Chapter 16

Driving under the red moonlight, Murong Jiao looked at the scenery outside. This is the first time she left J City after the end of the world. The farthest place she has ever been is the outskirts of the city. But this time, she had already left J City and drove onto the highway.

She looked at the navigation boards that had fallen on the side of the road and looked at them as she passed. After reading the navigation boards, she knew that they were going to the nearby city, the M City, which was already very famous before the end of the world. This is not because of the economy or tourism, but because of the crime rate.

Thinking of the news she saw on the Internet a few years ago, she still has lingering fears to this day. A family murder case in broad daylight, but the government was powerless, and closed the case without pursuing it. Under her consciousness, she knew that the murderer was someone who even the government dared not offend.

But now, she followed the fifty bloodthirsty soldiers and drove to the famous M City. She really wanted to pat herself on the back for her courage. While she was still thinking wildly while driving, they were already halfway to the M City.

Driving at high speed, it took three hours to reach the outskirts of M City. Just when she thought she was going into town, the truck didn’t go into town but continued on the highway instead. Seeing that they didn’t go to M City, she was relieved.

After a while, the moon hanging in the west sky began to set, and the color in the east sky began to change. She glanced at her watch, it was only 3:01 in the morning. Frowning, she looked at the sky with a bad feeling.

‘It seems the nights are getting shorter. This is not a good sign.’

After another hour of driving, she finally saw the truck coming off the highway and followed. Coming off the highway, they drove for another hour. When the sun had risen and the watch showed the time was 5:10 in the morning, she finally saw a tall and majestic metal wall in front of her.

She followed them until she saw them entering the base, and then parked the military vehicle three kilometers away from the base. She parked the car back to the spirit courtyard, and she took out a hat, her backpack, and her baseball bat. Looking at the base from such a distance, she could still see the black metal wall clearly.

Seeing that no one noticed her, she got out from behind an abandoned car and walked towards the base. It didn’t take long for temperatures to rise and sunlight to heat the Earth’s surface. Feeling the scorching heat of the sun and the hot weather, she quickened her pace.

It was already six o’clock in the morning when she arrived at the gate of the base. She stood there for a while, watching the busy soldiers with weapons in their hands, and countless people waiting in lines. The other smaller gate next to it also has vehicles coming in and out.

On the smallest gate, people come in and out after filling out a document. She looked at the well-organized base for a long time, until someone behind her shouted at her.

“Bitch, don’t block the way!”

As soon as she turned her head, she saw three dirty men looking at her with threatening eyes. It was the oldest one who scolded her just now. Seeing their thin and yellow faces, she took a few steps aside to let them pass.

Seeing her obediently moving aside, those men felt better. The oldest man raised his chin and said triumphantly, “Little girl, do you want to enter the base?”

She looked back at him and nodded. She will not refuse any free information. The man looked at her clean leather jacket, old backpack and shiny baseball bat for a while, before saying: “You have to pay if you want to go in.”

Seeing that he wanted to ask for food, she said, “Uncle, I have no money.”

The man’s face twisted when he heard her calling him uncle. With a constipated look on his face, he shouted angrily. “Who are you calling uncle?! I’m still twenty two! Call me brother!”

She stared at his face and disagreed with his shameless request in her heart, but still nodded. Seeing her nodding, the man coughed and continued: “Even if you have money, you can’t take it out as payment. You use food to pay.”

Upon hearing the expected answer, she nodded and said, “Thank you, brother, for providing the information.”

Leaving those words behind, she walked towards the tent on the side of the long line in front of the base entrance. Those men were left like this and they couldn’t get what they wanted, so they cursed at her as she walked away calmly. Regardless of their swearing, she looked at the tents and found one with female soldiers.

‘Let’s go there.’

She smiled and walked to the female soldier. “Good morning, sister.”

The female soldier turned around, saw a petite young woman standing beside her, and coldly asked, “What?”

Hearing that her tone was not very friendly, Murong Jiao smiled politely and asked, “Sister, what should I do if I want to enter the base?”

The female soldier sized her up from head to toe for a while, then pointed to another tent with her chin. “Go there.”

Just as she wanted to thank her, she saw the female soldier’s chapped lips. Since she told her what she wanted to know, she should repay her. Opening the backpack, she took out a bottle of mineral water.

Before leaving the spirit courtyard, she had packed several bottles of mineral water and several packets of biscuits in her backpack just in case of emergency. And it looks like she’s doing the right thing.

Handing the mineral water to the female soldier, she said, “Sister, thank you for your help. I don’t have much, so please take this.”

When the female soldier saw the bottle of mineral water in Murong Jiao’s hand, a surprise flashed in her eyes. She swallowed, but shook her head.

“You keep this. Don’t give it to anyone else, and don’t let it be known. It’s dangerous.”

Looking at this kind-hearted but cold-faced female soldier, the polite smile on Murong Jiao’s face became sincere. Looking straight into the female soldier’s eyes, she said, “It’s okay, sister. I still have some. Goodbye.”

Before the female soldier could react, she stuffed the bottle of mineral water into her hand, turned around and left. Looking at the tightly sealed bottle filled with water, the female soldier slowly opened her chapped lips. A soft but hoarse voice came, like a whisper.

“Thank you.”

Murong Jiao didn’t know that she had already planted a seed of gratitude in that female soldier’s heart while she walked towards the tent by the city gate. She looked at the snake-like long lines and sighed. Even though these soldiers were working fast, the lines kept getting longer and longer.

Resigned to her fate, she picked the shortest line and joined the queue. She waited obediently for nearly an hour before it was her turn. The sun is already on top of her head, and the temperature has almost reached forty degrees Celsius.

She wiped off her sweat and greeted the soldiers. “Good morning, sir.”

Looking up, the young soldier saw a petite young woman. Seeing her sweaty appearance, he asked lightly, “What is your purpose for going to the base?”

“I want to take a look.” She replied sincerely.

Listening to her answer, he looked up at her for a few seconds, then lowered his head and wrote what she just said on a form. Filling the largest box with words, his calm voice came again without raising his head.

“Name?”

“Murong Jiao, 20 years old, college student, studied at J university.”

The corner of the young soldier’s mouth twitched when he heard her answer, but he still wrote her name on the form. After filling out the name and purpose, he gave her the form and pointed to another long line in front of the gate

“Go there. Show this form to the soldier and pay. Next.”

Taking the form from him, she looked at him and saw the same chapped lips as the female soldier. Thinking of how hard and efficient he was working, she put a bottle of mineral water on his desk, turned around and left.

The person standing behind her came forward and saw a bottle of mineral water on the table, and asked the young soldier in a hoarse voice. “Brother, did you sell this bottle of water?”

“Huh?”

As soon as the young soldier looked up, he saw a bottle of sealed mineral water on the table. He quickly looked towards the gate area. Seeing that the petite young woman had disappeared into the crowd, he calmly withdrew his gaze.

“No. It’s not for sale.”