Chapter 91

What’s going on…

Immediately after, three more figures appeared, huffing and puffing—four in total, three men and one woman.

They looked ragged, just like Tan Huajun had when they first saw her: layered in multiple spring-autumn outfits, disheveled and filthy, faces pale, shoes stained with all manner of colors. Only the woman was slightly better off—her skin tone was still visible, though her spirit was clearly broken.

Who are you? Where are you from? What do you want?

Zhang Su fired off three direct questions.

One of the newcomers, a man wearing a baseball cap, scowled angrily: “Hey, are you serious? We’re not zombies—what the hell is this supposed to mean?”

“Hanzhou, don’t talk nonsense. Given the situation outside, it’s only natural for others to be cautious. Don’t you remember that guy from yesterday?”

The young man who had first rushed to the store’s entrance stopped his companion’s reckless words, then turned to Zhang Su: “Bro, we’re students from the Technical College. We escaped from campus three days ago. Right now… we just don’t know what to do…”

Zhang Su and the others exchanged glances, each seeing unmistakable disbelief in the others’ eyes.

The Technical College was a vocational school located north of Qincheng, over three kilometers away from where they stood!

Three kilometers!

Even from Sheng Qin Jiayuan to Yi Lei Wen Convenience Store was less than that distance!

“How did you four make it here from so far away?”

Zhang Su didn’t doubt their identities—their appearance and demeanor clearly matched students. But he wanted to know how they’d managed to travel such a distance.

Did they really rely on those three guys’ broken table legs and hollow steel pipes?

“Not four.”

The leader suddenly grew somber, voice heavy with grief: “We started out with eleven people… but now… only four of us are left…”

Mentioning this, all four fell into deep sorrow. The girl’s eyes turned red, her expression hollow with silent grief.

Zhang Su glanced outside, alert: “Come in.”

Zheng Xinyu and the others stepped aside to make space, but kept their weapons ready.

The four students hurried inside, looking for somewhere to sit—but the floor was blackened and littered with debris, too uneven even to stand on, let alone sit.

“You traveled several kilometers from the Technical College—how?”

Zhang Su asked again.

“We escaped under cover of night three days ago. At first we just ran, hiding along the streets. Then we reached North Port Road and saw a bunch of electric scooter shops—we each took one.”

The leader seemed slightly embarrassed mentioning the scooters—after all, eleven of them had stolen eleven scooters. For law-abiding students, that was a stretch.

“Then why did so many of your companions die?”

Zhang Su frowned.

At the question, all four grew somber. The leader said: “After getting on the scooters, a few got overconfident. I’m not disrespecting the dead, but…”

“Why explain so much? It was their own fault!”

The man named Hanzhou cut in.

The leader sighed: “They rode out to taunt zombies. One guy fell, triggered a chain reaction—several crashed together. Then zombies swarmed. We couldn’t even risk going to help…”

Zhang Su and the others fell silent. This was textbook “if you don’t act like an idiot, you won’t die.” Their guts were enormous—and they paid with their lives.

“Bro and sis, can you spare us some food? We haven’t eaten in over a day.”

The leader begged shamelessly, pulling off his empty backpack to prove they were utterly destitute.

“Our supplies are extremely limited—we can’t help you.”

Zhang Su waved him off.

The leader’s face darkened. He turned to Tan Huajun, who seemed more approachable: “Auntie, we’re starving. Yesterday we were attacked by a horde—we lost our food pack. Just one portion. Just one portion of food. Please?”

Tan Huajun smiled awkwardly, pointing at Zhang Su: “Ask him.”

Before the young man could speak again, Zhang Su shook his head: “Go find your own. Food’s everywhere.”

“You… you’re heartless! The world’s like this, and humans still can’t unite against a common enemy? You deserve to die out!”

The man named Hanzhou flew into a rage, yanked off his baseball cap, and crouched down—actually crying.

“Damn, sissy… crying like a baby. Look at him, Su-ge!”

Lu Yubo laughed without a care, mocking Chen Hanzhou.

Zhang Su gave Lu Yubo a subtle glare, thinking: Didn’t you forget how you bawled like a baby at the gas station yesterday?

“Food’s not out of the question. But you have to trade something useful.”

Zhang Su finally relented. Chen Hanzhou’s words had struck a chord. Yeah, the world was a shitshow—shouldn’t humans try to band together a little?

He wanted to unite with others. But human nature was vile—even his own. So he was cautious around strangers.

“Bro, I’m Kuang Miao. What’s your name? We’re willing to trade—anything!”

Kuang Miao nodded eagerly.

“Zhang Su. Everyone calls me Su-ge. If you’re willing to trade, show me something useful.”

Zhang Su gestured with his hand.

Kuang Miao immediately urged his companions: “Quick, everyone—dump everything from your bags! Let Su-ge pick! Hurry!”

In a flash, the four emptied their backpacks. The results left Zhang Su and the others deeply disappointed.

“Seriously? You ran from the apocalypse with this crap? Hahaha…”

Zhang Su crouched down, rummaging through their things—and couldn’t help laughing.

“Phones, chargers, tablets, headphones, another set of headphones, a Polaroid camera, a laptop… damn, even a makeup kit? Hmm… this one’s got a tiny bit of use.”

Not a single edible item among all four backpacks. Everything else was useless junk—maybe useful in very specific situations, but worthless for survival.

“Su-ge, this… this fruit-patterned laptop is brand new. I paid ten thousand yuan for it! Can’t I trade it for food and water?”

The girl crouched, picked up the laptop covered in cute stickers, and held it out to Zhang Su, eyes wide with pleading innocence.

“Little sister, things don’t have value like that anymore,” Zhong Xiaoshan sighed. “Guess what I traded for two packs of instant noodles and two packs of snail rice noodles? A Haval H6—brand new, bought this January, cost over three hundred thousand.”

Zhong Xiaoshan answered her own question, hoping these students would finally understand the new world. But she deliberately didn’t say who she traded with—didn’t want them forming a bad impression of Zhang Su.

“This…”

The four students froze. They might not know the value of a Haval H6—but three hundred thousand? That was clear.

“Who the hell is this heartless bastard? Is this even human?”

Chen Hanzhou clenched his fists in outrage.

Zhang Su felt awkward. Zheng Xinyu’s cheeks puffed up—she barely held back a laugh.

“Hey hey hey, don’t talk about useless stuff. The guy who traded for her Haval? That was me. She was two hours from passing out from hunger. A Haval? What’s that? Now she’s mine—whole and complete!”

…

…

The four students stared in shock—this shattered their worldview. But they had no idea something even more shocking was coming.

Zheng Xinyu stared right back at Zhang Su: “What about me? What about me?”

Normally she got along peacefully with Zhong Xiaoshan, even helped each other in danger. But on this issue, she wouldn’t yield an inch.

“You’re mine too!”

Zhang Su grinned, pinching Zheng Xinyu’s cheek. If anyone in this world was truly familiar to him, besides Zheng Xinyu, only the two convenience store workers—whose fates were still unknown—came close.

He treasured this rare familiarity.

“Wh… what?!”

Kuang Miao and the others nearly screamed—somehow holding back, knowing noise would attract zombies.

The three boys exchanged glances—shock, disbelief, envy, all tangled together.

The girl, Pei Lan, blinked rapidly, mouth hanging open.

“What’s with all the fuss? Listen up—your electronics aren’t useless, but they won’t buy you food!”

Zhang Su patted his backpack. “I’ve got over twenty phones in here—every brand imaginable. But I’ve got a way to get you a full meal. First question: have you ever killed a zombie?”

The group’s spirits had sunk to the bottom—until “full meal” sparked their hope. Then the last question silenced them again.

Kuang Miao stammered: “Uh, Su-ge… we kinda killed zombies? We smashed their heads a few times, stabbed their bellies—should’ve been dead.”

“Su-ge, just tell us what to do! We’ll do anything—just let us eat! We need to eat!”

Chen Hanzhou wiped his tears.

“Heh, you’ve got guts. What’s your name?” Zhang Su chuckled at this crying, brave boy.

“I’m Chen Hanzhou! You want us to kill zombies? We can do it!” Chen Hanzhou gritted his teeth.

“If you can kill zombies, finding food’s easy—why bother us?”

Zheng Xinyu asked curiously.

Kuang Miao scratched his head, embarrassed: “I just… I feel you guys are experienced, skilled. Following your lead’s safer than us charging in blind.”

Zhang Su’s lips curled slightly. He thought: College kids really do think differently from adults—straightforward, honest, refreshing.

“I can’t guarantee safety. You could die any second. What if I sell you out?” Zhang Su asked playfully.

“No way!” Kuang Miao shook his head firmly, smiling. “You’re clearly an upright guy. You’d never betray us, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Of course you wouldn’t!”

“Pfft.”

“Hahaha…”

Finally, Zheng Xinyu and Lu Yubo burst out laughing.

Tan Huajun and Zhong Xiaoshan bit their lips hard, shoulders shaking as they fought to suppress their amusement.

“Look, look—see how noble and great you cultural kids think I am? You bastards better learn from them, got it?” Zhang Su growled at his companions.

“Yes…”

The four responded in a sarcastic tone.

“Cough! No more joking,” Zhang Su said seriously. “You’re Kuang Miao, right? Are you their leader?”

“Hmm, not exactly a leader—I just usually take charge during group gaming sessions, and they elected me as team captain,” Kuang Miao said, rubbing the back of his head as he smiled shyly.

Zhang Su nodded. “Good. Having a commander is enough. When you came in, did you see the gas station across the street?”

The four of them nodded in unison.

“This plump sister used to work at the convenience store inside that gas station. The supplies there are incredibly rich—food, drinks, everything. Just the cigarettes alone are over a hundred packs. If we take the gas station, anything you can carry from the store is yours for the taking!”

Zhang Su painted a dazzlingly colorful pie for them.

“Actually… we thought about going to the gas station convenience store before, but Brother Su, there are so many zombies inside the gas station, we can’t even count them!”

Kuang Miao gestured wildly as he spoke, his expression full of emotion.

“Of course!” Zhang Su sneered. “You don’t think the convenience store is just wide open waiting for us to walk in, do you? If it were that easy, do you think you’d still be here? Of course we need a plan to get inside!”

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do—like this, like this, like this…”

Then Zhang Su laid out the plan he’d already rehearsed in his mind.

“Huh? Lure… lure the zombies away?”

When Kuang Miao and the others heard Zhang Su’s plan, they froze like statues.

Hadn’t their previous companions died precisely because they provoked zombies and got killed?

They ran screaming at the sight of zombies—yet this guy wanted them to lure the zombies away? Just kill them outright, why make it so complicated…

“Brother, Brother Su, this isn’t about whether we can do it—it’s suicide!”

Kuang Miao’s face twisted in consternation; he thought the man was joking.

Zhang Su smirked dismissively. “This counts as suicide? Then there’s no point in cooperating. The road is wide—each goes his own way. Be on your way.”

If they had neither courage nor strength, they were just freeloaders.

Lu Yu bo obediently raised his hand toward the door, giving a perfectly standard gesture of dismissal—he’d done this countless times in the billiard hall, politely seeing off the big brothers.

The four students looked grim. They’d thought escaping from campus made them brave, never imagining the outside world was this insane.

“Sigh, little junior and little sister, in this world, if you want to eat, you risk your life. Without you, we’re still going to the gas station—but you won’t get a share then!”

Zheng Xinyu spoke with the air of an elder; if she hadn’t dropped out of university, she’d be in her fourth year—she truly qualified as a senior.

Zhong Xiaoshan nodded. “Survivors today are no different from primitive people—we must avoid being hunted by zombies while also hunting for food. Every bit of food is precious!”

(End of Chapter)