Rebirth of the Last Days: Double Pets

When the two of them came out after tidying up, the rest of the convoy was just waking up and beginning their morning routines.

Seeing them, the group offered their concerns about the events of the previous day.

“Xiao Tang, are you alright from yesterday?”

“Sister Tang, why don’t you take a rest today?”

“Leave the hard work to us big guys…”

Tang Ruo smiled, turned her head to glance at Bai Qi, and saw him smiling back at her. Feeling cheerful, she stretched out a hand toward the group. “From now on, I can provide water for everyone.”

With that, a sparkling water orb appeared in her palm.

With a flick of her wrist, the orb dispersed toward the group.

Although the water orb wasn’t large, it scattered over a wide area. As it splashed, each person only felt a small droplet land on their face.

That refreshing coolness instantly spread from their faces to their hearts.

“Wow, this is amazing!”

“Just what we needed—a water source! And to think Sister Tang awakened her ability just in time!”

The group marveled at Tang Ruo’s water ability awakening. They found it intriguing because most of them had awakened their abilities within three days of the apocalypse. Tang Ruo’s awakening, over a month later, was highly unusual. This led to speculation: if abilities didn’t all awaken at the same time, did that mean their loved ones back home, who hadn’t yet awakened any abilities, might still have a chance to do so in the future?

Tang Ruo and Bai Qi had already anticipated this question. When they decided to present her water ability as her primary skill to conceal her true psychic abilities, they had prepared a plausible explanation for her “late” awakening.

Tang Ruo explained, “I’m not entirely sure myself. Bai Yan mentioned that I also had a high fever for three days early on. But after those three days, I felt nothing and assumed I didn’t have any abilities. Then, yesterday, I suddenly had a splitting headache and fainted. When I woke up this morning, I realized I could condense water orbs.”

Her explanation convinced everyone. After all, there was nothing suspicious about it. If she had intended to keep her ability secret, she could have hoarded water for herself instead of sharing it with the group.

The group marveled at Tang Ruo’s good fortune and the convoy’s growing luck. It seemed that whatever they needed most always came to them just in time. Their team was becoming increasingly reliable.

With no further questions, the group got back to work, resuming the task of moving the remaining solar photovoltaic panels from the previous day.

There was simply too much stuff to move, and with only nine people in the group, it took an entire morning of hard labor to finally fill the truck.

Hu Haotian instructed the bodyguards to lock the truck doors securely.

With the main task complete, they turned their attention to gathering other supplies on their way back.

The group’s eyes collectively fell on the tightly closed door of the cafeteria, their expressions taking on a wolfish, sly look.

The door was shut, and a few zombies were pounding on it. This suggested that someone was still alive inside the cafeteria.

The nine of them split into the two smaller teams they had formed earlier and quickly took down the zombies at the entrance. There weren’t many, and they managed to collect only a dozen or so crystal cores—not nearly enough to satisfy anyone.

As the team leader of the convoy, Hu Haotian naturally took charge of the “diplomatic” task of dealing with whoever was inside.

Walking up the steps, he knocked on the door in a tone that sounded like a boss inspecting a branch office. “Is anyone inside? We’ve cleared out the zombies outside. It’s safe now; you can come out. We’re here to rescue you. It’s been a month since the apocalypse began…”

“Keep it short, don’t go off on a speech,” Pan Dawei interjected, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

“As fellow survivors, we should look out for one another and support each other…”

“Make it simpler,” Pan Dawei cut in again.

Hu Haotian turned his head quickly and scolded with a laugh, “If you’re so good at this, you do it.”

“It’s just a little thing.” Pan Dawei flicked his cigarette ash, strode up the steps, and knocked on the door. “We know someone’s in there. Open up, and while you’re at it, hand over all the food inside.”

Not only was there no response, but they also heard the sound of heavy objects being moved to block the door.

It was already clear earlier that something was barricading the door. Now they were adding even more…

The group fell silent: “…”

Hu Haotian kicked Pan Dawei. “Why don’t you just outright say robbery? Look at this now; there’s no way they’re coming out.”

Pan Dawei replied, “Young man, how can your mind be so dirty? I’m clearly helping them. Obviously, we need to take the food out, so I just used a simpler way to say it. Besides, do you think we’re catching mice here, waiting by the door for them to come out?”

Hu Haotian: “…”

Why do I suddenly feel like punching him?

They waited a long time, but no one responded from inside.

Hu Haotian rubbed his nose. “If you don’t need our help, we’ll be on our way.”

Still, there was no response.

He walked back down the steps, spread his hands toward the convoy members, and said, “Forget it. It’s been over a month; they probably don’t have much food left anyway. And since they’re not coming with us, we can stop worrying about humanitarian obligations. Clearly, they already think we’re the bad guys.”

Their group had plenty of supplies, but seating on the vehicles was limited. If the people hiding in the cafeteria weren’t willing to come with them, they had no reason to insist.

The group naturally turned and left.

Inside the cafeteria, four people were hiding—three men and one woman. They were all former workers in the production line at Blue Light Technology.

The woman, in her early twenties, looked disheveled after more than a month of the apocalypse. Her clothes were torn, and aside from bloodstains, her body bore dried remnants of something unspeakable. She leaned against the window, watching the departing group. “Do you think… do you think they really wanted to take us away from here?”

A tall man yanked her back roughly. “They only came for the food here. Why would they really take us away? A Ning, don’t forget what happened last time.”

The woman named A Ning lowered her gaze. “No, I haven’t forgotten.”

Back when the apocalypse first broke out, panic swept through the factory. Many in leadership positions and those with vehicles or abilities immediately drove away, leaving behind those without such resources. These remaining ordinary people gathered together, relying on a few ability users to take control of the cafeteria.

At first, everyone coexisted peacefully. Then, some ability users arrived from the dormitory building. Thinking they were coworkers from the same factory, they opened the door to let them in.

But later…

Conflict arose over supplies, leading to violence and even murder.

Eventually, everything changed. Now, only four people remained, but their relationships were no longer those of friends. Instead, it had turned into a dynamic of masters and slaves.

The one with abilities became the master, while the rest were treated as slaves.

The darker side of human nature had been laid bare, fully revealed in just a single month of the apocalypse.

The convoy drove out of the factory gates. This time, they didn’t need to take a detour and simply reversed along the path they had arrived on.

Tang Ruo fastened her seatbelt as she got into the car. “Did you already know that the people in the cafeteria wouldn’t come with us?”

“It was just a guess,” Bai Qi replied.

In the apocalypse, human nature had changed. To those people, the convoy wasn’t seen as saviors—perhaps they were viewed as robbers instead.

Tian Hai frowned in confusion. “What’s the point of staying there? They’ll run out of food eventually.”

“I don’t know either,” Tang Ruo sighed.

Bai Qi added, “They probably believe leaving will get them killed even faster.”

Tang Ruo and Tian Hai were left speechless.

Though they couldn’t understand the cafeteria survivors’ reasoning, it wasn’t their place to change someone else’s choice.