The young man called Xiao Chen hurried to block Xie Ning and her mother. With a nervous look, he tried to persuade them, "Accountant Song, we all know what the situation is outside. We can't fight these monsters."
"I'm telling you, you should just wait here. The government won't abandon us. They'll definitely send the army to rescue us."
"If we rush out there recklessly, we'll only be running to our deaths. If we wait for the government to rescue us, we'll definitely survive."
Xie Ning gave him a cold look. "Get out of the way."
She understood the situation better than anyone.
It was true. The country had always prioritized saving lives. From the very beginning of the apocalypse, it had organized rescue efforts, trying to save as many people as possible.
The guiding principle was to not abandon a single living person, providing every victim with a certain level of aid.
But it was also true that some situations were simply beyond their reach.
After the great chaos erupted, no matter how quickly the higher-ups reacted, rescue missions always took time to organize personnel and supplies. It wasn't something that could be accomplished with words alone.
Moreover, the horde of corpses had erupted everywhere at the same time, giving no one enough time to prepare.
As a result... countless people died while trapped, unable to hold out for rescue.
'In her past life, Xie Ning had been just as naive, wanting only to wait for rescue, just sitting there waiting... and waiting... and waiting!'
'She'd cried and wailed, wondering why rescue hadn't come, but she never considered that in the face of disaster, everyone must first learn to save themselves.'
'Only self-rescue could carve out a path to survival!'
'Doing nothing and just waiting to die meant death, and nothing but death.'
When the great catastrophe struck, some people were killed by zombies. But far more died trapped in desperate situations with critically low resources—starving, dying of thirst, or even committing suicide in wave after wave of emotional breakdowns.
Xie Ning turned and gave the young man a deep look. "It's the fear of the unknown that truly makes people afraid."
"The truth is, if you don't go outside, you'll never know what the world has become."
"If you don't adapt to this world, you will eventually be eliminated by it." 'That was the cruel reality of it.'
Based on how things unfolded in her past life, the army wouldn't come to rescue Ai Jia Supermarket for at least seven grueling days.
Seven days. Seven days with no water, no electricity, and no food. By the time rescuers finally arrived, the survivors were completely broken.
'In fact, her mother had been dragged down to her death by this very group of colleagues!'
'Back then, there was a clear opportunity to escape the supermarket area before the rotting corpses gathered, but they insisted on making Mom hole up here with them to wait for rescue.'
That was why Xie Ning had absolutely no favorable impression of these people.
'Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... was waiting all their lives were about?'
She didn't want to waste any more breath on the young man, Xiao Chen. Clutching her mother's hand tightly, she strode toward the door.
"W-wait, I'll go with you!" Xiao Chen scrambled to follow them.
'For some reason, he had a gut feeling that it would be pretty safe to follow Accountant Song's daughter.'
'Accountant Song's daughter must have some training, right? The way she killed that zombie just now was so swift and efficient.'
Xie Ning turned to him with a cold expression. "A strapping young man like you would be better off on your own. Don't let two helpless women hold you back."
'She was well aware that with her current mediocre abilities, she'd be doing well just to protect herself and her mother.'
'And bring along a shifty-eyed kid?'
'Sorry, but even a pro couldn't carry this dead weight...'
"Hey, you! Don't go!" Xiao Chen started to shout, then hastily clapped a hand over his mouth.
He could only watch helplessly as the girl dragged Accountant Song out the door without a single glance back.
Xie Ning pulled her mother out of the office. Just as they reached the corner, they came face-to-face with a limping zombie.
"Old Wang?" Song You'ai covered her mouth.