Time had drifted by, and it was nearly 9 PM. The radio broadcast had long ended, and reception wasn't great in this thunderstorm.
However, the sky outside had remained dark, so there was no distinct feeling of day turning into night.
The rain was still falling, but it had lessened, which made Lin Yuan heave a sigh of relief. If it kept raining like this, it felt like a flood was coming.
He withdrew his gaze from the window. The people at the dining table were all engrossed in eating, especially the combat team members and the two people they had rescued today.
Their eating manners were truly unsightly.
Fortunately, they had already gathered supplies from Buildings 1, 2, and 3. The three buildings newly cleared today hadn't been sorted yet.
Lin Yuan didn't plan to meticulously search every single household, as they would be retreating after the airdrop operation. He would rather use this time to modify the vehicles.
After all, there were three supermarkets of various sizes and a highway service area along the retreat route, so supplies should be sufficient.
However, they still needed to take food. For other items, they would only take gold and silver jewelry, or things like binoculars. There was no need for cloth strips or clothes.
It was enough.
"Captain, hurry up and eat!" Zhao Anjing, who was biting into a braised pork knuckle, saw Lin Yuan spacing out and called out to remind him.
Lin Yuan, snapping back to his senses, looked at Zhao Anjing with a mouth full of braised sauce and almost burst out laughing.
This girl was still a bit too young. Distracted now, she hadn't noticed that the remaining four braised pork knuckles were almost stolen by Zhu Mingjun.
They had only found five braised pork knuckles in three buildings, all from one family. Zhao Anjing had been particularly brave today and performed well in combat, so Lin Yuan had specifically set aside one for her.
Qin Xia, who was cooking today, had also simmered it for an extra while, ensuring it was absolutely tender and flavorful.
Zhao Anjing's fondness for braised pork knuckles was something Lin Yuan had quietly noted down after hearing Zhao Mengnan talk about family matters before.
"Zhu Mingjun, you're stealing the knuckle my captain specifically gave me!" Zhao Anjing, following Lin Yuan's gaze, spotted Zhu Mingjun sneakily eating and became furious. However, she didn't hit him. Instead, she sped up her own eating.
This guy was thick-skinned. She wasn't really going to hit him. By the time she delivered a few weak, whiny punches, the pork knuckle would already be gone.
Watching the two of them glare at each other and move their chopsticks furiously, Lin Yuan couldn't stop his fond smile.
At this moment, a fragrant bowl of braised pork with rice was handed to Lin Yuan. Looking up, he saw Wu Tian with a look of disdain.
"Eat up, my Captain Lin. Do you want your dear girlfriend to feed it to you too~"
Ignoring her sarcastic remark, Lin Yuan happily took the bowl of rice and ate it heartily.
With his mouth full of rice, he mumbled somewhat indistinctly, "My wife is still the best!"
*Tsk.*
Everyone at the table quickly averted their gaze. The air was filled with the sour smell of romance.
Even dogs would shake their heads at this scene.
Indeed, everyone at the table was a single dog. *Smile [doge]*
Only Qin Xia and her husband, eating on the sofa, wore smiles, reminiscing about their wedding nine years ago.
"By the way, have you finished preparing your evacuation plan?" Wu Tian, who was eating beside him, suddenly leaned in and asked.
"Let me finish this bowl of rice. Only a few bites left." Lin Yuan opened his mouth wide, rushing the rice in, chewing a few times before swallowing, narrowly avoiding choking to death.
Wu Tian, with a dark expression, patted Lin Yuan's back while handing him a glass of water. He finally recovered.
"What's the rush?"
"It's because my wife wants me to~" Lin Yuan deliberately elongated the sound: "to listen."
"What are you talking about!" Wu Tian playfully punched Lin Yuan's chest. He hadn't choked to death, but now he was almost winded from the distraction.
Fortunately, they had moved to the balcony to talk, and no one could hear them, except for Jiang Ziqi, whose hearing was exceptionally sharp.
"Cough, cough, cough, Mengyue, your strength is really great." He called Wu Tian by her nickname, then became serious, pulling out a small stack of papers from his embrace, along with a map, and then took out his phone.
The map was from the airdrop, only showing this half of the county town and some surrounding areas. In those days, few people bought paper maps, so he hadn't collected any.
"We go out from the main gate of the residential complex, head south to the highway entrance on the south side of the county town, enter the highway and continue south. We get off at the junction to Fan City. There's National Highway GS685, then turn onto Provincial Highway SA376, which leads directly to near my hometown. From there, we'll have to take a gravel road." (Note: G represents National Highway, X represents County Road, Y represents Township Road, and S represents Provincial Highway).
"Have you shown this route to them?" Wu Tian asked.
"Not yet. I haven't even shown it to you yet," Lin Yuan looked at Wu Tian expectantly, afraid she might think he was deliberately keeping it from her.
"Don't be like that. Don't look at me like that," Wu Tian lightly hit Lin Yuan, then asked the crucial question: "But the final destination is your hometown. Will the team members agree?"
Wu Tian's question wasn't unreasonable. Saying it this way might appear selfish. Wu Tian herself obviously didn't mind.
But it wasn't just her and Lin Yuan in the team. Everyone had parents, and in this world, seeing them had become a dream.
"Heh heh, I've considered that too. Wang Zhihai and the others' families are all in the Tianfu area. Zhu Mingjun's hometown is in the north, near Qu City. The highway is cut off by zombies, and the officials have announced that there are two Night Terrors in that area. Who knows how many more there are now.
Sun Haiping's hometown is to the east, near Yuzhou. The situation there is even more complex. Almost all the roads leading in are blocked by densely populated areas. I haven't asked Jiang Ziqi and the others yet, but I have a second plan." He first looked at the paper map, then at his phone.
"It's also heading south, taking the highway towards Qu City, then turning off at Tong County. Take Provincial Highway SA639 directly, then turn onto Provincial Highway SA597 at Datong Township, and reach Yumi Township. I looked at that place, there's a lake there, and it's quite nice. But the specific terrain needs to be assessed on-site. The official information doesn't have satellite topographic maps. It's a shame I didn't download them back then."
However, Lin Yuan didn't regret it too much. Those things took up a lot of memory, downloaded slowly, and he hadn't prepared for it before.
Alas, he really wished he could be reborn a month before the apocalypse.
But Lin Yuan could only think about it. The most important thing now was to handle the current situation properly.
"These are two routes I've researched for quite some time. They won't pass through densely populated areas, and the journey is shorter. However, specific situations require specific analysis and adaptation."
Wu Tian sighed, "I wish we could live a peaceful life soon."
Yes, who didn't want that? In the past five thousand years of China, apart from fighting for those eight words, "Mandated by Heaven, Enduring Forever," they had only wanted to farm and develop peacefully, no matter the storms outside.
The Chinese nation, while farming, steadily marched towards rejuvenation. Those who disturbed their peace would have their heads smashed.
Thinking of this, Lin Yuan suddenly smiled, already looking forward to a peaceful future: "When that time comes, you'll have to give me a few chubby babies."
She gave Lin Yuan, who was grinning foolishly, a sideways glance. "Give birth, give birth, I'll give birth to a litter for you, alright? You'll regret it when they start crying!"
The room was also filled with warmth and harmony, though it was uncertain how much sincerity was in Du Mingzhi's smile.
He touched a certain spot on himself, confirming the item was still there. Even his smile carried a hint of coldness, and his mind began to run wild.
So what if they had guns? What's so great about that?
Tonight, they arranged for me to sleep in the room where the guns are kept, calling it "taking care of the new recruits." What truly brainless idiots.
On the night of the apocalypse, his phone ran out of battery, and he hadn't paid his electricity bill in time. He still hadn't realized how strong Lin Yuan and the others were, who could cut their way from the north of the residential complex to the south.
He just thought they were people who had guns and knew how to wield an axe.
There are always people in this world who lack self-awareness. While they themselves are pitifully stupid, they always think others are stupider than them.
Lin Yuan, of course, was unaware of Du Mingzhi's inner thoughts, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
After all, the trap had been set in his pocket, just waiting for him to fall into it.
Lin Yuan put away the map and the plan. Seeing that the people inside had almost finished eating, he walked back in with Wu Tian.
The final version of the evacuation plan still needed to be discussed with them.
"Has everyone finished eating? If you have, I'm going to talk about the evacuation plan."
"We're done, Captain. Please speak!" Zhao Anjing wiped the sauce from her mouth and was the first to say so.
Sun Haiping winked at his wife and stood up to clear the dishes with her.
Seeing Sun Haiping and his wife cleaning up, the others also stood up to help, even Du Mingzhi did. He was quite proactive.
Lin Yuan almost believed that this guy had repented.
Soon, the dining table was cleaned up. Lin Yuan spread the map out on the table. The solar-powered night light, fully charged yesterday, emitted a bright light, illuminating the map clearly.