Rotting Land: Survive

"What should we do then? Without the hand-held radio, it’s problematic to communicate with you inside and us outside!" Old Lin couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

There’s no doubt that shouting would be useless, not to mention startling the Japanese students, just those wandering around the school, the thousand starving beasts for half a year, would be enough for Old Xu and the others to handle.

Faced with Old Lin’s inquiries, Tang Xiaoquan couldn’t answer, because he hasn’t entered the school and conducted a physical investigation.

Asking him to pull a solution out of thin air wouldn’t only be irresponsible to the team but also pushing the frontline members into the fire pit.

However, Old Xu quickly came up with a solution: "Give me the telescope."

Though unsure of Old Xu’s intentions, Lin Junfu immediately grabbed the telescope on the seat and handed it to Old Xu.

Taking the telescope, Xu Renjie said nothing as he stood up and gazed into the distance. After observing for a while, his gloomy expression gradually unfolded and he turned around, clapping his hands and said, "Got it, look over there..."

Following Old Xu’s pointing direction, everyone looked afar.

"See the red brick building?"

"Yes, we see it!"

"OK, that’s the target teaching building! It’s 15 stories tall, and from our position, you can see the rooftop without using the telescope. Tonight, I’ll find a way to get to the rooftop and ignite a fabric strip as a communication signal. Hua Biao, Li Xiaoxin, keep an eye on it, I’ll use Morse code to communicate specific details. Light represents a dot, darkness represents a dash, and I’ll use the wall to block and complete signal transmission, understand?"

As special ops members, both Hua Biao and Li Xiaoxin had undergone spy training, so neither semaphore nor light signaling posed an issue for them.

This didn’t surprise Tang Xiaoquan and the others, but to Derek, who didn’t understand the team much, he was genuinely astonished by Old Xu’s idea.

He increasingly found the man in front of him strange; he can smile in the face of humiliation from Japanese students; swear to punish afterward; he can climb towering buildings and carefully tend to patients. Now he knows Morse code, something ordinary people wouldn’t pay attention to; is this person double-sided?

Just as Derek was speculating, Old Lin raised his query, "Old Xu, your method is indeed good. But do you have materials to ignite a fire?"

"I do!" The reason Old Xu dared to suggest this is based on the alcohol stove Demmi used for cooking yesterday.

"I might lack other stuff, but not alcohol, matches, and fabric."

"But won’t lighting these things draw the zombies’ attention?"

"It shouldn’t!" This time, it was Tang Xiaoquan who spoke: "The teaching building has 15 stories, as long as no sound comes from inside, zombies typically don’t look up."

Others might not care, but Tang Xiaoquan, fascinated with observing, had been closely watching zombie behavior and patterns since the apocalypse began.

According to his research over the last six months, he found zombies, in their "normal" state, usually roam fixed areas, and their vision is either level with their height or downward.

Unless something unusual happens, like a loud noise attracting them, they won’t look elsewhere.

Even so, Old Lin had nothing much to add; the internal and external communication was thus confirmed.

The next step was weaponry and equipment.

Regarding carrying firearms, they indeed debated for a while.

Ultimately, for safety reasons, Hua Biao would carry the 92 as intimidation.

"So, Tang, any other advice?"

"I do!" Surprisingly, Tang Xiaoquan gave a definite answer. And with a serious expression, everyone knew this matter was significant.

This made everyone curious, thinking if all aspects of a rescue had been considered, was there still an "unsolvable problem?"

"Quick, Tang, what else?" Old Lin impatiently asked.

Tang Xiaoquan took a deep breath, then exhaled heavily, like losing all strength: "What about the escape route?"

Without further words, Tang Xiaoquan uttered these simple seven words.

But upon hearing these seven words, Old Lin and the others exchanged glances, except for Xu Renjie, who seemed to have expected it.

Making it clear, Old Xu anticipated the young man would bring this up.

As a special ops commander leading his team behind enemy lines,

The primary consideration is retreat, because no matter how successful a mission is, if the team can’t safely withdraw, it’s meaningless.

And right now, the situation is very tricky with zombies around the campus, attempting a frontal assault, not to mention surviving students charging together, even if the whole 20-member Survivor Squad was supplemented and coordinated inside and out, breaking through a thousand-strong bloodthirsty formation is impossible.

So, not breaking through the main gate leaves Old Xu and the others with only the underground tunnel option.

Undoubtedly, the tunnel’s condition is fine, and after two confirmations, Old Xu believes using it as an escape route poses no issue.

But the challenge lies in how to deal with the towering 10-story building before entering the tunnel.

Keep in mind, usually this height acts as a barrier for students against campus zombies, but tonight, it’s an insurmountable gap for them to escape.

"That’s indeed a problem, Old Xu, Derek, we can climb the building but students surely can’t."

"Could we tie sheets to form a rope and lower students one by one?"

"But where to get so many sheets?"

"If not available, we can gather them. Rescuing doesn’t need urgency, once Japanese students are handled and control is regained over the school, we can take our time saving them."

"Exactly! Hua Biao is right, haha, I was caught in a fixed mindset. Truly, there’s no need to rush students out. Old Xu, let’s focus the mission on tonight’s assault. Deal with the Japanese students, then transport supplies up, letting students temporarily stay in the school, replenish their nutrition and energy, restoring their physical and mental strength. Meanwhile, we can use this time to prepare evacuation tools like ladders, climbing ropes, etc. Once everything’s ready, find a way to get the students out. What do you all think?" Incorporating opinions, Lin Junfu proposed his view.

And Old Lin’s suggestion was undoubtedly the most reliable choice for the rescue team right now.

So unsurprisingly, Old Lin’s proposal got unanimous approval.

Thus, all major issues concluded, afterward, the survivors discussed and drafted a specific action plan.

Then, Old Xu, Derek, and the support team including Hua Biao and Li Xiaoxin dispersed to the vehicles for rest, to conserve energy for tonight’s assault. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)