Out on the wasteland, a wound didn't always get infected, but once it did, it was almost always fatal.
Ning Zhe had seen too many fellow hunters injured during a hunt, only to watch the wound slowly turn inflamed, then fester, until it finally took their life.
Having antibiotics on hand didn't guarantee safety, but it at least improved the odds of survival.
Word had it that in certain distant strongholds, stronghold residents actually opened shops just outside the walls, offering refugees somewhat better treatment, letting them trade labor for money, then selling them cheaply-made goods at inflated prices to keep them perpetually in debt. But Stronghold 87 sat in a remote, harsh region, and its people had no need for such schemes at all, since refugees here truly couldn't survive without them. All it took was a trickle of food and water to keep an entire population bound tight.
As for whether other strongholds sold medicine, Ning Zhe only knew this secondhand. Refugees like them, with no maps to guide them, had no realistic way of crossing hundreds or even thousands of kilometers to reach another stronghold. Setting aside whether he even had the money, or whether he could actually find another stronghold selling medicine, even if such a possibility existed, the chubby young man and Lin Xun likely couldn't wait that long.
With no medicine to be found at the North Market either, Ning Zhe felt his frustration mounting. If he ranked the refugee zone's scarcest resources, medicine would probably rank ahead of even water and vegetables.
Turning it over in his mind, Ning Zhe realized his only real hope left was Su Fei. This mysterious warden had not only found Zhuo Mingyuan a way into the city, but had also injected him with that strange restorative fluid. Since receiving that treatment, this was the first time Ning Zhe hadn't felt utterly wrecked after one of his episodes.
If Su Fei had access to IV equipment, surely getting hold of antibiotics wouldn't be too difficult for him either.
Ning Zhe barely knew Su Fei, and every time they'd met so far, it had been Ning Zhe asking him for help. Constantly troubling someone like this would undoubtedly look shameless, but with the chubby young man's life hanging in the balance, saving him seemed to leave no other option.
Just as Ning Zhe made up his mind, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to shake.
At first, Ning Zhe thought his illness was flaring up again, causing the dizziness, but he quickly realized something was wrong, because the oil lanterns throughout the North Market were swaying violently too.
"Rumble!"
The next instant, a deafening, muffled roar seemed to erupt from beneath the earth itself, and white flashes of light flickered along the distant horizon.
The tremors grew even more violent after that. The buildings near the North Market began to shudder, bricks and stone crashing down from rooftops.
"Holy hell! Why's the sky turning purple?" The disabled man, seeing this, stared wide-eyed with fear. "Is some kind of monster showing up or something?"
"Earthquake! It's an earthquake! Get away from here! Away from the wall! Move!" Seeing the sudden, strange omen, Ning Zhe bolted without hesitation toward the open ground beyond. He'd never experienced an earthquake himself, but Old Man Lin had once told him about the phenomenon, one of the great natural disasters of the old world.
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"A what?" The man, watching Ning Zhe race off, asked in a daze.
"Run!" Ning Zhe shouted the warning again, already dozens of meters away.
"Rumble!"
Under the violent shaking, some of the makeshift plank-board houses in the distance had already collapsed, screams and wails rising up throughout the crowd. For refugees with no education, a scene this far beyond their understanding was more than enough to leave them utterly helpless.
"Fwip!"
"Fwip!"
At the same time, the searchlights along the stronghold's walls flared to life all at once, sirens blaring and alarms wailing from inside the city.
"Thud!"
The chaotic, low-frequency motion of the earthquake sent Ning Zhe's dizziness surging even worse. Just as he reached the open ground, his body pitched forward and slammed to the earth. Out in the shantytowns in the distance, people were already startling awake and rushing outdoors.
The earthquake struck fast and passed just as quickly. Within a mere fifteen seconds or so, the ground fell still once more.
"Attention, all residents. This is the Stronghold 87 Administrative Center. The following is an emergency broadcast."
"The earthquake that just occurred originated some distance from Stronghold 87. We were only affected by the aftershocks."
"All Fire Department and Public Safety Bureau personnel have already been deployed. If your neighbors are trapped beneath rubble, please call the Public Safety Bureau's emergency line."
"Aftershocks often follow an earthquake, and conditions may continue to worsen. To guard against further tremors, please do not remain inside any structures. Make your way to open ground as quickly as possible. The Administrative Center has already opened emergency shelters at parks and stadiums throughout the city."
"If you find yourself trapped beneath rubble and unable to escape, try to free your hands and feet, clear away whatever is pressing down on you, and cover your nose and mouth as soon as possible to avoid suffocating on dust and smoke. Stay calm and clear-headed. Do not shout for help loudly. Instead, try knocking on something with a stone or piece of metal to signal your location to others outside. Conserve your strength to extend how long you can hold out..."
"..."
Inside the stronghold, the broadcast continued without pause, but it was meant only for the residents inside the walls. No one gave any thought at all to whether the refugees outside lived or died.
Once the tremors had settled, Ning Zhe picked up his pace, racing back toward home. Everywhere he looked, collapsed houses littered the ground, though all of them were the flimsiest of shacks. The brick-and-stone buildings still stood intact, which suggested the aftershock impact here hadn't been especially severe.
At the same time, in the courtyard of the Black Banner brothel, half-dressed men and women stood crowded together, shaken awake by the earthquake. Since the brothel sat fairly close to the stronghold wall, they too had been able to hear the broadcast from inside.
Xiao Qi stood at the courtyard gate, waving a hand at the customers gathered there. "You all heard that, right! There's been some kind of earthquake around here. Hell if I know what an earthquake even is, but it sounds dangerous enough. Everyone clear out!"
"Brother Qi, I haven't even gotten my pants off yet! You think you could refund me?" A balding middle-aged man, hearing this, looked at Xiao Qi with genuine heartbreak.
Before Xiao Qi could answer, one of the young men beside him drew a bone knife and stepped forward instead. "The hell? You're asking us for a refund? No money for that, but I've got a knife. You want a taste of that instead?"
"No, no! Forget it, my bad luck, that's all!" The middle-aged man shrank back, clutching at his trousers, and hurried off, colliding straight into Li Bin's group as they returned to the brothel.
"So, how'd it go? Did you get it done?" Xiao Qi, noticing the group had come back with only a third of the men they'd left with, narrowed his eyes and asked.
"Boss, something went wrong. We failed." Before Li Bin could answer, the young man who'd worked alongside him spoke up first. "We nearly had Ning Zhe in our grasp, but someone suddenly showed up and blocked us! And that group, they had something that fired shots!"
"A gun?" Hearing this, Xiao Qi's face darkened at once. "How the hell does someone like Ning Zhe have a firearm?"