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1. Coma

Zhao Xiaohe was lying on the operating table in the maintenance workshop on the third floor - it was made up of two worktables, with a layer of white cloth sterilized with iodophor spread on it.Su Lin used scissors to cut open her blood-stained coarse cloth coat, revealing her body underneath.

Lin Shuang stood aside, holding a kerosene lamp in his hand, and the light moved inch by inch on Zhao Xiaohe's body.Su Lin's fingers were checking her ribs, collarbone, and pelvis, pausing to feel the feedback under her fingertips every time she pressed them.

"The third and fourth ribs on the left side were fractured. It was not a new injury. It lasted about three to five days. The right shoulder joint was dislocated, which was also an old injury. Someone had reset it, but the technique was wrong and the joint capsule was still loose." Su Lin reported the injury while checking, her voice cold.She was quiet, but her brows were getting tighter and tighter, "Large area of soft tissue contusion, whip marks on the back, some scabbed, some still oozing. The burn area of the scalp is about 5%, superficial second degree. The most serious thing is dehydration - she has not drank water for at least two days."

"Can you wake up?" Lin Shuang asked.

"Yes. She is just exhausted and in pain shock, not comatose. Give her fluids and rest for a few hours, and she should be able to wake up." Su Lin took out the infusion set from the first aid kit - brought back from the Qingquan Town medical room, and two bottles of normal saline, "But I want you to help me."

Su Lin found the veins on the back of Zhao Xiaohe's hand - the blue blood vessels on the back of the skinny hand were as protruding as earthworms, making them easy to find.Lin Shuang raised the saline bottle while Su Lin inserted the needle into the blood vessel and fixed it with tape.

The liquid flowed into Zhao Xiaohe's body drop by drop.

Zhang Xiaomei walked in with a basin of warm water, dipped a towel in the water, and gently wiped the dirt on Zhao Xiaohe's face and hands.Her movements were very light, like wiping a piece of fragile porcelain.

"How old is this child?" Zhang Xiaomei asked.

"No more than twenty." Su Lin said, "Maybe even younger. Long-term malnutrition, growth retardation, and her true age cannot be seen."

Lin Shuang leaned against the wall, the light of the kerosene lamp casting bright and dark shadows on her face.Her eyes fell on Zhao Xiaohe's face - even in a coma, there was a tense expression on that face, as if he was ready to escape or fight at any time.

"She said 'save them'." Lin Shuang said, "The women in Qingquan Town were loaded into trucks and transported north. She asked me to rescue them."

Zhang Xiaomei’s hand stopped for a moment, and then continued to wipe.

"The north is the territory of the Reapers. I heard from the old man in Qingquan Town that the Reapers have a stronghold in the north, which is specially used to detain and resell people. That stronghold is in an abandoned mining area, with walls, sentries, and armed guards."

"Have you been there?" Lin Shuang asked.

"No. But a month before Qingquan Town was attacked, the town organized people to conduct reconnaissance to the north. I took two people and walked for five days to find the specific location of the mining area. Those two people... failed to come back. A reaper patrol found us outside the mining area. One was killed on the spot and the other was captured. I was the only one who escaped."Zhang Xiaomei put down the towel and took out a folded piece of paper from her pocket - not a map, but a hand-drawn sketch, which she drew on the back of the cigarette case with a ballpoint pen. "This is the terrain of the mining area. Surrounded by mountains on three sides, there is only one entrance and exit. There is a complex of buildings in the mining area, which were the original workers' dormitories and office buildings. The harvesters transformed it into a detention point."

Lin Shuang took the sketch and unfolded it under the kerosene lamp.

The layout of the mining area is very simple: a rectangular valley, about 800 meters long from east to west and about 400 meters wide from north to south.The entrance is on the south, a two-lane dirt road with steep hills on both sides.Inside the valley, the buildings are concentrated in the north, arranged in a "U" shape.To the south is an open area that may have been the original stockyard.

"How many guards are there?" Lin Shuang asked.

"It's not fixed. When I went there, there were about forty people, divided into three shifts. There were fewer sentries during the day and more at night. The weapons were mainly automatic rifles, and there were two light machine guns mounted on the commanding heights on both sides of the entrance. "

"How many people are being imprisoned?"

Zhang Xiaomei was silent for a moment: "I can't get close to the detention area, but from the outside, there are at least two hundred people. Most of them are women, and there are also a few children and elderly people."

Two hundred people.Forty armed guards.Terrain that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Lin Shuang folded the sketch and returned it to Zhang Xiaomei.

"We need more people."

"Where to find it?" Zhang Xiaomei smiled bitterly, "Qingquan Town is gone, and there is no second decent settlement within a radius of fifty kilometers. There are many people in the Free Market, but it is a neutral zone, and no one will risk their lives to save a group of strangers."

"Then cultivate it yourself." Lin Shuang said, "Rescue Zhao Xiaohe first, she may know more inside information. Then we make a plan - not three days, not a week, but a month. Within a month, we will build a factory base, train the people, and get the weapons and equipment in place. Then we will go north. "

Zhang Xiaomei looked at her: "A month? Are you sure the reapers won't transport all those two hundred people away within a month?"

"Not sure. But if we rush over now, we will only become the burial companions of those two hundred people." Lin Shuang's tone left no room for negotiation, "The first rule of survival in the wasteland - let yourself survive first, then you can be qualified to save others."

Zhang Xiaomei’s lips moved, wanting to refute, but in the end she said nothing.She knew what Lin Shuang said was right.There are only fourteen of them now, eight of whom have no fighting ability.To storm a stronghold with forty armed guards was to risk death.

Zhao Xiaohe moved on the operating table.Her eyelids trembled, as if she wanted to open them, but in the end they didn't.His lips moved and he made a slight breathy sound.

Su Lin leaned down to listen.

"What?"

Zhao Xiaohe said it again, this time a little louder, and all three women present heard it.

"My sister...is in the north...save her..."

Zhang Xiaomei reached out and held Zhao Xiaohe's cold fingers.

“What’s your sister’s name?”

"Zhao Xiaohe...no...my name is Zhao Xiaohe...my sister's name...is Zhao Dahe..."

No one laughed.In the wasteland, this simple name has more vitality than any poetic name.Big crops, small crops.Two weeds struggling to survive in the wasteland.

"We will save her." Zhang Xiaomei said, her voice was not loud, but she was very sure.

Zhao Xiaohe’s fingers clenched tightly in Zhang Xiaomei’s palm, and then relaxed again.She fell asleep again.

2. Early morning

Early the next morning, Lin Shuang called everyone to the first floor of the factory.

Thirteen people - except Zhao Xiaohe who was still lying on the third floor, everyone else came.The elderly, children, Su Lin, Zhang Xiaomei, and several middle-aged women brought back from Qingquan Town.They stood in a circle, some holding wooden sticks picked up from the ruins, some holding pots and pans picked up from the ruins, and some holding wrenches and hammers found in the factory tool room.

No one spoke.Everyone was looking at Lin Shuang.

Lin Shuang stood on a desk that was moved from the office. Her right arm was wrapped in a bandage - it was scratched by an iron sheet while helping Su Lin move medical equipment this morning. There were faint yellow stains on her face. There were dried dust and dried blood stains on her face, but her back was straight and her voice was clear and strong.

"My name is Lin Shuang. From today on, this is your home."

She paused and glanced at everyone.

"There is nothing in this home now. No walls, no doors, not enough food and water, no weapons, no beds, no quilts. The floor is cement, the roof is iron, it will be cold in winter and hot in summer. There are predators, mutant creatures, and radiation rain outside. "

The expressions on the faces of the old man and the child were known when they saw the ruins. Speaking out from Lin Shuang's mouth only made those expressions heavier.

"But," Lin Shuang's voice rose a little higher, "there is one thing in this family that is not found in other places - rules."

She took out a piece of paper from her pocket - torn from the notebook she brought back from Qingquan Town, and wrote a few lines with a ballpoint pen.She held the paper up for everyone to see.

"These are the stronghold's wasteland survival rules, three in total." She paused, "It's different from when I was alone. The first rule of a person is not to trust anyone. The first rule of a group of people is that they can only listen to one person."

"Article 1: Listen to me. In the matter of survival, there is no democracy, no voting, and no minority obeying the majority. I have the final say. Why? Because my decision can keep you alive. You can question it and discuss it after the fact, but in action, I leave when I say, stop when I say, stop when I say, and fight when I say."

No one refuted.These people who escaped from Qingquan Town know better than anyone what "democracy" means in the wasteland - it means hesitation, it means disagreement, it means that no one dares to make a decision at the moment when a decision needs to be made.

"Article 2: Distribution according to work. No one can get something for nothing. The older ones can do what they can - cooking, cleaning, taking care of children, and mending clothes. The younger ones have to go to school - not to learn mathematics and Chinese, but to learn survival skills. Those who can work, work eight hours a day, including but not limited to: gathering, hunting, construction, guarding, and training. "

"Article 3: Betraitors are expelled. Stealing, hiding, tipping off external forces, stabbing companions in the back - once these behaviors are verified, they will be immediately expelled from the stronghold without any supplies. There are no prisons in the wasteland, and there is no labor reform. Make mistakes and you will pay the price."

Lin Shuang folded the paper and stuffed it back into her pocket.

“Enough with the rules. Now let’s talk about the division of labor.”

She pointed at Su Lin.

"Su Lin, a medical student, is responsible for medical treatment, sanitation, and epidemic prevention. Everyone - including me - listens to her on medical issues. Take medicine when she says to take medicine, rest when she says to rest, and don't move if she says you can't move your legs. "

Su Lin stood in the crowd and puffed up her chest when her name was called.

Lin Shuang pointed at Zhang Xiaomei.

"Zhang Xiaomei, a retired scout, is responsible for guarding, training, and combat. She will teach you how to use knives, how to use crossbows, how to walk in the wasteland without making a sound, and how to observe the enemy's movements. Her orders are equally effective as mine in battle."

Zhang Xiaomei crossed her arms and nodded.

Lin Shuang pointed to Zhou Xiulan, Doudou’s grandmother, the white-haired but straight-backed old woman, “the president of the Qingquan Town Women’s Mutual Aid Association.”

"Zhou Xiulan is responsible for logistics. Food storage, material management, and personnel scheduling. She is in charge of food. She said that each person will be rationed half a biscuit today, which is half a cookie. She said that there will be an extra meal today, and that is an extra meal. "

Zhou Xiulan was stunned for a moment, then pursed her lips.She didn't refuse, but said one word in a hoarse voice: "Okay."

Lin Shuang pointed to several other women brought back from Qingquan Town.

"Li Xiufen, you are responsible for cooking. Zhang Guifang, you are responsible for collecting - the old man in Qingquan Town said you know wild vegetables and edible plants. Aunt Zhao, you are responsible for taking care of the children. Men - we don't have men. But we have three children, Doudou, Shitou, and Yaya. You three are responsible for growing up. Come and work when they grow up. "

Doudou stood next to Zhou Xiulan's legs. When she heard her name, she raised her head and looked at Lin Shuang with her big, black eyes.She hesitated and took out something from her pocket - it was a rag doll that Zhou Xiulan had sewn for her out of rags this morning. The stitches were crooked, but Doudou held it tightly, as if she was holding the whole world.

"I can work." Doudou said, her voice was not loud, but every word was spoken clearly, "I can make up for things.".Grandma taught me.I can mend clothes, mend...a lot."

Lin Shuang looked at her, and the coldness in his eyes relaxed for a moment, so fast that he could hardly see it.

"Okay.You are responsible for mending clothes.One piece is made up every day, and the salary is a piece of biscuit."

Doudou’s eyes lit up. Page (1/3)