บท 35: Fortification and Division
The next day.
After a short breakfast by Leyan, Xiaoyun and the girls headed over to Yezi's house to meet up.
Following Yezi's car, the two headed out as Lingang and Qingtian watched them pass the front gates.
Yezi finally stopped his car in front of a half-finished building with a ton of building material lying on the ground.
"Let's get moving," Yezi excitedly said as he and Huayi got out of their pickup truck.
"Okay!"
The girls started picking up the tools from the floor to put behind the car, with Xiaoyun heading over to Yezi to pick up bags of concrete.
But it quickly devolved into loading as many bags of concrete and rebar into the pickup trucks as possible on repeat.
Eventually, both Xiaoyun's car and Yezi's truck were full of things needed to build a wall.
"Okay, let's stop here before it gets too heavy for the car to start." Yezi pointed out as the girls were still trying to load more bags of concrete.
---
After arriving back at the entrance at the gates, the girls, along with Huayi, moved all the material to the floor before moving to the security room.
Meanwhile, Xiaoyun and Yezi drove their car to 308 to meet with the refugees who escaped the city.
The two got out of the car and knocked on the door.
"Good morning, Renqin. Are you guys ready?" Xiaoyun asked as Renqin opened the door.
"Yeah, we are ready."
Renqin headed back inside for a second, then came back with fourteen people behind him.
"The rest are elderly or children. This is as many people as we got that can work," Renqin explained.
"No problem. You can send women back if you want. It's going to be back-breaking work," Xiaoyun warned.
"Come on, Xiaoyun, when did you get so sexist? I thought you were younger than me. When did you get stuck with gender norms?
They could still help mix the concrete even if they couldn't do hard work," Yezi commented as he patted Xiaoyun on the back.
"You're right, I shouldn't think like that... Let's drive them there."
After loading the people into their cars, the two drove back to the front entrance.
But as everyone got out of the car and headed towards the gate, Xiaoyun suddenly realized something.
"Hey, Yezi, do you have any experience with construction?" Xiaoyun asked as he and Yezi were already at the security building.
"Um, I don't have any experience. I know how to build trenches, though." Yezi replied.
Xiaoyun turned his attention over to Renqin, who was still a little far back at the front entrance.
"Hey Renqin, do you guys have anyone who has worked in construction before?" Xiaoyun asked out loud.
By the time Renqin had walked over, he had already selected the people that Xiaoyun was looking for.
"Well, these three had done construction before." Renqin pointed at the people next to him.
"What's your name? What's your occupation?" Xiaoyun asked the person on the left side.
"My name is Mi Qijian. I am a construction foreman." The man replied as he randomly saluted the two.
"You used to be a soldier?" Yezi asked, noticing the scar on Qijing's neck.
"Yes, sir!—— Um, sorry, force of habit." Qijian apologized as he finally realized what he was doing.
"Congrats, you are going to be the head of the construction crew. Here's a bag of rice and an extra can of food for you."
Xiaoyun patted Qijian on the shoulder and then dug inside his own backpack before handing over the bag of rice.
"Thank you, sir—— I mean boss."
As Qijian took a step back, Xiaoyun turned his attention to the man in the middle.
"How about you? What is your name and occupation?" Xiaoyun asked.
"My name is Chen Jingming. I am a civil engineer, but I am mostly a construction engineer," The man in the middle replied.
"What the difference?" Yezi curiously asked.
"Both design the building, but construction engineers are also on the field," Jingming explained.
"Well, then, can you plan out how to build a wall here?" Yezi asked as he pointed at the entrance.
"Hm... that entrance ground is pretty flat, but I need to examine if the soil below is too soft.
Also, it depends on the material we are working with and the size you want... Do you want me to like double layer or solid base with——"
Before Jingming could finish, Xiaoyun interrupted him.
"CONGRATULATION, you are now the head of the operation. I will give you full control of the project.
You can have full creative control. All I need is you to build a wall to keep the zombies out of Luoping."
Xiaoyun patted him on the shoulder and then started going inside his backpack again.
"Thank you, boss!" Jingming bowed down in thanks as Xiaoyun handed him two bags of rice and two cans of food.
Xiaoyun and Yezi turned their attention to the last person, who looked a lot older than the other two.
"Okay, now you. What is your name and occupation?" Xiaoyun asked.
"M-my name is Li Dan, I am a miner." Li Dan responded.
"Huh? Miner? I thought I asked for construction." Xiaoyun looked over to Renqin.
"Well, mining is kinda similar. I just wanted to ensure we got everyone with any experience related to the field." Renqin explained as he scratched his head.
"Never, Li Dan, you can go back to the crowd."
The five of them entered the security room, which was now full of construction materials and tools.
On the table was a small note in Yuqi's handwriting that said, "We headed back home. All the material is here!"
Xiaoyun smiled as he put the paper into his pocket, then turned his attention back to everyone else who was still outside.
"What's in that letter? Where is Yuqi and everyone else?" Yezi curiously asked.
"They headed back already. Let's go outside for now... Do you want me to do this, or do you want to speak to them?" Xiaoyun asked as they headed back outside.
"You can do the speaking. I hate public speaking." Yezi stepped aside.
With Xiaoyun now alone before everyone else, he took a short breath before stating his plan out loud.
"Okay, everyone. These two are going to be the project's head director. On the left is Jingming, the chief designer and head manager.
And on the right is Qijian, the construction foreman. He is going to evaluate everyone here.
The three people who work the hardest will be rewarded with extra food, in addition to bringing a can of food back home every day!"
After Xiaoyun introduced the two, the crowd was completely silent. But as soon as he added the last part, everyone clapped as if something amazing happened.
"Wait, we never discussed this part." Yezi quietly asked as he pulled Xiaoyun to the side.
"Don't worry. That's how to get people excited to work. A bare minimum isn't enough. If you ever run a company, you will know you need to incentivize people," Xiaoyun whispered.
"What? I never had that problem when I was smuggling." Yezi added as he still held up a confused face.
"Oh, right. Of course, you don't... Who the hell is going to complain to an arms dealer." Xiaoyun murmured the last part to himself.
"Whatever, as long as they are working, I am going to stay and watch. You staying?"
"Sure."
As the two sat inside the security room, Qijian, and Jingming, along with all their men, headed outside to start surveying the land first.
---
A week has passed since the start of the wall building.
The wall wasn't built near the gates or on top of them, as Xiaoyun initially thought. Rather, it was several hundred meters in front of the gate.
When Xiaoyun asked Jingming why, he explained a bunch of technical terms that Xiaoyun couldn't understand.
The only thing that Xiaoyun understood was that it could use the steep slope to avoid needing to build a longer wall, as the steep slope didn't need a wall to cover.
Besides the wall question, Xiaoyun came to the security room every day to fulfill his promise.
He asked Qijian for the three hardest workers and gave them a small pack of rice and a small box of canned food.
When Xiaoyun gave it away, Qijian reported the next day that everyone was working five times as hard, proving to Yezi that his plan was working.
The construction material was slowly running out, but Xiaoyun simply brought more out of the car after the construction site they went to ran out of material.
Despite the concrete bag having the exact look as the one they used, everyone just thought the building company had designed it with the same tag.
Xiaoyun slowly got to know the refugees individually, asking them if they needed anything basic, from cigarettes to even pads, as luxury items were very hard for them to get.
He was becoming extremely popular among the refugees, but Yezi didn't oppose it at all as he was happy to have less work for himself.
Especially as Yezi started to train Lingang and his men to be professional guards, Xiaoyun took over his work to watch the wall being built.
More importantly, a divide was starting to appear between the refugees.
It was exactly what Nami predicted, as Renqin's groups were slowly getting sick of living with each other.
This led to Xiaoyun getting a phone call from Renqin requesting more housing units, which he happily granted by separating the groups into a few individual families between the houses at 304 to 308.
By the time Renqin realized that the original refugee group was all split up, he didn't resist it at all as he never wanted to be a leader in the first place.
---
Just as Xiaoyun and the girls were relaxing at home, a doorbell rang.
"Who's outside?" Xiaoyun wondered as he opened up the door.
It was Yezi and Huayi outside the house, with both of their faces filled with excitement.
"The wall is finished!" Yezi happily announced.
"Oh really? I haven't checked it for a few days. Let me go call everyone."
Xiaoyun headed back inside to call up all the girls, which took much longer than he expected.
But they eventually got inside the car, and Xiaoyun drove behind Yezi to the front entrance.
When they arrived, Jingming and Qijian stood outside the security room with all the workers behind them.
"Boss, the wall is finished," Qijian yelled out loud as Xiaoyun stepped out of the car.
"Well, let's see how it is... You two mind giving me a full tour?"
"Of course, boss."
As Xiaoyun's group followed behind the two, they were stunned by the wall when they walked past the gate.
"Is this wall really done in under two weeks? Is it sturdy?" Yueyue asked curiously, looking at the three-meter wall with stairs on the side in front of her.
"Yes, it can withstand several car crashes, and it will still not move or break. We built it thick enough that a person could stand on top of it.
Or crawl down while shooting down zombies between the battlement on the wall." Jingming explained as he led the group up the stairs.
As the group looked down, they saw a small moat dug between the wall and the ground outside, separating them in a clean line.
"The moat is to make the wall taller than it appears. Since the ground is lower on the outside, the wall is more than three meters on the outside.
However, we can't put water on the moat since it might seep underneath the wall's foundation over time."
After walking for a bit, they finally saw the entrance.
"Here's the entrance boss. It is a simple draw bridge with a deeper moat in front to create a gap.
When zombies try to enter, they simply fall and cannot reach the door. So, the door is actually one of the safest areas."
"What if the zombie builds a ladder with their body?" Leyan raises her concern as she remembers seeing the zombies building a human ladder.
"Um, there's no way to avoid that... The best we can do is either build the wall higher or dig the moat deeper.
If that does happen, the door would be the last concern. We can't dig any deeper as the soil is completely packed unless we get an excavator," Jingming replied.
"Jingming is right. We are supposed to kill them before they get to the wall or door. The wall is more to prevent them from sneaking in." Yezi added.
"So what do you think, boss?" Jingming asked.
"This is amazing! You guys did a great job! We are finally done with the walls now." Xiaoyun patted the two on the back.
"Um, Xiaoyun, I think you forgot we have two entrances. We only finished one side of the road." Yezi reminded Xiaoyun.
'Oh right... Jingming and Qijian, can you build another wall on the other entrance?" Xiaoyun asked.
"No problem, boss, as long as there is enough material," Jingming replied.
"And enough food for everyone," Qijian added.
"Don't worry about that. I will give it to you tomorrow. You guys deserve a day break for now."
---
In Xiaoyun's car...
"What do you guys think about the wall?" Xiaoyun asked as he started up the engine.
"Well, it certainly is sturdy. I couldn't leave a mark when I punched it." Yueyue commented.
"Besides the issue I mentioned earlier, I think it's a fine wall... Unless some sort of mutant came in." Leyan replied.
"The wall is so tall, it's like triple Lily and my height!" As Nami added her comment, Lily nodded in agreement.
"What do you think, Yuqi?" Xiaoyun asked.
"I think this wall is fine, but I am just thinking, isn't there a small forest between the two entrances?
Are we going to need to build an entire wall to connect the two entrances? I don't think some trees are going to stop a zombie horde.
And what if they run around and go past the wall? The wall doesn't surround the entire Luoping." Yuqi raises her concern.
"There's actually two steep slopes that cut the left and right side of the entrance, and behind us is a bunch of forests that nobody lives in so that no zombies could come from that direction.
So we don't have to worry about three directions except the side road that connects us to the main road to the city." Xiaoyun explained as he thought back to the plan that Jingming showed him.
"Oh... But there's no way we can monitor the entire wall. What if they go to the center of the forest?" Yuqi raises another concern.
"I doubt zombies are going to walk into a forest randomly when there is a road right in front of them.
Yuqi, I think you are just worrying too much for now. Besides, we don't have the material and the manpower to build an entire wall covering that long of a stretch.
We'll build it later when we have spare time to cut down that forest and connect the walls." Xiaoyun reassured Yuqi.
"I guess you're right..."
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IPI
IPI As of 6/23/24, the grammar and name change is applied
---
I just realized I had been uploading nonstop every day. This is the first time I had consistantly do something other than school. That kinda crazy... Thank you for motivating me to continue the story.
A little dry three chapter, but don't worry. Action is coming.
One bonus chapter down!
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