The first conflict after getting back together

Extreme cold affected humans and zombies alike. It all came down to who could tenaciously adapt to it and make use of it.

Gradually, more and more ability users began traveling in teams, forming small groups.

The stronger teams of ability users, unwilling to hand over the supplies they found, stopped relying on official aid for supplies while still using the shelter at the settlement. As a result, they had much more to go around.

Some ordinary people argued that the supplies obtained by ability users should be handed over for public use, but their demand was rejected.

After the two sides clashed, a class divide finally opened up between ability users and ordinary people.

The authorities did not say much about it either. This was only a temporary relief point, not a proper apocalyptic rescue base, and it had only basic rules. They could not force ability users to serve the public and could only ask them to donate voluntarily.

After all, although the ability users no longer handed things over, they no longer consumed relief supplies either, easing the burden on the entire settlement. As for the shelter, their presence there also boosted its combat strength, making it a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Under these circumstances, more ability users began gathering and banding together for warmth, hoping to live a little better.

It was only natural for people to look after themselves first in a predicament.

Someone had tried to recruit the Cheng Jing Team, but Cheng Jing had turned them down. He now spent the first half of the day providing his ability at the command office, then took the team out to search for supplies after lunch. Jiang Nian went out with them now too; after an adjustment period, he was no longer particularly afraid of the cold.

Cheng Jing had refused at first, and they had their first conflict since getting back together over it.

Jiang Nian felt that before the extreme cold, everyone had been scrambling, so he had stayed out of the way and quietly given Cheng Jing advice behind the scenes. Now that things had stabilized, it would be good to train gradually.

After all, he was tall and long-legged, had an ability, and was no slouch at fighting. Back at school, he had been a prominent figure who ruled the back alleys and subdued others with his fists.

Yet now Cheng Jing was overprotecting him like some giant baby. Sooner or later, he would become useless.

Cheng Jing's sole aim was to find every possible way to keep his beloved safe, but he had not expected Jiang Nian to be so stubborn.

The man who was always acting spoiled around him had actually given him the cold shoulder for two whole days and still refused to listen. He would not even let Cheng Jing sleep with him at night, and he had even sneaked downstairs after Cheng Jing went out.

The love was real, but so was the anger. Still, he could hardly hit him. Domestic violence would leave him without a wife, so in the end, he could only compromise.

Once he could go out with the team, Jiang Nian went back to clinging to him and acting spoiled, like a completely different person from the stubborn mule before. It made Cheng Jing love and hate him at once!

"Brother Jing, are you still angry? You were so rough..."

Jiang Nian lay on his pillow, holding his tingling, limp waist as he complained. Just two days of the cold war had turned Cheng Jing into a mad dog. If it had gone on any longer, wouldn't he have ruined him?

"No, I'm just not used to you ignoring me for two days."

Cheng Jing massaged him as he denied it, his expression calm and his emotions steady.

You little rascal. I can't hit you or scold you, but can't I indulge myself a little?

"..."

Jiang Nian did not believe him, but dredging up old grievances would do neither of them any good, so he could only grumble and let Cheng Jing wait on him. Forget it. A man who held grudges had to be indulged a little.

Because they had ample supplies, once they started going out, Cheng Jing not only stopped taking supplies from the settlement but also handed most of what they found over to the Materials Center. He also began providing his ability as a voluntary service.

Zhou Li and the others in the command office were deeply grateful to Cheng Jing for this. He was strong, sensible, knew how things worked, and kept the bigger picture in mind. Who wouldn't like him?

As expected of someone who had worked with the authorities before the apocalypse.

In return, Zhou Li volunteered some information to Cheng Jing about the progress of the rescue team's base construction:

Once the extreme cold ended, the army would be dispatched to search cities for survivors. After they entered the base, things would gradually improve, and the authorities would not forget their contributions.

When Cheng Jing returned home from the command office at noon, he told Jiang Nian the news.

Wrapped up like a cicada pupa, Jiang Nian was fiddling with two portions of self-heating hot pot and rice. He nodded after hearing him out.

"Getting into the base is only the beginning of the long war against the apocalypse. The authorities and the army will ultimately have to take the lead in all kinds of recovery and reconstruction, so it can't hurt to build good relations. After all, rules come with class divisions. The more comprehensive the rules, the stricter the hierarchy. Things like that form naturally without anyone deliberately creating them."

"That's what I think too. Zhou Li has a military background, and I believe he'll keep his word. After all, every relationship works both ways."

Cheng Jing agreed, putting the heater beside them and sitting down with Jiang Nian at the small table to eat.

With their team as it was now, if they had help from someone in the authorities, they would most likely be able to enter the central area once they reached the base. They would be far safer than others.

After the meal, Jiang Nian shivered as he took out two apples and soaked them in hot water to warm them up before eating them for the vitamins. Halfway through, he asked Cheng Jing to roast them with fire instead. They tasted pretty good.

In such harsh conditions, going outside meant taking risks. Beyond the building was a world of ice and snow, while sheltered places had zombies.

Moreover, as time passed, the zombies were slowly evolving and adapting to the extreme cold. They were moving faster and growing more aggressive.

Ability zombies, in particular-those made when ability users became infected-were even more terrifying when they used their abilities without consciousness.

As a result, every day, some people went out and never came back.

"Please, my husband went out last night and still hasn't come back... Please help me look for him..."

"I'll give you all my supplies... Please help me find him and bring him back..."

"..."

A tall woman wore a black down jacket, padded trousers, snow boots, gloves with cracked leather surfaces, and a gray knitted hat with a scarf in a matching shade.

She held the hand of a little girl bundled up like a little zongzi, with big, clear black-and-white eyes. Mother and daughter looked panicked as they begged the returning ability users for help.

An elderly couple past fifty, arms linked, also stopped every ability user returning from outside and asked:

"Our son and daughter left the settlement a day ago. Have you seen them?"

"They said they wouldn't go far... Has anyone seen them?"

They had sent their children out to find supplies with hope in their hearts, only to wait in vain for them to return. If they had known, they would never have let them go.

Nearby, quite a few others were waiting just as anxiously:

"My younger brother too. He went out with you. Why didn't he come back with you?"

"Have you seen my boyfriend? Sob..."

"My dad said he'd be right back after going out for a bit... Sob..."

"..."

Every evening, anxious people lingered outside the settlement command office on the first floor of Building 1. They stopped the ability users who had returned safely to ask about their families, some pleading humbly, others in hysterics.

People who went out generally left early and returned late, though many went out for only a few hours. If they were not back by dark, they were basically not coming back, to say nothing of those who had already been missing for a whole night.

The same held true even for those who went out in teams. At most, the teammates who returned would give their families some supplies as consolation.