Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

Gu Lang drew a few circles on the wall and walked to a distance of forty meters.

He opened the gas valve on the cylinder and pulled the trigger.

"Pfft—Bang!" The lead bullet shattered against the wall.

After confirming that the air gun was functioning correctly, Gu Lang began the pressure test.

The projectile is loaded quickly, and the hammer is pulled.

After firing ten shots, he walked to the wall and began to observe the bullet dispersion.

"The accuracy is decent, and the rate of fire is similar to that of a bolt-action rifle."

Back at the control panel, ten lead bullets were reloaded.

There are scientific reasons for choosing to use lead bullets in air guns.

Lead is a metal with extremely high density.

This means that, for the same volume, lead bullets are much heavier than bullets made of other materials.

For air guns with limited energy, the cross-sectional density of the projectile is crucial.

It is less affected by wind and has a more stable flight trajectory.

It is less prone to drift, thus improving accuracy.

The softness of lead also means that it will not severely wear down the inner wall of the gun barrel.

If a harder metal is used, the barrel rifling will wear out quickly.

More importantly, lead is not expensive.

Its melting point is only around 300 degrees Celsius, so it is very easy to make.

Self-cast lead bullets were a popular practice among air gun enthusiasts in the 80s.

Only twenty standard lead bullets remained, a clearly insufficient number.

Gu Lang continued to scavenge for supplies and began making lead bullets.

Many car parts are made of lead.

For example, the plates and wheel hub balance blocks inside a lead-acid battery.

He used a drill to mimic the shape of standard lead bullets, cutting out a row of molds on a thick steel plate.

This air gun cannot use the common pointed bullets; instead, it uses mushroom-shaped bullets.

Because when loading bullets, pointed bullets are more prone to getting stuck than mushroom bullets.

He took out a propane torch and began melting lead.

Lead is extremely toxic and is very harmful to the nervous system.

Gu Lang put on a full set of protective clothing before he began to officially manufacture lead bullets.

The casting process is very simple; molten lead is poured into a mold to form the shape.

After the lead bullets have cooled, they can be removed using a tool.

Due to the limited number of molds, and the time-consuming cooling process, the cooling process is quite time-consuming.

It took several hours of melting and casting to produce just over a hundred lead bullets.

In addition to air gun bullets, he also created a set of spherical molds.

With varying diameters, they can be used to make ammunition for different purposes for homemade guns.

The largest lead ball can be used as a slug to increase the range and accuracy of the homemade gun.

The smallest bird bullets can be loaded with hundreds of rounds at a time and can be used to shoot down drones.

After a long day of work, Gu Lang, covered in sweat, went to the rooftop of the factory building to get some fresh air.

He downed the water in one gulp, let out a long breath, and pressed the switch on the walkie-talkie.

I tried to contact Zhang Chao, but received no response.

"They've probably been taken into quarantine, and all their belongings have been confiscated."

Gu Lang went back downstairs while speculating.

The lead bullets were packed into a metal box, and then the remaining materials and molds were put into a bag.

As darkness fell, Gu Lang rode his bicycle back up the mountain.

For the next two days, lead bullets were melted and cast without stopping.

After all the lead material was melted and cast, the number of lead bullets exceeded 600.

On the morning of the fourth day, the walkie-talkie finally crackled to life.

"Hey, hey, feed... Brother Gu Lang? Can you hear me? Hey, Gu Lang..."

"I can hear it, the sound is very clear, that's all."

"We've already entered the city. We spent three days in the quarantine zone, so we couldn't contact you."

"Received. How's the situation inside?"

"Great! Much better than I imagined!" Zhang Chao said quickly.

"The area inside the city walls is quite large, and all the houses have been renovated. There are probably over a hundred people in the city now..."

"Who's in charge there now?" Gu Lang pressed for the core question.

"The person in charge is Director Li from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, who also has some doctors and police officers under him."

"Have they figured out what exactly this madness is?"

"It's not clear yet, but there's a large radio station here that can communicate with the outside world, and we've already contacted our superiors."

Gu Lang felt a little relieved after listening to Zhang Chao's description.

An organized, orderly, and professionally led environment is indeed the ideal situation.

"Brother Gulang, come over here too."

Although supplies are allocated in rations, at least I can get a good night's sleep now.

There's a severe shortage of people here right now; anyone who passes the quarantine and testing will be accepted.

"I understand. How are the weapons and defensive arrangements?"

"Everyone has been divided into groups. I'm currently with the maintenance group, responsible for moving and repairing things, ah..."

Suddenly a burst of noise broke out, and the conversation came to an abrupt halt.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Gu Lang tried calling the other party, but there was no response.

A strong sense of unease welled up inside me.

"It was working fine just now, why did it suddenly lose contact? Could there be something wrong with the walkie-talkie?"

He dared not be negligent, as unexpected situations often meant the worst possible outcome.

He took the drone and controller out of the trunk and skillfully unfolded and started it.

Flying over the ancient city again, he discovered that several courtyards were engulfed in flames.

The camera zoomed in, and in an open space within the city, he witnessed a horrifying scene.

A person is frantically hacking at a motionless human-shaped object on the ground with a shovel.

Similar things were happening all over the city.

On the antique-style street, three or four people were tearing at a person.

At the entrance of a courtyard, several people were fiercely fighting over a bloodstained machete.

At their feet lay three or four mutilated bodies.

A man in uniform, wielding a hammer, chases after a woman holding a child.

The "safe zone" within the city was instantly transformed into a battlefield of carnage.

Those who are infected use their familiarity with their environment to "bloodbath" those who are not yet infected with the disease, using anything that can be used as a weapon.

The guards on the city wall, who were originally protecting against the outside world, desperately pointed their guns at their "comrades" who were pouring in from the inside.

What was once a stronghold symbolizing order and hope has been transformed in an instant into a prison filled with madness.

The bloody scene reminded Gu Lang of the zombie movie "28 Weeks Later".

"Even though isolation and protection measures were in place, and external defenses were intact, why did the mental illness still break out from within?"

He was in a state of great confusion.

By the time the drone was retrieved, more than fifty minutes had passed.

He picked up the walkie-talkie and continued making calls.

"Zhang Chao! Zhang Chao! Respond if you hear me! Something's happened in the city! Repeat, something's happened in the city! You need to evacuate immediately! While it's still relatively safe near the city gates..."

Gu Lang didn't shout a few words before releasing the call button.

The indicator light on the walkie-talkie suddenly changed color while he was speaking.

It's not red for transmitting signals, but green for receiving signals.

On the other end of the walkie-talkie, someone pressed the talk button but didn't speak immediately.

Only a thick, viscous breathing sound came through the speaker.

"Hah...Hah..." It sounded like an old bellows being pulled.

Gu Lang's heart sank to the bottom.

The thing he least wanted to happen seems to have become a foregone conclusion.