Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Don’t Want To

Qiao Minshan’s settlement was very simple. Compared to Zeus’s “Eden,” where everything was provided, their base was just a small courtyard filled with seven or eight modified RVs.

Upon entering the main hall, they saw three children playing marbles on the floor while a woman watched over them. On the table sat a fruit basket filled with unripe green plums that looked sour enough to make one’s teeth ache. Further in, two elderly people were talking, and a woman wearing a mask was coughing.

While they hadn’t seen all the survivors, the phrase “the elderly, the weak, the women, and the children” immediately came to mind.

“Yo, quite a catch you brought back.”

Song Ge turned instantly toward the voice. A young woman had stepped out of one of the rooms. She had long hair reaching her waist and features as elegant as a painting—a striking beauty even by pre-disaster standards. Behind her followed a middle-aged man who wasn’t particularly tall but looked very sturdy. He wore a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, had a square face, dark skin, and a buzz cut, giving off a steady and honest vibe.

Compared to the “weak” group in the hall, these two were full of energy. They were likely the other two Ability Users Qiao Minshan had mentioned.

Sure enough, Qiao Minshan introduced them to Song Ge and Tong Xiangyu. “These are the remaining two. This is Zhu Qingwu; she has extraordinary hearing and can hear a mosquito flapping its wings from over a kilometer away. And that’s Lu Zhou; his ability is immense strength—he can lift vehicles weighing several tons.”

Lu Zhou nodded at them. Zhu Qingwu looked at Song Ge and Tong Xiangyu but didn’t offer a greeting. Instead, she asked Qiao Minshan, “They have their own team?”

The two looked different from the survivors they usually rescued. Typical survivors were haggard, malnourished, and overwhelmed with gratitude or fear upon being found. These two, despite their youth, were remarkably calm. Judging by their clothes and physical condition, they didn’t look like they had been suffering through this unprecedented apocalypse.

“These two are guests,” Qiao Minshan said. “From Kecheng.”

“Kecheng?” Zhu Qingwu was surprised. She looked at the girls. “Just the two of you?”

“Ask Fang Fang about that; she’s already pried for the full story,” Qiao Minshan said as he walked into the hall. He grabbed two plums from the basket and handed them to Song Ge. “Try these. We picked them on the road. They’re actually quite good, not too sour.”

Song Ge took them and handed them to Tong Xiangyu. Qiao Minshan, who had been about to give one to Tong Xiangyu, handed the second one to Song Ge as well. “Most people are sleeping in their rooms right now. I’ll take you to see the RVs.”

The RVs weren’t luxurious; they were clearly modified. Aside from beds, they were packed with gasoline, supplies (mostly rice), and water. Qiao Minshan’s personal vehicle was different it was stocked with crates of firearms and ammunition. One crate of grenades was already half-empty.

Song Ge chewed on the plum which was actually sour enough to shock her system while her gaze swept over the crates of weaponry. After checking the RVs and the perimeter of the courtyard, Song Ge and Tong Xiangyu said they would head back for now.

This had been the plan: come take a look, then discuss whether to join them. Qiao Minshan wanted them to stay until evening to meet the other survivors, but Song Ge declined, saying they had seen enough.

“We’ll be staying here for two more days,” Qiao Minshan said. “Decide whenever you’re ready. You won’t have to squeeze into an RV with others; you can just drive your own car.”

“Mhm,” Song Ge replied.

“I’ll have Zhou Bo escort you back.”

“No need, I remember the way.”

Song Ge and Tong Xiangyu left the courtyard. Baibai, who had been waiting obediently outside, immediately greeted them, wagging his tail for Tong Xiangyu.

Qiao Minshan had mentioned that Zhu Qingwu’s hearing range was one kilometer. Song Ge didn’t bother hiding her conversation from that ability; once they were out the gate, she asked Tong Xiangyu what she thought.

What did Tong Xiangyu think? Her true wish was to stay as just the two of them! But she didn’t say that directly.

Looking at Baibai at her feet, Tong Xiangyu asked, “According to that captain, if we keep going if we leave this town before they do we’ll face monsters, mutant animals, and all sorts of dangers, right?”

“Mhm,” Song Ge said. “They have plenty of firepower. They search every city for survivors and clear out monsters and mutants as they go. The cities we passed were likely cleared by them, which is why we didn’t see any danger.”

Tong Xiangyu noted, “That means they stay in one place for a long time. It took us half a month to leave Taiyun, but they’ve been gone for over two months, and we caught up to them.”

“Right. Traveling with them would definitely be much slower than on our own.”

Tong Xiangyu felt she was being clear enough, but she worried Song Ge wouldn’t take the hint. She turned to her. “What about you, Song Ge? What do you think? Do you want to join them?”

Song Ge didn’t answer directly. “All fear stems from a lack of firepower.”

“You’ve got your eye on their weapons? But we don’t know how to use guns or grenades.”

Song Ge had held a gun once, a long time ago. But that wasn’t what she meant. “They have six Ability Users, and three of them are special police. It would definitely be safer than moving alone.”

Hearing the direction Song Ge was heading, Tong Xiangyu immediately cut in, “But…”

“But as you said,” Song Ge continued, “joining them means the journey will be slow. If it takes us two or three months to head north, it might take them a year or more.”

Tong Xiangyu looked at her cautiously. “So?”

“So nothing. It’s up to you. You decide.”

Tong Xiangyu hesitated. “I don’t know, Song Ge. I want to hear what you want…”

“It’s okay if you don’t know. Go back and think it over. They’re staying in town for two days anyway.”

They walked in silence for a while. Song Ge added, “Actually, even if there’s danger, we don’t need to be afraid. At most, it’ll be like Taiyun.” When those people left Taiyun, animals hadn’t mutated yet, so the cats and dogs there hadn’t been dealt with.

Tong Xiangyu remembered what she saw in the government building and felt a pang of anxiety. Just the two of them was dangerous…

Song Ge continued, “Normally we can stay in the car. It’s only dangerous when we swap cars, refuel, or look for supplies.”

Tong Xiangyu’s heart wavered. She felt she shouldn’t act on impulse and treat their safety like a game she absolutely didn’t want anything to happen to Song Ge again. But hearing Song Ge say this, she felt a surge of hope. “So, we’re not going with them?”

Song Ge heard the rise in her tone and asked, “You don’t want to?”

“Mhm…” Tong Xiangyu sounded a bit muffled.

Though Song Ge was usually blunt, she was quite sensitive to Tong Xiangyu’s mood shifts. “You’re unhappy? Why?”

Tong Xiangyu glanced at her several times, hesitating. Song Ge didn’t rush her.

Seeing that Song Ge wasn’t in a hurry to know, Tong Xiangyu felt a bit miffed. She gripped the hem of her shirt and whispered, “Didn’t you notice that one guy in their team kept trying to talk to me?”

“Who?”

“The man with the knife who wanted to kill Baibai,” Tong Xiangyu said. “While you were talking business, he kept coming over and finding all sorts of topics to ask me about.”

“Wasn’t he just curious?”

Tong Xiangyu looked at Song Ge, who was being as dense as a wooden block, and felt a flash of anger. “Song Ge, are you truly clueless or just pretending? Haven’t you ever been hit on before!”

Song Ge said, “No.”

Tong Xiangyu froze, then felt a bit discouraged. Right—with Song Ge being this dense, even if someone hit on her, she would never realize it.

Tong Xiangyu could only brood alone. “Well, now you know. That man seems to like me. If we stay with them, he’ll definitely keep bothering me.”

Song Ge assumed Tong Xiangyu was worried Xiang Weijun would be like Fan Mingyuan. “He won’t. They are special police. People’s police.”

Tong Xiangyu snapped, “Ugh, Song Ge, I don’t want to talk to you anymore!!”

With that, she stomped ahead angrily. Baibai turned back to bark twice at Song Ge before chasing after Tong Xiangyu, wagging his tail and yapping as if hoping she would talk to him instead of staying mad at someone with such low emotional intelligence.

Song Ge felt innocent, but she knew that if Tong Xiangyu was angry, it meant she had said the wrong thing. She quickly caught up. “Don’t run so fast, you’ll get heatstroke.”

“I don’t care! Just let me get heatstroke!!”

“See,” Song Ge said. “You’re talking nonsense again.”

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