[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-after-i-fully-prepared-for-the-apocalypse-the-un":3,"chapter-after-i-fully-prepared-for-the-apocalypse-the-un-after-i-fully-prepared-for-the-apocalypse-the-un-chapter-197":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","After I Fully Prepared for the Apocalypse, the Ungrateful Cried with Regret",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},146361,236,"Chapter 197: Unexpected Trickery","after-i-fully-prepared-for-the-apocalypse-the-un-chapter-197",197,"\u003Cp>At a street intersection that wasn’t particularly wide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five or six people were hiding behind an overturned school bus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of them, a man in a black tank top, looked at the people on the other side and made a hand gesture, counting down to an attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry Renner saw the signal and nodded. \"It’s time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s a lot of zombies. Chase Gallagher and Holden Shaw aren’t back yet. Shouldn’t we wait a little longer?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leo Hale asked from behind her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had Wayne Warner, but it was just as the shelter’s warning message had stated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The number of zombies around the shelter had been steadily increasing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the zombies now converging on them, there were also many mutated types.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this was *after* Chase Gallagher and Holden Shaw had lured a large horde of zombies away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the people hiding behind the school bus across from them were an unfamiliar Superpower Squad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had just run into them while fighting zombies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leo didn’t trust them completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What if we wait too long and lose our chance to fight back?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I just did a reading. Zombies might be appearing behind us as well,\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Behind us? Then aren’t we about to be surrounded?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jessica Vance was rattled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had already been fighting and taking cover for several hours.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her Superpower Energy was running low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they got surrounded by zombies, their odds of survival were slim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s why we have to deal with the zombies in front of us first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry wasn’t sure of their chances either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But those six people across from them were also Superpower Users. If they all attacked at the same time, it might just work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, when the countdown reached its final number and Sherry charged out with her team...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...the other group showed no intention of joining them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Holy shit, they ran!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leo quickly spotted the man in the tank top leading his people in the opposite direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had tricked them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They’re trying to leave us here to hold off the zombies,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>to buy themselves time to escape!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wendy Marshall said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected, in this post-apocalyptic world, you couldn’t trust anyone but your own team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Well, I’d like to see if they can actually get away.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry spat on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her Compass showed that there was no safe route behind them; otherwise, she would’ve taken Leo and the others and run long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let them run. I refuse to believe this handful of zombies can do anything to us.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leo immediately used his Control to send an axe from the ground smashing into the zombie at the very front!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Brutal,\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry commented with a glance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a zombie in a plaid shirt. The axe had sheared off half of its face, and its eyeball, squeezed from the socket, dangled by a thread of flesh...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dagger gleaming with a cold light shot through its head, and the zombie finally collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Flowing Light Dagger still works best.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Flowing Light Dagger returned, its twin blades hovering in midair on his left and right, ready to strike at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But if we’re talking brutal, you’ve got to hand it to Wayne Warner.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Leo spoke, Wayne had already taken out three to five zombies, felling one with every punch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SWOOSH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An Ice Cone shot from her palm, embedding itself directly in a zombie’s eye socket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The back of its head exploded in a shower of black blood as it convulsed and fell into the horde behind it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s four,\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry counted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’The Ice Element Superpower really is effective.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’But why do the zombies at this intersection just keep coming?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Leo was about to tell everyone to stay calm, he saw a few figures running back from behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Help! Help us!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There are zombies back there, too!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the man in the tank top yelled, his face a mask of despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time they ran back, they were already missing a person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Serves them right!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry felt no sympathy whatsoever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wendy, let’s do it again!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Sherry, Wendy nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A large pool of water surged across the ground, expanding rapidly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry then used her Ice Element Superpower to rapidly freeze the water’s surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of the zombies either slipped on the frozen ground or had their feet frozen solid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jessica, now!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a gesture, Leo used his Control to send the Flowing Light Dagger piercing swiftly through the heads of several zombies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Jessica’s Wind Vortex Dart, spinning with the power of her Wind Element Superpower, sliced open a zombie’s skull like a razor-sharp blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Thank God for Wayne.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry realized that Wayne was like an iron wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No zombie that lunged at them could survive more than three seconds with him around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not for Wayne, they wouldn’t have had any time to use their Superpowers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hurry up, more zombies are coming from behind!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yvonne Willow called out as she harvested Crystal Cores and kept an eye on the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She realized, however, that the situation was looking grim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man in the tank top and his group had drawn a lot more zombies when they returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the looks of it, they wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, the sound of a car engine roared from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRASH! CRASH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a series of sickening thuds, an SUV plowed through the horde from behind!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man in the tank top and his remaining companions scrambled to the sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nina Jacobs?!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry cried out in surprise and relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors opened, and Holden Shaw and Chase Gallagher stepped out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had happened to run into Nina Jacobs on their way back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We’re gone for a little while and you all get trapped, huh?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holding two knives, Holden charged forward as he spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s not like we wanted this to happen.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jessica relaxed the moment she saw Nina step out of the vehicle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Nina, I left the rescue gun in your car! Can you please fire a distress signal?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry yelled while maintaining control over her Superpower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shelter had recently started issuing rescue guns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyone whose application was approved could get one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was essentially a flare gun that survivors could use if they ran into danger while fighting zombies outside the shelter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If a nearby patrol team spotted the signal, they would rush to provide aid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sherry had forgotten the rescue gun in Nina’s car that morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s right, we have the rescue gun!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I totally forgot about it!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leo was overjoyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We won’t be needing the rescue gun,\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nina said, closing her car door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do you mean?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leo could already feel his Superpower Energy running on empty. If they could get backup, they’d be saved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You guys...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jessica wanted to say something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Don’t Leo and Sherry get how powerful Nina is?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Wind Element zombie leaped high into the air and pounced at the group!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in that instant, a blindingly bright beam of light shot straight through the center of its forehead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t have the slightest chance to retaliate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wayne, fall back.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nina called out, seeing the number of zombies in front of Wayne beginning to swell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing her, Wayne kicked over a group of zombies in front of him and quickly ran back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chase and the others also took a few steps back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Leo and Sherry were still confused, dozens of Flaming Arrows materialized in the air before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>THWUMP THWUMP THWUMP!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The arrows shot down at the zombies on the ground with immense force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several zombies were killed in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, another volley of arrows descended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After several consecutive volleys, the majority of the zombies on the ground were dead or wounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The zombies from the rear have caught up!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yvonne shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the man in the tank top and his group, they had long since gone into hiding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ignore them.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nina didn’t even glance back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hiding off to the side, the man in the tank top and his companions stared wide-eyed. \"What is that on the ground?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t know, it looks like...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before they could get a clear look, the zombies that stepped into the area were instantly engulfed by flames erupting from the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Nina focused on killing the zombies in front of the group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even she could feel that there was a seemingly endless supply of zombies here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A checkpoint must have been breached somewhere,\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nina surmised.\u003C\u002Fp>",1411,"2026-05-29T03:44:18.636Z","2026-06-01T04:29:06.436Z",1,"novelbin.me","b46b2c2ae35fea35132778ebcadf4b1d9d59b9ac7df5c733966e0e78dce3c39a","after-i-fully-prepared-for-the-apocalypse-the-un-chapter-198","after-i-fully-prepared-for-the-apocalypse-the-un-chapter-196",312,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fafter-i-fully-prepared-for-the-apocalypse-the-un-cover.jpg"]