Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

“Brother Zhang, what do you plan to do with that tank?”

Pan Guoliang was curious about why Zhang Su suddenly stopped mid-sentence, which wasn’t typical of a leader like him, who was normally eloquent and ever so persuasive.

Zhang Su snapped back to reality, uninterested in pondering the cause of another sudden death. He pointed towards the direction of the command center and said, “I’m thinking of heading into the lab to look for some things and see if there are any survivors hiding inside. But the building looks unstable, like it’s about to collapse, so I’m planning to flatten it with the tank.”

Unexpectedly, within two seconds of Zhang Su finishing his sentence, while his hand was still pointing.

BOOM!

A loud explosion erupted from underground, sending a strong shockwave that made everyone unsteady on their feet—some even fell to the ground. The quick-witted ones grabbed hold of the tank and supported each other to dodge away, clueless about what just happened.

Zhang Su and Pan Guoliang were hit the hardest; the shockwave filled with debris knocked them off the tank, sending them crashing to the ground. Fortunately, neither of them were weaklings, so they managed to roll without injuries, though their faces were marked with cuts, and their insides were tumbling.

Once the vibrations ceased and the dust settled, everyone peeked out from behind the tank to look towards the explosion’s direction, stunned.

The command center building, which had stood strong, was completely destroyed. Bricks and debris were scattered everywhere—some as large as half a car, others crushed into powder. As the explosion originated from underground, a large pit was formed at the site of the command center, scattering even the nearby piles of corpses.

“Hey, man!” Zhao Dezhu shouted, digging at his ears, “You’re more badass than a tank. Just point your finger and boom—blow the whole building up!”

His exaggerated expression, coupled with vibrant gestures, amused everyone, slowly easing their shock. Thankfully, they were over a hundred meters away—any closer by fifty meters, and luckless ones would have been done for!

Zheng Xinyu watched Zhang Su shake his head as he emerged from behind the tank and quickly ran over to show her concern: “You’ve got a bloody face; your forehead’s split! Are there any other injuries?”

She kept muttering as she took out emergency hemostatic medication from her bag and applied it to the wound.

Zhang Su shook his head in pain, letting Zheng Xinyu tend to his wound, clutching the hat with petrifying skin he’d taken off earlier. The real discomfort wasn’t in the flesh or guts but in his ears.

The enormous sound caused another round of temporary deafness. He could only see the people in front of him moving their lips without hearing a sound.

“Deaf, I’m deaf again! Can’t hear!”

Zhang Su gestured fiercely towards Zheng Xinyu.

“Damn, just like the brother said, Brother Zhang’s amazing; words come true directly—who needs a tank then…”

Pan Guoliang brushed off the dust clinging to the tank’s tracks and walked over to the crowd, shaking off dirt and displaying a muddied face with several blood trails and splattered mud on his clothing.

Everyone knew the explosion had nothing to do with Zhang Su’s supposed lethal gesture, but fearing another blast, they retreated to a safer distance.

The people carrying corpses nearby from West Camp Village dropped the bodies and crouched down in fear, having been conditioned by the explosive noises, recalling the terrifying scenes from a few nights ago. They only dared peek at the explosion site from between their fingers, where flames bloomed amidst the ruins, rendering the already dilapidated camp even more desolate.

As the convoy from Bridge Town began to drive away, only about five hundred meters from the camp, they instinctively ducked at the sound of the explosion.

“Damn, are those folks from Celestial Horse Island mad? Why’d they blow up the camp?”

The driver in the lead car glanced back towards the camp in the rearview mirror, but couldn’t see much due to the angle.

Meng Changwei leaned out for a better view and exclaimed, “Maybe something triggered the explosion? Could it be a tank test firing?”

“A tank test firing? No way, isn’t that insane… chief, should we head back and check out what’s happening?”

“No need, if assistance is needed, Master Zhang will reach out to us.”

Meng Changwei lifted the walkie-talkie, though curious, he chose not to head back; some things weren’t necessary to understand too clearly.

Back at the camp, Zhang Su sat in the car, knowing it would take time for his hearing to recover. He pointed around him, “Zhuzi, Bozai, Zhang Ya, Wu Lue, you guys keep an eye on the surroundings!”

His ears were deaf; the explosion’s sound could only be imagined, and they needed to be wary of zombie hordes ambushing at any time.

“Got it!”

“Brother Su, take a rest first.”

“Leave the watch to us!”

The four understood Zhang Su’s worries, quickly shouldering their guns and running to guard the area.

Zhang Su was somewhat dejected, not because of his ears, but because of the numbers in his mind.

After one number dropped, a blast occurred within ten seconds, and then it immediately dropped from thirty-seven to thirty-three—meaning there must have been five people hiding in the lab initially. Somehow, one died, triggering the explosion…

With that bomb, the remaining ones were lost too.

As for surviving that explosion—Zhang Su found it a foolish fantasy.

No need to be close to see; even from eighty meters away, it’d be overwhelming, let alone at the explosion’s center?

Now the numbers in his mind were updated to [31/33], and there were two remaining survivors unaccounted for.

“Damn!” Zhang Su lit a cigarette, smoking silently to calm his mind.

In the distance, Ma Changshou saw the situation calm down and quickly instructed the locals to get back to work.

After resting for over ten minutes, Zhang Su noticed the surroundings were quiet with no zombie presence. His hearing returned close to normal levels, though it took a few minutes to fully recover to extraordinary levels. He lifted his hand intending to point towards the command center but reconsidered, setting it down and jumping off the car, nodding toward the pit where the command center once stood.

“It’s been quite a while; there shouldn’t be a second explosion. Let’s go see what’s happening.”

With that, he grabbed his gun and headed towards the crater.

No one argued; they all followed promptly.

Pan Guoliang naturally joined the crowd, whispering to Zhao Dezhu, “Buddy, is our Brother Zhang always like this?”

“Like what? I’m not sure…” Zhao Dezhu welcomed the newcomer’s approach without putting on airs.

“Explosions, man—they’re dangerous, yet Brother Zhang walks ahead while we follow from behind?”

Pan Guoliang didn’t understand, believing this to be inappropriate.

Zhao Dezhu furrowed his brow, scratching his head, and his mood sobered, “Ah, now you mention it… our brother always leads the charge!”

Others nearby also felt a change in their hearts hearing their conversation.

This was why Zhang Su earned his peers’ respect. Instead of hiding behind others in the face of danger, he always took the lead.

Sometimes things might not be explicitly stated, but everyone could feel it deeply. Pan Guoliang’s words spurred those following Zhang Su to quicken their pace.

“Zhuzi!” Zhang Su called out as Zhao Dezhu briskly walked to his side, rushing forward, “Where’re you off to?”

“Haha, buddy, I can’t always let you be the one taking risks; let me scout ahead!”

Zhao Dezhu turned with a grin and continued to move forward agilely, leaping around the ruins, showing clear recovery from his previous injuries.

“What is he up to…”

Zhang Su’s hearing hadn’t fully returned, leaving him clueless about their chat, bemusedly watching Zhao Dezhu and others who came beside him.