057 Safe Zone

Zhang Su touched his chin and asked, "Officer Qin, I'd like to ask about the firefight that night. With such heavy firepower, how could you not hold your ground?"

This was a question on everyone's mind. For people who had never experienced the flames of war in reality, the fierce battle not far away a few nights ago had been deeply shocking!

Qin Ya patted the assault rifle slung across his shoulder and gave a bitter smile. "No matter how powerful the firepower is, it simply cannot cope with the endless stream of zombies emerging from every direction. Our biggest regret was that we severely miscalculated the number of zombies in the district."

"The moment a shot was fired, zombies from other streets were instantly attracted. In our haste, the ammunition we prepared was ideally enough to eliminate one hundred thousand zombies. But when the actual firefight broke out, we realized just how true it is that the theory is rich, but reality is painfully skeletal!"

Zhang Su pressed further, "How so?"

"The only way to deal with a zombie is a headshot. Otherwise, even if you blow off its legs, it'll still hop and bounce around. Unless you continuously hit roughly the same spot—who the hell can guarantee a headshot with every single bullet in that kind of tense and chaotic situation?"

"I don't know how many zombies we ultimately took down, but I estimate it wasn't even one-tenth of the theoretical number..."

By the end, Qin Ya's expression turned grim, his brow deeply furrowed.

"Then... were there any weapons left behind?"

Zhang Su looked at Qin Ya inquiringly.

Judging from Qin Ya's account, while the noise of firearms would attract more zombies, they remained the most effective weapons and carried an incomparable deterrent force against humans.

The country's firearm control was strict, and ordinary people had no access to them whatsoever. Now that the environment had changed, Zhang Su wanted to get his hands on some guns, which would significantly increase his chances of survival.

Hearing Zhang Su's question, Qin Ya gave a wry, bitter smile. "We fought down to the very last bullet..."

As he spoke, he unslung the rifle from his shoulder, removed the magazine to show the others, and proved it was completely empty.

This sight left everyone present in heavy silence. It was impossible to imagine what kind of despair that must have been.

A moment later, Qin Ya suddenly paused, raised an eyebrow, and said, "I just remembered something. Back when communications were still active, I heard a piece of news, though I don't know if they succeeded in the days since."

Seeing everyone looking at him with hopeful eyes, Qin Ya searched his memory and said, "At the time, Liu... uh, I heard over the brigade's walkie-talkie that official authorities said they would strive to establish a temporary safe zone at the Olympic Sports Center."

Back then, to host certain events of the Olympic Games, Qingcheng had invested heavily in building a stadium that was truly magnificent.

"The Olympic Sports Center?"

Upon hearing this news, everyone's expressions dimmed in unison.

Shengqing Homeland, where Zhang Su lived, was located in the northern part of Qingcheng, while the Olympic Sports Center was in the southwest of the city—a straight-line distance of four kilometers, but about seven kilometers if driving!

In the past, a seven-kilometer drive would take at most an hour even with traffic jams, but now, taking that trip might cost you your life before getting very far.

Still, by any measure, this counted as one of the few pieces of good news in recent days, sparking a tiny flame of hope in everyone's hearts.

"So... Officer Qin, did you hear any related news after that?"

Duan Wuhu asked full of expectation.

Qin Ya shook his head expressionlessly and said, "Communications were cut off, and the walkie-talkie was lost during the firefight. Nowadays people really have zero awareness of potential crises. I searched seven or eight houses and couldn't find a single radio..."

Older mobile phones used to have built-in radio functions, but they had been removed for various reasons. Very few people used such devices now, unless they were elderly folks who might still have a radio to listen to broadcasts.

Then there were cars; basically, any functioning car would come equipped with a radio, but finding a working car right now was also a major challenge.

"A radio?"

To everyone's surprise, the milkman, who had been keeping his head down and staying silent, suddenly spoke up. He pulled a palm-sized gadget out of his dirty messenger bag, stood up, and walked over to Qin Ya.

"This... it got dropped once before, and there's only one battery left. I don't know if it still works."

"An all-band radio?"

Qin Ya took the item from the milkman's hands, and his face instantly lit up with joy. "Xiaoyu, quick, take the batteries out of your toy dinosaur and give them to uncle!"

"Okay!" Liu Xuanyu quickly removed the batteries and handed them to Qin Ya.

Everyone watched tensely as Qin Ya fiddled with the radio in his hands.

Soon, the batteries were installed, and Qin Ya didn't hesitate to press the power switch.

*Click.*

The indicator light lit up, followed by a burst of static noise without a signal.

"It works!"

"That's great! Quick, search and see if there's any signal."

"God bless..."

Under everyone's hopeful gazes, Qin Ya pulled out the radio antenna and walked toward the window while adjusting the frequency.

*Hiss-hiss, tap-tap, static...*

However, as Qin Ya dialed through the frequencies, it merely switched back and forth between different kinds of static, with never a hint of meaningful sound.

"Let me try..."

The milkman said from behind the crowd.

"Go ahead, master."

Qin Ya immediately handed the radio back to the milkman. Although he knew how to use it, he certainly wasn't as familiar with it as the original owner.

The milkman's darkened hands took the radio. He pressed a few things on it, and the noise grew even louder, continuously emitting a harsh, crackling sound.

"Don't move!"

Just as everyone was frowning, Zhang Su suddenly raised a hand to stop the milkman from continuing to adjust the frequency.

"Squeak-hiss... Qin... static... people... buzz-buzz... intent, Ao... buzz-buzz... temporary... buzz-buzz..."

"There's sound!"

"Really, someone is talking."

"Shut up and listen carefully!"

If Zhang Su hadn't called for a pause, no one would have noticed the faint human voice mixed within the static noise.

"Attention, people of Qingcheng. The Olympic Sports Center safe zone has been established. We provide basic catering, water supply, and basic medical care. We look forward to people from all walks of life joining us to overcome these difficult times together..."

"This FM transmitter is awful... but that should be pretty much what it means!"

Because the signal was so poor, everyone had to struggle to slowly piece together useful information from the noise. Fortunately, the broadcast kept repeating. After listening to it twenty or thirty times, they finally managed to piece together a complete sentence.

This sudden news left everyone with mixed feelings of joy and worry.

The joy was that a safe zone truly existed, proving that humanity hadn't completely lost the fight. The worry was that getting to the Olympic Sports Center was by no means an easy task!

Qin Ya signaled for the milkman to turn off the radio, then looked at the others with a solemn expression. "Everyone, let's share your thoughts."

For a moment, the room fell silent.

Zheng Xinhu and Zhong Xiaoshan naturally deferred to Zhang Su's judgment and both looked toward him.

Duan Sihai looked at his older brother Duan Wuhu, the two brothers exchanging glances.

The milkman stood to one side, still not uttering a sound, tightly gripping the radio in his hand as if lost in thought.