Chapter 48: A Place to Stay

As one of dozens of frontier relief defense cities, its biggest feature was a defense line constructed twenty kilometers away from the city.

This defense line did not have the densely scattered fortifications one might imagine, but rather a temporarily constructed trench. Behind the trench, firing points were distributed in a regular pattern. The zone twenty kilometers from the city was not empty; large amounts of fields had been flattened, and artillery positions were built on these flat grounds, with rocket and missile units visible from time to time.

Rows of military camps were set up in this twenty-kilometer zone, forming a huge camp area on this defense line.

The highway passed through the center of the camp area, reaching Wan J City, which was also the only entrance and exit for the entire line.

Following the flow of people, the heavy truck still moved slowly with the traffic. Through the window, one could see everything on the line. To have constructed this defense line in such a short time was absolutely a miracle. Precisely because time was severely insufficient, the defense line looked somewhat ugly.

Rumbling machinery was busy on the line, constantly improving the trench. Trucks transporting cement and sand had a dedicated road and were building a tall city wall. The ugly trench was merely for temporary defense; the real effectiveness would come from this poured city wall. Once the construction of this city wall was completed, the entire line would undergo a qualitative leap.

As a relief defense city, its function was first to accept the people fleeing here and arrange living places for them, before proceeding with distribution. Ultimately, they still had to leave Wan J City; this was just a temporary transit station. Since it was a defense city, it would become the frontline for resisting Fierce Beasts, unsuitable for civilians to live here. Transferring all people and things here would be the next task for Wan J City.

Past the military camps was the city’s outskirts, where some villages and Small Towns were scattered, forming patches of densely distributed buildings.

Since entering here, the high-rise buildings of the distant city were already visible. The sound of loudspeakers by the ears never interrupted, broadcasting temporary rules over and over, reminding people to obey the regulations here. These sounds mixed with the buzzing discussions of people and the sounds of cars, making one’s ears go numb.

Originally, Zhou Liming thought they would be arranged to stay in the city, but unexpectedly, under instruction, the traffic did not stop. Instead, following the indications, they passed through the entire Wan J City, crossed the whole city, appeared in the northwest direction, and formally entered the civilian camp area established by the government.

You could not imagine what the scene looked like with over a hundred thousand tents set up together. In the flattened civilian camp area, looking out, there were tents of different colors everywhere, with no end in sight. Among these tents, people were walking everywhere, making various sounds, and occasionally one could see children chasing and laughing.

Pity and joy were actually being staged here, and they appeared so harmonious.

Cars were not allowed to proceed further here; instead, soldiers would indicate them to turn a corner towards a super-large parking lot in the distance, where everyone’s cars would be concentrated.

The children were obviously a bit excited when they arrived here. The heavy truck was originally high, which allowed them to stand by the truck bed and look at this spectacular scene, shouting with joy from time to time. For them, yesterday’s pain and terror had long been thrown to the back of their minds by the time they got here; they just marveled at this rare grand occasion.

Upon arriving here, Dean Zhou also completely let out a sigh of relief. The escape lasting nearly ten days finally came to an end here.

Compared to many others, Dean Zhou felt he was undoubtedly lucky. If not for Zhou Liming during the events experienced on the way, his old bones probably would not have even escaped Zhe B City, let alone arrive here safely after just suffering a bit of fright.

An Xiaowei, who was driving, finally showed some color on her pale face, and her hands holding the steering wheel tapped rhythmically.

Under guidance, she quickly parked the heavy truck in the boundless sea of cars. There were specialized staff members recording the vehicles and issuing a car card, which could be used later to retrieve the car parked here. No one cared at all whether this heavy truck belonged to Zhou Liming and the others.

The number of cars kept increasing, and the entire parking lot was busy.

Under the state machine, the mobilized manpower and material resources were vast; at least there were many people and soldiers working here, constantly guiding the people who fled here.

There were quite a few important things on the heavy truck, like the gas stove and tanks, which could be said to have rendered great service during these days of fleeing. Moving these things down, Zhou Liming naturally carried the woven bag of gold jewelry, while An Xiaowei carried the gas tank. Several older children jointly carried the gas stove, and Dean Zhou led the children who could not help, as the group merged into the surging crowd.

For arranging living places, there were people specifically responsible, and over a hundred temporary work stations had hundreds of long lines formed.

“Wait in line here; a staff member will assign a tent to you later.”

This staff member brought Zhou Liming here, gave an instruction, then turned and walked towards the parking lot to guide the next group, not even giving Zhou Liming and the others a chance to say thank you.

Too many people were pouring into Wan J City, and the number was constantly increasing. Over a hundred long dragons of lines stretched very far. Everyone seen was carrying big and small bags, things to eat, use, and wear, completely no different from refugees fleeing. Things that would be funny in normal times, no one could laugh at now, because almost everyone was in this posture.

They waited in line for a full four hours before it was finally Zhou Liming’s turn.

“How many people, household registration, age.”

After simple inquiries, the staff member in charge of registration completed the entry and assigned a number. Based on the situation, a large tent was assigned to Zhou Liming and the others, and then he said: “Two meals a day, there will be a broadcast notification later. Please collect food according to the area assigned by the broadcast. Please obey the temporary regulations, and please take your family that way.”

Holding the issued number plate and following the direction pointed by the other party, Zhou Liming led An Xiaowei and the others to move forward with the flow of people.

The huge camp area was divided into numerous zones, all composed of numbered digits. Only when one zone was fully arranged would they move to the next, so there was no confusion. Those who received number plates just needed to walk with the flow and find the tent corresponding to their number, which was the temporary residence assigned by the government.

After repeatedly confirming that the four-cornered army-green tent in front of them was the one assigned to them, sixteen people living inside was a bit crowded, but still bearable.

“This is our home now.”

Zhou Liming laughed and took the lead in crawling inside. Since the tent was set up in the fields, the ground beneath the tent was flattened soil. In the weather of June, there was no need to worry about muddy soil, which saved a lot of trouble.

When they had settled their things, everyone except Zhou Liming was exhausted and slumped down, sitting directly on the soil.