Chapter 85: Who Hasn’t Been Through This?
Chapter 85: Who Hasn’t Been Through This?
"I—" Chen Jiao begins, feeling indignant. Before the apocalypse, she isn’t the type to just endure being pushed around. But after Hu Zhen's words, she can only respond with a tinge of frustration, "Fine, next time I'll just put up with it! Venting her stress? I have my own stress, too, you know!"
It’s not so easy for a person to change their nature.
Chen Jiao is indeed conflicted. In truth, after all this time in the apocalypse, she’s gone from resenting An Ran to relying on her. Deep down, she feels a sense of gratitude towards An Ran.
But some things are just hard to change. Every time An Ran confronts her, Chen Jiao can’t resist fighting back. She just can’t help herself!
Meanwhile, downstairs, An Ran strolls out of the sewage passage with Doll in her arms, as if on a casual walk. She looks down at her sleeping child and then notices a zombie not far off. She calls out softly, "Come here!"
The zombie hears her voice and begins shambling toward her.
An Ran moves carefully, protecting the baby in one arm while she holds her knife in the other. With cautious steps, she sidesteps the zombie’s shoulder and stabs it in the head. She quickly slips back into the passage to avoid making too much noise.
She nearly runs into Hu Zhen coming down the stairs. Hu Zhen opens her mouth as if to say something, but An Ran brushes past her, heading down the passageway to the basement to kill more zombies.
Since she has Doll with her, her pace is slower—she has to avoid disturbing the sleeping child in the carrier, so she leads the zombies over one by one and takes them down individually. Fortunately, An Ran has already cleared most of the zombies from the open area outside the waste corridor. The few that wander over won’t attract more as long as she doesn’t make too much noise.
As for the zombies on the upper floors, An Ran trusts that Hu Zhen can handle them on her own. If not? Well, she can always team up with Chen Jiao. After all, who hasn’t gone through this?
Most of the remaining medical supplies are gathered by Hu Zhen, but An Ran still selects a few items for herself: pediatric antibiotics, children's medicines, and essential vitamins. She keeps herself busy each day, tending to the baby, killing zombies, and collecting supplies, all while ignoring Hu Zhen and Chen Jiao.
During this time, An Ran realizes that fewer interpersonal entanglements make life much simpler. She no longer wastes energy on anger or arguments and focuses entirely on how to survive with her child.
An Ran spends days figuring out how to kill zombies efficiently with a baby in tow. It takes nearly five or six days to clear the remaining zombies in the basement.
When the apocalypse first hits, it is clearly nighttime. The hospital’s basement garage has relatively few people, unlike the emergency room on the first floor. And as a specialty hospital for women and children, it doesn’t have the same constant rush as a general hospital’s emergency room.
The car her ex-husband bought is parked some distance from the sewage tunnel.
Once An Ran clears the basement of zombies, she drives the car closer to the tunnel entrance. Now, it is easier to load supplies into the car, sparing her from endless trips back and forth.