As dusk approached, it was time for dinner. The boys and girls took turns serving their meals and then gathered near the teaching building to eat. It was then that they realized how tempting the food was. Although the girls' cooking skills couldn't compare to the cafeteria ladies from before, in their current situation, what more could they ask for!
Before they ate, Shen Feng announced something with a loudspeaker: "Everyone, after dinner, the boys are to gather in the first teaching building within thirty minutes. One hour later, also gather here. I have something important to announce! It's for your future, so please be punctual!"
Upon hearing this, the students began to murmur. No wonder the food today was better than before; something was about to happen. So, as they ate, everyone discussed what it could be! The well-informed students already had some inside information, but others were completely in the dark.
"Shen Feng, you seem to have a gathering tonight. Why weren't we invited?" Professor Zhang found Shen Feng and asked directly.
Shen Feng's mind raced, and he immediately replied, "Professor Zhang, I was just about to look for you. Actually, for tonight's meeting, I wanted to invite you to observe, so please finish your meal quickly and don't miss the meeting!"
Professor Zhang nodded and said, "That's more like it!"
In reality, if Professor Zhang hadn't come to find Shen Feng, Shen Feng wouldn't have bothered to inform the professors. After all, tonight's matter could not afford any mistakes!
As for Li Tianxiao and the other four leaders, they remained under house arrest. Food and water were brought in from outside, but the doors were immediately closed, preventing the five from leaving freely. When they inquired with the girls who brought the food, the only answer they received was "I don't know." These individuals were still unable to gather any information.
Afterward, a total of nine teachers were invited to the first teaching building. After the nine were seated, Wu Kai smiled and closed the door, saying, "Teachers, I will open the door for you after the meeting ends!"
At this moment, only the nine teachers were together in the classroom. There was food and bottled water on the table, as well as novels to pass the time. However, it was impossible to leave because Wu Kai had already locked the door, and it wouldn't be opened anytime soon.
Professor Zhang was so angry he couldn't speak. He hadn't expected Shen Feng to play such a trick on him, effectively imprisoning him!
"Shen Feng, that little thief, using such despicable means. Shameless, truly shameless!" Professor Zhang couldn't help but shake his head. It seemed he wouldn't be able to speak at the upcoming meeting.
However, Professor Hao was relieved. If Old Zhang had voiced any objections during the meeting, it might have led to trouble. So, being locked up now was actually fortunate; at least there was no danger to his life.
Later, the boys began to arrive for the assembly, about five hundred of them. Fortunately, the classrooms in the first teaching building were quite large, and they could barely fit by squeezing together. Then, the sound of a generator roared from outside, and the lights in the classroom suddenly turned on. The crowd immediately erupted in cheers. After so many days, there was finally electricity. Although there was no internet, having electricity was enough. The classroom was bathed in light.
Shen Feng slowly walked onto the stage, holding a microphone, and began his speech: "Students, do you know? Fifteen days have passed since the zombie outbreak! Now, we have blocked the school gates, and the zombies outside cannot get in. The zombies inside the school have also been basically eliminated. From now on, you are safe!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the boys immediately started applauding. Everyone was genuinely happy. Most of the boys had participated in the zombie hunt, and now that the zombies were finally cleared, everyone was overjoyed. From now on, the school would be safe!
"But!" Shen Feng's tone shifted. "What do we do from now on?"
At this moment, someone directly shouted, "After clearing the zombies in the school, we should just hold our ground and wait for rescue!"
"Is that so? That idea is completely wrong!" Shen Feng criticized without reservation. Then, he took out his portable radio. He had found this radio in the boys' dormitory a couple of days ago. He didn't know why it was there, but he could get external news at any time!
"I'll let you know about the outside situation now!" With that, Shen Feng turned on the radio and pointed the microphone at it. For so many days, the radio had been continuously broadcasting about the zombie situation, including news about the recaptured cities.
"To all survivors, if you are near the provincial capital, please head to the provincial capital for refuge. The country is making efforts to rescue you, but before that, we need you to stand up and save yourselves! Additionally, the cities that have been recaptured include Yanjing..." The broadcast relayed news from the outside world, but the news was not entirely good, as they needed to travel to Rongcheng to receive rescue.
Suddenly, at this moment, a boy stood up and asked, "Brother Feng, why don't we grab a ferry and head down the river to Yuzhou! That's also a provincial-level city, and we can seek shelter there!"
"I'm sorry, Yuzhou has not been recaptured yet. Most of the southern cities have not been recaptured! Going to Yuzhou now would be a futile act of seeking death!" Shen Feng continued.
"How could this be?" Many boys were despairing. They hadn't expected that even now, they still couldn't get help. Had they been abandoned?
However, at this moment, Shen Feng said with a serious expression, "I have a plan for the future, which is to establish a self-help association. Luzhou, with its hundreds of thousands of people, has now mostly turned into zombies. We must protect our city. Even if we face endless zombies, we must strive. Isn't it clearly stated? We need to save ourselves, so we must step forward now and become the heroes who save Luzhou!"
"Clap clap clap..." The boys immediately began to applaud enthusiastically, but many still had doubts.
Seeing that the crowd's emotions had been stirred, Shen Feng continued, "This was originally our home, the place where we rely on to survive. Moreover, many of your families are in the city. Shouldn't we go and kill the zombies to protect them? We killed thousands of zombies in the school in seven days, which proves that zombies are not invincible. As long as we are united, form a self-help association, and act in unison, we will definitely be able to reclaim our city! In the face of zombies, I will lead the way, and if there is a retreat, I will be the last!"
"Brother Feng, whatever you say, we'll do. We'll follow you!" a voice came from the crowd.
Shen Feng smiled and said, "No need to get excited. The association I'm creating is voluntary. You don't have to join if you don't want to, but for those who don't join, your rations will be halved. This is because our precious food must be used to fight zombies! Now, I want to say, whoever is willing to join the association, raise your hand!"
"Whoosh..." As soon as he finished speaking, a large group of people stood up and raised their hands. The other boys, seeing this scene, also quickly raised their hands. In an instant, as far as the eye could see, almost everyone had raised their hands, but a small minority did not raise their hands and watched with cold eyes.
In fact, the first to raise their hands were the members of the combat team. They had been drawn in while following Shen Feng to kill zombies, so they immediately raised their hands. As for the other students who hadn't interacted much, they also followed suit and raised their hands. As for the small number of boys, they either saw through Shen Feng's plan or were simply afraid of death and unwilling to fight.
"Very good. Now, those who are unwilling to join, please leave. Afterward, matters concerning our self-help association will be handled behind closed doors!" Shen Feng continued.
As soon as he said this, half of the people who hadn't raised their hands began to do so. However, more than thirty people still stood up and left, refusing to join the self-help association no matter what. After these thirty-odd people left, Shen Feng waved his hand, and then Chang Jianyi, along with two girls, entered from outside the classroom. In their hands were two large boxes filled with red cloth strips.
"From now on, I am the president of the self-help association, and Chang Jianyi is the vice president. You will address us as President and Vice President! Also, members will be identified by cloth strips. Everyone tie the red cloth around your arm! From now on, only members wearing the red cloth will receive three meals a day; others will have their rations halved!" Shen Feng announced loudly.
The boys slowly lowered their hands, stepped forward to collect the cloth strips, and tied them to their arms. This would be their identification from now on, giving them some psychological comfort. However, they then thought about having to retake Luzhou, and they all began to retreat. Luzhou had at least hundreds of thousands of zombies; how could they possibly kill so many!
"Everything is going smoothly!" Shen Feng smiled at Chang Jianyi.
Chang Jianyi said helplessly, "You've locked up all the factors that could cause trouble, so how could it not go smoothly? Now you're boasting about retaking Luzhou. What will you do when you can't achieve it!"
Shen Feng laughed and said, "Once your brother is saved, won't the ultimate goal be achieved? As for the slogan of retaking Luzhou, who will remember it? By then, everyone can just grab a cruise ship and head down the river! I heard the Three Gorges Dam has been recaptured. If we can't go to Yuzhou, we can go to the Three Gorges. Perhaps we can even go directly to Jinling downstream. I heard Jinling was also recaptured long ago!"
Shen Feng was indeed not lying earlier. Yuzhou had not been recaptured, but there were ways to escape down the river. They could go to the Three Gorges or Jinling. In any case, there were too many cities along the Yangtze River, and many of them had been recaptured.
"Alright, let's move on to the next step!" Chang Jianyi reminded him.
Seeing that everyone had put on the red cloth, Shen Feng began to announce, "Next, I will announce the departments you belong to. Based on your previous performance, you can be divided into the Combat Team and the Mobile Team. The leader of the Combat Team is Ren Jing, and the leader of the Mobile Team is Li Xiang. The Combat Team will be responsible for fighting zombies, and the members of the Mobile Team will be responsible for driving and transporting food and medicine."
After the respective organizations were divided, the meeting was adjourned. At the same time, the girls began to assemble. Shen Feng needed to repeat the same speech he gave to the boys. Of course, the girls had few choices. Currently, their survival depended on teaming up, so they dared not separate. Under a combination of threats and incentives, more than three hundred girls basically agreed to join, with only five girls choosing not to join and leaving.
Thus, more than half of the students in the school had joined the self-help association. Although they were a motley crew, having an organized structure was much better than having none! The girls were basically divided into the Logistics Team and the Medical Team. The Logistics Team had more members, while the Medical Team consisted of more than twenty academically good girls. They had nothing much to do each day, at most prescribing some cooling and fever-reducing medications. They wouldn't do anything else.
Afterward, the professors were released. Seeing that almost all the students had red cloth strips on their arms, the professors fell silent. They knew that Shen Feng had done what needed to be done, and it was now impossible for them to object.
Then, Li Tianxiao and the leaders were also allowed to move freely. Upon hearing this news, Li Tianxiao immediately went to mobilize the students, urging them to oppose Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi. However, the students he mobilized glanced at him and said, "You want us to oppose the President and Vice President? What right do you have?"
This statement choked Li Tianxiao. He quickly revealed his identity, "I am your student union president! You must listen to me! Remember my face. When I arrive, it means the student union has a mission, understand?"
"What nonsense! This is the first time I've heard of a student union president commanding others!" The student who blocked him cursed and turned to leave.
Dean Hu saw this scene and shook his head helplessly, "It's a done deal. I really don't know how Shen Feng came up with this strategy, establishing an association. Now, how can we restrain them using their student status?"
However, at this moment, more than thirty boys found Li Tianxiao and the leaders and directly stated their purpose, "Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi, those two scoundrels, are constantly withholding our rations. We want to report them! Leaders, you must handle this matter!"
The thirty-odd boys who appeared here at this time were, of course, those who had not agreed to Shen Feng's plan. They didn't want to go out and fight, nor did they want their rations withheld. They had come here to ask the leaders to uphold justice.
"Then why are they withholding your rations?" Dean Hu knew he couldn't manage anything, and no one listened to him, so what kind of leader was he?
These thirty-odd people quickly said, "Because we are unwilling to follow orders to fight or transport supplies, they withhold our rations!"
Li Tianxiao immediately patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, we will definitely handle this matter. You just need to follow us, and we will overthrow Shen Feng's rule!"
Dean Hu and the others exchanged glances and secretly shook their heads. These thirty-odd people were completely useless. They didn't want to fight or transport supplies, so didn't they just want to sit and eat? Having such students as subordinates was impossible to achieve anything! However, it was better than nothing; if someone listened to orders, it was better than no one listening.
The group, unwilling to be idle, began to devise ways to regain the power that originally belonged to them.