Raising a Child in the Apocalypse Isn't Easy: Sweetie, You Go First

Shu Lan is a twenty-five-year-old medical graduate who survives in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by a bio-virus that turns humans into mindless zombies. Lacking any awakened superpowers, she faces constant starvation and danger. Desperate for safety and food, she uses a forged resume to secure a position as a researcher at the Jiangzhou Experimental Base. Upon arrival, she discovers the recruitment was a deception; the base is secretly using young women as breeding stock for a powerful captive ability user known as the Plunderer, who possesses multiple elemental powers and is being studied by the eccentric Dr. Zhao. During the introduction, Shu Lan inadvertently insults Dr. Zhao, leading to her selection as a subject for artificial insemination. Seizing an opportunity during a zombie attack triggered by the Plunderer’s escape, Shu Lan steals a syringe containing the Plunderer’s genetic material and flees the base, injecting herself in a moment of desperation to secure a future with power.

Shu Lan falls into a coma for three days, during which a massive zombie tide wipes out the city of Ci’an. She awakens in an abandoned seafood shop, mourning the death of her neighbor, Old Dai, before relocating to a fortified shack in a garbage dump. There, she gives birth to a son, Shu Maomao. For five years, she raises him in isolation, scavenging for supplies and protecting him from mutant rats and zombies. As Shu Maomao grows, he demonstrates extraordinary abilities, including super-hearing and an earth-manipulation power. When their food supplies run out, Shu Lan is forced to leave their sanctuary and venture into the city, where they encounter a group of hostile ability users. After a violent confrontation in which Shu Maomao kills one of the attackers, the group tracks them down.

Cornered by three ability users in an apartment building, Shu Lan prepares to sacrifice herself to save her son. However, Shu Maomao reveals that he has inherited the Plunderer’s unique genetic trait: the ability to steal powers from others. After killing the first attacker by filling his lungs with dust, Shu Maomao discovers that contact with the victim’s blood allows him to perceive and utilize their abilities. He successfully plunders the earth power from the fallen enemy and uses it to defend himself and his mother against the remaining two attackers. The encounter leaves Shu Lan with a renewed sense of hope and a terrifying realization about the nature of her son’s power.

Shu Maomao’s calm demeanor and lethal efficiency during the fight unsettle Shu Lan, who suspects he may possess the soul of an adult or some otherworldly consciousness. Despite her fears, she chooses to accept him as her son and relies on his growing powers for their survival. The pair escapes the apartment building using Shu Maomao’s earth abilities to create barriers and escape routes, leaving the hostile ability users defeated behind them. As they flee into the ruined city, Shu Lan recognizes that their life of hiding is over; they must now navigate a dangerous world where they are both hunted and potentially valuable assets. The story concludes with Shu Lan and Shu Maomao on the move, bound by maternal love and the shared burden of a son who holds the power of a god in the palm of his small hand.