“What do you mean?” Qiao Bei blinked blankly, utterly at a loss.
“Exactly what it sounds like!”
Ye Li leaned back against the wall, speaking in an unhurried drawl. “Tell me, how do they usually dispose of the test subjects who die in the laboratories?”
“They’re transported along with the laboratory waste and trash to an incinerator plant outside to be burned, of course...”
As Qiao Bei spoke, the realization suddenly struck him, and his eyes went wide. “Wait, you don't mean... you want to play dead and sneak out in the garbage truck?”
Ye Li nodded. “Exactly!”
That way, getting past all the security gates wouldn't be an issue at all.
Qiao Bei countered immediately, “But when the laboratory waste is hauled out the back door, there are guards specifically assigned to inspect it. Even if you play dead, it won't be easy to fool them.”
“Don't worry about that; I have my ways.” Ye Li shrugged, not looking the least bit concerned. “The question right now is, can you be the one responsible for wheeling the laboratory waste out to load the truck?”
She would naturally play the corpse, while Duoduo was small enough that they could figure out a way to hide her inside a bin carrying laboratory waste.
However, the prerequisite for them getting onto the truck was that Qiao Bei had to be the one hauling the trash, or the whole thing would be a bust.
“That shouldn't be a problem,” Qiao Bei replied with certainty. “Whenever there's too much waste piling up in the lab, I often help wheel it downstairs and load it up.”
Before the apocalypse, he had just been an interning medical student without any clinical experience. So normally in the laboratory, aside from using his ability for emergency first aid, he only handled odd jobs and assisted where needed.
Like a utility brick ready to be moved wherever required, he had done chores of every size throughout the lab.
Even so, Qiao Bei still had reservations.
“Every time we take trash out through the back door, we have to badge in and register. If we're gone past a certain amount of time without returning, it'll alert the door guards.”
“And that’s your next assignment,” Ye Li said. “You have to find a way to figure out the exact shift-change schedule for the guards at the door, as well as the exact time the garbage truck leaves the research institute each day.”
Only by pinning down these routines could they map out a relatively foolproof escape plan.
“Also, just in case, you need to find a way to get your hands on some adrenaline and diazepam.”
The adrenaline was naturally for her.
To obtain accurate data, she had never been given any anesthetic or sedatives during surgery; every operation was performed raw, carving into her alive.
Because of that, halfway through each surgery, her body would activate its self-preservation mechanism to cope with the unbearable agony, sending her into an involuntary coma.
When the time came, the adrenaline would be needed to jolt her awake ahead of schedule.
As for the diazepam, it was meant for Duoduo.
She was, after all, a young child who might not know how to cooperate. To prevent any mishaps during the escape, keeping her sound asleep was the safer bet.
“My next surgery is scheduled three days from now. Which means you only have three days to prepare all of this.”
Qiao Bei noted down her requirements one by one, racking his brain for how to accomplish them.
“I'll try my best,” he said, his voice unsteady. Just thinking about it was already tying his stomach in knots.
“Not 'try your best.' You must do it!”
Ye Li straightened her posture, the smile fading from her face, replaced by a rare solemnity.
“We only get one shot at this. If we blow it, our deal is off!”
She patted Qiao Bei on the shoulder, offering a word of encouragement. “So, make it happen!”
...
Over the next few days, Qiao Bei took every opportunity to volunteer to wheel the trash downstairs, using the time to observe the guards' shift changes while familiarizing himself with their faces.
Late at night, when everything was quiet, he would quietly report his findings to Ye Li.
Based on that information, Ye Li continuously refined and perfected their escape plan.
The door guards worked an eight-hour, three-shift rotation, changing shifts at around eleven in the morning, seven in the evening, and three in the morning.
The garbage truck parked in the back courtyard would load up the laboratory waste and leave the research institute between seven-thirty and eight in the evening, heading straight for the incinerator plant fifty kilometers away.
Ultimately, Ye Li set the time of their escape for six-thirty in the evening.
They had to wheel the “trash” out the door just before the guards handed over their shift.
That way, the incoming shift wouldn't immediately notice that Qiao Bei had been gone for too long.
Beyond the timing, Ye Li meticulously planned every step of the operation, preparing contingency plans for any potential complications.
Everything progressed methodically, and the three days flew by in a flash.
On the final night after lights-out, Qiao Bei, who bore the brunt of the responsibility for the operation, tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. His mind ran through the plan again and again, feeling both nervous and eager for tomorrow to come.
“Sis...” Unable to hold back any longer, he called out softly toward Ye Li across from him, keeping his voice down. “If we really get out, what’s the first thing you plan to do?”
With her hands pillowing her head, Ye Li replied with absolute nonchalance, “Need you even ask? Find a good meal, obviously. It's so dangerous out there—who knows when I'll kick the bucket? I might as well die on a full stomach!”
Qiao Bei was left speechless, though he couldn't deny the logic in it.
Right now, for people like them, eating their fill—let alone eating well—was an utter luxury.
“What about you? Anything you want to do?” Ye Li asked.
“I don't know,” Qiao Bei said after a moment’s thought. “Maybe I'll just have a big feast too.”
Ye Li scoffed with a chuckle. “Can't you have some aspirations of your own?”
“Nope. I'll just follow your lead, Sis.” Qiao Bei shook his head, smiling shyly.
He was never someone with strong opinions, used to accepting things as they were.
After the apocalypse, his family members had passed away one after another, leaving him all alone. If not for meeting Duoduo and Ye Li, he might never have conceived the notion of escaping the research institute.
They were the ones who gave him courage and something to hope for.
“Is that so? You'll do whatever I say?” Ye Li arched an eyebrow.
“Yeah!” Qiao Bei nodded firmly. “Whatever you say!”
He didn't quite understand why either. Although she appeared to be around his age, there was an inexplicable aura about her that commanded trust and conviction.
It was as though as long as she was there, no danger or crisis was worth worrying about.
Ye Li chuckled, her tone suddenly shifting. “Then get your ass to sleep right this second! Keep whining, and I won't mind putting you to sleep myself.”
As she spoke, she mimed a knife-hand chop toward him, radiating unmistakable menace!
Qiao Bei: “...”
Knowing she was a woman of her word, Qiao Bei clamped his mouth shut, turned toward the wall, and obediently closed his eyes.
After a moment of silence, he couldn't help but ask softly once more, “Sis... we’ll definitely succeed, right?”
The answer came as a brief, yet utterly resolute word:
“We will!”
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