Apocalypse Survival Guide for a Beta [GB] - Chapter 5

The sky was dark and heavy rain poured relentlessly.

A black pickup truck moved through the stormy night, ice pellets clattering against its metal frame.

Lou Tiannan leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed, his body radiating heat. His furrowed brows revealed his rising irritation. Song Yan, Zhu Liang, and the others instinctively gave him space, not daring to disturb him.

The survivors who had just barely escaped death huddled in the truck bed, too scared to make a sound.

Xi Ya was sitting in the back seat, held by Song Yan.

“Lin Bai, you’ve got some serious driving skills! And your shooting’s damn precise too!” Zhou Yu, in the passenger seat, praised her while subtly probing, “What did you do before all this? Were you in the military?”

“No,” Lin Bai replied, her eyes fixed on the road, adjusting the steering wheel slightly from time to time.

“No?” Zhou Yu was stunned. “Then how did you—”

“My partner taught me,” Lin Bai answered casually.

Lou Tiannan’s eyelids twitched slightly.

“Your partner?!” Zhou Yu blinked in surprise, then glanced at Xi Ya. Realization dawned on him. “Oh, so this little girl is your daughter?”

Xi Ya stiffened, then heard Lin Bai’s calm reply.

“Yes.”

Her hands instinctively tightened around the doll in her grasp, her heartbeat pounding in her chest.

No one noticed Xi Ya’s reaction.

Zhou Yu hesitated before asking, “And your partner…?”

Lin Bai had already prepared her response. Without missing a beat, she said, “My partner serves in the Federal Army. After the outbreak, we lost contact. I’m looking for him.”

“A military spouse, huh? Then you’re one of us!” Zhou Yu exclaimed in excitement. Intrigued, he asked, “What’s his name? What unit is he in? We’re with the Federal Army too. You never know, we might know him!”

From the backseat, Lou Tiannan lazily opened his eyes and glanced at Lin Bai through the rearview mirror.

His instincts told him she was lying.

Among the classified personnel in the Federal Army, there were plenty who could drive military vehicles, and use guns, grenades, and knives. Many were married, with partners who were Betas and children around six or seven years old. But in all the records Lou Tiannan had seen, he had never come across this woman’s face.

“Military Defense Department of Eastern District One. I can’t disclose specific names or ranks,” Lin Bai said.

Great, a liar.

The moment Lin Bai finished speaking, Lou Tiannan made his judgment.

From the back seat, Song Yan said meaningfully, “Our captain is also in the Military Defense Department of Eastern District One. Maybe your partner knows our captain.”

“Oh?” Lin Bai’s tone was indifferent. “They shouldn’t have had any interaction.”

Hearing Lin Bai’s confident response, suspicion flickered in Lou Tiannan’s eyes.

He was certain he had never seen Lin Bai’s name in the military family records of District One. But from the way she spoke, it seemed like even if her partner was in the records, he wouldn’t have seen their name either.

Countless possibilities flashed through his mind. Then, as he looked at Lin Bai again, one place came to mind.

The 621 Biopharmaceutical Research Institute.

A research facility officially listed under Eastern District One but not under its direct jurisdiction. Every piece of information about the researchers inside was highly classified.

He had been there once. Even entering the outermost offices required going through dozens of identity checks, let alone accessing the deeper sections.

Could her partner be someone from 621?

No one knew what Lou Tiannan was thinking. Meanwhile, Zhou Yu only found Lin Bai’s claim ridiculous. “How could they have no interaction? Our Captain Lou works in the Defense Department—”

“Zhou Yu.”

Lou Tiannan cut him off, eyes closed.

At the same time, the sound of Lin Bai pulling the handbrake echoed.

“This is the place?” she asked.

Zhou Yu looked up, realizing that at some point, they had arrived at the temporary base.

“Yeah!” Zhou Yu responded, leaning out the window and waving.

The base’s outer gate slowly opened.

After the truck drove inside, there was another security gate ahead.

“You made it back!” A four-person team, fully armed and carrying weapons and temperature scanners, stepped forward from behind the iron gate to greet them. “Get out of the vehicle.”

“We need to go through inspection to make sure no one’s infected,” Zhu Liang explained to the uneasy survivors.

Everyone got out, including Lou Tiannan.

The guards first scanned Zhu Liang and the other four, then carefully checked the seven survivors they had brought back.

According to all available data, before an infected person showed visible signs of zombification such as changes in their teeth, irises, and nails, the first noticeable change was body temperature. It would spike rapidly in a short time, reaching a critical threshold before their body underwent mutation.

“Doesn’t he need to be checked?” One of the guards pointed at Lou Tiannan, curious.

“He’ll go directly to the isolation room,” Zhu Liang replied.

Lin Bai raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.

However, Zhu Liang did not offer any further explanation.

“35.1°C, body temperature is lower than normal,” the person checking Lin Bai’s temperature said.

“My body temperature has always been low,” Lin Bai replied.

Even so, this temperature was definitely unusual.

“What’s going on?” Zhou Yu walked over to Lin Bai.

The inspection team explained Lin Bai’s condition to them. After a brief discussion, they told her, “You need to stay here for fifteen minutes. We’ll check your temperature again after that.”

“Alright,” Lin Bai had no objections.

Those with normal body temperatures proceeded through the second gate, while Lou Tiannan was taken to the isolation room.

Xi Ya, who had already been checked, clutched her doll tightly, reluctant to go inside. She wanted to wait for Lin Bai.

Between the two gates, only Xi Ya and Lin Bai remained.

Seeing that no one else was around, Xi Ya tugged at Lin Bai’s sleeve.

Lin Bai looked down and saw Xi Ya murmuring, “I’ll train my ability… I’ll have really big flames too… I’ll become really strong…”

‘Please don’t leave me behind.’

Xi Ya’s eyes were full of hope as she gazed at Lin Bai. Maybe it was because Lin Bai had saved her, or maybe because she had seen Lin Bai’s strength, either way, she wanted to stay by Lin Bai’s side.

Lin Bai lowered her gaze and, after a moment, crouched down to meet her eyes. “Still trusting others?”

Xi Ya stared at her in a daze, not fully processing what she meant. Before she could react, Lin Bai patted her head, her voice calm. “Get stronger soon.”

Xi Ya instantly grew excited. She nodded vigorously, promising, “I-I’ll definitely become strong!”

Lin Bai had better options now, but she didn’t mind keeping a spare.

Because her best option didn’t seem like someone who could be easily controlled.

Fifteen minutes later, Zhu Liang returned with the person who had originally checked her temperature. The thermometer still read 35.1°C.

After confirming that her pupils, teeth, and nails showed no signs of mutation, they allowed Lin Bai and Xi Ya to enter the temporary base.

The base was simple with several large shared sleeping areas with about ten to fifteen people in each. The floors were lined with woven sacks as bedding. There was a small cafeteria and behind it were two basic plant-growing units, crude temperature-controlled machines filled with potatoes of various sizes.

They arrived just in time for a meal consisting of potato soup with roasted potatoes.

Extremely basic, monotonous, and bland.

But in a world where people were eating each other to survive, having food at all was a blessing. Everyone ate with great appetite.

While eating, Lin Bai took a quick glance around. Including the guards outside, there were about seventy people in the base. Around twenty of them were Federal soldiers, while the rest were survivors they had rescued. In total, the temporary base housed fewer than a hundred people.

She sat at the table, idly stirring her soup with a spoon. Looking up, she saw Zhou Yu walking by with a food tray and grabbed him. “Your captain is not eating?”

Seeing it was Lin Bai, Zhou Yu simply sat at her table with his tray and ate as he replied, “He’ll eat. We’ll bring his food to him later. No one dares to go in right now.”

“Why?”

Zhou Yu thought for a moment. Since it wasn’t exactly a secret, he explained, “Our captain’s ability is really powerful. Every time he uses it, there’s a fluctuation period afterward. During that time, his pheromones spread and his ability particles disperse. The surrounding temperature gets extremely high. Most people can’t handle it.”

Lin Bai frowned and reprimanded him, “You’re not bringing your captain food just because of a little heat?”

Zhou Yu choked on a bite of potato, hurriedly took a sip of soup, and swallowed before responding, feeling wronged. “It’s not that I won’t bring it. It’s just better to wait. Going now would be like rushing into a sauna! Besides, Captain Lou himself said to bring it later.”

“That won’t do. Abilities consume a lot of energy. Going hungry for too long is bad for the body. I’ll take it to him!” Lin Bai spoke with righteous conviction. Without hesitation, she grabbed her untouched tray and headed toward the isolation room.

“Hey? Lin Bai! Lin Bai!” Zhou Yu called after her twice, but she didn’t turn back.

A few tables away, Song Yan had just finished eating. She glanced at Zhou Yu and asked curiously, “What are you yelling about? What’s with Lin Bai?”

“She’s taking food to Captain Lou,” Zhou Yu replied.

Song Yan was surprised. “She is?”

“She said she’s worried about him, so she went,” Zhou Yu said before taking another bite of potato.

Song Yan glanced at Xi Ya, who was watching Lin Bai’s back. Guessing the reason, she said, “She has a child. Maybe she wants Captain Lou to look after them more.” They had encountered survivors like this before who tried to win their favor in exchange for protection.

Xi Ya lowered her head and muttered under her breath, so quietly that only she could hear, “That’s not it!”

Seeing Lin Bai take her tray to Lou Tiannan, she thought for a moment and secretly hid her roasted potato inside her doll’s stomach.

The isolation room held only Lou Tiannan. Perhaps because they trusted his self-control, the door wasn’t locked.

Lin Bai pushed it open and stepped inside.

A wave of heat immediately surrounded her. Just as Zhou Yu had said, the temperature in the room was extremely high.

Fifty-seven degrees. Lin Bai silently estimated.

Lou Tiannan sat in a chair with his arms crossed, eyes closed as if resting. His sharp facial features were tense and his expression was emotionless, making his already cold and distant demeanor even more unapproachable.

He wore only a black tank top and his head, neck, and body were covered in a thin layer of sweat. The fabric of his shirt was soaked through, clinging to his tanned and well-defined muscles. Even in his relaxed posture, the muscles on his arms were clearly visible.

Despite hearing the door open, Lou Tiannan didn’t open his eyes. Lin Bai set the tray in front of him and silently found a chair to sit down. The temperature was just right for her, perfectly comfortable.

“You’re still here?” Lou Tiannan spoke.

Instead of answering his question, Lin Bai asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”

Hearing her voice, Lou Tiannan suddenly opened his eyes. “Why is it you?”

Lin Bai replied, “I happened to be free, so I brought your meal.”

Lou Tiannan didn’t believe her. From the moment he first saw her, something about this woman had felt off.

“What is your goal?” He fixed his gaze on her, openly scrutinizing her.