4: Entering the Shelter

Sporadic gunshots echoed from below, as armed personnel began clearing the area. Zombies and people were mixed together, so they used single shots to minimize accidental casualties.

It seemed it wouldn't be cleared up anytime soon. Tian Ming calmed himself down and began searching the room.

This building was very close to the square, and there were many office supplies in the room. Tian Ming found a backpack; he needed to conceal himself for now. He couldn't let others discover his superpower yet.

Although he possessed an immortal body, pain and fear were physiological reactions he couldn't overcome for the time being.

Just thinking about being torn apart by those zombies, reassembled, and then torn apart again—that would make immortality a curse.

"What's your name?" Tian Ming asked the girl in the room.

"Wen Ya. You can call me Xiao Ya."

Tian Ming reached his hand into the empty backpack, and his consciousness began to control the air's carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen to directly replicate a soft bread. Once an item was replicated, he no longer needed a sample.

He handed the bread to Xiao Ya, who looked surprised when she saw it.

"Thank you. Where did you find it?" Xiao Ya asked softly.

"In the cabinet."

As Tian Ming spoke, he handed over a bottle of water. He had only found an empty bottle for the water, directly capturing it from the air. It was very pure, automatically filtering out bacteria and dust from the air.

After capturing water molecules and filling the empty bottle, he used it as a sample to replicate several more bottles, placing them in the backpack.

Throughout these actions, Tian Ming's hands remained inside the backpack, unseen by Xiao Ya.

"You should replenish some energy first. I'll continue looking for supplies. Later, we need to escape from here together and enter the Shelter," Tian Ming said.

Xiao Ya nodded, "Okay, Ge, what's your name?"

"My surname is Lu, Lu Tianming!"

Tian Ming searched the room. Eating was much more convenient for him than for Xiao Ya; he just needed to reassemble food and water inside his mouth.

This was incredibly convenient, but he also realized he couldn't reassemble things inside his own body. Otherwise, he would have wanted to reassemble food directly in his stomach to save the trouble of eating.

While searching for supplies in the room, he replicated everything he could, whether useful or not. Accumulating item samples was always a good idea.

Tian Ming searched, quietly replicating every item he could see.

Soon, the backpack was packed full.

"Let's go. I just checked the north window, and there's a car downstairs. We should be fine driving over," Tian Ming said.

"But there are no keys!"

"I have a way. You help keep watch later, and I'll open the car door."

"Mhm, okay!"

Tian Ming slung the backpack over his back and led Xiao Ya to the door. He placed his hand on the door, which he had previously sealed with his superpower. Others couldn't open it, but with a thought, he opened the door.

At this moment, there were fewer wandering zombies on the street than before. Tian Ming, holding an extended broadsword, led Xiao Ya running towards the car downstairs.

Upon reaching the car, Tian Ming used particle manipulation to directly unlock the car door. The two quickly got in. By now, several wandering zombies had spotted them.

Tian Ming quickly started the car and sped towards the Shelter.

On the road, a few zombies tried to intercept the vehicle. Tian Ming didn't hesitate, stepping on the gas, directly hitting and sending those zombies flying. Foul blood splattered, and a nauseating smell filled the air.

As the car drove, Xiao Ya gradually regained her composure, but she still looked ahead nervously.

"Ge, you're a really good driver."

Tian Ming nodded and said, "I was a driver for two years. Hold on tight, I need to take a detour. This way will definitely be blocked."

"Mhm, okay!"

The vehicle drove for over ten minutes. Sporadic gunshots came from ahead, and a large number of steel barricades appeared. In the square, a large area was cordoned off with sandbags.

Snipers lay on simple watchtowers made of steel frames. The reason they didn't use machine guns for sweeping fire was that uninfected people were mixed in with the zombies.

The square was very large, but this was only a temporary Shelter.

With these large steel barricades, the car couldn't get through at all. The ground was covered with zombie corpses, severed limbs were everywhere, and the smell in the air was nauseating.

"Warning: Attention, civilians approaching the Shelter point, please wave your hands periodically and enter the quarantine zone to avoid being accidentally shot by armed personnel. Please approach slowly; do not suddenly run or make strange movements to avoid misunderstanding."

The Shelter's loudspeaker was continuously broadcasting the warning. It was quite considerate: approaching slowly and waving hands meant that anyone who understood would certainly be uninfected.

As long as they entered the Shelter in this manner, they wouldn't be mistaken for zombies and shot.

As soon as Xiao Ya got out of the car, her legs instantly went weak. The road was full of corpses. If any zombie approached within 500 meters, it would be precisely shot in the head.

These 500 meters were extremely difficult for Tian Ming and Xiao Ya. However, a strong will to survive made the two support each other, slowly advancing through the bloodstains and severed limbs on the ground.

Throughout the process, both of their hands were waving, fearing that if they lowered them, they would be mistaken for zombies and killed.

Upon nearing the checkpoint, a man in camouflage looked at Tian Ming and Xiao Ya and asked, "What's your relationship?"

Tian Ming quickly replied, "Friends. We met halfway."

The man nodded and said, "After entering the checkpoint, first disinfect your hands, then go to the automatic blood collection machine to have blood drawn, and then enter the observation area. If there's no mutation after 8 hours, you can enter the isolation zone. Stay in the isolation zone for three days, get a number, queue up, and wait for a helicopter to pick you up to a large Shelter. Understand?"

"Big brother, big brother, I want to ask, do you know where the large Shelter is?"

The man glared at Tian Ming, "I don't know! Hurry up, or we'll treat you as zombies."

Tian Ming quickly shut up and, as the man instructed, first went to the automatic blood collection machine to have blood drawn, receiving a numbered wristband.

His wristband number was 9527.

Xiao Ya's wristband number was 9528.

After entering the observation area, there were over a thousand square grids, each one meter by one meter, temporarily drawn with lime. People who had barely escaped to the Shelter had to stay in these grids for eight hours.

Each grid only had a bottle of water and a piece of bread, a real-life example of being confined to a small space.

Every four grids had an armed guard. If anyone in a grid was found to mutate, they would be immediately shot.

Tian Ming's grid was next to Xiao Ya's. The two squatted in their grids, not daring to breathe loudly. There were two such observation areas, one on the east side and one on the west.

"Damn it, I need to take a big dump."

"Once in the observation area, no one is allowed to leave their grid. Otherwise, they will be immediately shot."

The entire Shelter was under wartime management, because without it, these ordinary people would quickly descend into chaos due to fear.

The man who wanted to go to the bathroom seemed unable to hold it in and directly pulled down his pants and squatted in public.

"Holy cow, this guy is really taking a shit?"

Pffft, pffft, pffft. The man turned into a projectile warrior. Several people in adjacent grids, hit by the smell, immediately started throwing up.

In an instant, various strange smells spread like a virus, and a large number of people in the entire observation area started vomiting. But no one dared to leave their grid, because they would truly be shot.