Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 570: Story of A Refugee (6)

I was dumbfounded.

Never had I ever thought I would be forced to join the army. But the more I thought of it, the more it made sense.

There’s no excuse for a fully capable adult not to join the army in such a time of desperation for the country when they are called.

I didn’t think too far into a problem for the future me, as I headed back to the water station for some water.

This time, however, hundreds of people were already lining up, all with buckets or bottles in hand. I still went in line and waited.

Soon, it was my turn as the two police officers asked for my ID.

After handing it over, they noticed how I came here empty-handed. One of them was nice enough to give me a free empty water bottle.

I thanked them as I finally entered the water station. But what I saw next once again stunned me.

A room with only one water faucet. Nothing else in the room. Just a singular pipe connected to the ground.

Thankfully, the water itself was still clean, or at least it looked clear enough to drink as it filled up the water bottle.

With a small sip, the coldness instantly sent a shiver down my spine. I drank a few more sips before filling it up again.

As I exited the water station, the next person in line immediately rushed inside, almost pushing it over if it wasn’t for me moving out of the way at the last second.

"Thank you." I thanked the police officer again as I carried the full water bottle in my hand.

Neither of them said anything back. Their face looked a little numb as they checked each person’s ID with a piece of paper that had the people’s names on it.

Walking out of the water station, I once again felt a little lost as I didn’t know where to look for my parent.

Just standing on a small hill, I could see thousands, if not millions, of tents—an endless number of tents with no end in sight.

Various water stations and restrooms were spread out throughout the settlement, with guard towers every few blocks of the tent cities.

Thinking back to the booklet, I began heading east, hoping to find some resources that could help me.

After walking for ten straight minutes, I finally arrived at the building that had the label ’job center.’

Entering inside, hundreds of people were sitting in chairs, all holding a piece of paper in their hands.

I asked one of the police guards how I could find someone in this settlement, only to be met with ’make an appointment’ for an answer.

Seeing the appointment sign in one of the booths, I quickly walked over to the short line and waited for my turn.

When it was finally my turn, the worker sitting there handed me a paper and sent me on my merry way.

Heading over to the side to lean against a wall, I looked down at the paper to see the number 156.

After waiting for a bit, I could hear a loud woman yelling 35. Then, a few minutes later, a voice from a different booth was yelling 36.

There were 120 people in front of me. I had nothing else to do as I waited for my number to be called.

Time slowly ticked forward as I waited and waited. People are going in and out of the booth before leaving the building.

Most of their faces were filled with disappointment, but some were filled with excitement as if they had won the lottery. freewebnσvel.cøm

The sun soon sets on the horizon as my number finally gets called. As I headed towards the booth that yelled out my number, I was a little shocked.

It was no one other than Jieqiong, sitting in the booth with an irritated face as if she had a bad customer before him.

"Jieqiong?" I nervously asked.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" The woman in the booth asked.

"I’m Zhaoxun. Did you forget about me?" I responded.

"Zhaoxun... Y-You are Zhaoxun!"

Jieqiong jumped out of her seat in excitement as she gave me a warm hug. Neither of us could believe we were reunited once again.

"You’re finally out of the hospital. You know how worried I had been?" Jieqiong whispered as we stared into each other’s eyes.

I apologized before asking her how long I had been in the hospital. To my surprise, it had been three days already.

Next, I asked her where my parents were. She told me that they were both living inside the construction area, a place that was right next to the insanely high wall.

When I asked what she was doing in this booth, she rolled her eyes before pointing at the blackboard right outside.

"Helping people find a job and helping them get settled in. Did you not see the job center sign at the top?"

Her loud voice surprised me a little before her face suddenly started blushing, almost as if she was a little embarrassed by it.

I chuckled, asked her what kind of job she could get me, only to meet with a sudden push on the shoulder.

"Ow, what was that for?" I questioned.

"Look at yourself. Do you think anyone would hire someone walking around with no shirts and all bandaged up like this?"

I quickly realized what she meant by it. My face shyly looked to the side as she chuckled at my own embarrassment this time.

"Just worry about healing your wound first. Mom and Dad would be so excited to see you later."

"Mom and Dad? When did you call them by that?" I curiously asked, looking straight back at her with a grin.

"Oh, shut up."

As Jieqiong’s face turned red with embarrassment, a sudden knock instantly snapped us back into reality.

"Ahem, Jieqiong, the next person is waiting."

"Sorry. I’ll be right there... Zhaoxun, just wait outside for a bit. I’m almost off from work."

I nodded as I stepped out of the room. Waiting in the main lobby, I noticed the clock on the wall.

It was already six o’clock as the sun had disappeared fully on the horizon. The moon was already out in the sky.

In the distance, the tent city was mostly dark, with only occasional lights in a few of them and the light from the outpost corners.

"You can take my seat."

A young man nearby gave up his seat, probably noticing the bandages that had been wrapped around my body. I thanked him and sat down.

Waiting and waiting, I soon started to get a little bored and sleepy. Every time I looked at the clock, it felt like time was ticking more slowly.

Boom!

Suddenly, an explosion could be heard in the distance, but no one reacted at all as if it were just a normal sound they heard every day.

"What are you looking at? It’s time to go."

Turning around, Jieqiong was already behind me. I quickly got up from my seat before asking her what the explosion was about.

"It’s probably just another bombing run against those zombies." She answered.

I didn’t question it any further as I followed her down the staircase, walking through the tent city once again.

Along the road, I could see families crammed inside tents. Most of them were eating what appeared to be some mysterious-looking food.

All of their faces looked a little numb, almost as if they had gotten used to living in these kinds of conditions.

After walking out of the tent city, we finally arrived near the wall for the first time.

My eyes were instantly shocked by the sheer size. It was almost so high up that I couldn’t even see the end of it.

At the same time, I could hear the explosion getting louder and louder. With more and more gunshots sound as well.

I questioned Jieqiong if this area was safe, only to be given an ambiguous answer.

"It’s the safest place in the settlement, and the most dangerous place at the same time."

I asked her again what she meant by it, but she didn’t explain it any further as we finally arrived at our destination.

Rows upon rows of metal shacks were right in front of me. All the people walking on the concrete road looked more ’alive’.

By ’alive’, I just meant their clothes were clean. No street vendor selling stuff on the floor with trash littered all over the place.

After taking a few more turns, Jieqiong knocked on one of the doors to the metal shack and waited.

As the door opened, I was instantly met with a warm embrace as Dad and Mom both ran up to hug me.

Mom’s eyes were on the verge of tears, almost as if she couldn’t believe the person she was hugging was really alive.

"I’m back."

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