Chapter 388: Chapter 388: Chaos
The next morning, they arrived at the distribution center in the South District, where a long line had already ford.
Gu Pan took her cara and shot so photos from different angles. She planned to pair them with her journal entries when she got ho, docunting such monts. Today was a aningful day.
Rarely did one see such smiles on the residents’ faces—smiles that ca from deep within.
Those who received fruit didn’t wait until they got ho to eat; many households only had one or two people left. To put it bluntly, by the ti they got ho, the fruit could be stolen. It was safer to just eat it there. After all, with only two strawberries per person, eating them ant truly possessing them.
Now the lons weren’t ripe yet, so distribution hadn’t started.
That day, Gu Pan and the others also had a fulfilling ti. In the evening, she baked bread and made strawberry jam, sharing so with each household to be saved for breakfast.
At this ti, they were truly the only households who could still enjoy such food.
Others were gaunt and thin, while these few households didn’t look much different from before the apocalypse.
Soon, the second batch of people set off for the migration, hoping to avoid any sudden bad weather and to hasten their journey.
This migration involved moving even more resources. Many trucks left in the dead of night. This made the base’s residents feel that sothing was amiss, especially when so realized they hadn’t seen their neighbors for a long ti, despite claims of having to work overti at their units. But they suspected it wasn’t that simple.
After all, such a large operation couldn’t hide forever in an apocalyptic world where people were sensitive to change. No matter how careful, issues would eventually be discovered.
This was sothing Lu Jianguo and his colleagues had considered. Even the tightest kept secrets couldn’t withstand long operations. It wasn’t just one migration, but as the base’s resources dwindled, how could no one notice sothing was off?
Hence, in the last phase, so things couldn’t be openly discussed, but they couldn’t be completely hidden either. The final migration had to be expedited.
So leaders would remain at the base, leading those who stayed to fight for a chance of survival. Of course, these leaders would be recorded in history as those who sacrificed themselves for the future of humanity, to be rembered and revered by later generations.
All of this was for the progression of humankind, whether those who left or those who stayed, each bearing their own missions.
Of course, the ordinary residents of the base weren’t foolish. They understood that those chosen to migrate were either technically skilled or had status. So they started devising their own strategies.
In the past few days, many hos at the base had been burglarized. The burglars didn’t take money, food, or living supplies. Instead, they turned hos upside down, even digging up the floors in so officials’ houses. It wasn’t hard to guess why.
Early that morning, Guo Gang ca over in a panic, “The house by the path to the courtyard was burglarized. Seems like their tickets to Mount Everest were stolen. The woman fainted from crying, and the man is so angry he’s banging his head against the wall, not wanting to live. Should we increase the guards and patrols?”
Since their group had more tickets, it was easy for outsiders to target them. The reason they hadn’t been attacked first might have been because they seed like a united and tough group, especially since they patrolled at night.
Now Guo Gang’s concerns were sothing Gu Pan and the others could understand. This was only the beginning. As ti went on, people would beco more desperate.
But Gu Pan knew the tickets were safe in her “Space”; unless they kidnapped her, and even then, they’d have to see if she was willing to hand over the tickets. Without that, no outsider would ever find them.
“There’s no need to be so nervous; no one can find where they’re hidden. Rest assured,” Gu Pan confidently assured them.
Although Guo Gang trusted them, the stakes were too high, so he still said, “I just have a feeling soone is watching us, it’s making anxious.”
During the conversation, Chen Shaonan also ca over, his tone uneasy, “I couldn’t sleep last night, feeling like soone was spying on us outside the window.”
Seeing everyone so tense, Gu Pan thought about how her own peace of mind ca from having a secure hiding place for the tickets—but the others didn’t know that. To reassure everyone, it made sense for them to take turns guarding their turf, in line with the current situation.
With their plentiful food and water supplies, including strawberries and lons, everyone would feel more secure with a guarding rotation.
“Let’s set up a schedule, taking turns to guard the place. That way, those off duty can sleep more soundly,” she suggested.
Lu Ruisheng agreed, “Let’s discuss and arrange the shifts.”
The group began to draft a patrol schedule on paper.
Once done, they decided to post the duty roster in the corridor between Squad Leader Fang and Feng Zhekai’s hos—a central spot within this tight-knit group—making it convenient for everyone to check it.
They would change guards every six hours, with two people per shift, both day and night. After all, with ti pressing, many were tempted to steal, not just because of sheerr desperation but also out of fear of cri gone wrong and losing their lives.
While they were talking, ng ng ca running in a frenzy, “Trouble! So thief entered our house, and I knocked him out. You better co and take a look.”
Before it wasn’t a big concern, but now everyone was on edge. But they couldn’t all go in case it was a diversion. So, Lu Ruisheng stayed to watch over the hos, while Gu Pan joined Cheng Yang and Chen Shaonan to go check. Each family left at least one person behind, with the rest accompanying Guo Gang to his ho.
Arriving, they saw a middle-aged man lying on the ground with a bloodstain on his head, and a baseball bat nearby—likely what ng ng had used to ambush him.
The man, covering half of his face, sat up clutching his head, “Why did you hit ? I just ca to ask sothing.”
ng ng hastily argued, “I saw you rummaging through our cabinets. People asking questions don’t break into others’ houses and search.”
Gu Pan sneered, “You, with a covered face, co to ask for directions? Are you the fool, or do you think others are?”
The man had been watching their hos for days, waiting for the right mont when no adults were around. He made his move with a telescope, watching the n leave before attempting to sneak in, only to be caught off-guard by the child.
He dropped the pretense, defiantly, “You rich people, officials’ relatives, why do you deserve tickets to Mount Everest? Why do you have a chance to survive while we don’t? Yes, I ca to steal, so what? Turn over to the base, and I’d like to ask those big officials why.”
Gu Pan frowned at the man, “How do you know we have tickets?”
He scoffed, “How could relatives of the Base Commander not have them? Don’t think we, the masses, don’t know anything.”
Gu Pan laughed, “So you say we have tickets. Did you find them?”
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