Chapter 129: The Corpse Tide in the South
Wu Fan was studying a map when a knock sounded at the office door.
Atlanta's walkers had been almost completely cleared out.
The few that remained were scattered across the city like mosquitoes at the end of autumn—every one killed meant fewer left to hunt.
Points were still increasing, but only slowly.
Painfully slowly.
Like an ox cart struggling uphill.
It was time to find a new source of walkers.
The door opened.
Amy stepped inside.
She wasn't carrying any documents, and her expression seemed unusually serious.
"Paul is here."
"He says he wants to speak with you."
Wu Fan set down his pen.
"Problems with teaching?"
"No."
Amy shook her head.
"He said he wants to tell you personally."
Wu Fan leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette.
"Send him in."
---
Paul entered a moment later.
There was a trace of hesitation in his movements.
He wore a set of gray work clothes. His hair had grown longer than when he first arrived, and a layer of stubble covered his face.
Rather than a schoolteacher, he looked more like a laborer returning from a construction site.
Standing before the desk, he seemed unsure of what to do with his hands.
Eventually, he straightened up and pressed them against the seams of his pants.
"Boss."
"Sorry to bother you."
His voice sounded strained.
Wu Fan opened a drawer, took out a pack of cigarettes, and offered him one.
"Smoke?"
"Thank you."
Paul accepted it and pulled a cheap plastic lighter from his pocket.
Click.
Nothing.
Click.
Still nothing.
After several attempts, a few sparks appeared, but the cigarette remained unlit.
Wu Fan slid his own lighter across the desk.
Paul accepted it gratefully.
A moment later, he exhaled a stream of smoke and visibly relaxed.
"Go ahead."
"What do you need?"
Wu Fan got straight to the point.
Paul hesitated briefly before speaking.
"I'd like to transfer."
"I want to do something that helps expand the base."
Before Wu Fan could respond, he hurriedly added:
"There are already a lot of educated survivors here now."
"University graduates."
"Former teachers."
"There are enough people to teach the children."
"I want to do something more useful."
---
Wu Fan remained silent.
His fingers tapped lightly against the armrest.
Paul wasn't the first person to request a transfer.
Last month, a cook from the cafeteria had come asking to join a construction crew because he used to work in building maintenance.
A woman from the laundry department had requested a position at the hospital because she had been a nurse before the apocalypse.
Ordinarily, Wu Fan simply told people to find replacements before changing jobs.
But Paul was different.
In the original story, this man had survived situations that should have killed him.
Even after suffering a serious abdominal injury, he managed to escape a room full of walkers.
Whether it was luck, determination, or talent, he was someone worth cultivating.
"Where do you want to go?"
Wu Fan asked.
Paul immediately looked up.
A spark appeared in his eyes.
"I heard Sean's team is short-handed."
Wu Fan was quiet for a moment.
Then he extinguished his cigarette.
"Fine."
"Go work with Sean for a while."
"If you don't like it, you can always come back and teach."
Relief flooded Paul's face.
He stood up immediately.
"Thank you, Boss."
After expressing his gratitude several times, he left.
His steps were noticeably lighter than when he had entered.
---
After the door closed, Wu Fan picked up his pen.
Next to the map, he wrote:
Fuel.
Then crossed it out.
Instead, he wrote:
Petroleum.
The base's fuel consumption was becoming alarming.
Tanks needed fuel.
Helicopters needed fuel.
Transport vehicles needed fuel.
Generators needed fuel.
Even fighter aircraft required aviation fuel.
Although he possessed tens of millions of points, constantly purchasing resources from the system was wasteful.
There were plenty of resources available in the real world.
Why spend points when those resources could simply be taken?
The daily fuel expense alone was enough to give him a headache.
Every shell fired.
Every bullet used.
Every rocket launched.
All of them consumed points.
Georgia's walker population had nearly been wiped out.
The remaining scattered walkers provided only a handful of points each.
Sometimes the reward wasn't even enough to cover the cost of the ammunition used to kill them.
At this rate, points would only decrease.
Eventually, even his reserves would run dry.
He needed oil.
Natural gas.
Resources that could be extracted from the ground and burned indefinitely.
---
Wu Fan opened the system interface.
A map of Florida appeared.
The Red Queen's surveillance network had already scanned the entire state.
Most cities were nearly empty.
Only scattered walkers remained wandering aimlessly through deserted streets.
Like lost ants searching for a nest that no longer existed.
Wu Fan frowned.
If Florida's cities were empty...
Then where had all the walkers gone?
"Red Queen."
"Display walker migration routes in Florida."
The image shifted instantly.
Wu Fan narrowed his eyes.
Along Florida's eastern coastline, from Jacksonville to Miami and across toward Naples, a vast gray-white mass stretched across roads, beaches, and coastal towns.
It resembled an enormous serpent slowly crawling northward.
As he zoomed in, countless tiny dots filled the screen.
Walkers.
Millions of them.
Five million.
Perhaps six million.
Possibly even more.
A moving ocean of corpses.
Relentless.
Unstoppable.
Marching north.
---
"Estimated arrival time at the Georgia border?"
Wu Fan asked.
The Red Queen immediately responded.
"Current movement speed: approximately eight to ten kilometers per day."
"Estimated arrival at the Georgia border: sixty-two days."
Wu Fan stared at the gray-white tide.
His finger slowly traced the route across the map.
Two months.
In just two months, millions of walkers would pour into Georgia.
They would flood toward Savannah.
Crash into the harbor.
Swarm across the coastal highways.
And test every section of wall that had yet to be reinforced.
Wu Fan extinguished his cigarette and walked toward the window.
Outside, darkness was beginning to fall.
Lights illuminated the town one by one.
Searchlights slowly swept across the walls in the distance.
For several moments, he stood silently.
Then he returned to his desk and picked up the phone.
"Send Jackie to my office."
---
Jackie arrived a short while later.
She was still carrying a measuring tape.
Her safety helmet sat crookedly on her head.
Breathing heavily, she stood before the desk.
"Boss."
"How is the Savannah wall progressing?"
Wu Fan asked.
Jackie immediately opened her notebook.
"The northern and western sections are mostly complete."
"The eastern section near the coast has only recently begun foundation work."
She pointed at several figures written in the notebook.
"We're short on materials."
"Concrete."
"Steel reinforcement."
"Wire mesh."
"Everything."
"Atlanta's construction projects are demanding resources too. Both sites are competing for the same supplies."
Wu Fan pushed the map toward her.
"Stop construction in Atlanta."
"Prioritize Savannah."
Jackie frowned.
Then she saw the map.
The color immediately drained from her face.
Five million walkers.
A massive gray tide stretching across Florida.
She tightened her grip on the measuring tape.
"Five million..."
Wu Fan nodded.
"Two months."
"Savannah will be the first line of defense."
"We need more workers."
"Three shifts."
"Twenty-four-hour construction."
"Every available resource goes here."
Jackie slowly nodded.
She closed her notebook.
"Understood."
---
She turned to leave.
But when she reached the door, she stopped.
For several seconds, she stood there without turning around.
Then she asked quietly:
"Boss..."
"Can we really stop them?"
Wu Fan didn't answer.
Jackie opened the door and left.
The office fell silent once again.
---
Wu Fan returned to his chair.
He stared at the tide of gray dots on the map.
Then he lit another cigarette.
Five million walkers.
More than the horde that had attacked the CDC.
But things were different now.
Last time, he had walls.
Artillery.
Tanks.
Fighter aircraft.
This time...
He still had all of them.
He opened the system interface and glanced at his balance.
29 million points.
More than enough.
Closing the panel, he picked up a red marker.
He circled Savannah on the map.
Then drew another circle around it.
And another.
Layer upon layer.
Like the rings of a tree.
---
A series of hurried footsteps approached from outside.
Knock.
Knock.
Amy poked her head through the doorway.
"Paul has already reported to Sean."
"He wants to know what position Paul should be assigned."
Wu Fan thought for a moment.
"Let him start with the outer team."
"When he's familiar with the work, Sean can decide where he fits best."
Amy nodded.
"Understood."
After she left, Wu Fan looked once more at the gray tide advancing from the south.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
Waiting for the horde to arrive was not his style.
Five million walkers?
Good.
That simply meant five million targets.
Long before they reached Savannah, helicopters and fighter aircraft would greet them from the sky.