So there was a very unfortunate problem, many of the survivor bases could no longer bear the pressure of the population, and had to adopt a stricter rationing system, from desperately absorbing labor to selectively picking people, to stopping accepting anyone, and even squeezing out the old and decrepit and dissidents from within, leaving them to fend for themselves.

Hunger has gradually replaced zombies as the biggest threat to survivors. Survivors who have lost the protection of the base can only become outcasts, congregating in the ruins of cities near the base, and surviving by doing odd jobs for the base or venturing into towns that have not yet been completely cleared to scavenge for leftovers.

How to put it, this practice cannot be said to be completely inhumane, but it also has a little bit of exploitation. Many bases are not short of supplies, and after so many years of collection, at least the food reserves should last for a while.

But management is not a saint, and for various purposes they have to think about themselves and vested interests. It is a good thing to cut some quotas first, make some people homeless, and then hire them to do dangerous and hard work at a lower price, which will not affect productivity and save material consumption.

No one cares if it is too cruel and unfair to those survivors who have been forced to lose their stable lives or even become homeless.

After so many years in the last days, everyone has become accustomed to another set of moral standards. Kindness, simplicity, compassion, law-abiding, and hard work have become synonymous with incompetence and weakness.

The man rode a mountain bike along the road that loomed in sand and dust to the west, all the way west. When you are tired, just find an inconspicuous place on the side of the road and lay down on a moisture-proof mat for a while; Hungry, eat compressed biscuits carried in a backpack; When you are thirsty, you can find a creek and fill it with a kettle.

The good news is that there are many rivers along the way, and they are all snowmelt on the snow-capped mountains, which is clear and pollution-free. If you can put a little salt in it, it's about the same as an ice-cold drink in the old days.

The bad news is that you should never light a fire or turn on a light at night, as more and more predators, while ferocious, are far less terrifying than humans. Firelights and lights will make you a target within a radius of several miles.

Coolies, thieves, robbers, pitiful, hateful, pathetic, in fact, describe a kind of person, a homeless person who has lost the rationing and protection of the base, and is desperately trying to fill his stomach at any time.

They don't care who you are or what you carry, as long as you are free from the constraints of the base and the settlement, you can be the one who may kill you at any time. No matter how cold the night is, you can only find a hidden place to endure it, and if you can't be sure that there is no one nearby, you must not expose yourself.

On the fourth day, the man's mountain bike entered another ruined city, which was a little different here. There are many pedestrians, mostly on bicycles, and a few on horses, mules or donkeys.

At the intersection, there are also strong fortifications made of horses and cement, and soldiers wearing black clothes and pants with guns and embroidered blue sky and snow-capped mountains on their chests are watching every passing pedestrian with vigilant eyes. If a suspicious person is found, he will be stopped for inspection immediately.

In the old world, it was called Kuitun City, bordering Dushanzi District in the south, and Wusu City of Wusu Beer across the river in the west, with a total population of more than 400,000 in the whole area, it is a traffic artery, and the northern end of the famous Duku Highway starts from here.

After the outbreak of zombie disease, the survivors of Xinjiang Province merged several times and built their base in Yining City, which has a milder climate and more abundant water, but it is still a transportation hub.

The Karamay oil field in the north can still produce some crude oil, which must be transited here if it wants to be shipped out to exchange machinery and drugs with other forces. The group of survivors who occupied the Yining base is called the Redeemers, and they have stationed more than 300 soldiers and many heavy weapons here, which is considered the northernmost fortress and outpost of the base.

There is nothing suspicious about the man himself, most of the pedestrians on the road are dressed up with him, wearing a cloak, hood, sunglasses, goggles, ski goggles, masks, veils, all the measures that can prevent wind and sand, and then riding a bicycle, this is the standard homeless attire.

"Stop, what's in the car?" But the humanoid package tied to his bicycle was obviously suspicious, and the soldiers immediately raised the muzzles of the two black holes.

"Gold Digger...... Urumchi...... Blue Devil! The man spoke stiff Chinese, stumbling, and explained with analogies.

"Blue Devil...... Intact? One soldier reached out and touched the tarpaulin that had wrapped the corpse with a surprised expression.

"Good luck......" The man's Chinese is really bad, and it took a long time to express it clearly.

"Oh! Hear me, this guy got a complete Blue Devil. Tsk tsk, it's really shit luck ......" There was a whisper in the crowd of people who were also queuing up at the sentry post to be inspected, and most of the people present were homeless people who knew the price of a complete blue devil corpse.

"Open the cloak and check!" There was a gleam in the young soldier's eyes, and the muzzle of the gun stabbed forward into the man's stomach.

......The man obediently opened his cloak, revealing a tattered sheepskin jacket, body armor, tactical vest, including the pistol, dagger and spear on his thigh, all missing.

The young soldier stretched out his hand and touched it for a long time, but there was nothing but a strong smell of mutton, a sharp axe, a small half box of locally-grown Mohe tobacco, and a half-deflated marching pot. Next was the backpack, which was quite a bit of a stretch, a half-unpacked compressed biscuit, three large animal clips, a mass of chains, and a few rolls of rope.

"You're the Blue Devil you killed with these things?" The young soldier was a little unwilling, and he pondered how the person who could hunt the Blue Devil alone had to have some strong weapons on him. Now ammunition is tight, so it's also very valuable, and you can exchange a lot of things on the black market.

There is really no oil and water for the small soldiers except for the rations issued by the base, and if you want to live a good life, you have to scrape from these homeless people. Those who are officials shave big heads, and those who are soldiers shave small heads.

The acquisition of the Blue Devil at a high price is an order from the base, and no one dares to stop it. However, the base did not say that it would not allow the capture of rebels, as long as someone carried a little more weapons and ammunition, he could label him as a suspected rebel. Those who know each other will give up their wealth to save their lives, and those who don't know each other can only be sent to the group of fake monks in the ascetic society, and they will have to peel off their skins if they don't die!

"Good luck!" The man closed his cloak and still said the same tone, the words had not changed, and it seemed that he could not say any more new words.

"Roll on......" The young soldier waved his hand impatiently and let the man pass.

It's really useless, you can't forcibly detain the body of the Blue Devil in front of so many people, then if the people of the ascetic society know about it, you will have to become an outcast tomorrow.

At the same time, however, he glanced at his companion opposite, and the soldier immediately left his post and went into the nearby bunker to pick up the phone.

Passing through the checkpoint is equivalent to entering the Kuitun base, where there is only a military camp and a few hundred displaced families living in a dilapidated house at the entrance of the barracks.

Most of these people worked at freight terminals and refineries, where crude oil from the Karamay oil fields in the north would be transported by tankers, some by steam locomotives to Hami by rail to exchange goods with other alliances, and some would be used locally to make gasoline using a more primitive method of fractionation.

Don't look at the sparrows small, but they have all the organs. There are not only restaurants but also tea stalls on the street at the entrance of the barracks, and the former is a place to feast on the delicious food of animals hunted from nearby and wild vegetables picked, whether it is an officer, a soldier, or a homeless person who has made a fortune, you can go in and consume it.

The latter is cheaper, and most homeless people can afford it, and a bowl of hot tea only requires a shopping coupon issued by the Yining base. After a tiring day, I asked for a bowl of hot tea with salt at the tea stall, took out dry baked naan, fried rice or compressed biscuits, and dinner was solved.

While eating, you can also chat, complain, brag, inquire about the convenience of work, talk about price changes, eat and drink enough, go back to the dark and dilapidated house and close your eyes, and the day will pass.