Deep in the night, the Milky Way stretched across the sky like a ribbon of woven silk, tearing through the darkness above, scattering brilliant light across the heavens.
Inside Zhao Yi's house, Ning Zhe sat bent forward in front of the oil lamp, winding the foot wraps around his legs, layer after layer, while speaking to Zhao Yi. "Once Xiao Xun and I head out, we'll probably be gone the whole night. I'm counting on you to look after the fat guy."
"Mm... take care of yourself out there, and be careful hunting." Zhao Yi's lips moved slightly, but in the end, that was all she managed to say. She wanted badly to tell Ning Zhe not to go, but the words never came out. Instead, she handed him a bundle, inside it the water and dried rations she'd been saving.
Though Ning Zhe was the finest hunter in the settlement, he'd always hunted during the day before, since the wasteland at night was simply too dangerous. Even the stronghold's transport convoys supposedly never dared travel after dark. But with the drought leaving the refugee zone nearly empty of game these days, the only way left to bring back anything worth having was to risk it at night.
"Xiao Xun, ready?" Once Ning Zhe finished binding his foot wraps, he glanced at Lin Xun, who, despite the wound in his leg, had insisted on coming along, too worried about Ning Zhe to stay behind.
"Give me two more minutes, almost done!" Lin Xun was busy sharpening his knife, and picked up the pace at Ning Zhe's words.
Meanwhile, at the mouth of the alley leading to Ning Zhe's house, several figures gathered beneath the starlight, conferring quietly among themselves.
Li Bin had witnessed Ning Zhe's berserk fury with his own eyes once already, and after the encounter with him the night before, he'd been thoroughly terrified, especially by that mysterious girl who'd opened fire on them, which had convinced him this whole business was far too dangerous. So tonight, he'd found an excuse to stay behind, and it seemed Xiao Qi, valuing his gun-making skills, hadn't pushed him to take the risk either, sending a young man named Meng Liang to lead the group instead.
"Brother Qi said, if we get this done tonight, everyone gets ten liters of water, a new set of winter clothes, and twenty jin of coarse rice!" Meng Liang, gripping his crudely made powder gun, gave the others their instructions in a low voice. "Once we find Ning Zhe, Wan Guangfa and I fire first. If I miss, Yu Deshui and Ma Youyan back us up. Liu Fengshui covers the rear. Everyone remember, Ning Zhe's dangerous with a blade. If all five guns come up empty, don't waste time reloading, just go straight into close combat with him. Understood?"
"Understood!"
The remaining four men nodded in unison.
"Move out! Let's take him down!" Meng Liang gave a slight wave and led the way into the alley.
"Heh heh heh!"
The moment Meng Liang stepped forward, a strange laugh drifted out from the darkness.
"What the hell! Who's playing tricks in the dark?" Meng Liang, his nerves already on edge, spun his gun around instantly, coming face to face with Jin Zhi, locked inside her house.
Beneath the silver moonlight, Jin Zhi's pale, gaunt face twisted into an eerie grin. "Come here, I've got something good to show you!"
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"Show your ass." Meng Liang, seeing now that Jin Zhi wasn't in her right mind, stepped past her and glanced back over his shoulder. "Everyone move faster, let's finish this quick."
"Brother Meng, something's off! There's something up ahead!" One of the men behind him stopped in his tracks, eyeing the darkness ahead with alarm.
He didn't even need to say it. Meng Liang had already sensed something wrong himself, because from the darkness of the alley ahead came a series of heavy, ragged breaths, and that breathing seemed to be drawing closer, without a single footstep to accompany it.
Two seconds later, points of dim green light began to surface in the darkness, and massive shapes gradually emerged, closing in on the group.
"Damn it! It's a wolf pack! How the hell are there wolves here in the settlement?!" Meng Liang stared at the hulking wolves filling the alley, each one nearly the size of a young calf, his whole body starting to shake violently.
"Tramp, tramp!"
No one answered Meng Liang's question. Wan Guangfa, the quickest to react among them, had already turned and bolted. Warped by radiation, countless species across this world had changed beyond recognition, and wolves, once known for their cunning and ferocity, had grown even more powerful and massive now, their sharp intelligence paired with brutally strong bodies, making them nearly impossible to overcome.
Just as Wan Guangfa was about to reach the mouth of the alley, his body froze in place, his shoulders trembling violently.
Because on the other side of the alley, just as many pairs of glowing green eyes had appeared, flickering in and out of the darkness like will-o'-the-wisps, rising and falling in the gloom.
Suddenly, unable to contain its killer instinct any longer, a young wolf lunged straight at Wan Guangfa.
"Crack!"
In that split-second moment between life and death, Wan Guangfa pulled the trigger almost purely on instinct.
Flame burst from the barrel, and the iron shot inside, driven by the force of the gunpowder, sprayed outward in a wide, scattering net.
Deep in the alley, Ning Zhe and Lin Xun had just stepped out the door when the deafening blast reached them, startling even Zhao Yi. "What was that? Is that earthquake coming back again?"
"That's not an earthquake, that's a gunshot!" Hearing the report, Ning Zhe's expression turned serious at once. He didn't know how to use a gun himself, but he'd run into plenty of bandits while hunting before, and that particular sound belonged to the kind of crude weapon bandits commonly carried.
"Have these bandits lost their minds? How would they dare come into the settlement?" Lin Xun had recognized the gunshot too now, his eyes going wide with disbelief.
Though there was no law in the refugee zone, bandits were a priority target for the stronghold's forces, since these lawless men with no restraints of any kind constantly raided the city's transport convoys, which carried supplies vital to the strongholds between the mining sites and the walls, always under heavy guard. Even a single successful raid represented a massive, unbearable loss for the stronghold.
Over the years, the stronghold had launched campaign after campaign against the bandits, wiping out wave after wave of them outside the walls, but in an age like this, there was always someone desperate enough to risk everything just to survive.
Given the massive gap in equipment and numbers, bandits carried a bone-deep fear of the military, which was exactly why, in Ning Zhe and Lin Xun's minds, it had seemed unthinkable that any of them would dare cause trouble inside the settlement itself.
"Howl!"
Right after that, a deep, mournful howl tore through the air, echoing endlessly through the chaotic alleys under the night sky, as though it could rip the darkness itself apart.
"A wolf's howl!" Lin Xun's eyes went wide instantly. "How the hell would those beasts end up here?"
"Get the fat guy and Xiao Yi up on the roof, now! You and I are going to sneak over and take a look!" Ning Zhe had no idea why a wolf pack would appear here, but having already resolved to risk his life hunting tonight regardless, the decision came to him instantly.
At the mouth of the alley, Wan Guangfa stood gripping his still-smoking powder gun, watching the young wolf he'd shot stagger back to its feet, his entire body trembling like a leaf.
"Howl! Aaaooo!!"
A mother wolf, seeing blood covering her pup, arched her body at once, the fur along her back bristling upright, her lips curling back in a low, rumbling snarl.
Wan Guangfa's actions had enraged her beyond any doubt.
"Aaaooo! Aaaooo!"
More howls answered from the distance.
The cries blended together, rising from every direction, and by the sound of it, impossible to count.