Still hoarding supplies in the apocalypse? I'll just go on a killing spree and looting!

Lin You affectionately stroked An An's hat.

"This bowl is too big and inconvenient to carry around. Your sister has her own lunchbox. You can keep this bowl and use it to eat every day. When your sister comes back, she'll check if you've eaten properly. It only counts if you finish all the food in the bowl."

An An nodded vigorously, and her woolen hat tilted to one side again.

Lin You reached out and straightened it.

Mu Xue finished peeling the last green bean and put it in the basin, then stood up and put the dagger back at her waist.

She watched as Lin You sat on a low stool in the kitchen, holding An An in her arms. An An was counting on her fingers how many days Lin You would be gone, but she couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she tried.

Finally, An An said, "No matter how many days, I'll wait for you."

Lin You didn't not want to take An An away.

Fifty kilometers, less than an hour's drive before the apocalypse.

But after the apocalypse, this road will pass through countless areas inhabited by strange beasts.

The risks involved are extremely difficult to estimate.

And those who have already begun looting have become doomsday robbers.

As long as they have weapons and manpower, they see other survivors as their granaries; they just need to rob them and don't care about the lives of others.

These people will set traps and use any means necessary to achieve their goals.

Compared to strange beasts, they are even more difficult to defend against.

She had walked through one of them in her previous life; in that abandoned quarry, there was at least one leader-level burrowing rock beast.

Armored vehicles can withstand attacks from ordinary alien beasts, but they cannot withstand a head-on collision from a leader-class beast.

Especially the burrowing rock beast, with its terrifying defense and size.

The armored vehicle was probably just a toy in its eyes, but it didn't know if the burrowing rock beast was as powerful as it had been when it first encountered it.

I remember the last time we evacuated from the neighborhood, that leader-level dinosaur crashed into an armored vehicle, shattering the windshield and breaking a bone in her left arm.

If we encounter another beast of the same level this time, An'an will be in the car.

Can she jump off the roof of the car like last time and slash the beast in the groin?

If she is seriously injured, who will protect An'an?

Mu Xue can use her bone shield to protect him, but what if there are too many of them?

What if the beast attacks from the side?

She's all alone, with just a knife; there will always be times when she can't protect everyone.

But if we leave An'an at the base, that high-level shapeshifter might set his sights on the base at any time.

He saw everything in the base from the crow's perspective.

What did he see? He saw An'an. This child appeared on time every day by the greenhouse, at the kitchen door, and beside the canteen tables.

He squatted beside the potato rows watching Shunzi water the potatoes; he followed Muxue to the training ground to collect spent bullet casings; at night, he fell asleep on the sofa, hugging the plush toy Lin You had made for him, his woolen hat askew to one side.

He must have seen An'an and Lin You together.

Lin You squatted down to help An An straighten his hat, and An An peeled a strawberry candy and stuffed it into his mouth.

Every night before returning to her small building, she would stand for a while at An'an's door to make sure he hadn't kicked off the blanket.

Perhaps the threatening man didn't know An'an's name, but he must have known that this child in the wool hat was very important to Lin You.

If he wanted to harm her, An'an would be the easiest target.

Lin You's thumb repeatedly rubbed the handle of the knife.

She remembered that in her previous life, in the wasteland, she had met a mother and daughter.

The woman had a little girl about the same age as An'an and wanted to join Lin You's team. The captain refused because the child was too young and wouldn't be able to fight.

Later, the little girl died in the mouth of the monster, less than two hundred meters from their camp.

By the time Lin You heard the scream and ran over, it was too late.

She stood beside that small corpse, thinking that she would never see someone who should have lived longer again in her life.

Standing in the ruins, the blood on the knife was still wet. No matter how tragically the beast died, it couldn't bring the little girl back to life.

The sunset that day was the same dark orange as today.

She couldn't leave An'an alone at the base, not because she didn't trust Team Leader Song, but because she didn't trust the restless survivors outside.

But Lin You was also afraid of taking An An on this dangerous journey.

She can bear to break a few bones herself, but she can't bear to see An'an get hurt.

Mu Xue stood a few steps behind her without saying a word. In truth, whether she went with her or not, it was a kind of torment.

Lin You could only convince herself, "If I take him with me, every second on the road is a gamble. I'm gambling that I'm strong enough, that there aren't enough alien beasts, and that the armored vehicle won't break down. If I lose the gamble, he might die. If I don't take him, I'm still gambling. I'm gambling that the crow wasn't malicious, and that Team Leader Song can protect An'an. I don't want to choose either of these, but I have to choose one."

Mu Xue walked to her side, looking at the last glimmer of dark orange light on the distant mountain ridge. "Which one do you choose?"

Lin You remained silent for a long time. The evening breeze blew across the wall, making the sentry's clothes flutter.

Shunzi finished work, carried his shovel and walked back to his dormitory from the greenhouse, waving at the wall as he passed it.

An'an ran out of the kitchen door, clutching a freshly washed carrot in her hand, and called out to Shunzi, "Brother Shunzi, dinner's ready!"

His voice was clear and crisp, carrying exceptionally far on the evening breeze.

Shunzi walked in from the greenhouse, carrying a basket of freshly picked bok choy.

Seeing this, Lin You watched as Shunzi gently placed the vegetable basket beside the stove, then picked up An'an and called to the four wolf beasts.

The courtyard immediately became lively, but Lin You and Mu Xue remained silent.

The night was extremely enjoyable.

The courtyard was filled with An'an's laughter and the whimpering of the wolf cubs.

5:17 a.m.

When Lin You came down from the second floor, Shunzi was already in the yard starting a fire to boil water and cook rice.

"Sister Lin, the porridge will be ready in a little while."

"No rush." ​​Lin You walked over and sat down on a low wooden stool next to the stove.

Shunzi sawed the wooden stump herself, and the cut surface wasn't smoothed out yet, so it was a bit prickly on her bottom when she sat on it. She adjusted her position, resting her elbows on her knees, and watched the water in the pot slowly bubble.

The courtyard was very quiet.

A few sparrows landed on the barbed wire fence, tilting their heads to look this way.

It's been almost a year since the apocalypse, and the sparrows are still alive, which surprises her every time she sees them.

I couldn't help but take a few more glances, and only when I didn't see any strange looks did I relax a little.

Mu Xue came out of the east wing, clutching the bone shield in her hand.

She was already prepared, with a backpack slung across her shoulder and a canvas bag in her other hand containing two bottles of water, a pack of compressed biscuits, and several rolls of bandages.

These are, of course, for outsiders to see.

There were also three injections for treating injuries that Lin You rushed to make last night.

Mu Xue placed the bag at Lin You's feet and then stood beside her without saying a word.

Lin You glanced at her and said, "Let's eat."

Mu Xue hummed in agreement and sat down opposite Lin You.

There was a noise coming from upstairs, followed by a series of light footsteps.

An'an peeked out from the stairwell, his hair sticking up in his sleep, his eyes half-open and half-closed, and he was holding Huihui in his arms—the wolf cub was wrapped in an old sweater, with only its head sticking out, its ears drooping, and it was still half asleep.

"Sister." An'an's voice was still nasal from just waking up.

Lin You stood up, walked over, and carried An An down the stairs.

Grey slipped out of his arms, landed on all fours, and fell to the ground.

She shuddered instantly and woke up immediately, then scurried over to Lin You's feet and circled around her.

Its little tail wags like a windmill.

"Why don't you sleep a little longer?" Lin You sat down with An An in her arms and tidied An An's messy hair to both sides.

"You're leaving."

An'an looked at Lin You, her eyes clear and bright, filled with reluctance and worry.