***


    One day has passed since this incident at Sangke Jisuzhi Elementary School, and things are going in a better in Dicang village. One member of the mission that got shot in the arm, Eduardo, is safe from death. The bullet didn''t hit anything vital or bone structure, which is a good sign for him because he will soon be recovered and able to fight for another day.


    Yesterday, the other group, who went to check the supplies, came with some good supplies such as canned foods, water bottles still good to drink, seeds for planting vegetables and fruits, clothes, ammunition, batteries, radios to listen to music if there''s any working radio station in this world, and three functioning flashlights. They''ve also found weapons, but those weapons were jammed and impossible to be fixed by anyone in this base, so they''ll have to use it like a baseball bat.


    And for the remaining of the day and night, it was quiet for the group of this village.


    Ahmed is walking inside a shack, where Hugo is giving the report to the nearby base he could contact, one located in what was once South Korea. Ahmed stood there and waited for Hugo to finish writing his report. While the person on the other side of the communication device was talking to Hugo, he was fully aware of Ahmed''s presence, but he wasn''t going to finish his task at a faster rate, rather usually talk to the person on the other side, stating what he needs to know.


    "And you people have managed to clean a whole village in one day?" asks the person from the radio, in a broken English accent.


    "Yeah, sir. That''s what they told me. I was with another group before I came here." says Hugo to the radio. "How is South Korea''s state so far? Over."


    "Bad." says the person from the radio. "The nuclear bombs that were launched upon Seoul have ravaged the city and anything close to it. Over."


    "But did it exterminate the creatures nearby? Over."


    "Not all of them. Some were still moving, but unable to walk, nor crawl. Over."If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "I see… Have you established any communication with any nearby base besides us?"


    "No." responds the person immediately. "You''re the first one I''ve made contact with after almost a week."


    "I see. How many are you? Over."


    "Fifty-nine." says the person from the radio which made Hugo and Ahmed impressed. "How many at your base? Over."


    "We are only thirty or so. I don''t know since many of my people went on missions outside the base, like yesterday. Over."


    "Yeah, you told me about it earlier. Over."


    And this is true information incoming from Hugo Because this morning, a squad of ten fighters have been summoned to go to Sangko Wetland Park to get their aid package that has been delivered by one of The Organization''s planes. The said package contains working weapons, tools to fix the jammed guns they found yesterday, food, medical aid and much more needed for the people in this village to live another day.


    The two talk for a bit more on the radio, then they bid farewell and Hugo closes the call that he had with the South Korea base.


    "So, what do you need?" asks Hugo, turning around to Ahmed.


    "I want to go out on a scout mission." says Ahmed to Hugo.


    "But why?"


    "I want to help any way I can with the map."


    "I think you need to rest Ahmed. Please, let this scout mission for someone else. Plus, we don''t know for sure how bad things are outside these hills."


    "I need to check a place." says Ahmed.


    "And what kind of place?" asks Hugo.


    "Do you have a map?"


    Hugo takes out from the drawer a map of this area, he gets up from his chair and walks with the map toward the nearest free table, where he places the map and looks at Ahmed, making a sign for him to come closer and take a look at it.


    "Where do you want to go?"


    "Here." he says Ahmed pointing at Xining.


    "Why there? Off all the places?"


    "I see we haven''t checked that city yet. We need supplies right. Maybe we''ll also find people there, too. Well, hopefully not like the ones we found yesterday."


    "I don''t know." says Hugo to Ahmed. "I think it would be better to go in there after we''ll get more humans and more needed supplies from the Organization. In the meantime, it would be better to stay here and rest for the time being. I''ll talk with the commander about this idea. If he accepts, I''ll let you know and give you a squad to check the area."


    Ahmed wanted to argue, but he left the place leaving a "Thank you." to Hugo. The man places the map back in the drawer and goes over to the radio station, to do his thing. While he was looking at the radio, he was thinking about establishing a communication with Xining, wondering if there is someone there he can contact and make a connection with.