Chapter 7: On Foot

After everyone had eaten their fill, Dong Junwei called them together again.

"I discussed with Tang Jing and Chen Mu earlier that staying in the classroom isn't a long-term solution; we plan to go out and find another base. What do you all think?"

"Why? Waiting in the classroom for others to rescue us isn't bad, is it? Outside might be more dangerous—any random bird could eat us."

It was obvious everyone still resented Luo Hui being snatched away by a swallow.

Dong Junwei sighed: "Since we shrank, it's been over a day. If anyone were coming to rescue us, they'd have arrived by now. The silence shows everyone else is shrunk like us—who would have the time to save us?"

The crowd fell silent, hearts chilled halfway.

"Moreover, the most crucial point is that there's no food in the classroom." Dong Junwei said.

"We have cake; it can last us a while."

"Don't forget, it's summer—if the cake isn't refrigerated, it'll spoil in at most two days."

"There's an even bigger problem: water." Tang Jing interjected.

If she hadn't mentioned it, it would've been fine, but bringing up water made everyone, including Chen Mu, feel parched.

"There's a water dispenser in the classroom!" someone shouted.

"The water dispenser is just as high—are you planning to make Chen Mu climb it again?" Dong Junwei said.

Tang Jing also said: "Even if you climb up, water isn't like cake—how would you bring it down? If you spill it on the floor, would you still drink it?"

Everyone thought about it and agreed it made sense.

"So, for now, leaving the classroom is the only option."

"But where should we go?"

"We need everyone to pool their ideas."

The crowd fell silent again.

Tang Jing said: "I need to warn you—we can't stay here any longer. With all this cake on the floor, it'll soon become a paradise for ants and various insects. We can barely handle one or two ants now; once they swarm, we'll likely be carted off as food."

Everyone shuddered.

"Don't scare us like that—we didn't say we weren't leaving."

"Class monitor, do you have a plan? We'll follow you anyway."

Dong Junwei glanced at Tang Jing and Chen Mu.

Tang Jing seemed already prepared, saying: "My idea is that it must be indoors first, to avoid sun and rain, and preferably there should be some food source..."

"Then how about the canteen?" someone interjected.

"Obtaining food doesn't necessarily require going to the canteen, and given this weather, existing food wouldn't keep long anyway; we'd probably struggle to get anything from the fridge. Besides, the canteen is a gathering place for insects and small animals—too dangerous."

"Then where else could we go?"

"I recall there's a small storage room north of the canteen, containing some new pots and pans—it should be a decent spot. Once there, we could use local materials to build a shelter, and since it's not far from the canteen, if we really have no other option, we could go fetch food as an emergency."

Tang Jing laid out her idea in detail.

Chen Mu turned the plan over in his mind for a long time; though he felt it wasn't perfect, preparing for long-term survival left him with no better option at present.

Someone worried: "But the route from here will have many dangers."

"Danger is inevitable, but it's still better than sitting here waiting to die."

Dong Junwei said: "If anyone has a better idea, speak up now; otherwise, we'll follow Tang Jing's suggestion."

After a moment of silence, no one objected.

"All right, then it's settled." Dong Junwei immediately hammered out the decision.

No delay—everyone rose to their feet at once.

Dong Junwei had everyone fill their pockets with cake to serve as rations.

Despite the dozen or so people gobbling it up, the earlier cake had only consumed a small portion.

With everything ready, Tang Jing calculated the time, then, based on the light streaming in through the window, confirmed the direction, and the group set off toward the classroom door.

Du Jia Jia's seat was about five meters from the classroom door, which for them amounted to walking five hundred meters.

Moreover, the distance from the classroom to the canteen was an even longer, slow trek.

Although the teaching building housing Class 4, Senior Year 3 is the closest to the canteen, and their classroom happens to be on the first floor, Chen Mu estimated the distance between them to be about seventy meters.

That equals seven kilometers in their former size!

It doesn't sound very far, but who knows what they'll encounter along the way.

Everyone felt heavy-hearted and barely spoke.

Wei Dalei and Chen Mu walked at the very front of the line, especially Wei Dalei, who continually felt he had failed to shoulder his responsibility and was deeply guilty.

The path inside the classroom was generally smooth.

They encountered two lone ants; Chen Mu hadn't even had a chance to act when Wei Dalei, without a word, rushed forward and hammered them flat with his bare fists.

They reached the doorway.

The classroom door was shut, but if they merely stooped slightly, they could crawl out through the gap beneath it.

Outdoors.

Clear skies stretched far and wide.

To Chen Mu and the others, the sky now seemed higher and vaster, making themselves feel ever tinier.

Although they were on the first floor, there were still two steps between the classroom's exterior ground and the roadway.

Fortunately, there was a slope nearby for the group to descend; otherwise, a thirty-centimeter-high step would be a heavenly chasm for them at their current size.

"I was wondering how the students in the upstairs classrooms are supposed to get down?" Wei Dalei suddenly mused.

"And those people on the playground grass—they're surely surrounded by bugs..." someone added.

As soon as that was said, everyone's scalp went numb.

Chen Mu, Tang Jing, and Dong Junwei exchanged a glance, then simultaneously turned their faces away.

Obviously, the three of them had already thought about this problem.

But the answer is destined to be a tragedy.

Because they can do nothing, the three avoid mentioning it by mutual agreement.

But now Wei Dalei suddenly pointed it out, and Chen Mu could only say: "Our current situation is like being scattered to the four winds; we can't help even if we want to, and can only pray that someone among them awakens a powerful Special Ability to lead the others out of the predicament."

These words are just comforting, and everyone understands.

In the apocalypse, death is the most ordinary occurrence.

Think of Luo Hui.

In that moment, everyone felt sorrow like a rabbit mourning a fox, and their hearts grew heavy.

"Fortunately, we still have great hope of survival." Dong Junwei knew she couldn't let the team stay pessimistic, so she changed the subject: "Everyone, put in a little more effort—it's only six or seven kilometers; we should try to reach it before dark."

It is noon.

The ground is very hot.

Moreover, the route from the classroom to the canteen is all concrete, undoubtedly making it even hotter.

However, Tang Jing still insisted on traveling now. Since even ants and crawling insects feel the heat, doing so is actually safer.

Thinking they might become ant food, no one complained about the heat anymore.

However, no matter how thorough the planning, reality is still more unpredictable.

Just after descending the slope and turning the corner, a huge python-like monster appeared, lying across their path.

"Holy shit, a big... big snake!"

Several people turned and ran in fright.

Chen Mu was also frightened, but he forced himself to stay calm and shouted: "Don't be scared, it's an earthworm."