Three-Day Crash Course

Three-Day Crash Course

"Hm?"

Wang Tao rolled over and sat up.

He went to the window and slowly turned the radio's tuning dial.

"Static... Red Stone Survivor Base... static... providing water, food... static... safety... static... Repeat... Red Stone Survivor Base... static..."

"Red Stone Survivor Base..."

Wang Tao muttered to himself as he rubbed the stubble on his chin.

Judging by the name, it should be the survivor base in Red Stone County.

According to information the authorities had previously released online, since the incident had happened so suddenly and there had been little time to prepare, they had planned to build a survivor base in every city.

Yellow Wind City's survivor base was in Red Stone County.

They had chosen that location because there was a military unit there, as well as some defensive measures that could be put to use immediately.

However, infections had also broken out within the military during the first few days of the virus outbreak, throwing everything into chaos. Especially after communications had been cut off, Wang Tao had no idea whether the base in Red Stone County still existed.

Now that he had heard news about the Red Stone County base over the radio, Wang Tao was still very happy.

Since they could still broadcast over the radio, it meant they had probably managed to bring part of the situation under control.

But he had not heard anything about a counteroffensive or rescue efforts, which meant they were likely capable of protecting themselves for now—and nothing more...

No matter what, it was good news. It gave Wang Tao motivation, or perhaps a goal—at least so many survivors were still alive. How could he be the first to die?

"Static... static..."

After playing for a while, the radio went silent again. He did not know whether it had been deliberately shut off or whether something had gone wrong.

He hoped it was the former.

After silently offering a prayer, Wang Tao turned on the walkie-talkie again.

Much like the radio, the walkie-talkie was turned on once every night. But while he had at least heard broadcasts from the radio twice, the walkie-talkie had never picked up anything at all.

That was understandable. Without a relay station, civilian walkie-talkies only had a range of two or three kilometers. It was perfectly normal not to hear anything.

But perhaps his luck was good tonight. After hearing the radio broadcast, his walkie-talkie finally made a sound as well! "Static... this is... static... Shui Ze University... Survivor Base... static... if received, please respond... if received, please... static..."

Wang Tao's eyes lit up as he listened to the intermittent voice.

Shui Ze University was a nearby school, roughly five kilometers from Happiness District. From the sound of it, had someone established a survivor base inside Shui Ze University? Shui Ze University had only been built in recent years. It was located in a relatively remote area with few residents, though it was close to Yellow Wind Film City, and many college students often went there for part-time jobs.

Wang Tao had visited Shui Ze University a few times. His impression had been neither good nor bad; it was just an ordinary school.

There was also a public security military company of several dozen soldiers near Shui Ze University. If those soldiers had not suffered large-scale infections or deaths, they should have been capable of establishing a small survivor base...

Wang Tao held down the walkie-talkie's PTT button.

"I received it. I received it."

Wang Tao did not reveal any detailed information about himself. He did not know what the situation was like over there, so it was better to stay cautious.

But his words received no response.

"Static... Shui Ze University... base... if received... respond... repeat..."

"I received it, I received it, I received it."

Wang Tao repeated himself several times, but after waiting for a while, there was still no response from the other side.

"Could my walkie-talkie's power be too low?"

Wang Tao immediately felt a little frustrated.

The principle behind walkie-talkie communication could be simply understood as a person at the center broadcasting signals in all directions. In the same terrain, the higher the power, the farther the signal could travel.

The four walkie-talkies Wang Tao had scavenged from Room 602 were all ordinary civilian models, with a communication range of perhaps two or three kilometers. The walkie-talkie at Shui Ze University, on the other hand, might have been a high-power model with a range exceeding five kilometers.

In other words, their signal could travel far enough to reach Wang Tao's walkie-talkie, allowing him to hear them.

But Wang Tao's walkie-talkie had a weak signal and could not transmit that far, so they could not receive what he said.

That was pretty damn frustrating. Wang Tao had wanted to learn about the situation of other survivors.

After trying several more times and confirming that communication was impossible, Wang Tao shook his head.

"Time to sleep!"

Though neither signal allowed for communication, it was still good news. At least it showed humanity had not gone extinct...

Wang Tao slept better that night than he had in days.

The next day.

Wang Tao woke up after six. Just as he finished washing up, he heard someone knocking outside.

When he opened the door, it was Ding Yuqin. She had come to make breakfast for Wang Tao.

After Wang Tao exercised briefly, Ding Yuqin finished preparing the food. Once she confirmed he had no further instructions, she went back. Wang Tao did not ask her to stay for breakfast either. After all, they had agreed that he would only provide her with one meal.

After eating, Wang Tao began putting on his equipment.

He suddenly felt that getting dressed alone was indeed slow, but he could not be bothered to call Ding Yuqin over. Once he was fully equipped, Wang Tao went down to the second floor and knocked on Apartment 202's door.

"You're here, little brother! Come in!"

Balding Uncle hurriedly opened the door for Wang Tao.

Wang Tao had previously said he wanted to learn all of this locksmith's skills, but he had been too busy over the last two days, so it had been delayed.

Now that he had scavenged Room 601, his food supply was temporarily more sufficient. He planned to learn all the lockpicking skills first, then deal with the zombies in 101 and 102.

The principles of lockpicking were not difficult, especially with an experienced teacher guiding him step by step. The main thing was practice; only by practicing more could one become more proficient.

Wang Tao seemed to genuinely have a talent for it, and he learned quite quickly. Balding Uncle kept praising him for his talent, saying that he himself had needed two weeks of study before he was qualified. At Wang Tao's current pace, another two days would probably be enough.

And things turned out much as Balding Uncle had said. Wang Tao spent another two days on it, and together with his earlier study time, he had learned all of Balding Uncle's lockpicking skills in just three days, including key-cutting—Balding Uncle had a small key-cutting machine at home, which Wang Tao traded some food for.

"Your learning ability is incredible! I have nothing left to teach you now. What comes next is practice. Practice is more important than theory..."

Balding Uncle sighed with emotion.

"Haha, thanks for the past two days, Uncle!"

Wang Tao smiled as he thanked him.

Of course, he was not merely saying it. He also gave Balding Uncle quite a bit of food, making it a fair exchange.

"Helping each other!" Balding Uncle smiled at first, then suddenly looked melancholy. "I hope my wife and child can meet a good person like you too..."

Wang Tao did not know how to respond to being given the good-guy card. Curious, he asked:

"Where is your family?"

Balding Uncle took out a family photo from his pocket and gently stroked it.

"They went back to the countryside to visit relatives. The countryside is far safer than the city! Before the internet went down, my wife talked to me. She said there were hardly any people in their village, so naturally there were not many zombies either. They were safe hiding at home... Sigh, I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to see them again..."

Was the countryside really safe...? Wang Tao encouraged him:

"Of course you'll have the chance!"