"What's up?" Jiang Yanxin asked when she saw Chen Wan looking at them.
"Nothing, just thinking about our trip to the base tomorrow. Four striking women with a three-year-old child, it's hard not to attract attention." Chen Wan sighed, but she knew their team's strength was quite good.
Instead of overthinking, it was better to deal with things as they came.
"True, but there's nothing we can do. This trip to the base is dangerous, and we don't know how long we'll be there, so we have to bring the baby," Jiang Yanxin said after some thought.
"Don't worry, with so many of us, nothing will happen," Qin Ke chimed in.
"Yeah, let's talk about it when we get there tomorrow. For now, let's walk around this street and see what we can find," Chen Wan said, leading the way into a nearby hardware store.
Chen Wan scanned the store, noticing that anything useful had been taken, leaving only a few long-handled pliers, screws, nails, and some wire.
Yi Yi glanced around and started picking things up.
"Come help, these nails and wires can be used to repair Yan Yan's new body. I mentioned before that creating a detailed body consumes a lot of metal. We might as well take what we find back to the RV; we'll need it eventually."
Qin Ke was the first to rush to the wire section, grabbing all the rolls she could carry.
Chen Wan and Jiang Yanxin filled a large bag with all the nails, screws, and some tools that Chen Wan couldn't identify.
With four people working quickly, they only had to make one trip to the RV, and the store was nearly empty.
They then entered a 24-hour convenience store, which was even more picked clean than the hardware store.
After a quick look around, they left.
Chen Wan sighed, looking at the others."It seems the supplies in Funan City have been mostly scavenged. Even the small town shops have nothing left."
"Probably people like us passing through to the base," Yi Yi explained.
"Let's keep looking. If we don't find anything, we'll head back to the RV."
They checked two more restaurants, finding them mostly empty, but managed to grab two kitchen knives, some whetstones, a couple of packs of toilet paper, a few bottles of unopened shampoo, two boxes of sugar cubes, and a box of instant coffee sticks.
Chen Wan took everything.
As they walked and chatted, they decided to search the entire street since they were already out.
They entered a small clinic, where the medicine shelves were empty, but there were still plenty of IV saline and glucose bottles, along with disposable IV tubes.
Chen Wan figured these were left because they were inconvenient to carry.
"Not a wasted trip after all. Let's take these; they might come in handy later. Especially the glucose, which can be drunk as water," Chen Wan said, knowing they still had space in the RV.
They quickly loaded the saline, glucose, and IV tubes into the RV's storage space.
Despite not finding much of use, they were back in the RV in less than an hour.
Yang Yang hadn't watched many cartoons before her moms returned, and she happily ran to Jiang Yanxin for a hug.
After a simple dinner and consuming some crystal cores, everyone rested, except for Yi Yi, who didn't need sleep and stayed upstairs.
Chen Wan woke up at around six, as usual, relying on her biological clock.
After getting up, she realized the RV was moving.
She quickly washed up and went out to find Yi Yi driving, with Qin Ke just waking up and washing up outside.
Chen Wan started making a big pot of eight-treasure porridge while asking Yi Yi, "When did you start driving?"
Yi Yi replied while driving, "I don't need sleep, so I started at five when it got light—We'll reach the place in three hours, by nine."
"Great, I'll heat the porridge, and we can eat something before checking out the situation at the Funan City base," Chen Wan said, stirring the porridge to prevent it from sticking.
"The base is in the city center. I plan to park the RV in the north of Funan City, and then we'll find a car to drive to the base," Yi Yi explained her plan to Chen Wan.
"Sounds good. We need to find a safe place for the RV; it's our lifeline," Chen Wan said while stirring the porridge.
"Don't worry, I'll find a discreet spot. I'm reliable in this," Yi Yi assured with a smile.
By the time Qin Ke came out, breakfast was ready.
Even Jiang Yanxin and Yang Yang were up early.
Jiang Yanxin had been worried about her parents and sister since last night.
The closer they got to finding out their family's situation, the more anxious she felt.
So when Chen Wan got up, Jiang Yanxin woke up too.
Sitting on the bed, she thought for a while, feeling more and more uneasy.
She decided to wake Yang Yang, who was still sleepy, but obediently went to wash up with her mom.
After washing up, Yang Yang was back to her usual energetic self, though she pouted when she saw Yi Yi driving.
She wanted Yi Yi to play with her because Yi Yi was more talkative than Mom, Mommy, and Aunt Qin Ke.
After breakfast, it was only seven in the morning.
Chen Wan sat in the passenger seat, watching the road ahead.
Thanks to special military measures, there were no abandoned vehicles on the road, and only a few scattered zombies posed no threat.
Two hours later, they reached the northern part of Funan City.
Yi Yi parked the RV in a small, inconspicuous neighborhood with only four buildings, not right by the street, making the RV less noticeable.
Each adult carried a backpack, with Chen Wan holding Yang Yang.
Qin Ke went to check the parked cars in the neighborhood, looking for one with gas to drive to the base.
The neighborhood was desolate, with rotting zombie and human corpses on the roads, emitting a foul stench.
Such scenes were common in the apocalypse, and Chen Wan and the others were used to it.
However, Yang Yang, seeing the outside, was reminded of bad memories and buried her small, trembling body in Chen Wan's arms.
Chen Wan gently patted Yang Yang's back, comforting her softly, "Don't be scared, sweetheart. I'm here, and we'll be fine, okay?" Yang Yang nodded obediently, knowing that making noise outside would attract danger.
She remembered a time when she cried loudly, and Mammy almost abandoned her.
The fear of being left behind was deeply ingrained in her small heart.
Although she wasn't afraid of Chen Wan in the RV, the specific environment brought out her inner fear, making her stay quiet.
Qin Ke had already started the SUV and waved to Chen Wan and the others.
Chen Wan, holding Yang Yang, and Jiang Yanxin sat in the back, while Yi Yi switched places with Qin Ke, letting her sit in the passenger seat for easier driving.
The three of them moved quickly, driving the SUV out of the northern road and onto the highway heading to the city center.
Chen Wan kept looking out the window, silently memorizing the layout of Funan City.
Qin Ke did the same, their previous professions making them more vigilant.
Jiang Yanxin also watched the scenery outside in silence, and even Yi Yi unusually refrained from speaking.
Yang Yang, nestled in Chen Wan's arms, kept her head down, only daring to rest her face against Chen Wan's chest, staying quiet.
Mammy finally liked her, and she didn't want to be abandoned again.
Half an hour later, Yi Yi drove the car into the safe zone located in the city center of Funan City.
As soon as they entered the street, they saw at least a hundred survivors lined up in front of the safe zone gate.
Those driving had to hand over their vehicles to the military two hundred meters from the gate, where a checkpoint was set up, preventing vehicles from entering further.
The other side of the street was the same.
Yi Yi drove the car over, and sure enough, when they reached the checkpoint, someone gestured for everyone in the car to get out.
Chen Wan and the others didn't hesitate, and all got out.
However, the soldier was momentarily stunned upon seeing the five people getting out of the vehicle: two alphas, one beta, one Omega, and a small child, only a few years old.
The soldier was clearly puzzled about how such a group managed to survive in the apocalypse, and they were all so attractive.
Seeing the soldier staring at them, Chen Wan frowned and stepped forward, "Hello, is there a problem?"
"No, you can go line up. You need to pass the machine's safety check to officially enter the base," the soldier replied, a bit surprised that the woman in front of him showed no fear at all.
"Okay, thank you," Chen Wan thanked him, holding Yang Yang and leading the other three towards the long line.
The soldiers who had just conducted the security check whispered among themselves, "Just watch, there's bound to be trouble. They're brave, I'll give them that. If you ask me, looking so good, they might as well find a place nearby to stay. The safe zone isn't necessarily safe."
"Liu Zi, don't talk nonsense. If someone hears, you'll be punished," an older man quietly warned.
Liu Zi frowned and muttered again, "It's the truth. We low-level soldiers have to do a lot every day, but isn't the inside of the safe zone still a mess? Once they're in, who knows what will happen—I have to say something, or I won't feel right."