Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 362: New Task For The Day

Chapter 362: New Task For The Day

363

"So, Zhao Jun Jie, what do you want to talk about?" I asked as I walked into the conference room, soon to be the official city hall.

"I guess the better question is, what do you want to talk about?" sighed Zhao Jun Jie, pointing to the stack of papers in front of him. Xie Feng was once again strapped to his chest. In fact, I don’t think that I have yet to see her not strapped to his chest.

"The nine of us disappearing off the face of the earth, never to be seen again?" I replied. I meant to make it a statement, but it definitely came out a question. I was stuck in this weird position of wanting to do everything I could do to help rebuild and not wanting to do anything at all.

I wanted to make sure that the human race could flourish and wanted everyone just to go away and die.

"Yeah, that won’t work for me," he shot back, sorting through the paper before pushing some toward me across the table. "You are in charge of setting up the hospital and making it work."

I opened my mouth, about to ask why me, but then I realized my family had two doctors in it. There was no way we weren’t going to be involved in creating the hospital. And I was also pretty sure that I even offered to look after it somewhere in that paperwork. Frig.

"Okay. Any idea where it is going to be?"

"We are tearing down almost every building in this city and rebuilding it from the ground up." I turned around to see Hu Wen Cheng entering the room. Making his way around my men and Chang Ming, he pulled out the chair across from me and right beside Zhao Jun Jie.

"Okay then," I nodded, more than a little stupefied at the amount of work that would take. "So, what I am hearing is that you don’t need me now?"

"I need windmills to be able to create electricity, but before that, I need a frigging blacksmith to help us create things. Then, I need someone who knows how a septic tank works and how to create one. And someone that knows how to drill a well..." Zhao Jun Jie’s voice trailed off as he continued to look through the paperwork, his eyes narrowing on something that caught his attention.

"Maybe I should start from the beginning," grunted Hu Wen Cheng as he rolled his eyes at Zhao Jun Jie. "We went to the old city hall and found a paper map of City D and its old infrastructure. Using that as our baseline, we have planned out a new town."

Bin An Sha raised an eyebrow. "That couldn’t be easy."

Hu Wen Cheng shrugged his shoulders. "They had a whole floor dedicated to the historical archives of this place since before it was an actual city. We have decided to restore it to its original layout before the 16th century and before it had electricity. But if we want to do it that way, then that requires us to tear down everything first. Or find a whole new area that hasn’t been developed at all."

"I don’t think that there is any place in this country that hasn’t been brought into the 22nd century. So, finding a place that hasn’t been developed is not going to be possible. And completely tearing down this City is not going to be easy either," interjected Cheng Bo Jing, leaning against a wall with Wang Chang Ming in his arms.

"Not easy, but definitely doable," shrugged Zhao Jun Jie. "And I probably misspoke about tearing down the entire city. We are going to start with the buildings on the outer edges of the city so that we can create fields. From there, we would use the materials from the old buildings to create new homes. In theory, it should work as long as we have the right people involved. Hell, I had never even heard of a frigging septic tank before now, but apparently, they work without power."

Seeing as I had never heard of a septic tank either, I was more confident than ever that I had suggested the right people be put in charge. "What is a septic tank?" I finally asked, willing to look like an idiot, just to appease my curiosity.

"Apparently, it is an underground chamber where wastewater can flow into, and waste can be processed on a much smaller level than through a traditional sewer system. It isn’t perfect. There are still some downsides to it, like removing whatever waste can’t be dealt with by the bacteria, and there is a chance that it can contaminate the water around it," sighed Zhao Jun Jie, rubbing his forehead.

"But it seems like our best option right now until we get electricity back," consoled Ye Yao Zu from where he stood beside Cheng Bo Jing.

"Yeah," sighed Hu Wen Cheng. "The outhouse that we put together as a temporary solution is now full, and we are going to have to create a new one today. We need a better solution to human waste."

"And on that lovely note," I smiled, coming to my feet. "I am going to bring Wang Chang Ming home. I found a place here, about a two-day walk away, that seems to be in good condition. I am claiming it for my home."

I wasn’t about to let a single word slip out that it was already mine, in perfect condition, and came with supplies. Even if I trusted the men in this room, I couldn’t trust that they wouldn’t accidentally slip up and tell someone else.

I would just let everyone think that I was extremely lucky in that regard.

"Maybe that is what we should do..." murmured Zhao Jun Jie, looking down at a rolled-up piece of paper I could only assume was the map. "We can have people go out and find a temporary home for themselves. It would stop everyone from being on top of each other. I am just worried about zombies."

"As of right now, I haven’t been able to find any zombies in the city," I offered helpfully.

"Okay, new task for today. Get everyone set up in their own house."