"Hm?"
After saying all that, Bryan turned to look at Sarah—only to find her staring at him intently. His lips curved into a smirk. "What? Shocked by my brilliance after hearing that analysis?"
"Pfft. You really are shameless."
Sarah couldn't help rolling her eyes and laughing. Suddenly, she leaned forward, placed both hands on his cheeks, and started squishing and kneading. "I'm actually curious what's inside that head of yours to come up with all this random stuff."
"Alright, that's enough!"
Bryan swatted her mischievous hands away with a smack. Seeing people starting to leave the field, he checked the time. "Feeling better? Ready to go?"
"Mm, let's go."
Feeling the soreness in her body had subsided significantly, Sarah slowly stood up. She stretched her arms briefly, then walked off the field alongside Bryan.
They didn't head straight to the dormitories. Instead, they returned to the academic building. Bryan wanted to retrieve the two books from his desk drawer—they'd make good reading material for the evening.
He'd skimmed through the anatomy book. While it wasn't particularly sophisticated—just an introductory text—it was the best he could find for now. Something was better than nothing.
During Miranda's campus tour, Bryan had learned that the university had seven libraries. Setting aside the computer labs and damaged facilities, all remaining books had been consolidated into two adjacent libraries. However, they were still being organized and wouldn't open to students for a while. Comprehensive reading materials would have to wait.
Sarah had her own reasons for returning—she wanted to check on Dick and Allen.
And... just as they'd expected. When they found the two boys, they were lying sprawled on the floor with their tongues hanging out, looking like two exhausted puppies.
"Let's go."
Bryan stood at a distance, watching them on the floor. He patted Sarah's shoulder and turned to leave.
Sarah followed. "Shouldn't we go see them?"
"Look at them. No way they're hitting their quotas. They'll probably have to wait until time runs out before they can leave. What—you want to wait here for an hour?"
"Oh... never mind then..."
They agreed to meet up for dinner and parted ways at the dormitory entrance. Few people had returned yet. From some rooms came the faint sound of snoring—they were clearly exhausted.
Bryan didn't see this as a bad thing. Physical training was one aspect, but more importantly, it burned off the excess energy of these hormone-fueled teenagers, reducing friction and preventing them from doing anything reckless.
But he'd been through school before. He knew that with this many adolescents confined to one campus without being able to leave, once they adapted to the grueling workouts, conflicts were inevitable. He just hoped it wouldn't happen too soon. He'd like a few more peaceful days.
Back in his room, Bryan filled a bucket with water and wiped himself down with a towel. The dorm didn't have hot water—even if it did, students like them wouldn't have access.
Plus, it was winter. Though his body was hot from exercise, taking a cold shower would be asking to get sick.
After wiping down, Bryan felt refreshed. He washed his clothes with soap and hung them on the balcony to dry. In this weather, they'd take two or three days.
Then he checked the time, tucked his books under his pillow, locked his door, and headed downstairs. He returned to the dormitory entrance and watched the sunset's fading glow, quietly waiting for Sarah.
...
That night.
After a satisfying dinner with Sarah in the cafeteria, Bryan returned to his room. He burrowed under his thick blanket, propped himself against the headboard, and pulled out the two books from under his pillow.
Everything was quiet. Only faint footsteps and muffled voices drifted in from outside—nothing like the midday commotion. The field training had clearly worn these teenagers out.
Once it was completely dark, Bryan switched on the small desk lamp by the window. The dim light illuminated the area around his bed.
There was no other option—the main ceiling light had been removed long ago. All he'd been issued was this small lamp. The brightness was limited, but any light source was better than none.
He read for about two hours. At ten o'clock, he finally set the book down, turned off the lamp, and snuggled into his blanket to sleep.
Boom... boom...
His sleep was restless. In his drowsy state, Bryan seemed to hear rumbling sounds from somewhere far away—faint and indistinct.
But the sound felt strangely familiar, like something he'd heard recently.
Suddenly, Bryan's eyes snapped open. He sat up, threw off the covers, slipped on his sandals, and walked to the balcony.
It was just past five in the morning. A faint glow was beginning to appear on the horizon. He gripped the balcony railing, staring at that barely visible yellow tinge in the distance, listening to the distant rumbling. His eyes slowly narrowed.
He'd only been guessing before, but now, fully awake, he recognized the sound—tank fire. The same sound he'd heard from the safe zone while fleeing toward the QZ.
If he could see and hear this from so far away, there was only one explanation: the QZ's military had mobilized and was now actively engaging the Infected outside, carving out a direct path to the outside world.
If the military had chosen to act now, it meant a support convoy was about to arrive—and a large one at that. They needed to clear a route quickly.
Three days passed. The distant rumbling never stopped. Initially, it had captured the students' attention, but children were easily distracted. Not understanding what was happening, they lost interest within half a day.
Bryan gradually settled into school life. Mornings were spent reading in the classroom. Noon was for rest. Afternoons meant grueling training. Each day was full.
He also made a trip to the administrative office with Sarah, Dick, and Allen to get Anna and the others' addresses and establish contact.
As Bryan had suspected, the QZ was severely short on labor. The combined population of Anna and Lucy's two districts probably didn't even reach twenty thousand. They had to work high-intensity jobs daily, leaving no time for anything else.
But they'd received word from their superiors: once the reinforcement convoys arrived and relieved the pressure, conditions would improve.
That very afternoon, the distant rumbling suddenly ceased—signaling that the route to the outside world had been opened.
Sure enough, the next morning, while Bryan was studying in his classroom as usual, he happened to glance out the window and spotted dozens of military trucks parked at the university entrance.
Children poured out of the vehicles one after another. They looked around anxiously, clearly uncomfortable in this unfamiliar environment.
Bryan watched them—just like when he'd first arrived—being led by soldiers into the school, congregating outside this very building. At a rough estimate, there were five or six hundred.
His gaze shifted and, as expected, he spotted Miranda waiting below. But she wasn't alone this time. Behind her stood over a dozen middle-aged women, each holding a stack of rosters.
Such a crowd naturally attracted the attention of the students inside. They crowded against the windows, craning their necks to see what was happening outside.
But their observation was cut short by the middle-aged man at the door, whose cold snort sent them scurrying back to their seats.
Bryan remained by the window, quietly watching Miranda evaluate the children below.
He also noticed that all the older-looking kids were being called aside by one of the women and loaded onto a school bus parked outside, which then slowly drove away.
Noticing this, Bryan furrowed his brow slightly. Though he was confident in his theory, he couldn't be one hundred percent certain he was right.
But he quickly shelved the matter. It didn't affect his interests at the moment. Overthinking it now was pointless.
After this first batch of students arrived, six more groups trickled in over the following week. The smallest had one or two hundred; the largest, over a thousand.
With this influx of fresh blood, both the QZ and the school came alive. And the plans that had been prepared in advance were finally set into motion.