Chapter 35: Missing Person Notice
Ye Duo lived in Red Maple Town’s Hope Garden. She was thirteen years old this year, in her first year of middle school.
It was the age of youth, with all its occasional stirrings of the heart.
She liked a boy in her class, who just so happened to live in the same neighborhood as her.
She thought, with winter break coming soon, maybe she could ask him to hang out.
But…
One evening a month ago, she saw with her own eyes as that boy’s face was bitten off by a zombie.
It was terrifying.
She was lucky though—she managed to escape back home.
But she was also unlucky, because if she had truly been lucky, she would have died that very day a month ago.
At least then she wouldn’t be suffering so much now.
The house had run out of food… probably three or four days ago.
She could tell that her aunt and uncle were looking at her more and more strangely.
She also knew that Auntie Zhao upstairs had already started eating… meat half a month ago.
Maybe it would soon be her turn.
But she didn’t want that. She thought that kind of death would be too painful. Jumping out the window would be better.
Yet… when half her body was leaning outside the window, she got scared.
She hesitated.
It felt terrifying.
Maybe… wait a little longer. She would wait a little before jumping.
It was then that she saw a van driving down the street.
Her building was on the very edge, and she lived on the fourth floor, so she had a clear view.
A car… a car?
How could there still be cars on the street?
Ye Duo froze in shock. Then, out of nowhere, her eyes locked with another pair.
The distance was far, too far to really see, but she felt it—she had made eye contact with someone inside that van.
She suddenly didn’t want to die anymore.
Maybe… maybe there was still hope?
She would take the gamble.
…
After hearing Chaolu’s voice come through the walkie-talkie, Chaoyang told Zhu Dafu to drive to the square.
The two vehicles met up, then they drove to an area with fewer zombies, parked, and got ready to use the radio.
“There aren’t any batteries in this thing.” Zhu Dafu stared blankly at the radio.
Everyone in the car was stunned.
Did they have to go back again?
“Haha, we grabbed some!” Wang Defa chuckled as he pulled out a bunch of batteries from his bag. “Found them at the cashier’s counter. We figured the radio might not have any, so we took the lot.”
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
After installing the batteries, Zhu Dafu began tuning.
He switched to the AM longwave band, then carefully started scanning through the frequencies one by one.
“Zzzzz—”
The radio let out nothing but meaningless static.
Everyone held their breath, waiting for that one moment when a voice would appear.
Would there be a voice?
Would there be… news?
Zhu Dafu tuned very slowly, terrified of missing even the faintest sound.
But as the dial neared the end, there was still only static.
Everyone’s hearts sank.
Could it be that there really wasn’t any news at all…?
“…near Guilin; the northern base is located near what used to be Harbin…”
The sudden voice that burst through made everyone cheer!
There was a voice! There was news!
And there were bases!
Everyone was so overjoyed that they missed the rest of the message, but luckily the channel kept looping the broadcast, so they listened from the beginning again.
“…At present, there are a total of four official national bases. The largest is the Oasis Base, located near the Taihang Mountains; the Sky-Eye Base is near the former Mianyang; the Southern Base is near Guilin; and the Northern Base is near the former Harbin.
Survivors may choose to head to the nearest safe base. If the bases are too far, they may also seek out nearby secure areas for shelter…”
What followed were safety tips regarding zombies and mutated creatures—for example, to be cautious around animals, since multiple cases of animal mutations had already been reported.
Dense forests were also something to watch out for, as the possibility of plant mutations could not be ruled out.
Everyone listened with great attention.
Meanwhile, the adults pulled out their maps to check the locations of the four bases, already planning to head for the closest one—the Southern Base.
“If my son and the others are still alive, they must have gone to the Southern Base!”
Wang Defa exclaimed in excitement. He pulled his wife, Li Xiangyu, into his arms, the two of them breaking down in tears.
The group, who had been on edge for so long, finally felt a rare sense of relief from this good news.
And the radio broadcast continued:
“…Lastly, we have a missing person announcement—Little Ji Xiaomi, your father Ji Ruwen is currently waiting for you at the Oasis Base. If you hear this message, please go to the Oasis Base to reunite with your father.”
“Eh?”
Mibao’s eyes flew wide as she rushed forward to the radio.
“It’s Daddy!”
Her eyes shone with excitement as she clutched the radio tightly, as if holding her father himself.
“Daddy’s looking for me! Daddy’s still alive!”
The others were stunned by the announcement as well.
First, they felt joy for Mibao. And then…
It seemed Mibao’s father held a pretty high status with the authorities—otherwise, how could he have managed to insert a missing person notice into such an important broadcast channel?
Unable to hold back, Zhu Dafu asked, “Mibao, is your dad… in politics?”
Mibao didn’t understand what politics meant. “What’s that?”
Zhu Dafu clarified: “…I mean, what does your dad do?”
Could he be some big official?
Didn’t seem likely…
If he were an important official, why would he have been living here all this time? He should’ve been in the capital instead.
“My dad runs a company,” Mibao said after thinking hard. “I think… he sells electronics.”
The adults exchanged even stranger looks.
Someone who sells electronics has the power to do this?
Weird…
Could it be that her dad developed some kind of large-scale electronic weapon, making a major contribution?
The adults speculated wildly.
But now that they had this new information, the group began to split over where they should head—Wang Defa and Li Xiangyu were determined to go to the Southern Base, and two others also voiced their intention to head south.
If their family members were still alive, they would surely be at the Southern Base.
Zhu Dafu and Zhao Xuehua’s children were studying abroad, so they didn’t feel strongly about the Southern Base and were still undecided. Qian Suiyou, on the other hand, said he could go with the three kids to the Oasis Base.
Qian Suiyou was a lonely middle-aged man with no family left, so it didn’t matter to him which base he went to.
His choice to head for the Oasis Base was simple: if Mibao’s father could get a missing person notice broadcast on an official channel, then his status must be high.
If he escorted Mibao to the Oasis Base, surely he’d be shown some gratitude—and at the very least, life there wouldn’t be too harsh.
In the end, after some hesitation, Zhu Dafu and Zhao Xuehua also decided to head for the Oasis Base.
Three children and just one adult—neither of them felt at ease leaving things that way.
Better to all set out together.
Even if their combat skills couldn’t match Chaolu, or their wits couldn’t match Chaoyang…
Zhu Dafu was a skilled driver!
And Zhao Xuehua was a great cook!
Right?
They still had their value.
So the decision was made. The two groups split into two cars, parting ways in Red Maple Town.
And next…
“Let’s go tell them the news,” Chaoyang said.
If they could spare the radio, they’d hand it over; if not, it didn’t matter. But at the very least, they could share the information about the safety bases.
No matter what, it gave people something to hope for.
And more than that…
It meant that the country still stood, that the people had not been abandoned—
that there was still hope.
