what got you killed.
Lingquan’s interface flickered in her mind.
[Two viable entry points to the depot:
1. Front gate (exposed, but straightforward)
2. Maintenance tunnel on the west side (concealed, may be jamd)]
She relayed that to the team via comms.
Yu Song’s voice ca crackling back, calm and level. "Got it. We’ll take the rear route. If it’s blocked."
Zhang Yi’s eyes cut briefly toward her. "Smart guy."
Qingran ignored the comnt. "If you so much as twitch wrong, I’ll make sure you don’t even get the chance to scream."
Zhang Yi chuckled lowly, almost to himself. "You always did have the prettiest threats."
She turned her head slowly, face blank. "Don’t get cocky."
The rest of the drive passed in tense silence. The roads were mostly clear of wrecks now, thanks to earlier clean-up efforts, but the tension hung thick as the fog.
Every alley was a possible ambush. Every distant moan might be a trap.
They reached the depot periter twenty minutes later.
It was a squat, L-shaped complex behind chain-link fences, with cracked asphalt yards and a half-toppled loading dock.
The gate out front was wide open but so were most of the doors.
Qingran narrowed her eyes. "That’s not good." She sighed and turned on the comms.
"Everyone ready your weapons and turn off the silencer. We need to clear out the place without attracting anymore zombies to our location. Once we clear the the place, we can start loading quickly."
The convoy slowed to a crawl just outside the fence. Zhang Yi killed the engine. In the back vehicle, Xu Tianming, ng Nian, and the others began to file out, slipping into formation without needing to be told. They were tired, but Qingran’s urgency had infected them all. No one wanted to be caught flat-footed again.
Qingran stepped out of the car, her boots crunching softly on the cracked gravel. She reached over her shoulder and pulled her axe from the holster strapped to her back. The sound of tal sliding free was comforting in a grim way.
Zhang Yi retrieved a compact crowbar from the back seat and gave her a glance, it was neutral. Not eager or apologetic. Just a regular focus when it was ti to be serious.
That, at least, she could respect.
The depot had once been a lively hub for transport and construction gear. Now it was nothing more than a damp, waste land.
"Since we’re here to load materials, there’s no need for us to split up. If we see any zombies, we kill them.."
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