Day 4 started with rain again.
Luo Yan was getting used to the rhythm. Wake up stiff. Eat whatever was left. Cook for others. Watch the fence. Sleep in pieces.
The base was settling into something ugly but functional. Zhao's soldiers had started marking lanes with rope and paint. Ration lines had times now. People still fought, but less.
The fence held another night. Three slow zombies got through a gap on the west side but soldiers handled it before anyone with powers had to step in.
No fast ones.
That made everyone more nervous, not less.
Lu Ziming spent the morning patching the south fence with earth walls. Slow, solid work. He talked the whole time, mostly to himself, sometimes to soldiers who didn't want to listen.
He Li watched from a distance, quiet.
He Chenyu sorted supplies in the container. He'd started keeping a mental list of everything they had. Water bottles. Ration packs. Rice. Salt. Fuel canisters.
Qin Yi slept until noon. When he woke up, his color was a little better. Not good. Just less grey.
Lan Huan had been gone since dawn. He came back around midday with mud on his boots and a tight jaw.
"Med lane is getting worse," he said.
Luo Yan looked up from washing rice.
Lan Huan sat down on the crate. "Three more turned overnight," he said. "Inside the base. All from scratches, not bites."
He Chenyu's face tightened. "Scratches too?"
Lan Huan nodded. "Nobody knows the rules yet," he said. "They're guessing."
Luo Yan's stomach turned. People turning from scratches meant the infection was harder to contain than anyone thought.
He Li spoke quietly. "Med lane needs help," he said. "They're losing people."
Lan Huan looked at Luo Yan. "You went there on Day 1," he said. "What did you see?"
Luo Yan thought about the woman in the soaked coat. The steady voice. The fast hands.
"There was a woman," Luo Yan said. "She was running med like it was hers."
Lan Huan's eyes sharpened. "Awakened?"
Luo Yan hesitated. "I think so," he said. "She moved like she had more in her than normal."
Lu Ziming piped up from the corner. "What element?"
Luo Yan shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "She didn't show anything obvious."
Lan Huan stood. "Show me," he said.
They walked to med lane together. Just Lan Huan, Luo Yan, and He Li.
The smell hit first. Blood, antiseptic, and something sweet and rotten underneath. The med container was packed. People sat outside on the ground, waiting, bleeding, crying.
Inside, medics moved fast but sloppy. Too many patients. Not enough hands.
The woman was there.
She stood near a table covered in bandages and bottles, wrapping a man's forearm with quick, even pulls. Her face was focused. Tired. But not broken.
She saw Lan Huan first.
Her hands didn't stop. "General," she said, flat. "You're back."
Lan Huan watched her work. "You're not military," he said.
She didn't look up. "No."
"Medical training?" Lan Huan asked.
She tied off the bandage. "Some," she said. "Enough."
Lan Huan's voice stayed even. "What's your name?"
She finally looked up. Her eyes were steady, measuring.
"Why?" she asked.
Lan Huan didn't flinch. "Because I need to know who's keeping this lane alive."
She held his gaze for a beat, then said, "I'm not keeping it alive. I'm slowing it down."
He Li shifted near the door. His eyes moved across the room, scanning for threats out of habit.
The woman glanced at He Li, then back at Lan Huan. "You brought a scout to a med tent," she said. "That's careful or paranoid."
Lan Huan didn't smile. "Both."
The woman wiped her hands on a rag that was already stained beyond color. "What do you want?" she asked.
Lan Huan said, "Are you awakened?"
The room felt like it paused. A medic nearby glanced over, then looked away fast.
The woman's face didn't change. "Yes," she said.
Lan Huan waited.
She exhaled through her nose. "Water," she said. "And wood."
Luo Yan's heart kicked.
Water and wood.
Mu Yan was supposed to be male. This wasn't Mu Yan.
But the elements matched.
Luo Yan kept his face still.
Lan Huan asked, "What can you do with them?"
The woman's mouth tightened. "Not enough," she said. "I can clean water. Purify it a little. And I can grow small things if I focus. Herbs. Roots."
Lan Huan's eyes narrowed. "Herbs."
She nodded once. "I figured out on Day 2 that if I grow certain roots near a wound, the swelling goes down faster," she said. "I don't know if it's real healing or if I'm just pushing the body."
Luo Yan swallowed.
She was figuring out her powers in a med tent with dying people.
That was braver than anything he'd done.
Lan Huan spoke simply. "Come with us," he said.
The woman stared. "And leave these people?"
Lan Huan didn't look away. "If you burn out here alone, you help nobody," he said.
She scoffed. "So you want me fresh for your unit."
Lan Huan's voice didn't change. "I want you alive long enough to learn what you can really do," he said.
The woman's jaw tightened. She looked at the med tent. At the patients. At the medics who were already stretched past breaking.
Then she looked back at Lan Huan. "I come back here every day," she said. "Non-negotiable."
Lan Huan nodded. "Fine."
She wiped her hands again. "My name is Chen Yao," she said.
Luo Yan blinked.
Not Mu Yan.
Someone new. Someone the system hadn't mentioned.
His system stayed quiet. No chime. No mission update.
That made him uneasy.
They walked back toward the container.
Luo Yan fell back a step so he could think.
Chen Yao wasn't on the team list. She was water and wood, same as Mu Yan. But she was a woman, and the team already had its three female spots planned.
Maybe she wasn't a permanent recruit.
Maybe she was a bridge.
Or maybe the system didn't care about his plans.
When they reached the container, Lu Ziming looked up from a cup of water and saw Chen Yao.
His eyebrows lifted. "New person?"
He Chenyu nodded. "Med support."
Qin Yi opened one eye from the tarp. He looked at Chen Yao, then closed his eye again. "She looks mean," he muttered.
Chen Yao's gaze flicked to him. "And you look useless," she said.
Lu Ziming choked on his water.
Qin Yi's eyes opened fully. He stared at Chen Yao.
Then he smiled, small and real. "I like her," he said.
Lan Huan ignored them all and looked at He Li. "Tonight," he said. "South fence again."
He Li nodded. "I'll scout at dusk."
Luo Yan started the rice.
Inside his head, the system finally chimed. Private.
Ding.
DAY 4 SIDE MISSION: OBSERVE CHEN YAO
Duration: 3 days
Objective: Determine if Chen Yao is a permanent recruit or temporary ally
Reward: Team Assessment Skill (Basic)
Note: Not all useful people are team members. Some are bridges.
Luo Yan stared at the rice pot and tried not to think too hard.
Because "bridges" sounded kind.
But in an apocalypse, bridges got walked on.