Chapter 83: Welcome New Members (Please Subscribe, Yay!)

One hundred and sixty or seventy is way too heavy! Add up Xin Yu and Xiao Shan’s weights…

Zhang Su rubbed his temples.

“I’m ninety-four.”

“I’m eighty-eight…”

The two women eagerly revealed their weights—slim, so they spoke about it openly.

“Haha, one hundred and eighty-two! Tan Jie, the two sisters together weigh about the same as you!”

Lu Yubo calculated carelessly.

Tan Huajun awkwardly said: “I need to lose weight, I really need to lose weight.”

The two-meter-high wall was an insurmountable barrier for zombies who couldn’t stack themselves; over thirty zombies could only block the alley, stretching out their hands and clawing uselessly, unable to reach the few on the wall.

“Hey, Bozi, your chance to shine has arrived!”

Zhang Su climbed over the anti-climb spikes and pointed at two female zombies over ten meters away: “See those? Go down and take care of them.”

Lu Yubo squinted—the two female zombies tilted their heads upward, sniffing the air constantly, likely sensing the scent of the living.

“No problem, Brother Su, watch me!”

He shrugged off his backpack and tossed it to the side of the zombies—the thud immediately drew their scratching attention; the distracted zombies didn’t notice another person had also jumped into the compound.

Pfft.

Lu Yubo swiftly dispatched the first zombie, stepped back, drew his food sampler, and swung it toward another zombie lunging at him—but such a simple motion led to an accident!

He stepped forward, too excited and absorbed, forgetting there was a backpack beneath his foot—he tripped and tumbled forward involuntarily!

“What the hell!”

Even Lu Yubo’s carefree nature tightened his chest.

Thud.

Man and zombie both crashed to the ground; the zombie, having fallen backward, failed to attack.

Lu Yubo bounced up like a spring, his yellow tuft of hair standing on end—he raised the food sampler and stabbed it into the zombie’s head.

The zombie moved slower than Lu Yubo—it was instantly pierced through the skull and went still.

“You do things like that, it’s hard to feel safe!”

Lu Yubo turned at the voice and saw Zhang Su standing behind him with an axe—he felt warmth in his chest, picked up his backpack, and said: “It must be Shuo Ge blaming me for not listening to him last time, playing a joke on me. Brother Su, sorry about that.”

Zhang Su said nothing more; once everyone had climbed down from the wall, he led them to hide beneath the corner of a building.

He peered left and right, knew Tan Huajun lived in Building 7, but hadn’t yet figured out the compound’s layout before the encounter—he couldn’t be sure of the location, so he asked: “Old Tan, which way?”

Tan Huajun’s face was tense; after a moment’s thought, she pointed: “This way works—go forward one building, turn, then go one more. That way works too.”

Zhang Su looked at the two paths Tan Huajun indicated—couldn’t tell any difference—then suddenly turned to Zheng Xinyu: “Xin Yu, pick a path.”

“Huh?”

Zheng Xinyu was stunned; everyone else was too.

“What do you mean ‘huh’? Just pick!” Zhang Su glared at the dazed Zheng Xinyu.

When faced with a choice you can’t decide, let the one with the best fortune decide!

“Then… I’ll pick this one!”

Zheng Xinyu pointed ahead—the first option Tan Huajun had suggested.

“Go!”

Zhang Su led the group forward without hesitation.

They didn’t know what the other path held, but Zheng Xinyu’s choice proved flawless—only two zombies appeared along the way, easily dispatched.

The five reached Building 7, Unit 2, and saw a mangled corpse that had jumped to its death—darkening their mood.

At the unit entrance, the heavy iron door was splattered with blood, glass shattered; several half-eaten corpses lay sprawled beside the railing, their gruesome deaths too horrific to look at—far more brutal than any movie.

“Ugh.”

Tan Huajun thought she’d grown used to scenes like this—yet she still couldn’t handle it; the hot noodles she’d eaten earlier surged up to her throat.

Zhong Xiao had anticipated this—she swiftly shoved a few pieces of gum into Tan Huajun’s mouth!

The strong mint flavor flooded her mouth, clearing her head and quelling the urge to vomit.

Tan Huajun choked, tears streaming, nodding gratefully.

A short stretch of road—Zhang Su’s group didn’t know they’d already been spotted.

“Absolutely no noise!”

Zhang Su warned, listening carefully, gently pulling open the damaged unit door and peering inside—his hearing detected no movement; at least the interior of the unit was safe.

“The real test begins, everyone.”

At the stairwell, Zhang Su said quietly, his expression odd.

“Ugh…”

Zheng Xinyu sighed first, looked up, and grimaced.

“Hehe, twenty-three floors—not too bad, at least not the top.” Zhong Xiao tried to comfort them, sounding a bit self-deceptive.

Phoenix International Compound was slightly lower-end than Sheng Qin Jiayuan; building heights varied, but all were over thirty floors. Tan Huajun lived on the twenty-third—no elevator now, making the stairs daunting.

Tan Huajun felt again how close yet distant her home was…

With no other choice, the group climbed floor by floor under Zhang Su’s lead. The process differed from their expectations—each floor required careful listening to avoid sudden zombie ambushes, making progress painfully slow.

Normally, one floor took ten to fifteen seconds; now it took nearly a full minute!

This long duration let them recover strength while climbing, so they didn’t feel as exhausted.

“Old Tan, is your compound’s occupancy rate low?”

Each floor had three units; Zhang Su noticed nearly every floor had empty apartments, some entire floors completely vacant, protective film still on the doors.

Tan Huajun breathed slowly: “My dad works as a security guard for the property management—he said occupancy is under half. I’m not sure.”

Zhang Su nodded, didn’t press further—figures always look better than reality. If official data said half, actual occupancy was probably a third, matching what they saw.

They reached the nineteenth floor after nearly twenty minutes—no incidents except clearing obstacles—but when they stepped forward, Zhang Su halted.

The group had learned: whenever Zhang Su grew cautious, trouble lay ahead.

Zhang Su signaled them not to follow, crept forward silently, peered around the corner—and sure enough, two zombies paced outside the safety door.

One zombie’s neck was a bloody mess—clearly infected after being bitten; the other was relatively intact.

“Two zombies! Standard tactic—lure them down, Old Tan, you take one!”

Zhang Su returned to the nineteenth floor and whispered to the group.

“Got it!”

Tan Huajun gripped her caliper tightly—the bulky tool fit perfectly in her arms.

Zhang Su turned to Lu Yubo: “Bozi, make some noise to lure the zombies. They’re stupid on stairs—they’ll just tumble down.”

“That works?”

Lu Yubo was stunned—he’d never considered such a method to kill zombies.

Seeing Zhang Su nod, he rushed to the corner, coughed and stomped.

As expected, the zombies whipped their heads toward Lu Yubo, let out a shriek, and charged—just as expected, they tumbled down the stairs, clattering loudly.

Thud.

The zombies landed at the stair landing with a heavy crash, writhing and howling, unable to rise—their arm bones had broken during the fall, bent at unnatural angles.

Bang! Bang!

Zhang Su smashed his axe down several times, instantly cracking open the skull of the top zombie—swift, decisive, no hesitation—then turned to Tan Huajun.

“I, I I…”

Tan Huajun held the caliper upside down, studied it for a moment, raised it high, swung it with a whoosh—and slammed it blindly at the zombie!

Pfft.

Due to nervousness, she’d held the caliper backward—the striking end was the short measuring jaw. Her aim was good, but the jaw was too short—only punched a bloody hole in the zombie’s head, failing to kill it instantly, making its struggles fiercer.

Aaah! Oooh!

The zombie shrieked, trying to rise and bite—only to receive a kick.

Zhang Su kicked the zombie, then encouraged Tan Huajun: “Good! Keep attacking like that—flip the caliper, use the long jaw!”

Tan Huajun nodded seriously, turned the caliper, raised it high again.

“Ah!”

She let out a soft cry, brought the caliper down hard—the ten-centimeter-long jaw pierced straight through the zombie’s skull. Its flailing arms twitched like an electric doll, then went limp.

Zhang Su rubbed his chin, studying the panting Tan Huajun—thinking her aim was strangely odd…

Say she’s unskilled? She hit the exact same spot twice with two distant throws. Say she’s skilled? She couldn’t even tell the long and short jaws apart.

He himself made many mistakes killing his first zombie—missed several swings, still occasionally missed now. But Tan Huajun? With a steel bar, she’d stabbed zombies through the eye socket. Now with a caliper, her aim was still precise—she had talent.

“W-what?”

Tan Huajun, still shaken, suddenly noticed Zhang Su staring at her with suspicion.

Zhang Su shook his head: “You might be stronger if you changed your hairstyle.”

After saying something that left everyone stunned, Zhang Su told Zheng Xinyu to check gear and continued scouting upward.

From the twentieth to the twenty-third floor, they encountered no more zombies. The cold air carried a faint stench of decay; the silence made them wonder if anyone still lived in the building.

On the twenty-third-floor corridor, the five gathered outside Unit 2302; Tan Huajun trembled, holding a keychain.

“I can’t open the door.”

She tried several times, but ultimately retreated.

“Everything inside and out is so clean—I’m sure things are better than you think!”

Zhang Su listened carefully; he could basically confirm there was no movement inside the room—meaning at least no zombies. Whether there were any living people would require opening the door to check.

When Tan Huajun heard Zhang Su’s judgment, it was like swallowing a calming pill—she jammed the key into the lock with a series of clicks.

“Huh?”

As she turned the key, Tan Huajun froze—the door was locked from the inside?

She hurriedly turned it faster, twisting twice until the lock clicked open. When she pulled the door open, only silence and an empty living room greeted her.

“Lanlan? Dad?”

Tan Huajun rushed into the house first, calling out left and right in the living room—but only quiet air answered her.

“Old Tan, stop looking. Come see this.”

Zhang Su walked over to the living room coffee table and picked up an A4 sheet, shaking it lightly.

Tan Huajun hurried over, snatched the paper from him: “Mom, Grandpa and I left with a self-rescue team organized by Uncle Jia from the neighboring unit. I begged them to go to the gas station, but they said it was too dangerous and refused. I don’t know where we’re going—Uncle Jia just said to head toward the countryside. If you see this note, take care! Your daughter: Lanlan.”

The handwriting was elegant and clean.

Tan Huajun’s face twisted with complex emotion as she asked the others around her: “They’re fine, right? Lanlan and the others left with the self-rescue team—they’re safe, aren’t they?”

“Of course!”

Zhang Su immediately affirmed Tan Huajun’s words, patting her shoulder: “Now you can relax. By the way, your neighborhood’s pretty good—people actually formed a self-rescue team. My building? Some lunatic set it on fire. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have run out so early…”

“Holy shit, setting a building on fire’s that badass? Who’s the hero?”

Lu Yubo asked with exaggerated disbelief.

“Badass my ass! Thank God we got out fast—if we’d been napping then, we’d have been cremated!”

Zhang Su punched Lu Yubo good-naturedly.

“Sister Tan, your daughter and uncle are definitely safe. Don’t worry.”

Zhong Xiaoshan smiled to comfort Tan Huajun.

With the banter and reassurance, Tan Huajun’s nerves settled. After reading the note several times, she folded it and tucked it into her pocket, then smiled: “Everyone, sit down. Rest first. They probably didn’t take much—let me grab some snacks.”

She ushered everyone to sit, then hurried off with quick steps toward a cabinet specifically for snacks, muttering as she went.

“My daughter and I love snacks, so I set up a whole cabinet just for them. Usually…”

As she opened the cabinet, she froze—the inside was completely empty.

“Gone?”

She rushed to the kitchen next, glancing inside. The kitchen was as bare as if they’d just moved in—all ingredients had been swept away, leaving only small appliances standing lonely on the counters.

Tan Huajun refused to believe it, frantically opening cabinet after cabinet, rummaging through them. Not a scrap of food remained—not even kitchen paper, plastic wrap, or pots and pans. In the end, she found only a few dried shiitake mushrooms and some dried tofu skin in the corner.

“Stop looking. Everything was taken by the self-rescue team. You think they don’t need food on the road?”

Zhang Su leaned against the kitchen doorway, his gaze sweeping the scene. He felt a strange sense of familiarity—just a few days ago, he and Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan had done the same thing, though not nearly as thoroughly…

He had the eerie feeling that if the self-rescue team had any extra carrying capacity, they’d have hauled off the microwave and gas stove too.

“That’s true, oh no!”

Suddenly remembering something else, Tan Huajun dashed out of the kitchen to check a bedroom—her father’s usual medications were gone too. Now she was certain Zhang Su was right.

“I’m so sorry… everything’s been taken. We’ve got nothing to offer you…”

Tan Huajun rubbed her hands nervously, embarrassed.

“Enough, Old Tan. You think we’re here for a dinner party? Haven’t you seen what’s outside? Just having a place to rest is a blessing!”

Zhang Su waved his hand at Zheng Xinyu and the others: “Relax, rest up. We’ll find something to eat later.”

He walked to the window and looked out—but Building 7 sat in the middle of the compound, offering terrible visibility. He could barely make out distant streets through narrow gaps, gathering no useful information.

Looking across at the windows of the opposite building, he noticed movement—perhaps because the floors were high.

A man lay sprawled on the bed beside the window, dressed in thick clothing. Every so often, he punched the ceiling in frustration.

Zhang Su sighed and shook his head. In this world, people driven mad by reality were everywhere—adding one more made no difference. He automatically pulled the sheer curtain shut, then turned to look at Tan Huajun, who was packing her bag.

“Old Tan, who’s this Uncle Jia your daughter mentioned? Do you know him?”

Tan Huajun paused her work, thinking: “Just the name doesn’t ring a bell—I might recognize him if I saw him…”

It was a very real situation: neighbors exchanged greetings but rarely introduced themselves in detail.

Soon, everyone had packed up and arranged their second meal of the day.

“Good thing we ate well this morning. Let’s make do with this meal—two PowerBars for the men, one for each woman. Milk? Two packs left. Men get one each, the three of us women share one.”

Zheng Xinyu placed two packs of milk and seven PowerBars on the coffee table.

Though Zhang Su never formally assigned meal distribution, this task had always been handled jointly by Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan.

No one objected to the arrangement.

“Xinyu, are you… not finishing this?”

Tan Huajun noticed Zheng Xinyu had eaten only half a PowerBar, then carefully resealed it and put it away—she considered asking for it.

“I’m not hungry yet. I’ll train later—if I’m starving after, I’ll eat it. If I can hold out, I’ll save it for tomorrow’s snack.”

Zheng Xinyu said this naturally. Food scarcity created immense pressure—when possible, one must be frugal.

“One bowl of instant noodles has about five hundred calories. I ate two this morning—that’s enough for my daily energy expenditure. But since I’ll be training later, I can afford a little extra.”

Zhong Xiaoshan added, neatly folding and stowing her own half-eaten PowerBar.

This made Tan Huajun even more embarrassed…

“Yeah, yeah, haha—I ate three bowls of instant noodles, fifteen hundred calories. More than enough!”

Zheng Xinyu gave a sly grin, picking up her PowerBar and reading the nutrition label: “Sister Tan, this one bar still has three hundred calories. You’ve already eaten plenty of chips and milk—you’ve taken in over twenty-five hundred calories!”

“That much? Then I’d better train hard!”

Zhang Su, overhearing the women’s conversation, immediately chimed in.

“I, uh… fine, fine! I’ll train. I’ll lose weight.”

Tan Huajun remembered she’d promised to lose weight—she said nothing more, only stared gloomily at the wrapper in her hand.

“Sir Zhang, you drink the milk—I don’t like it.”

Lu Yubo signaled Zhang Su not to save any for him.

“If I want more, I’ll take it. The portion is the portion.”

Zhang Su would never take advantage of such a thing—and he didn’t need to. As he’d said, in this temporary team, he was entitled to eat more—and everyone else would gladly let him, because he was both the team’s combat anchor and its strategist!

“Really, I get diarrhea from milk—always have since I was a kid.”

Lu Yubo said it seriously.

Seeing he wasn’t joking, Zhang Su didn’t press. He pulled a Wang Zhongwang sausage from his bag and handed it to him: “If you’re not hungry, don’t eat too much. Save it for emergencies.”

Then he pulled out another ham sausage and offered it to Tan Huajun, who stood there looking pitiful.

“No, no, thank you, Sir Zhang—I’m already full.”

Tan Huajun waved her hands frantically, deeply embarrassed.

“Eat it. Losing weight isn’t something you do overnight—just train hard.”

Zhang Su gently pressed the sausage into her hand.

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan exchanged a subtle glance, exchanging strange, unspoken thoughts: Could this guy actually be interested in a mature woman?

If Zhang Su knew what they were thinking, he’d give each of them a good slap.

After Tan Huajun finished the Wang Zhongwang, Zhang Su said casually: “So, Technician Tan—do you plan to stay here or come with us? As a technical specialist, you’ll get special food rations.”

Under current conditions, temptation worked better than coercion.

“Huh?”

Tan Huajun was still savoring the last bite when Zhang Su’s question hit her—her face twisted in indecision.

“Sir Zhang, I’m terrified of holding you back… but I really want to go with you. If I go with you out of Qincheng, maybe I’ll find Lanlan and Dad. Here…”

Tan Huajun looked around, patted the bag she’d carried from the gas station, and gave a bitter smile: “Even with this little food, how long can I last? In the end, I’m just waiting to die.”

“Exactly, Sister Tan! Come with us! Skills come with practice. Three years ago, I couldn’t even kill a chicken back home. Look at me now—I kill zombies like they’re chickens!”

Lu Yubo puffed out his chest, clearly proud of his bravery.

“How old are you, Xiao Bo?”

Zhang Su asked offhandedly.

“Nineteen. Why, Sir Zhang?”

Lu Yubo answered quickly.

“Nothing…” Zhang Su had just been curious. He turned back to Tan Huajun: “Old Tan, give me an answer. Oh—and if you come with me, you might run into Old Wang again.”

At the mention of Old Wang, Tan Huajun smiled awkwardly. That man, who’d offered her the first warmth in the apocalypse, was deeply missed. She nodded solemnly: “I’ll follow your lead, Sir Zhang. I’ll contribute everything I can. Please don’t reject me.”

As Tan Huajun solemnly swore her allegiance, Zhang Su activated his 【Insight Tag】 on her.

【Gluttonous】【Resilient】【Precise】

“Precise!”

Zhang Su immediately spotted the last tag on Tan Huajun—clearly, her earlier zombie kill hadn’t been luck. She truly had exceptional talent.

Resilient was also a positive trait. Gluttonous? No big deal—who doesn’t have a weakness?

“That’s way too formal, haha! Xinyu, bring out the wine! We’ve gained two new members—this calls for celebration!”

Zhang Su was delighted—not only had he completed his challenge, but both Lu Yubo and Tan Huajun were valuable assets, and the team truly needed people!

He believed that given time, even the plump Tan Huajun could grow strong—she had enough talent.

“Holy crap, Sir Zhang!” Lu Yubo’s eyes lit up as Zheng Xinyu pulled out a bottle of Feitian Mao: “Dong Ge wouldn’t even serve this to ordinary guests—I’m actually going to drink it? Ha! Awesome!”

“Two or three thousand a bottle. Taste-wise, it’s just okay—it’s really only for banquets, as you said. Who drinks this stuff themselves? Here, one bottle each… well, just a sip, okay?”

That deep breath made Lu Yubo’s smile vanish—the bottle cap held less than half an ounce, and one sip was gone, not even coating his tongue; he felt even his uncle testing for drunk driving couldn’t get a reading from it!

“Welcome, both of you!”

“Welcome, welcome.”

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshanjian took only a symbolic sip.

Lu Yubo grumbled inwardly about the meager amount, but when it was finally his turn, he took the cap with care, pouring the liquor into his mouth lest he waste a single drop, then spouted a string of unrefined, plain words—all of it boiled down to one point: Thank you, big brother and big sister, for looking out for me.

Zhang Su felt the team’s harmonious atmosphere and was in high spirits; he downed the liquor in the cap and laughed, “Good! Now that we’ve drunk together, we’re all family—come on, no betrayal, no abandonment!”

“No betrayal, no abandonment!”

Everyone mimicked Zhang Su, placing their hands together and solemnly chanting the brief yet sacred slogan.

Zhang Su returned the cap to Zheng Xinyu, then turned to Tan Huajun and smiled, “Old Tan, you never did any physical training before—like shooting or archery?”

Tan Huajun had no idea why Zhang Su asked this; she shook her head in confusion, “I’ve been a bit chubby since childhood, always finding ways to skip PE class. Besides, shooting and archery are rich people’s sports—I never saw them at school.”

Zhang Su nodded thoughtfully; through Tan Huajun, he saw that many people possessed unique talents, yet due to various reasons, they never even touched the realm of those talents, ending their lives in mediocrity.

“Alright, take a short break, then get ready to train! Xinyu, Xiaoshanjian, keep an eye on Old Tan—don’t let her slack off!”

They nodded with smiles, feeling that with a new member joining, life had become more interesting.

(End of Chapter)