Chapter 32

Chapter 32: The Five-Star Brigade

The next day was overcast, with large swathes of dark clouds stretching across the sky, seemingly brewing a heavy rain that was yet to fall.

After learning from Zhang Yang where Third Brother lived, Gu Ning left the dormitory with her gun on her back.

When Third Brother escaped from the military, he brought over thirty soldiers with him. Now, including himself, only twenty-three remained.

They had taken over one floor of the Teacher’s Building.

Even at this time, two soldiers were standing guard at the stairwell with guns.

Before Gu Ning could introduce herself, a young soldier with exceptionally pale skin, around twenty years old, brightened up and said, “Are you Gu Ning? Here to see our Third Company?”

“Zhang Xiaobai, how many times have I told you, call him Third Brother! Third Brother!” Another slightly older soldier, around twenty-five or twenty-six, said with a look of helplessness. Then, turning to Gu Ning with shining eyes, he asked, “You’re Gu Ning, right?” Looking at Gu Ning’s attire—sportswear, blonde hair, pale face, and a gun slung over her shoulder—he thought she matched the description Third Brother had given. It must be her.

“You came just in time. If you were any later, we would have left!” said the soldier named Zhang Xiaobai.

“Left?” Gu Ning asked.

“Yeah,” Zhang Xiaobai replied. “We send out a small team every day to look for other survivors.” He paused, then looked at Gu Ning gratefully. “We heard from Zhang Yang. If it weren’t for you yesterday, not only Zhao Jie and the others, but even Third Brother might not have made it back.”

The slightly older soldier also gave Gu Ning a grateful look.

Gu Ning was silent.

These people, though they had left the military, were still trying to find survivors and bring them safely to the gathering place. For them, there was no personal gain in this—they were simply upholding their duty as soldiers to protect the people, even in this post-apocalyptic world.

Gu Ning looked at the young soldier, who seemed even younger than her, talking about going out to find survivors without a hint of complaint, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Suddenly, Gu Ning felt a deep respect for them.

“I’ll take you inside,” Zhang Xiaobai said enthusiastically, leading Gu Ning down the corridor. “Zhang Yang said you just learned how to shoot, but your accuracy is even better than Luo Long’s! I didn’t believe him at first—he tends to exaggerate—but then Luo Long said the same thing, so I had to believe it. How did you do it?”

To Gu Ning’s surprise, the soldiers only occupied two rooms on this floor. The other rooms were filled with children, sleeping on the floor covered with messy blankets and clothes. There were about twenty to thirty children in each room. Most were still asleep, but a few who had woken up early were unusually quiet, just staring at Gu Ning with their big, dark, curious eyes.

“These are all orphans who’ve lost their parents,” Zhang Xiaobai explained. “Third Brother says children are the seeds of this world. Saving one more means one more hope for the future. I think he’s right. We have the space here, so we’ve taken them in. These kids are really well-behaved—they never cause any trouble. And they don’t eat much either.” He paused, his brow furrowing slightly. “But it’s getting colder now. When winter really hits, these kids won’t have enough clothes. I don’t know if they’ll make it through the winter.”

Gu Ning looked at the quiet, curious eyes of the children and listened to Zhang Xiaobai’s slightly heavy words, unsure of what to say.

Having grown accustomed to the cold indifference of people in this post-apocalyptic world, especially towards women and children, Gu Ning was seeing for the first time people who still held such warmth and dedication to this world. This warmth made her feel inexplicably ashamed.

But at the same time, she was deeply confused. She hadn’t forgotten the man who had been shot in the head yesterday morning for delaying them. She didn’t know if that man was one of Third Brother’s people, but someone who could pull the trigger so decisively, in her understanding, should be ruthless—certainly not the type to take in orphans.

Gu Ning couldn’t figure Third Brother out.

When Zhang Xiaobai brought Gu Ning to see Third Brother, he was inspecting his guns and ammunition.

Third Brother was slightly surprised by Gu Ning’s arrival but didn’t stop what he was doing. He simply asked, “Gu Ning? What’s up?”

Gu Ning first glanced around the room. It was no different from where the children were staying—if anything, the blankets and clothes on the floor were even thinner.

About a dozen soldiers were crammed into the room, with most of the furniture moved out into the hallway to make more space. The soldiers, mostly young men in their twenties, had all heard of Gu Ning’s “heroic deeds” and were now staring at her with curiosity.

Gu Ning gave them a slight nod in greeting, then answered Third Brother, “Yes, I have a few important questions I’d like to ask you, Third Brother.”

Gu Ning’s serious demeanor made Third Brother take her seriously as well. He put down his gun, stood up, and said, “Let’s go talk outside.”

The two walked to the other end of the corridor, to a small balcony. Third Brother pulled out a small metal box from his inner pocket. Inside were about a dozen cigarettes. He took out a half-smoked one, lit it with a lighter, took a deep drag, then extinguished it and put it back in the box. He let the smoke linger in his mouth for a while before exhaling through his nose. He squinted, a look of satisfaction on his face, then cursed, “Damn, cigarettes are harder to come by than drugs these days.” After that, he asked, “What’s up? Go ahead.”

Gu Ning had already prepared her words on the way over. She asked, “I want to ask—if this weren’t the apocalypse, and you were still in the military, what would it take for me to join and learn combat skills?” She emphasized the word “if.”

Third Brother was taken aback by Gu Ning’s strange question. “This is your important question? What kind of question is that? Are you joking?”

It wasn’t surprising that Third Brother reacted this way. To anyone, Gu Ning’s question would seem bizarre and pointless.

Gu Ning couldn’t explain herself, so she just emphasized, “Third Brother, I’m not joking. This is very important to me.”

Seeing that Gu Ning was serious, Third Brother finally believed her. He answered, “It’s hard.” He paused, then added, “But if it were back when I was in the military, and I knew you had potential, I’d definitely recommend you to the Five-Star Brigade. Tsk, what a shame. If it weren’t for the apocalypse, in a week or two, the Five-Star Brigade would be coming to recruit from the military.” He said with a gleam in his eye, “Then I’d let those arrogant bastards who wiped out my entire company last year see what a real sharpshooter looks like. Heh!” He stopped himself mid-laugh, glanced at Gu Ning, and said, “Tsk, what a damn shame! I won’t get to see those Five-Star Brigade guys get their comeuppance.”

Gu Ning was silent for a moment before asking, “What’s the Five-Star Brigade?”

This information was supposed to be classified, but with the world in its current state, Third Brother didn’t mind sharing. “The Five-Star Brigade is the codename for a special forces unit in our country. Every year, they recruit the most elite talents from all over the military. And their recruitment isn’t limited to the military—it’s open to anyone, regardless of age or gender. The only condition is that you have to beat them. Marksmanship, close combat—if you excel in any of these, you could become one of them. I don’t like their arrogant attitude, but you have to admit, those who make it in are the best of the best. Compared to them, we’re nothing. I believe even now, those people would be the ones to survive till the end.”

From Third Brother’s tone, it was clear he had mixed feelings about the Five-Star Brigade—both admiration and resentment.

Third Brother looked at Gu Ning one last time and said, “If it were still peacetime, with your talent and some systematic training from me, you might actually have a shot at getting into the Five-Star Brigade.” He sighed again, “What a shame.”

Gu Ning, however, was captivated by Third Brother’s words, especially the part about how even now, those people would be the ones to survive till the end.

And that was Gu Ning’s ultimate goal in this world.

After getting this crucial information from Third Brother, Gu Ning bid him farewell and left the Teacher’s Building.

Just as she stepped outside, someone stopped her.

Gu Ning looked in surprise at the person blocking her path.

It was the little girl she had seen at the back playground. The girl spread her arms wide, blocking Gu Ning’s way. Perhaps from running too hard, her face was pale, making her dark eyes seem even deeper, like a dark pool. She looked up at Gu Ning, her voice trembling with a suppressed sob, “Please save my brother! He’s about to be beaten to death!”

Maybe it was because of the unusually quiet and well-behaved children she had just seen in the Teacher’s Building, or maybe it was because of this little girl’s “specialness,” but Gu Ning only hesitated for a moment before following the girl to the back playground.

The brother she had mentioned, who was “about to be beaten to death,” was lying weakly on the ground, his thin body curled up in pain. But no one was hitting him now because the group was busy beating up a… black man?!

Gu Ning stared at the tall black man, wearing ill-fitting shorts and a T-shirt, yelling loudly, and for a moment, she was stunned.