Chapter 218: Departure, Qiezi Returns with Snake
After leaving the base, they saw a road about three meters wide, blocked by miscellaneous objects such as stones and bricks.
Some of the residents who lived outside the base had set up makeshift shelters along the road.
People sat in the shelters fanning themselves, while others, despite being drenched in sweat, snored loudly.
Those who were slightly better off had fans hanging from their shelters, blowing comfortably.
Residents weren't too concerned about theft, as soldiers stood at the base entrance and could help guard their belongings.
Looking at these people living in makeshift shelters, Meng Ci couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow.
But Meng Ci understood that in the apocalypse, just staying alive was good enough.
As for how each person lived, no one could guarantee anything.
The West Mountain Wilderness Base was bordered by the M River to the south and mountains to the west. The northeast sides, although unobstructed, faced a severe shortage of bricks, steel, and cement.
The authorities knew that in the later stages of the apocalypse, zombies would break out, so the walls had to be solid, and buildings couldn't be too high to prevent disasters like earthquakes.
Because of these constraints, the base could only be built to its current size.
However, the authorities were doing their utmost to prepare for the arrival of zombies.
Facilities like government buildings, points redemption centers, exchange points, and schools, although only using one or two floors, were still built with six floors so that residents outside the base could live there in the future.
The officials were still collecting bricks, steel, and other materials, waiting until the quantity reached a certain level to expand the base.
Stockpiling food was also progressing steadily.
Liang Xiu mentioned that the authorities had resumed operations at the instant noodle and canning factories in West Mountain Wilderness, storing most of the produced goods in warehouses.
Some of the Chinese herbal medicines that Meng Ci had left in the hospital had been successfully cultivated by relevant experts.
Other experts, along with the military and other residents, searched the deep mountains daily, hoping to find useful herbs.
Now in the apocalypse, Western medicine had become scarce, and traditional Chinese medicine had taken center stage.
In a previous letter to the government, Shen Que mentioned that experts had actually developed a drug that could prevent humans from turning into zombies after use.
The reason it hadn't been widely distributed was due to the scarcity of a particular Chinese herb.
Shen Que didn't know what that herb was, so the authorities were cultivating all kinds of Chinese herbs and doing their best to find all the necessary drugs.
The M City refugee camp was said to be based around M Town, with walls built around the town.
M Town's main area was small but had level ground.
The authorities constructed walls around M Town, covering nearly thirty square kilometers.
Meng Ci and Shen Que weren't in a rush to reach the M City refugee camp, so after distancing themselves from the crowd, they gradually slowed down their vehicle.
As the distance from the base increased, there were fewer people, and the surroundings became increasingly desolate.
After driving on the cleared road for over two hours, the road became bumpy, with various logs and large stones blocking the way, forcing them to detour.
Even Meng Ci, who never got carsick, felt queasy from the rough ride.
The dog, especially, was curious at first when sitting in the car, but now it was slumped over, looking exhausted in the back seat.
The eagle, on the other hand, seemed to be in good condition.
"Let's find a place to rest for a while," Shen Que suggested.
"Yeah!" Meng Ci nodded.
M Town was located to the east of M City, so Shen Que and Meng Ci used a compass and headed east.
Now, without a map or a phone, they only knew they were in the mountains but had no idea where they were exactly.
Shen Que drove to a sheltered spot surrounded by pine trees and willows. After driving in, most of the view was blocked.
As soon as Meng Ci got out of the car, he immediately grabbed a tree trunk and retched.
The eagle showed no signs of discomfort and disappeared in the blink of an eye after getting out of the car. The previously listless dog, seeing that its mate had run off, immediately perked up and chased after the eagle.
"Dog, Eagle!"
Meng Ci straightened up and called out to them, but neither looked back.
Shen Que parked the car and walked over.
"Don't worry, they've probably gone to check out the surroundings," Shen Que said.
Meng Ci nodded, then took out a cup of passion fruit from his pocket dimension and drank a big sip to suppress the nauseous feeling.
After resting for about ten minutes, Meng Ci still felt a bit dizzy. He looked at the size of the depression and thought it was suitable to take out the RV.
So, Meng Ci put away the SUV and took out the RV, then casually grabbed some food and went to sleep in the RV.
Shen Que took out a camping stove and a folding table from his pocket dimension to cook outside, so as not to disturb Meng Ci's rest.
Ten minutes later, both the dog and the eagle ran back.
Shen Que was busy cooking and couldn't pay attention to the two animals, but saw the eagle stepping closer.
"Woof!"
When Shen Que didn't respond to his mate, the dog couldn't help but bark.
Shen Que, worried that the dog's barking might disturb Meng Ci's rest, looked at the eagle.
At that moment, the eagle opened its mouth and dropped something from its beak.
Thud!
Before Shen Que could see what it was, the object flew past his eyes, and the eagle quickly snatched it up.
In less than half a minute, the eagle returned with the item in its mouth.
This time, Shen Que saw it was a dark-feathered wild hen.
The eagle took two steps forward, and Shen Que took the hen.
He lifted its wing to check, noticing the hen was unharmed, and Shen Que assumed the eagle had brought it for them to eat.
Shen Que took out a bucket from his storage space and slit the wild chicken's throat before dropping it into the bucket.
Before boiling water to stew the chicken, he took out two chicken legs and fed them to his pet, Eggplant, and his eagle.
After getting their reward, the two believed their owner was very pleased and dashed off again.
Shen Que didn't pay much attention.
After all, Eggplant was about 1.8 meters long, hefty, and with Shen Que's training, could easily handle two grown men.
As for the eagle, he was strong, quick, and had a powerful bite.
Therefore, Shen Que wasn't worried about them encountering danger.
Since stewing the chicken required a large amount of water, and the camp stove could only hold a small pot, which was too slow, Shen Que picked up a few stones and formed a circle, then took out a large pot from his storage space.
After Shen Que's rebirth, although he hadn't stockpiled as many supplies as Meng Ci, his experience in the apocalypse meant he had purchased practical items with his limited money in the early stages.
For example, this large pot could be used to cook as long as there were stones and dry firewood.
This time, Eggplant and the eagle were gone for longer. By the time Shen Que had de-feathered the wild chicken and cut it in half, the two beasts had returned.
This time, the eagle had a rabbit in his mouth, while Eggplant had a snake that was seven or eight centimeters in diameter.
"Damn."
Although Shen Que was usually calm, the sudden sight of such a large snake still caused him to lose his composure slightly.