Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

In one night, without any danger, when the sky brightened again, the sun did not shine on the earth as usual, but was replaced by overcast clouds, unlike the weather in late autumn and early winter.

“Gurgle gurgle gurgle.”

Zhang Su, holding mouthwash, got off the car, spat it on the roadside, and took a deep breath of fresh countryside air, unlike the faint stench floating everywhere in the city. Although there were many zombies nearby, the air was still fresh.

“Uncle!”

Zhang Su turned his head to look at Shuwa Village on the other side of the barricade, just as he heard someone calling him.

Pang Dakun poked his head out from the roof of the fertilizer shop, with a clean face, flipped over and jumped to the ground, happily took out baked corn and said, “I baked this yesterday, you just need to heat it up to eat.”

Zhang Su took the corn, squeezed it and sniffed it—it’s a bit burnt and rock hard…

“Come, let me introduce you to everyone!”

With that said, Zhang Su took Pang Dakun to the car and reintroduced him to the crowd.

After joining the team, Pang Dakun completely changed his arrogant demeanor, becoming very polite, calling everyone brother, sister, aunt, uncle; the highest seniority naturally belonged to Yuwen, who became Uncle Yu.

“There’s no idlers in our team, Xiaopang; you should contribute more to the team, it’s proportional to the materials you gather with a ten percent commission. But don’t get cocky and rush in. It’s not like it used to be; before when uncle caught you, at most you’d get detained. Now, a zombie bite and you’re done!”

While speaking, Zhang Su handed Pang Dakun a box of heated self-heating rice as a welcome feast.

Upon hearing Zhang Su’s words, Pang Dakun nodded repeatedly, took the rice and exaggerated, “Wow, uncle, I’ve seen this self-heating rice in supermarkets, it costs thirty or forty per box. It’s good stuff, you guys are amazing!”

“Don’t mention money anymore, that’s all past stuff. Hurry and eat; once you finish, it’s time to get to work!”

Zhang Su patted Pang Dakun’s shoulder, and he himself also took out a quick-heating chicken wrap and started eating. With a microwave on the bus, many previously inconvenient foods to heat had become convenient.

(I don’t remember if I mentioned, there’s a solar panel on the RV roof)

“Mm, mm, it’s really delicious…” Pang Dakun lifted the lid while asking, “Uncle, what kind of work are we doing later?”

“Cleaning up Shuwa Village,” Zhang Su said casually.

“Cough cough.”

Just as Pang Dakun shoved a mouthful of rice into his mouth, Zhang Su’s words choked him.

“Damn it, kid, are you out of your mind?” Lu Yubo was about to eat his soaked instant noodles when a few grains of rice flew into the soup.

Pang Dakun waved his hands apologetically, then patted his chest nervously and said to Zhang Su, “Uncle, there are too many zombies in the village. Impossible to count, everywhere, can’t kill them all, simply can’t kill them all!”

“Kid!”

Zhang Su squinted at Pang Dakun, saying, “Are you a weak coward, scared of the strong, intimidating the weak? Are you as bold as a corn kernel, no—sesame seed?”

One sentence, immediately made the baffled Pang Dakun feel extremely awkward, holding the self-heating rice box, his face almost turning the color of pig liver.

“I’m not scared!”

After quite some time, Pang Dakun squeezed out a few words from his teeth, then buried his head in the rice for several mouthfuls. He hadn’t eaten anything decent for a long time. It was either baked corn or baked sweet potatoes every day, mostly badly baked.

“We’ll see if you’re scared soon enough!” After speaking, Zhang Su pointed to a side, “There’s your weapon. Use meal time to teach you the skills and precautions for killing zombies. Listen carefully, it’s way more important than learning to steal before!”

Upon hearing this, Pang Dakun immediately became attentive.

After breakfast, everyone got off the car one after another, holding weapons in hand, protective gear on, aware of the impending battle, yet everyone’s spirit was high.

After all, none of them were newbies anymore, and there were also substantial rewards waiting, which stirred everyone’s fighting spirit.

“Pei Lan, today’s battle is intense, you’re injured, don’t participate, keep watch at the entrance, if anyone comes, blow the whistle loud, we’ll definitely hear it.”

Zhang Su handed Pei Lan a survival whistle, which he found in the RV’s first aid kit.

“Alright, I’ll keep a close watch!”

Pei Lan, with one arm still hung with a scarf, was most suitable for the guard duty. At this moment, unless one is immobile due to severe injury, there is definitely work to do.

Everyone came to the barricade, Lu Yubo stepped on the tractor tire to look inside, said, “Brother Su, are we going to kill our way directly?”

“Not taking such risks, village terrain is complex, every yard might have zombies lurking, get bitten from behind, no one can handle it!”

Zhang Su immediately rejected Lu Yubo’s proposal, then continued, “We need training, but safety is more important, stick to the old method, attract while advancing, make sure there’s a safe retreat behind us, can’t get surrounded!”

Between speeches, he saw Pang Dakun standing at one end of the team with a pouting face, so he said, “Xinyu, go attract a couple of zombies for the young lad to practice on.”

Zheng Xinyu turned to look at Pang Dakun upon hearing the words and saw his face full of embarrassment. He made a strange expression, jumped into the village from an easy-to-cross place, and then looked back to confirm a retreat route, before heading toward the first courtyard.

“It’s not like I’m saying anything, Xiaopang, you live in the village every day with so many zombies around, you see them when you lift your head and when you lower it, are you still scared?”

Zhang Su found it hard to understand.

Pang Dakun forced out an awkward smile: “I, I avoid the zombies in the village, I run on the rooftops, I eat and drink on the rooftops, even the courtyard where I sleep doesn’t have zombies…”

“Alright, alright, you’re awesome, you’re a damn sky pirate, come on, zombies are coming, oh wow, quite a few, three of them, all yours, finish them off and we’ll officially start.”

After speaking, Zhang Su helped Zheng Xinyu down from the roadblock to the ground and then stood aside with everyone, waiting for Pang Dakun to show his skills.

Aowuuwu aaow.

The zombies Zheng Xinyu had lured out from the first courtyard quickly charged at the roadblock. Seeing the blood meal so close yet reaching it seemed impossible, they grew increasingly agitated, and their growls became more frantic.

Pang Dakun reluctantly walked to the roadblock with a crowbar, and then looked back at Zhang Su: “Uncle, these are all people I know, I…”

“They’re just shells, they haven’t been themselves for a long time, get it over with.” Zhang Su said coldly, knowing everyone must overcome this.

“Uncle, Auntie, Uncle Yu, I’ll see you off on your journey!” Pang Dakun understood that he had to complete this task today. He took a deep breath, lifted the crowbar high, remembered the tip Zhang Su had taught him, and thrust it toward the zombie’s head.

Zheng Xinyu’s expression was complicated as she whispered in Zhang Su’s ear: “These zombies in the village were more or less related to Pang Dakun in life, doing this…”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but Zhang Su understood her meaning and shook his head, saying: “No matter how cruel, can it be crueler than this world? These are things you should think about in your heart and never speak of.”

Zheng Xinyu nodded, indicating she understood.

Having some special skills could exempt Pang Dakun from the trouble of killing zombies, but it still took him about ten minutes to take down all three zombies for the first time.

“They’re… actually pretty hard to kill, damn it.”

After taking down the three zombies, Pang Dakun successfully overcame his emotions; he wasn’t sure whether he feared the zombies, the familiar faces, or other reasons, but he felt much better.

Clap, clap.

Zhang Su patted Pang Dakun, who was panting heavily, on the shoulder, saying: “Train well, this level won’t cut it, let’s go, follow us, and learn!”

Zhang Su and the group climbed over the roadblock and headed into the village.

More than a dozen people, plus a dog, carried out an organized and disciplined zombie-clearing operation, almost nullifying the danger, but not entirely. During this period, someone was knocked to the ground by a charging zombie, and if not for the help of companions, an accident would likely happen!

Even Lu Yubo had a close call once, with zombie saliva splattering onto his neck as the jaws snapped close, showing just how close they were.

“Don’t be arrogant, don’t be numb, keep focused and excited at all times!”

Zhang Su constantly reminded everyone, playing a crucial coordinating role as the focal point of the group.

Shuwa Village wasn’t very large; near Qin City, it was a small village, with a registered population of less than two thousand and less than a thousand permanent residents. The number of zombies trapped in the village was under five hundred.

The zombie-clearing work continued, and meanwhile, a group was discussing the matter of Shuwa Village in a courtyard across the river.

“Da Tie, I definitely didn’t see it wrong, the thief is leading a group killing zombies in the village!”

“Those survivors from the city wouldn’t come to the village to kill zombies for fun; they must be eyeing the grain we stockpiled in our village.”

“That’s right, we left in a hurry back then, I only took a little flour, and didn’t take the hundred pounds of flour and newly harvested peanuts. We can’t let those people have it for cheap!”

“We fled here with barely any food, having to look at those damn villagers’ faces every day. If we can bring the grain back, we’ll be in a much better position!”

Seventeen or eighteen males gathered in the house, chattering away, while the one called Da Tie, who seemed to be the leader, sat with furrowed brows, lost in thought.

“Da Tie, say something, what should we do now? The village chief is gone, you’re our leader now, tell us, should we go or not?”

“I think we should go, that’s the grain we worked hard to grow. Who knows how we’ll survive the coming days, we can’t just let others take it, especially not that damn thief, he’s brought trouble to our village along with others!”

“He’s just a thief, don’t you know what kind of person he is? Hasn’t he stolen from every one of us? Damn it, he even wanted to cause us trouble to avenge his grandfather. We should have thrown him into the river!”

“Stop arguing about useless stuff, Da Tie, tell us, what should we do? Think it through; it’s not just for us, our wives and kids are hungry—if we don’t solve this, we’ll have to lower our heads in the future!”

“Their group is quite large, they must have a lot of things, having come out of the city; I bet there are plenty of supplies we couldn’t get. We can’t let them go easily!”

The man named Da Tie had dark skin, a sturdy build that made him appear brawny even while sitting. He looked to weigh at least two hundred thirty or forty pounds. After considering his companions’ words, he nodded decisively, saying: “Grab your stuff, let’s go!”

These four words immediately ignited the excitement of everyone in the room.