Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

“Walkie-talkie? Quickly, Brother Zhao, let me take a look. I get these things.”

Wu Lue ran up to Zhao Dezhu excitedly.

Zhao Dezhu handed a walkie-talkie to Wu Lue, skeptically saying, “Little Brother said you only know how to look at spearheads, and you understand these too?”

Suddenly, Wu Lue’s face turned bright red, with a peculiar expression as he glanced at Zhang Su, seemingly saying, “How can you spread such a refined hobby everywhere?”

He quickly took the walkie-talkie and looked at it seriously, “This Rice brand walkie-talkie is nothing special, with only 5W of transmission power and a communication range of only five kilometers. It’s rather average. If there’s an upside, it’s the battery life; once fully charged, it can standby for ten days to half a month, and continuous use can last over ten hours!”

Zhao Dezhu looked at Wu Lue in surprise, not expecting him to really know a thing or two.

Zhang Su chuckled, “He just likes tinkering with electronic products! Five kilometers of communication range is more than enough!”

“Brother Su, don’t believe it really guarantees five kilometers of communication; that’s what the manufacturer claims. In reality, it’s about three kilometers! The exaggerated claims are severe!”

Wu Lue said with a bit of disdain.

“For our current situation, even one kilometer is more than enough; what matters is stability!”

Zhang Su weighed the walkie-talkie in his hand as if it were a treasure. With this device, communication between the camp and the lookout post would be very convenient!

“Though the communication range is exaggerated, Brother Su, you can trust its stability. Experts have tested it, and its anti-interference ability is outstanding among products of the same level; unless someone uses a signal jammer, ordinary buildings won’t affect it!”

“Alright, Little Brother, these two walkie-talkies are handed over to the team for you to distribute. Also, I heard Younger Brother Chen picked up a handgun by luck, so I…”

Zhao Dezhu greedily eyed Zhang Su’s waist.

“Don’t look at me like an old glass!”

Zhang Su turned around, clutching his waistband, saying, “The USP is compensation for Xiaochen, I take one, and another one is given to whoever stands guard!”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dezhu smacked his lips helplessly, disappointedly saying, “We should figure out a way to get more guns; three guns aren’t enough for us.”

If ammo is sufficient, firearms are extremely efficient for either intimidating people or killing zombies.

“That’s also my worry. According to a SWAT officer I met before, their team’s armory is basically empty, police stations surely aren’t worthwhile either. But since the disaster began, there’s been no word from the military. I think the garrison armory is worth checking out, but I don’t know where it is…”

Zhang Su shrugged. Unless you’ve been paying special attention, ordinary people wouldn’t know this kind of information, not even marked on map apps.

“Ah, I never thought about this; if you mentioned the garrison sooner, I know!”

Zhao Dezhu slapped his thigh excitedly, “I worked at a supermarket that delivered supplies to the troops; I followed them to unload goods, just at the easternmost end of Wenhua Road there’s a large courtyard, with a regiment stationed there!”

Pre-apocalypse laws were deeply ingrained, preventing Zhao Dezhu from considering going to a military camp for guns.

“A regiment!? That’s gotta be a huge area!”

Zhang Su’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t know the exact size of the place; zero Wenhua Road, it’s all the way to the city outskirts. Anyway, it looked quite large from the outside. Once we finished, we left, didn’t dare to look around too much, people watching all the time!”

Zhao Dezhu shrugged.

“I remember a standard regiment consists of one to two thousand five hundred people. Calculate with at least a thousand people, that’s at least a thousand assault rifles?!” Zhang Su counted on his fingers, revealing his joy.

“That’s not how it goes, Little Brother. A regiment’s organization is quite complex, consisting of mechanized infantry, motorized infantry, light arms, reconnaissance, various units, even the catering unit. In wartime, it might be fully equipped, but normally not everyone gets firearms; a thousand people don’t mean a thousand guns, especially not a thousand assault rifles, dream on…”

Zhao Dezhu, who knew a bit about military affairs, explained expertly.

“Ahem.”

Zhang Su coughed a little awkwardly, saying, “Even if not a thousand, there should be five hundred; even fifty left would be good enough!”

“There definitely should be, there should also be other reserve supplies and equipment. So, Little Brother, shall we take a trip to that regiment on Wenhua Road?” Zhao Dezhu looked excitedly.

Zhang Su shook his head with a smile, “You think it’s like before? Just go wherever you want. Wait, even before it wasn’t just go wherever you wanted…”

“We can’t even grasp the city’s situation right now, let alone the army. Can you imagine the scenes during the disaster in such a densely populated environment?”

Zhao Dezhu’s smile froze as he silently shook his head.

“Let’s rest for a few days, once everyone recovers, we’ll take action!”

Zhang Su patted Zhao Dezhu’s shoulder. He yearned for the team to be armed, but they couldn’t rush; with everyone’s current state, they would be in chaos facing a wave of zombies, let alone searching for weapons in a military camp.

Everyone waited for Zhong Xiaoshan, Liu Tianji, and Wang Xin to finish their tasks before dining together. After a day of hardships, they could finally sit down for a peaceful meal.

The RV had solar panels, an induction cooker, microwave oven, and other cooking tools; heating food wasn’t difficult for the team.

The group sat around on the cleaned factory floor, eating steaming noodles, feeling a difficult-to-describe sense of happiness; of course, even during relaxed times, guarding was still necessary, something they couldn’t neglect.

After the meal, everyone got busy again.

Wanting to temporarily settle at Nonghua Glass Factory, even if just for two or three days, some basic protective measures were necessary.

Zhang Su led several laborers in setting up a number of traps and alarm devices; the courtyard covered a large area, even a vigilant guard might overlook things.

Since the factory was beside the highway, anyone passing by could see inside. Even if they hid the RV further in, they couldn’t guarantee passing survivors wouldn’t investigate the factory.

So Zhang Su led the effort to barricade the gate with wire mesh and branches; wandering zombies couldn’t break through, and it was difficult for humans to forcibly dismantle. If someone drove into it, other traps would leave a lasting impression, unless it’s a caterpillar tank doing the driving.

Using the ample afternoon time, Zhang Su authorized a grand activity: bathing!

After studying the shower water flow of five liters per minute, Zhang Su stipulated each person’s shower duration to five minutes, restricting each to thirty liters of water.

For those living in the apocalypse for over twenty days, bathing became a near-luxurious craving. Only after losing tap water did people realize how difficult taking a bath could be.

With various unstable factors, no one bathed after the disaster struck, except for getting caught in the rain.

Both RVs were equipped with hot water systems using solar panels and fuel-powered energy; able to meet everyone’s shower needs.

Zhang Su originally planned to treat bathing as a special prize for outstanding contributors because acquiring water was quite difficult, but having suffered repeated losses, he switched strategies.

Water stored in the RV might be lost with the next unexpected incident, but allowing everyone a bath, even restricting time and using limited water, could elevate the entire team’s morale and sense of belonging by several levels!

Furthermore, it could restore various “values”: sanity value, joy value, comfort value, loyalty value…

Proven true.

After everyone bathed and changed into backup clothes, the team’s spirits were completely renewed—gone was the previous aura of desolation and decadence, replaced by vitality.

Physical muscle fatigue couldn’t be completely eradicated, but mental gloom was swept away!

Using less than a ton of water in total, several buffs were added to the team, quite cost-effective.

Only Chen Hanzhou couldn’t bathe due to his wound, sitting helplessly in the RV, watching his dirty companions enter the bathroom, only to come out clean a few minutes later…

The RV had a basic filtration system; shower water was collected into another tank, not meeting drinking standards, but could be used for watering plants or flushing toilets; in the apocalypse, even for washing clothes!

Zhong Xiaoshan, Zhao Xue, Tan Huajun, Yu Qing, and Zhang Ya eagerly laundered clothes for everyone; although not clean, they were far better than being soaked in blood.

Once everything was done, it was already dark, with the sunset in the west and several lines of clothes hanging on the wire rope in the courtyard gently swaying, creating a rare moment of tranquility.