Settling on a Development Plan

Night had fallen.

The zoo base's high walls blocked out the wilderness, while several campfires and emergency lights shone inside.

The command center door opened, and Old Joey left.

Inside, a lone emergency light buzzed, illuminating Lynn and casting his shadow on the wall hung with maps.

Lynn stood before the large zoo map.

He noted the situation Old Joey had reported: thirty-one people, twenty days of food.

Antibiotics were almost gone.

There were fresh digging marks at the foot of the southeastern wall, and a warehouse five kilometers away had suffered a fire.

There were tracks from modified vehicles and fresh shell casings on the southwestern state highway.

Someone had been watching from the edge of the woods three days ago.

The walkers' roars in the northern woods were growing denser, drawing closer.

The pressure to survive was immense!

Lynn opened the system interface.

A dark blue screen unfolded in his mind:

[Survival Points: 3,200]

[Team Creation Authorization (6-8 members) x 1]

[Item Storage: 9mm pistol ammunition x 500 rounds, 5.56mm rifle ammunition x 300 rounds...]

He redeemed the following:

[Basic Antibiotic Production Blueprint (includes simple equipment schematics)]: 800 points

[High-Efficiency Multivitamin Tablets (1,000 tablets)]: 200 points

[Water Filter Cartridge Set (heavy-duty, 10-ton capacity)]: 150 points

[Military-Grade Individual Rations (24-hour portions x 50)]: 300 points

[Infrared Night-Vision Binoculars (basic model)]: 150 points

[Tactical Medical Kit (contains battlefield hemostatic agents, sutures, potent antibiotic injections x 5)]: 250 points

[Simple Trap and Early-Warning Device Design Collection]: 100 points

[Crash-Course Manual for Basic Combat and Melee Weapons (digital, printable)]: 50 points

[Redemption complete! Items have been delivered to system storage!]

Points remaining: 1,200.

Lynn took out the water filter cartridges, vitamin tablets, military rations, and tactical medical kit, placing them in a shadowed corner of the command center.

He kept the night-vision binoculars and left the team authorization unused for now. He needed to plan first, determine what kind of team he needed, then summon them.

He walked to the table, picked up a pencil and a discarded brochure, and began writing on its reverse:

"Atlanta Zoo Base Survival and Development Outline (First Draft)"

I. Core principles:

Survival first: all actions must center on safeguarding the lives of every member.

Resource control: core resources, including food, water, fuel, medicine, weapons, and ammunition, will be centrally registered and uniformly rationed.

Distribution according to work: those who work more receive more, with additional rewards for outstanding contributions.

Order and discipline: establish clear base rules (to be issued separately). Violations will be punished according to severity, ranging from halved rations to expulsion.

Establish a provisional adjudication group consisting of Lynn, Davis, Zhao Jinghong, Min-seon (medical), and Old Joey (logistics).

Defense first: wall defenses take the highest priority. Establish round-the-clock lookout and patrol shifts.

II. Responses to current crises:

Food crisis (priority: extremely high):

Increase supply: immediately expand the experimental plots beside the artificial lake, under Hershel's guidance once his condition recovers, with Maggie, Beth, Carol, and everyone with farming experience participating.

Prioritize fast-growing vegetables, such as radishes and lettuce, and high-calorie tuber crops, such as potatoes.

Meanwhile, organize a small, capable team of three to five people centered on Daryl and Glenn. Under cover from Davis or Zhao Jinghong, explore town outskirts, small supermarkets, and food warehouses within five to ten kilometers east and south of the base.

Targets: canned goods, sealed food, and viable seeds.

Operational principles: stealth, speed, and avoidance of firefights.

Reduce consumption: implement strict food rationing effective immediately.

Set standard ration quantities, with specific amounts to be calculated and announced by Min-seon and Old Joey based on stocks and population.

Private food hoarding is strictly prohibited. All meals will be prepared in a communal kitchen to reduce waste.

Medicine shortage (priority: extremely high):

Core measure: under Dr. Min-seon's leadership, with Lynn providing some key materials and technical support (referring to the blueprint), attempt to establish a simple antibiotic extraction/synthesis workbench at the medical station.

Add the required specialized equipment and chemical reagents to the high-risk exploration list.

Exploration: another core objective for the exploration team will be pharmacies, clinics, veterinary stations, and hospital outskirts. Avoid venturing deep into the city center.

Prioritize collecting antibiotics, painkillers, disinfectants, suturing materials, and medications for chronic conditions if any members need them.

Stockpiling: all collected medicines, regardless of type, must be registered and stored by Min-seon, with their use strictly controlled.

External threats (priority: high):

Intelligence: the Jackal (watchtower), Davis (patrols), and Zhao Jinghong (perimeter reconnaissance) will closely monitor the surroundings, particularly the southwest, toward the state highway, and the north, where the walker herds are showing unusual activity.

Record any suspicious vehicles, signs of human activity, and the size and movement direction of walker herds.

Use the newly issued infrared night-vision binoculars. Lynn took them out and placed them on the table.

Strengthen defenses: Old Joey will immediately organize workers, including noncombatants capable of physical labor, to carry out the following:

Reinforce the foot of the southeastern wall where fresh digging marks were discovered, bury barbed wire deep, and install simple vibration/sound alarms according to the new schematics.

Build a second line of simple breastworks or cover at key points inside the walls, such as gates, corners, and weak spots.

Use scrapped vehicles, barbed wire, and wooden stakes to create more obstacle zones outside the walls along key approaches, slowing walker and vehicle charges.

Inventory and maintain all weapons and ammunition. Store them centrally in the armory, a designated secure animal enclosure. Combat personnel will draw them as needed and return them immediately after missions.

Combat readiness: all combat personnel, roster to be determined, will undergo refresher training in basic combat skills and emergency drills, overseen by Davis and Zhao Jinghong.

Focus drills on wall-based defense, squad coordination, close combat using the new manual, and emergency evacuation plans.

Internal integration (priority: medium-high):

Clear division of labor: assign specific duties according to individual abilities, experience, and physical condition, including combat, patrols, exploration, farming, logistical maintenance, medical assistance, and childcare.

Announce assignments at tomorrow's meeting.

Build consensus: at tomorrow's general meeting, Lynn will explain the base's current situation, crises, rules, and future, emphasizing the necessity of unity, discipline, and contribution.

Special attention: incorporate Shane into the combat roster, but place him directly under Davis initially and clearly define the boundaries of his duties.

Develop Daryl as a core reconnaissance and tracking specialist.

Merle requires strict monitoring. He may be assigned higher-risk perimeter trap-setting or salvage work involving dismantling.

Min-seon and Lori, given her nursing background, should pay extra attention to Hershel's, Carol's, and Beth's psychological recovery.

Carol, Lori, and female members in better condition will be responsible for basic care and simple education for Carl and Sophia, including hygiene and recognizing danger.

III. Short-term development goals (one to two weeks):

Extend food reserves to more than thirty days.

Establish an initial capacity to produce antibiotics or secure a stable supply channel.

Complete secondary wall reinforcement and early-warning system installation.

Identify the main threats within ten kilometers of the base, including raider strongholds and large walker herd locations, as well as the distribution of resource sites.

Stabilize internal order, clarify duties, and secure members' basic acceptance of the base rules.

Lynn finished the outline and set down his pencil.

Dawn began to break, and movement stirred within the base.

Zhao Jinghong finished his patrol and stood with his gun a short distance outside the command center door.

Lynn picked up an empty food can and an iron rod, then walked to the doorway.

He struck the can. "Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Then he shouted, "Attention, everyone! Assemble in the central square in fifteen minutes! General meeting!"

His voice carried.

People woke to the sound or heard it, and the sounds of people getting up came from the communal dormitory.

In the medical station, Min-seon rubbed between her eyebrows, and Rick tried to sit up.

In a warehouse compartment, Hershel's eyes moved slightly.

In a small cabin, Carol woke Sophia.

Beside the campfire, Shane raised his head and looked over.

Daryl emerged from the shadows, with Merle following behind him, yawning.

Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, Dale, and the others came out of their quarters.

A new day had begun at the zoo base.