Chapter 73: Will We Be Nuked?

"Tan Hua, don't test us—I'll be straight with you: we're not evil, but we're far from good either!"

Zhang Su said solemnly.

Tan Hua nodded repeatedly: "I understand, big brother, but I... I'm really worried about my family. Do you know when rescue will come?"

"Rescue..."

Zhang Su pursed his lips and shook his head: "Don't even think about rescue. I don't live far—I'm from Sheng Qin Jiayuan up north. A few days ago, I saw a squad of special police fighting zombies—thirty or forty of them. And the result..."

He trailed off, slowly shaking his head, his face filled with sorrow.

Tan Hua covered her mouth with her hand, incredulous: "I thought zombies aren't that hard to deal with—special police have guns. How could they lose?"

"Not that hard?"

Zhang Su gave a strange smirk: "It's only easy because there aren't many zombies! Fighting one or two is fine, even ten you can escape. But what if a hundred surround you? That night, those special police faced over ten thousand zombies closing in—how high do you think their chances were?"

Recalling that night’s endless, dense horde of zombies, Zhang Su still felt cold sweat on his soles. Later, he realized he’d only seen one side—there might have been just as many zombies on the other flank, surrounding them too.

He deeply admired Qin Ya for clawing back life from certain death—it was simply too hard.

"Oh no!"

Tan Hua suddenly froze, her plump face draining of color.

"What's wrong?"

Zhang Su asked urgently.

Zheng Xinyu and the others stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her.

At this moment, everyone was jumpy as startled birds, nerves taut—any unusual reaction sent them spiraling into paranoia.

"If... if there are zombies all over Qincheng, won't they drop a nuke to contain the infection?"

Tan Hua asked Zhang Su, her face pale with dread.

Zhang Su was momentarily stunned, then wore a strange expression, rubbing his face: "Even if nukes could still be launched, tiny Qincheng would be way down the priority list."

"It's like this everywhere outside—not just here, little sister."

Wang Guangjun added Shishi ly, his wrinkles deepening further.

The term "little sister" warmed Tan Hua slightly, but the shocking news plunged her into icy despair.

"If it's like this everywhere, and there's no rescue... does that mean we're doomed?"

Tan Hua instinctively looked at Zhang Su.

Zhang Su smiled lightly and shook his head: "No rescue means you give up? That kind of pessimism won't do. Honestly, there are plenty like us who escaped from apartment complexes—dozens, even hundreds today alone!"

"Things are bad, but not as bad as you think. The outside world is terrifying—but not as terrifying as you imagine. Belief, understand? You must have belief!"

Zhang Su slapped Tan Hua’s shoulder hard, launching into a torrent of empty reassurance.

Passion alone won’t guarantee survival—but if your heart is dead, you’ve already lost.

Tan Hua stared at Zhang Su, stunned, then her eyes welled up. She straightened and said firmly: "Big brother, you're right. I need belief. My daughter and father might still be waiting for me to save them—I must pull myself together!"

"Hmm... you should still prepare mentally. But... where's your husband?"

Zhang Su changed the subject.

"That bastard cheated on me—we divorced years ago. Men aren't... aren't... hahaha."

Tan Hua instinctively wanted to curse, then remembered the fierce man before her was also a man—she quickly bit her tongue.

Zhang Su pretended not to hear and turned to Zhong Xiaoshan: "Xiaoshan, Lao Wang—stop working. Pick some food you like and have a proper meal!"

"Alright!"

Zhong Xiaoshan agreed cheerfully and stepped out to call Zheng Xinyu.

"I won't be polite, then?"

Wang Guangjun asked tentatively.

Zhang Su smiled: "Eat all you want—then fill one backpack. Enough?"

"More than enough! Brother Zhang, you're too generous!"

Wang Guangjun beamed.

Zhang Su turned back to Tan Hua: "Have you eaten yet?"

"I, I haven't eaten today," Tan Hua answered instinctively.

"Then eat with us. We know you're not evil—we won't harm you. You saw it yourself: that guy attacked me first, so I killed him. Go ahead, pick whatever you like."

Zhang Su had already taken full ownership of the convenience store.

"Oh, oh, thank you. Uh, big brother, we have a generator here—if we turn it on, we can boil water."

Tan Hua, seeing Wang Guangjun grab two bags of instant noodles, suddenly remembered the generator behind the building.

"A generator?" Zhang Su’s eyes lit up. "Where? How do you start it?"

Getting hot water now was no easy task!

"It's behind, just turn right past the restroom. But it's broken—we never fixed it. And... there are two zombies back there."

Tan Hua said.

"Oh no?" Zhang Su waved dismissively: "Who cares? Generators are loud—turn it on and you're basically blowing a trumpet for every zombie nearby."

Tan Hua smiled faintly: "No, it's a silent-type generator—noise doesn't exceed fifty decibels. And that guy Xu the Fat even installed soundproofing—barely any sound at all."

"Really?... Lao Wang, can you fix generators?"

Zhang Su turned to Wang Guangjun.

Wang Guangjun shook his head, then nodded: "I tinkered with farm machinery at home—I can give it a try."

"Uh..."

Tan Hua raised her hand and smiled: "I can fix it. But I need tools—if we can get some from the auto repair shop across the street, I can get it running."

Zhang Su looked at Tan Hua in surprise: "You can fix generators? I never guessed! I've got some tools here—see if they're enough. Xiaoshan, bring the toolbox we found from the Q5."

If possible, Zhang Su wanted to use the generator—hot food was tempting; everyone wanted to live better.

Soon, Zhong Xiaoshan brought the toolbox—brand new, the latch barely opened.

Tan Hua opened it, examined the contents, and nodded: "These are enough. But if I go alone, two zombies might be too much..."

"Just two zombies? Lao Wang, come on—let's protect our technician while she fixes the generator!"

Zhang Su called out; Wang Guangjun immediately grabbed a crowbar and responded.

The three circled to the back of the store—just as Tan Hua said, two zombies wandered near the corner.

Zhang Su softly whistled; the zombies immediately noticed, their long, thin legs striding toward them.

Puff, puff, thud!

Zhang Su and Wang Guangjun moved swiftly—dispatching the zombies with ease.

Tan Hua stood aside, slightly nauseated by the bloodshed: "Y-you just need to shove a rebar through the eye socket—that kills them."

Zhang Su and Wang Guangjun exchanged glances, then turned to Tan Hua: "You kill zombies like that? Stabbing through the eye sockets?"

"Yeah..." Tan Hua nodded.

"Alright, alright... let's fix the generator."

Zhang Su didn't know what to say—he knew stabbing through the eye socket was easy, but aiming was nearly impossible.

(End of Chapter)