6:30 PM.
Xie Ning and her team had rescued another five people from the residential complex—men and women who looked no better than beggars. With night falling, they prepared to call it a day.
The bus stopped in front of Building 98 in District 1.
The woman holding the child looked over, her face twisting in disgust. "We’re staying here tonight?"
"This was a low-income housing unit before the apocalypse, with only six floors. The apartments are all lined up in a row, facing north, like classrooms. The layout is simple, which makes it easier to guard at night," the delivery boy explained briefly.
But the woman with the child remained deeply unsatisfied. "We could stay in Building 30. All the apartments there are large, over a hundred square meters. Rich people and company bosses used to live there, so the conditions must be better."
Xie Ning nodded and handed her backpack to Song Kexin. "If you want to go, then go. Like I said, I’m very flexible. Do whatever you want."
"Go find a room on the second floor and settle in. Zong Xuan, you and Yuan, go to the upper floors and clear out the zombies in the hallways. Take Xiao Yuan with you for more training."
Everyone nodded and went about their business.
Without a word, Song Kexin clutched her sister’s backpack, pulled Song Shijun along, and headed off.
The woman with the child looked awkwardly at the unresponsive group. "Ms. Yu, I was just trying to help, wasn’t I? You see that, right?"
"I just feel that if we have to spend the night anyway, why not find a better place to rest? It’s just... it’s really making us suffer, isn’t it?"
Ms. Yu, the target of her complaints, gave Xie Ning an apologetic smile before quickly turning to follow the others upstairs.
Even after the woman with the child had gone upstairs, Xie Ning’s spiritual power could still pick up her muttered complaints. ’That girl is so aggressive. I wonder who she thinks she is. Who would ever marry someone like that? She doesn’t act like a proper girl at all.’
"Cres," Xie Ning called out.
Cres ran over, a cold expression on his small, handsome face. "How can you stand her? Why don’t you just shut her up? She never stops running her mouth. She’s detestable."
Xie Ning raised her hand and patted the boy’s head. "People who love to gossip but have no abilities of their own are incredibly common. It’s a waste of time to get angry with them. We’re better off focusing on our own tasks."
Cres huffed. "I should have given her a headache to shut her up."
Xie Ning was slightly amused. "Come on. Where to first?"
"In Building 30, the one that woman just mentioned. There’s a Third Rank Speed System zombie above the thirteenth floor."
"There’s a Zombie Cat on an eleventh-floor balcony. It should be at least Second Order."
"Let’s go." The two of them, one tall and one short, quickly disappeared into the night.
Song Kexin, Song Shijun, and the others arrived at the door of Room 201. Just as they were about to kick it down, Xiao Huang Mao ran down from the floor above. "I’ll pick the lock."
"Shijun, go check the fifth floor. There are still quite a few zombies in the hallway up there."
Song Shijun nodded and bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
The rest of the group gathered in the second-floor hallway. Aside from the woman with the child, who grumbled a few words, everyone else remained silent.
The delivery boy had been right. All the doors to the rooms in this row faced the same direction.
There were six rooms in the row. Squeezing in, they could probably make it through the night.
Xiao Huang Mao was a fast lockpick. In just a few moments, he had fiddled open all the doors on the floor.
Song Kexin grinned. "Xiao Yuan, I’m impressed."
Xiao Huang Mao looked embarrassed, scratching the back of his head. "I studied under an old locksmith for a few years before the apocalypse. I can handle most common locks."
Song Kexin offered a few words of praise, then turned to Wang Pinglang. "Wang, take the others to rest. There are five other rooms over there. You all can divide them up yourselves."
"Hey, there aren’t zombies hiding in the corners of these rooms, are there? Aren’t you going to clear them out first?" the woman with the child started grumbling again, clutching her child as she tried to squeeze toward the door of 201.
Song Kexin’s expression turned cold. "There are no zombies in the rooms. Believe it or not is up to you. If you’re too scared to stay, you don’t have to."
With that, she pulled Xiao Huang Mao into Room 201 and slammed the door shut with a BANG.
The woman with the child’s face flushed crimson with anger. "Why is that girl so short-tempered? I was just making a suggestion. There’s no need to be so aggressive even if you don’t take it."
"Dongdong’s mother, just say a few words less. Why do you always have to pick a fight with them? Have you got nothing better to do?" Ms. Yu, unable to watch any longer, gave the woman a tug.
’How can she be so clueless?’
’Does she have any fucking clue what kind of situation we’re in?’
’We still have to rely on the Starfire Team to get back to the safe zone. How can she be so rude in everything she says and does?’
"Hey, Ms. Yu, I don’t appreciate you saying that. How is this ’picking a fight’? I’m just trying to secure better treatment for us all! The base sent them to rescue us, so they’re supposed to be protecting us, carefully and diligently."
"Oh, just shut up." Ms. Yu couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words on the clueless woman. She followed the middle-aged man’s group toward Room 202.
The moment she pushed the door open, Dongdong’s mother started up again. "Ugh, this place is so shabby! Is this even livable? It’s just a dorm room!"
Wang Pinglang took one look at her and sighed. ’This woman,’ he thought, ’is just as much of a troublesome fool as my brother.’ "This was probably a dormitory rented by a factory for its workers," he said. "The day the zombie outbreak happened was a workday. Most people were either at their jobs or at school."
’That’s why the Starfire Team knew there were no zombies in the rooms, yet this foolish woman just had to pick a fight with them.’
’The smart ones had already gone off to ransack the place, unlike Dongdong’s mother, who was still at the door with her child, muttering curses.’
Many people rushed to the kitchen to search for anything useful, their eyes filled with hope.
However, it wasn’t long before the hope in their eyes faded, one by one.
The kitchen was a mess of dishes, and the vegetables, left out for a month, were completely rotten.
The refrigerator had long been without power. Opening the freezer released a flood of stinking water, where cuts of fish and pork were soaking, long since putrefied and reeking of decay.
Wang Pinglang covered his nose, pushed the refrigerator door shut, and turned to rummage through the cupboards for oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.
Wang Meijuan, with her quick eyes and hands, found a pack of instant noodles in a dresser drawer, along with some crackers, vacuum-packed braised eggs, and snacks like "tiger-skin" chicken feet.
Her delight lasted only a few seconds, however, before two men pounced from behind, trying to snatch the food from the drawer.
Wang Pingfeng grabbed a nearby stool and smashed it down on one of the men’s heads.
With a loud THWACK, the men started shouting and grappling, collapsing into a tangled heap.
Terrified, Dongdong’s mother stumbled backward, clutching her child. She ran next door and began pounding heavily on the door of Room 201.
Song Kexin yanked the door open with an impatient look on her face. "What now?"
"They’re fighting next door! Aren’t you going to do something about it?!"
Song Kexin’s face was full of scorn. "Fighting? If they’ve got the energy for it, let them fight."
’They cower and freeze like gutless wonders in front of zombies, but when it comes to their own kind, suddenly they’re brave enough to fight to the death.’
’Saving this group of people is a completely thankless job!’ Song Kexin fumed.
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