That building shaped a bit like a butterfly was where Kyoko planned to establish their new base.
Once the interior had been secured, everyone except Brent—who stayed on watch nearby—joined the moving crew. The supplies in the vehicles had to be put away properly, especially the food, the drinking water, and the medicine.
The cold outside was not the truly frightening part. The real problem was moisture.
Because the weather had temporarily cleared today and it was not snowing, the temperature in the mountains had climbed into the twenties, making it feel almost un-winterlike. The higher temperature had caused part of the snow to melt into filthy slush. If the things left in the vehicles got damp and moldy, that would be a disaster.
Since there was not enough time, unloading everything would only create more trouble. And besides, the house had not been fully tidied up yet. No matter where she put the supplies right now, Kyoko felt it would not be safe. So she left everything in the armored vehicle where it was, and only unloaded the supplies from the jeep.
Drinking water and medicine were the first things brought inside. Everyone treated them with the greatest care.
The food was all sealed and safe enough, and firearms and ammunition were stable, but medicine and drinking water absolutely had to be stored indoors as soon as possible.
Those were the things most vulnerable to contamination. Bottled water might look tightly sealed, but in practice the threaded cap structure was not that reliable against bacteria from the outside. One careless moment and the purified water inside could be compromised.
Medicine was a little different. Blister packs had extremely strong resistance to water, water vapor, and light; they were largely unaffected by environmental temperature and humidity. They protected their contents so well it was almost miraculous. Even so, Kyoko was not comfortable leaving them in the vehicle.
In truth, after some time they would not need to worry so much about fresh water. There was Lake Onogawa nearby, as well as several artificial lakes. A stream lay only a few hundred meters to the east. If they intended to stay here long-term, Kyoko could reproduce a proper water purification setup.
But there was no time for that now.
Everyone was rushing in and out, and the moving work continued until after six in the evening. It was already sunset. Though the last glow of the sun had not fully faded, the sky had grown quite dim.
Aside from the two sixteen-year-old girls working inside the house, everyone else had been taken outside by Kyoko to cut wood, trim waterproof tarps, and work with barbed wire.
Wherever people lived, there had to be a defensible perimeter.
This place was not like before. Back in the apartment tower, they had been high up, relatively safe. Here they were deep in the mountains, with the nearest settlement only a tiny village far below, but the infected were not limited to humans. Other animals could be threats too.
So Kyoko decided to build an outer defensive line around the safehouse first.
She wrapped barbed wire around nearby trees wherever she could. In the open areas without trees, she used logs as thick as an arm, chopped down and set into the ground as anchor posts. Before the last of the daylight vanished, Kyoko's rough perimeter line was nearly finished.
And while the remaining light still held, Kyoko and the others also set up simple lamp stands behind the wire. Each one was made from a nearly three-meter pole with a cape-shaped waterproof tarp draped over it, a lightbulb suspended underneath, and wiring run down the frame.
The electricity came from the solar panels Kyoko had brought with them.
Of course, there was not a scrap of power coming from those at the moment, so she temporarily used the vehicle batteries instead.
Without light, a wide-open place this close to deep forest would be terrifying at night. However dangerous the wilderness was, it would be worse in total darkness. Naturally, she did not intend to leave the lights on all night; Kyoko had enough sense for that.
She had set up a master switch. Long cables ran back into the second-floor bedroom and the first-floor hall of the safehouse, letting her switch the lights on and off at will.
The wiring itself had come from the system shop, of course, though she pretended she had found it in one of the storage buildings nearby.
Surely nobody was really going to question where Kyoko's supplies came from, right?
And brightness mattered too. If the lights were too bright, they would expose the group's position. If too dim, they would be useless. Since the bulbs had been scavenged from table lamps, Kyoko had also improvised outer covers for them, something like lantern shades.
That solved the brightness problem perfectly.
Kyoko gripped a claw hammer and drove nails into the wood with sharp, forceful blows. Soon another light post had taken shape. She reached to the side for more timber—
—and found there was none left.
"Miranda, go cut a few more saplings! This isn't enough!" she called toward the distance.
"Got it! I'll be there in a bit!" Miranda shouted back, carrying a red-handled axe. Her hands were already sore. The others had all been given the job of tying the wire. Why was she the one stuck chopping wood?
In reality, it was not that unfair.
The two minors were inside organizing the rooms and preparing dinner, Brent was on lookout duty, Kyoko was handling the technical work, and that only left Miranda and Ye Ling.
Ye Ling might have been tall and powerful, but could Miranda not set an example for once? Ye Ling had only just joined them. There was no need to make her do the rough chopping work immediately.
So Miranda had simply been the most convenient person to "temporarily inconvenience."
In truth, it was more a matter of not using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. They were not felling full-sized trees, just cutting wood as thick as an arm. Letting Ye Ling handle it would probably mean the logs ended up split to pieces.
By now, night had fully fallen.
At minimum, there was now one light post in each of the four cardinal directions.
Standing at the entrance, Kyoko flipped the switch.
There was a faint electrical buzz, and the bulbs flared to life at once, driving back the dark pressing in from all sides.
Perfect.
The first day's work was done.
Dinner, then sleep.
Should they bury a few mines nearby tomorrow? The thought crossed Kyoko's mind again. Cheap defensive measures like mines really were magnificent things.
After dinner, with no other tasks left, everyone retreated to the rooms they had chosen.
Miranda's group picked the largest bedroom. Kyoko and Huaxiu chose a medium-sized one. Ye Ling took a room of her own. Of course, she had not gone off to another building; she was staying in the same suite as Kyoko and Huaxiu, just in the secondary bedroom rather than the main one.
Tonight, at last, they could catch up on sleep.
Lying in bed with Huaxiu in her arms, Kyoko let herself sink into the mattress.
She had intentionally waited for the system to finish its daily broadcast before going to sleep. These past few days it always seemed to make its announcements at night, and she was thoroughly sick of it.
[Yesterday's gains: Kills 1,826 points, exploration 1,280 points, mission points 0, recovered-value points 2,315.
System automatic fee: -250.
Map service fee: -1,000/day.
Current total remaining: 22,386.]
Once the electronic voice faded, the tension finally left Kyoko's body.
She relaxed completely, not even noticing that Huaxiu beside her had quietly opened her eyes.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 142)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter181)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter103)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter192)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 173
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 166
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 110
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 190
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 165
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 156
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 81
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 102
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 120
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 80
Uma Musume: I Want All 95
I Can Copy Unique Skills 84
Summoning an Evil God, but the 66
Supernatural Multiverse 83
My Harem Is Indescribable 75
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 81
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 67
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 75
Still playing traditional Honk 55
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 60
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 57
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 45
Transmigrated as Sukuna 55
Checking In in Demon Slayer 60
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 65
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 35
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 35
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 39
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 58
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