For Song Min and the others, the food provided to them followed the Salvation Army's requirements and standards.
Basically, what Song Min and her group had collected, including what they grew themselves, was almost gone.
They had thought about resisting before. One evening, Song Min saw another group in the county town, similar in number to theirs.
Because they had promised the Salvation Army, but then went back on their word and didn't hand over the food, they first tricked the Salvation Army, then tried to escape, but were captured by the Salvation Army.
They died a terrible death. The Salvation Army always liked to use such cruel methods to intimidate its people.
To warn other groups, the Salvation Army directly dragged the bodies of these people around for a public warning.
Finally, these bodies were directly hung on a tall building in the county town. Many people in the county town saw them.
Song Min and her group also saw it, especially the brutal side of the Salvation Army. Moreover, they were numerous and powerful, coming from the south, always arriving in a vast horde.
The food given to the Salvation Army this time had taken away most of their provisions. Next, they would inevitably face a food crisis.
Everyone was full of worry, except for two male students who showed little emotion; if one looked closely, they might even see a hint of schadenfreude.
Li Yu held binoculars, observing from a distance.
From his perspective, he saw the two male students he had met before slowly approaching the Salvation Army. This time, it wasn't the team leader in charge, but Xiao Mao, as they called him.
These two male students approached Xiao Mao of the Salvation Army, who was responsible for transporting the food back this time, with fawning expressions.
"Mao Ge, we admire you greatly, especially you, Mao Ge; you're too cool! We want to follow you," one of the male students said with a wide, ingratiating smile.
Mao Ge raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn't expected these two students to come over wanting to join them.
When he came last time, he had also seen these two boys. Weren't they with Song Min and her group? Why did they want to join now?
Feeling a bit curious, he directly asked, "Your leader isn't over there? Why do you want to join us?" Mao Ge pointed towards Song Min.
Song Min saw the two students Teacher Liu brought muttering in front of that group of people. From a distance, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but seeing Mao Ge pointing at her, her heart sank, feeling it wasn't a good sign.
She was also extremely annoyed. When they first met Teacher Liu's group, these two male students had already fled. Their actions of abandoning their companions and running away on their own were something they despised.
At the time, she didn't think too much and just let them join. During the time they spent together, due to these two boys' past actions, everyone subconsciously felt a bit repulsed.
These two boys also didn't do anything to proactively prove themselves. Instead, because of everyone's attitude, they harbored resentment and waited until the even stronger Salvation Army arrived, thinking of directly joining them.
Under Mao Ge's question, following the direction of Mao Ge's pointing hand and seeing that he was pointing at Song Min, one of the male students replied, "That person? We temporarily joined them. Mao Ge, look, they are mostly women here, too weak. We want to follow you, Mao Ge."
"Mao Ge, we just want to follow you. Mao Ge," the other male student quickly added.
The team leader wasn't present, and he was in charge of the Salvation Army members who came today. This was his first time being solely responsible for transporting goods, and he was already feeling a bit pleased. Now, listening to these two youngsters' words, their flattery hit just the right spot.
Mao Ge's lips curved into a smile, and he nodded, saying, "Hey! You two boys, you really have good judgment. Hahahaha, if you join us, we also have some assessment standards; we don't just take anyone."
Mao Ge set a high bar, his eyes full of self-satisfaction.
"Mao Ge, look, once we join, any errands you have, you can let us do them. We can help you keep an eye on these people to see if they're obedient," one of the male students said.
"Yes, yes, Mao Ge, please take us in. We will be very obedient," the other male student next to him echoed.
Mao Ge looked at the two of them, their faces full of pleading, and his vanity was greatly satisfied. Only then did he nod and say, "Alright, I'll take care of this."
Actually, for him, he didn't have the direct right to recruit people, but he had the right to recommend. According to their organization's mechanism, recruiting people was generally not very strict; the most important rule was that combat power had to be sufficient.
Their organization didn't take useless people. Although these two male students were not old, they had at least survived until now and had some discerning judgment, so they would make do.
As soon as the two heard Mao Ge say this, flattering words started pouring out of their mouths like they cost nothing.
Mao Ge listened to their flattery, feeling extremely pleased. He found these two male students in front of him even more agreeable; these two were obedient and sensible, unlike the other Salvation Army members.
The other Salvation Army members who came along were all like blocks of wood, cruel and cold-blooded, but that was normal; wasn't that why they had managed to survive until now?
Within their Salvation Army, the same principle applied: might makes right. As long as they didn't cause too much trouble, the leader generally wouldn't interfere.
Song Min looked at the two male students fawning over the Salvation Army, and she secretly had some thoughts.
These two students hadn't been able to integrate recently, and now they had a certain motivation to join the Salvation Army.
While Song Min was still thinking, the two male students seemed to have whispered something else into Mao Ge's ear. Mao Ge looked somewhat pleased, rubbed his hands, and gave Song Min a meaningful glance.
Especially upon hearing something surprising, he immediately stood up.
He excitedly walked up to Song Min, a smile on his face, and said, "You still have military compressed biscuits?"
Upon hearing this, Song Min's heart sank! This was bad; this item was a life-saving necessity in the apocalypse, and food was already hard to preserve.
In this apocalypse, surviving was the most important thing. As for how it tasted, whether it was delicious or salty, that was a secondary concern. After all, it wasn't like Li Yu and his group who had ample food.
Everyone was in a state where they couldn't eat their fill, and in many situations, they faced the crisis of running out of food. And when facing a zombie horde, they couldn't collect food, and their stored food would be eaten up.
At this time, a small piece of compressed biscuit, with water, could fill one's stomach. This was simply one of the most precious things in the apocalypse.