Chapter 84 - 81: Searching for Supplies
This team, comprised of a minibus, two big trucks, and one SUV,
Was heading north towards Xin City.
Racing along, they were not far from Xin City.
Meanwhile, in Xin City, following the retreat of the Zombie Tide, Survivors began to emerge in search of supplies.
Among them, Teacher Liu and others from the Xin City Middle School stepped out from the Yifu Building at noon when the sun was scorching. Many Zombies had hidden in dark corners, but a few could still be spotted under the shade of trees.
At that moment, wielding simple weapons, they began searching the campus, but they found that food supplies had already been scavenged.
Moreover, the many Zombies hidden in dark corners of the campus deterred them from venturing in.
"Teacher Liu, why don't we go out and look? The snack shop has been cleared out, now there's not a hair left," said a robust teenager, 15 years old and about 1.8 meters tall, who had previously insisted on going out with Teacher Liu to look for food.
Teacher Liu pondered for a moment, then said: "Song Qi, you—um," he suddenly stopped.
Seeming to remember something, he then continued:
"Let's all go out together this time, find a new place to live. The school is infested with Zombies anyway. While they're hiding in the dark and not venturing out, let's first go to the wholesale market nearby to gather some supplies, then find a more suitable place to settle."
Everyone started packing up, although there wasn't much to gather, just a few backpacks containing some food and blankets.
The group then walked out of the school gates, with Teacher Liu and Song Qi leading the way, two boys behind, and the two other female students in the middle.
At the same time,
Song Min and others in a five-story building were also packing up to go out. The recent Zombie Tide outbreak had made them realize their building was not secure enough. Although the main door was sturdy, the buildings next door were too close.
If there were another Zombie Tide, the building might very well fall.
So, they too were on the lookout for a new location to settle.
...
Meanwhile, the vehicles coming from the north finally arrived at Xin City.
One young man whispered in complaint, "Finally out, it's freer outside. Staying with boss Zhang, it feels suffocating."
"You think we're on vacation? If we don't find enough supplies to bring back, we're in trouble," another seemingly more composed man said.
"Last time we went to Xiang County, and this time here. It's been so long since the apocalypse began, food might have already been looted."
"Hurry up and drive, the boss didn't give us much time."
The young man glanced at the SUV in front, fell silent for a bit, then spoke again, "Qiang, what if we find a chance to escape? Following them, I always feel uneasy.
Did you see the last Zombie Tide? They don't care about our lives at all, using us as mere barricades against the Zombies."
The more composed man raised his head, looked at the people in the SUV ahead, and sighed deeply,
"You can leave, but I still have family there. Sigh, initially, I thought joining them would be good because of Officer Ma, but after Officer Ma died, it has come to this. If I knew, I wouldn't have joined them; I didn't expect it to turn out like this."
Upon hearing this, the young man fell silent, then after a while, said, "Qiang, my life was saved by you. Wherever you go, I'll follow."
Then as if convincing himself, he said: "Actually, it's not too bad there. Although I don't agree with some things, it's better than being alone."
The composed man, with worried eyes, shook his head and said: "You're still young, you can find a chance to leave, just make sure they don't find out.
You know what they've done in Xiang City, right? Are those even actions of human beings? After I bring back the supplies this time, I also need to find a chance to leave with Tuantuan and the others."
He then looked at the SUV with an enigmatic gaze, as if making some kind of plan.
After their conversation ended, he slowly rolled down the car window.
As the car drove along, the shops on both sides of the city streets had mostly been smashed open, with many of their contents looted.
In the SUV, a man with big gold teeth saw the shops on both sides clean and empty, and couldn't help but curse: "Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have come to Xin City, Xiang County originally had more stuff, just look at this supermarket, even the damn doors are gone."
A refined-looking man beside him took over the conversation:
"It's been a few months since the apocalypse broke out, when we went to Xiang County it was just starting. It's normal, really, but how could the food storage center we just passed by be completely empty! Let's go check out the wholesale market."
Big Gold Teeth, annoyed, nodded and patted the person in front, saying, "Head to the wholesale market!"
The man at the front instantly twisted the steering wheel, turned the wheels, and headed left.
....
Wholesale Food Market.
If you looked at it from above, two rows of mottled houses, a winding and twisting road in between them filled with water and random bits of stuff floating on it.
The entire scene looked lifeless, brimming with death, a suffocating atmosphere approaching.
A bleak scene, the sheds sticking out as if torn apart, sunshine filtering through, dotting the ground with patches of light.
After the torrential rain a few days ago, the ground was unusually damp; possibly due to the low-lying terrain, there were puddles and some rotten corpses in the road center, currently emitting an awful smell.
The stalls were crooked, with remnants of food scraps, but also covered in ants.
Some paper boxes had swollen up after being soaked.
Teacher Liu was leading five students, bearing the stench as they searched.
Suddenly, a female student exclaimed excitedly, "Here, here." She dragged a cardboard box from under a brown table, the box wrinkled from soaking, but they cheered upon seeing the packaging bags inside.
"Instant noodles! Great." A beautiful-looking girl exclaimed.
The female student discarded the outer box, then took out the instant noodles and packed them into the backpack bit by bit.
While they searched, they cautiously guarded against any zombies that might suddenly appear.
Halfway through, they suddenly spotted a small shopfront: Little Red Grocery Wholesale.
Perhaps because it was on higher ground, the top steps weren't submerged in water.
The group walked up with some delight, but the door was locked, and the male student behind, seeing a window glass next to him, picked up a large rock from the ground and smashed it in.
Crack!
Bang!
The glass shattered, and behind it, curtains which, when pulled back, allowed light to stream in and the group peered inside to see many snacks and drinks!
"Wow! We hit the jackpot." A little girl said with a laugh, her bent eyes sparkling like stars, her smile flower-like, dimples playing on her cheeks.
"Everyone be careful, don't go in, Song Qi and I will enter first with weapons, there might be zombies inside," Teacher Liu said.
Song Qi nodded, her eyes filled with bravery.
.....
Meanwhile, the group from the north that had come to the wholesale market entrance, had already arrived.