After clearing out the surrounding zombies, they ran to a place they had already scouted: a small supermarket.
One person stood guard while the rest began moving supplies to their vehicles.
Although the supermarket wasn't large, it was incredibly well-stocked. They felt they needed everything, wishing they had more hands.
"Why are you getting condiments? We don't even have a pot to cook with!" he exclaimed, watching his companion pick up glass jars of spices.
Getting condiments was one thing, but why glass jars? Wouldn't they shatter from the bumps in the car, getting everything messy?
"That's true, we need to get a pot too!" Instead of putting the condiments back, his companion went to grab a pot.
"You!" He didn't know how to talk to his companion.
"I agree. I've had enough of bread and such lately. Even if I could just boil some instant noodles, it would be nice to eat something hot," another person chimed in, quickly grabbing some chili sauce, mushroom sauce, and other items.
By the time they had almost finished clearing out the supermarket, their car trunk was overflowing.
"Where do we go next?" the speaker asked, sitting down on the floor and looking at the others.
One person closed the supermarket door and then sat down with them. He had confirmed their temporary safety, so they decided to stay there for the night.
They hadn't originally planned to stay the night, but by the time they finished moving supplies, it was already dark, and they weren't familiar with the surrounding roads. It was better to spend the night at the supermarket.
Someone found a portable gas stove for camping on a shelf and was overjoyed. "Look what I found!"
He brought the stove over, then found a small pot.
"That's great! Are there any more? How did we not see them earlier? Let's take them all tomorrow, then we can cook some noodles on the road." The person sitting on the ground immediately got up, happily taking the stove and pot.
"I'll go see if there are any more. Usually, these cassette stoves come with several gas canisters."
"Gao Yang, don't bother. We can find them tomorrow. Let's just wash this pot with water first?" He had already tested it; the tap water had long since been shut off, so they could only use their stored water sparingly.
"This supermarket has everything. Zhi Xue, don't use so much water. This water is enough for us to drink for several days!"
"Alright, Yuan Kai. There's plenty of water here, it's definitely enough until we find the next supply point," Wang Zhi Xue said nonchalantly.
"Yuan Kai is right, Zhi Xue. Water is quite precious now. It's best to save some," the person who hadn't spoken also added.
"Okay, the pot is washed clean anyway. Let's boil some noodles now!" Wang Zhi Xue handed the pot forward.
Yuan Kai immediately took the pot, placed it on the counter, installed the gas canister for the stove, lit it, and then stabilized the pot.
Gao Yang brought over the water bucket that Wang Zhi Xue had used one-third of and poured water into the pot, then put the lid back on the pot that had just been washed.
The person named A Chang went to the car to find a few packets of instant noodles and some braised eggs, then returned to the store.
"The water is almost boiling, A Chang, hurry!"
"Coming!" He carefully closed the store door and walked over.
When they finally got to eat hot noodles, they all let out a comfortable sigh.
"Finally, a hot meal!" Wang Zhi Xue felt like he was about to cry.
While the other three weren't as dramatic, they also ate their noodles quickly.
"Seriously, where do we go next?" Yuan Kai turned and asked A Chang.
"I heard there's a base nearby. Let's check it out. At least it's safer than staying out here," A Chang said.
"Didn't we meet someone a few days ago who came from that base, saying there was internal conflict there, which is why they had to leave?" Gao Yang recalled the group they had encountered.
Although he didn't have a good impression of them, he knew they were telling the truth.
"It's a different base," A Chang clarified, referring to a base he had heard about on the radio.
"You mean Taoyuan Base? Do you know the way?" Yuan Kai also realized.
"Yes, I roughly know the town name they mentioned. I've been there before. So I want to check it out there. If it's not good, then we can go to the other base.
Even if there's internal conflict, it should have calmed down by the time we get there," A Chang thought it through thoroughly.
"Then let's go to Taoyuan Base first. Anyway, we've awakened our abilities, so we can protect ourselves. We're not afraid wherever we go!" Wang Zhi Xue said proudly.
"That's true. Then it's decided. Tomorrow, A Chang, you'll lead the way, and we'll go to that Taoyuan Base," Gao Yang agreed.
"Teacher Lin, we're running out of medicinal herbs." Someone from the herbal medicine preparation area came to find Lin Yan.
Although many people in the base affectionately called Lin Yan "Xiao Lin," after Lin Yan had accomplished more and more, they began to use honorifics.
But Lin Yan didn't accept it. After deliberation, those younger than Lin Yan continued to call her "Sister Lin," while those older than her began to call her "Teacher Lin."
"It's alright. We'll pause for today. I'll inform the administrative hall and have them set up a mission to collect medicinal herbs. Please give me a list of the missing herbs later."
Actually, Lin Yan could have issued the task directly on her phone, but she still needed to go to the administrative hall.
"Okay, I'll bring it to you later." With that, he left.
Lin Yan's train of thought was interrupted, so she decided not to continue working. She tidied up her desk and prepared to go to the administrative hall once the list arrived.
Lin Yan had anticipated the shortage of medicinal herbs. After all, this was just a small town. Even though the population here wasn't as large as in the previous town, there was no way to replenish the herbs.
Therefore, besides going out to find medicinal herbs, they also needed to find a way to cultivate them themselves to ensure a continuous supply.
But this was the apocalypse, unlike before the end of the world when one could simply order anything online. Where would they find herb seeds now?
Lin Yan was very troubled. Especially since these herbs didn't grow in the same place. It would be very difficult to find them all.
They couldn't possibly send people driving to medicinal herb cultivation bases all over the country to search for them; that was too unrealistic!
After Lin Yan received the list, she went to the administrative hall. Besides registering the mission, she met with the person in charge.
However, the request Lin Yan made this time put the person in charge in a difficult position.
"Xiao Lin, this matter might be a bit difficult to handle, and you don't have complete certainty. How about we postpone it for a while longer?"