novelraw Chapter 5 An Unexpected Joy
Chapter 5 An Unexpected Joy
During the cabling process, Lorraine, remaining vigilant, noticed numerous shadows and gaps in the production facilities, but never saw a single zombie. Seeing this eerie scene, Lorraine patted Ouyang Nian and asked, "You've been here for quite a while now. Haven't you encountered any zombies around here?"
Ouyang Nian shook his head: "You can hardly see zombies in the shadows during the day. I only saw a few when I first arrived. The only place where zombies might still exist is the old dormitory building, which I've already chained up. Should we go check it out?"
Lorraine pondered for a moment and said, "It's getting dark, let's block the rest of the roads first. We can talk about the dormitory building later. Besides, you've been starving for days. I'll keep watch tonight, you get some rest."
As the sun gradually set, Lorraine used the remaining cables to string up several tripwires around the workshop to block the zombies and to test the feasibility of the plan.
After a hearty meal, Ouyang Nian went upstairs to rest, while Luo Lin checked again to make sure the doors and windows were closed tightly before observing the outside world by the moonlight.
Two days until the zombie horde!
The night passed in silence, the sun rose as usual, and it was a new day.
Lorraine rubbed her eyes and stood up, leaning against the wall. After several hours of observation last night, and after confirming that the cables she had laid out could stop the horde of zombies from getting close, Lorraine leaned against the wall and closed her eyes to rest, so that she could regain her energy and be able to wake up instantly if she noticed anything unusual.
Seeing that Ouyang Nian had not yet gotten up, Luo Lin went upstairs and knocked on the door. After hearing Ouyang Nian's response, she went downstairs to find something to eat.
Lorraine took out a bag of bread and ate it while planning the placement of the sulfur on the data board. After all, the toxic gas produced by sulfur had to be avoided in the absence of gas masks.
"Hey, how's the planning going?" Ouyang Nian asked, munching on a loaf of bread as he came downstairs.
Without looking up, Lorraine said, "It'll be soon. It just depends on the situation in the dormitory building. If the situation is special, we'll probably have to release them and burn them to death with traps."
After making the final mark on the data board, Lorraine looked up at Ouyang Nian: "Let's go, let's check the warehouses we didn't have time to inspect yesterday. Take the cart, we'll bring some more sulfur later, and set up another trap in front of the dormitory building."
After saying that, Lorraine put the data pad back into his backpack, checked the ammunition and safety of his pistol and shotgun, and put them in a ready-to-fire state. After all, there was still an unresolved hazard in the factory, and vigilance could not be relaxed.
Ouyang Nian pointed to the locked warehouse door and said, "Speaking of which, there is some good quality steel in this warehouse. I took some before, wanting to forge a decent two-handed greatsword, but it took me a lot of effort to hammer out the shape. I tried to sharpen it, but after grinding it on the machine for a long time, there was no change."
Listening to Ouyang Nian's description, Lorraine scratched his head in confusion: "This should be special steel, right? How could this kind of special steel appear in a small building materials factory?" When Ouyang Nian opened the door, Lorraine looked at the still shiny metal bars in the warehouse, completely dumbfounded.
Lorraine quickly checked every nook and cranny of the warehouse, confirming there were no zombies present. He then picked up a metal bar to test its weight. At that moment, the data panel vibrated twice. Lorraine put down the steel bar and took out the data panel, which displayed: [Level 1 steel detected, usable for repairing weapon systems].
Lorraine was overjoyed—once the DShK machine gun was repaired, the mutated zombies would pose no threat to him. If he could also repair the 30mm cannon, he could practically roam this area freely. The rampaging zombie hordes could be easily dealt with using fire, machine guns, and the 30mm cannon.
Lorraine looked at Ouyang Nian, thought for a moment, and then called out to her, "Come and help me move these steel pieces onto the cart."
Ouyang Nian looked at Lorraine curiously: "When will the trap be set? Are the dormitories being inspected again today?"
Lorraine waved her hand: "It's still early, there's definitely enough time to set up a trap. Exploring the dormitory building later will likely be dangerous, so we might as well spend some time using this steel to add an extra layer of protection for ourselves." Hearing this, Ouyang Nian helped Lorraine move the steel onto a cart and pushed it towards the river.
Lorraine pulled the small boat out of the reeds and carefully piled the steel on it. Looking at the small boat, which could support both people and steel, Lorraine clapped his hands in satisfaction: "Come on, let me show you where you'll be living from now on."
Ouyang Nian stared in disbelief at the gunboat in the water, thinking to himself, "Although civilized nations usually have ample firepower and secure bases, this is the first time I've seen one so brimming with martial spirit."
"Don't just stand there, we'll need your help later." Lorraine smiled. Such a powerful and skilled female craftswoman was definitely someone she wanted to bring on board, but their current cooperation was based on the crisis, so she had to test the waters first. Judging from Ouyang Nian's expression, the intimidation was very successful; she could see only surprise in her eyes, not greed.
Coming to his senses, Ouyang Nian nimbly jumped onto the boat. Seeing Ouyang Nian's actions, Lorraine exclaimed in surprise, "Be careful! Aren't you afraid of capsizing the boat? What if the steel falls overboard? Here's an oar, row towards the gunboat."
"Don't worry, I'm not that stupid."
With their combined efforts, the small boat quickly came alongside the gunboat.
Lorraine said, "I'll go up and find a rope to pull these things up. You can come up and help me tie the steel up securely later."
After saying that, he climbed the rope ladder and jumped onto the boat, and soon threw the rope down. Ouyang Nian quickly tied the steel together, then leaped onto the boat and pulled the steel up.
"Come on, carry these steel pieces into the cabin," Lorraine called out.
After hoisting the steel to the storage compartment at the stern, Lorraine pulled out a data panel and called the ship's AI: "1125, assess the progress of weapon repairs."
After a brief pause, the shipboard AI responded: [The DShK heavy machine gun repair is expected to be completed in 11 hours and 38 minutes. There are insufficient materials remaining to complete the repair work on the 30mm autocannon or the 76mm main gun.]
Lorraine turned to look at Ouyang Nian, who shook his head: "With the help of tools, I could indeed complete the repair of these two machine guns much faster. But the forging furnace and processing equipment I'm using now will probably take a very long time to process these steels into shape, and even then, a perfect repair would be difficult."
Looking at the two-day countdown on the intelligence system panel, Lorraine chose to have the ship's AI perform maintenance.
Therefore, the exploration of the dormitory building will have to be postponed until tomorrow. After all, once the traps are laid and the defensive line is established around the dormitory building, there won't be much time left before nightfall. Rather than risking nighttime operations to complete the exploration, it's better to face the threat in full force the day after the machine guns are repaired.