Lin Bing returned to her room and pulled out a notebook and pen from the drawer. It's better to write things down; good memory is no match for a bad pen, so it's best to prepare by writing everything down.
She placed the notebook on the desk and buried her head in jotting down everything she could remember that needed preparation. Over the past three years of the apocalypse, she had become most familiar with the Chaoyang Base. When the apocalypse first hit, the escape time wasn't long, and Chaoyang Base wasn't too far from H City; it took just three hours by car.
What else needs to be prepared?
Lin Bing felt she had written down everything necessary but still felt it wasn't enough. Chewing on the pen cap, she thought hard for a while. Still, she couldn't come up with anything useful, so she turned on the computer. More heads are better than one; searching online for more suggestions could be helpful, even if they might not all be applicable.
There were quite a few posts about what to prepare for the apocalypse. Lin Bing clicked through them one by one, reading carefully. SHIT! How could she have forgotten something as important as weapons!
In China, not only are guns tightly controlled, but even knives have regulations. She needed to prepare several practical knives; a big iron rod would also be good, though she wasn't sure if she could handle it.
Thinking about her own weight, Lin Bing felt a bit of a headache. She was too thin. No, she decided she would stay up a bit later tonight and go to the gym on the fourth floor to exercise. That was where her cousins worked out, and the whole floor was filled with gym equipment. Lin Bing had always found exercising tough and had never been there once.
She silently added another note in her notebook: Gym: Two hours.
While browsing online, she saw some people suggesting hiding in the mountains when zombies come. Lin Bing chuckled and shook her head. The dangers in the mountains could be as terrifying as those in the city. Not to mention the mutated plants that could be as strong as level three or four zombies, just the mutated animals alone would be overwhelming. Have you ever seen a five-meter or even ten-meter tall mutated cat? And that's just a house cat. The mountains aren't just filled with cats; who knows about tigers or leopards? There are definitely snakes.
Lin Bing had seen a level-two mutated snake in the apocalypse, dark green with yellow slit-like pupils the size of a human palm. That was just its eyes. It took three superhumans and more than a dozen level-two superhumans working together over two hours to kill the snake, and they lost one level-three superhuman and several level-two superhumans. And that was only a level-two mutated snake.
After browsing online and feeling she had exhausted the useful information, Lin Bing left the computer desk. Seeing the dense list of items she needed to prepare on her notebook, Lin Bing finally felt some reassurance.
She uneasily glanced at her room door, thought for a moment, and went over to lock it. She needed to enter the space. It wouldn't be good if someone came in. Lin Bing walked into the bathroom, turned on the tap, and started filling the bathtub with water. After thinking for a long time, Lin Bing decided to take a bath and change into pajamas before entering the space. This was the safest approach. If someone knocked on the door, she could say she didn't hear because she was in the bath. She needed to enter the space to organize and tally her supplies. However, she still had to come out every ten minutes to check if anyone was knocking.
She had a feeling that if her mother told her father about the situation, her father might want to discuss it with her. She wasn't sure about this, but it was better to be cautious. Her intuition told her not to reveal the space; the closer the apocalypse got, the stronger this intuition became. An inexplicable force seemed to be warning her: revealing it would lead to her death.
Lin Bing took her notebook and pen into the space. Every time she entered, she appeared in the same spot, indicating that the location was fixed. She quickly arrived at the underground storage. She checked off the items on her list that she had bought, noted any shortages, and marked things she hadn't prepared yet. After ten minutes, Lin Bing exited the space and opened the bathroom door, checked her room's outer door, and found no one knocking.
Lin Bing went back inside and repeated the process three times to finish organizing everything.
After leaving the space, she changed into a different pair of shoes since the ones she wore in the space were dirty, and her bedroom had a white wooden floor that showed dirt easily.
Lin Bing drained the water from the bathtub and turned off the bathroom light.
Her notebook was nearly full, so she took out a larger notebook and rewrote everything that needed to be prepared. She noted the dates, such as items to be prepared on July 16th in one notebook, and items to be prepared on July 17th in another, making detailed annotations.
By the time she finished, another hour had passed.
Lin Bing closed the notebook, rubbing her sore wrist but with a satisfied smile on her face. Everything that needed to be prepared was listed. Once it was all set, she wouldn't have to worry.
Lin Bing took out her phone and photographed each page of the notebook, ensuring double protection with both the notebook and the phone. She smiled with a touch of satisfaction.
It was just past nine. Time to hit the gym. Lin Bing changed into sportswear and set out for the gym, her face showing a determined expression. Her small frame would undoubtedly be tired, but for her future safety, she was ready to push through!
Five minutes past ten.
Lin Bing lay on the gym floor, breathing heavily. Her entire body was drenched in sweat, and her workout clothes were soaked. The floor around her was covered in puddles of water.
"I can't do it anymore," she thought. Even though she had set the intensity to the lowest level and only chosen the two easiest exercises, she couldn't last more than half an hour. Her physical condition was so poor that Lin Bing felt very embarrassed.
As she was lying there, she noticed something bright outside.
Struggling, Lin Bing turned her head to look out the window. The gym had large windows that offered a view of the sky. Outside, there was a large balcony with some flowers and plants, and it had a sofa, coffee table, and television, making it a nice resting area. The roof of the balcony was made of tough tempered glass.
There were meteors!
One by one, meteors streaked across the sky, their tails trailing long flames, making a beautiful sight.
Lin Bing somehow found the strength to get up and walk out to the small balcony. She leaned against the sofa, standing straight with her head tilted back, gazing up at the sky.
The dark night sky was illuminated by the meteors.
The meteor shower was so beautiful!
Lin Bing closed her eyes happily and clasped her hands together, silently making a wish. With so many meteors, the chances of her wish coming true must be multiplied many times over, she thought, laughing.
As she was enjoying the spectacle, someone tapped her shoulder. Lin Bing turned around to see her grandfather and father, both with serious expressions. Her heart sank—her grandfather knew too.
In another part of H City.
Han Li was in pursuit of a fugitive. The dangerous and cunning criminal had been driven into the mountains by Han Li. The criminal, realizing he couldn't escape to a crowded area to take hostages, had fled into the dense forest, hoping to lose Han Li among the trees. However, the forest was so dense that even walking through it was challenging, and there was a white mist that made visibility poor.
The fugitive was fleeing desperately.
In contrast, Han Li was much more relaxed. Coming from a military family, he found capturing this fugitive, who was not particularly challenging, quite easy, especially since he was only helping a friend while vacationing in H City.
After a chase, Han Li captured the fugitive, who had been knocked unconscious after a few punches and a blow to the back of the neck. Han Li handcuffed him and dragged him down the mountain.
Han Li checked the fugitive and found he was out cold for the time being.
Not in a hurry, Han Li called his friend to update his location and then slowly made his way to the road, dragging the fugitive through the overgrown wilderness. Suddenly, he stopped, crouched down, and examined the weeds by his legs. The serrated leaves of the plants had torn his pants. He remembered seeing similar plants before but didn't recall them being so tough.
He pulled out several different types of wild grass and stuffed them into his pocket, noting that the grass was indeed very hard and had cut his fingers.
Just as he stood up, the sky brightened. Han Li looked up in surprise and saw it was a meteor shower. He took a quick glance and then dismissed it, resuming his slow trek to the road with the fugitive.
He found the meteor shower unimpressive and hardly worth watching.
Suddenly, a small meteor with a fiery tail fell from the sky, heading straight towards Han Li. He was startled and dropped the fugitive, preparing to dodge. However, the meteor was too fast, and Han Li didn't manage to move out of the way in time. Instead, he braced himself to swat it away.
The meteor was a small black stone with a cold, glowing surface.
The meteor hit Han Li's hand. Just as he relaxed, a larger meteor was hurtling towards him, and he lost consciousness.
He didn't know that the small, cold, black stone, having touched his blood, began to slowly, slowly... disappear.