Chapter 17: The Woman Next Door (Seeking collections, seeking tickets)

"It's my first time, so being nervous and missing the target is normal... I'll just practice more!"

Zheng Xin pouted and walked to the living room, swinging the baseball bat according to the techniques Zhang Su had taught her earlier.

Soft knocking sounds occurred from time to time, and the woman's voice occasionally drifted into the room.

Zheng Xin, meanwhile, was swinging the bat vigorously in the living room.

The person outside persisted for about four or five minutes before finally stopping.

"Finally gone."

Zheng Xin let out a sigh of relief and continued her practice.

She wasn't exactly a person who loved helping others, but she would soften when someone begged; however, she knew that softening her heart now was meaningless because she lacked the ability to help anyone else!

Self-preservation was already a problem; for instance, just now, after practicing for only ten minutes, her arms were already starting to ache...

Zhang Su walked from the bedroom to the living room and mused, "A small number of vehicles are heading toward the suburbs. Also, I think zombies might have a form of cognition!"

"Huh? What do you mean? Are you saying zombies have intelligence?"

Zheng Xin was startled. Based on her current encounters, she wasn't much stronger than a zombie. If having intelligence and the ability to think was one of her advantages, and zombies had it too, then what was the point of struggling to survive? Might as well just join them, right?

Zhang Su shook his head: "Not intelligence. 'Instinctual habits' is more accurate. I just noticed that when zombies don't have a target, their movements are very mechanical. Actually, that way of moving is very energy-efficient. In other words, their energy consumption is low!"

"I suspect that in this state, they divert more energy to their sensory organs to improve their ability to search for prey. Once they discover a target, their movement speed increases sharply. Don't you think this is the same as the habits of many wild carnivores?"

Zheng Xin nodded blankly. Before she could figure out how researching this helped their current situation, a heaven-shaking roar erupted from the ground!

Boom... rumble!

The massive sound couldn't be blocked even by the high-quality soundproof glass. Zhang Su felt his head buzz, the house shook slightly, and the souvenir basketball displayed on the bookshelf rolled onto the floor...

Zheng Xin was so scared she covered her ears and crouched on the ground, her eyes looking in the direction of the sound in terror.

"Over there!"

Zhang Su pointed toward Zheng Xin's room and ran over quickly to pull back the curtain.

A large section of the residential complex's perimeter wall had been pushed over like mahjong tiles by a shockwave. On the road, burning vehicles lay in disarray. The place where the explosion occurred was a shop across the street; as for what caused the explosion, it was unknown!

More than a dozen shops were engulfed in raging flames, black smoke billowed into the sky, the street was blown into a mangled mess, and debris was flying everywhere; some fragments had even been blasted into the residential complex!

What made one's scalp tingle was that there were actually zombies covered in flames walking among the vehicles. Some were stuck inside burning cars, unable to get out, but they kept waving their arms and struggling—a literal scene from purgatory!

"My god..."

Zheng Xin leaned her head next to Zhang Su's. Seeing the massive hole torn into the concrete road, her jaw dropped. If the zombies caused fear in her heart, this explosion filled her soul with deep dread.

"Good thing we're on a high floor. The glass on the lower floors must be shattered!"

Zhang Su looked down with lingering fear, though due to the angle, he couldn't see much.

"Brother Su, I... I suddenly feel that being in the building isn't necessarily safe. Look, half a unit of Building 8 is burning. Won't an explosion happen downstairs too? Oh my, if the floor below us catches fire, what will we do?"

Zheng Xin asked miserably.

Zhang Su's heart skipped a beat. He slapped Zheng Xin on the butt and said sternly, "Say something positive!"

The tag showed Zheng Xin had 【Good Fortune】. If both good and bad things were effective, that would be a disaster.

"Hey, you... why are you being handsy?"

Perhaps because she had participated in a zombie-slashing session, Zheng Xin's mindset had grown much stronger. Being teased by Zhang Su like this, the palpitations caused by the explosion were immediately alleviated.

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock.

Just then, a series of urgent knocks sounded, and a voice much louder than before came through the door gap.

"I'm from 802. Hello, what happened with the explosion just now? I'm so scared. Can you open the door and tell me what's going on? Please, I beg you..."

Due to the building's layout, 802 could see a bit of the toppled wall at most, but couldn't see the explosion site directly. The more this was the case, the more uneasy it made people feel.

Zhang Su frowned and walked quickly toward the main door.

Perhaps terrified by the explosion, the woman hadn't worn a mask or sunglasses this time. Her pretty face was somewhat twisted by terror, and her eyes were full of panic.

"Kind person, please, I have no ill intentions. I'm just a woman. Please do me a small favor. I'll give you money. I'll give you all the money I have on me, and gold jewelry, I'll give it all to you."

Perhaps feeling she didn't have enough cash on her, she added other bargaining chips.

She wasn't just talking; she immediately began to take off her earrings and necklace. Just then, the door suddenly swung open. She stopped, thinking she was about to be hit, when a large hand grabbed her and pulled her in without a word.

Thud.

Her head hit the door frame.

"Ah... mmph!"

The hoarse cry of pain was stifled before it could be fully uttered.

Zheng Xin, who had followed closely, watched curiously as the woman was pulled in by Zhang Su, and she quickly closed the door.

"Are you a reincarnation of a megaphone? Why do you love screaming so much!"

Zhang Su pinned the woman against the wall, covering her mouth tightly, his eyes full of ferocity, showing no chivalry just because she was a woman.

The woman felt incredibly wronged. She raised her hand to rub the spot where she had been hit, but was intimidated by his fierce gaze, trembling all over with tears streaming down.

"Um... beauty, you can't scream randomly. The sound will attract zombies. He... he doesn't have bad intentions either. Don't be afraid!"

Seeing the woman had lost her wits, Zheng Xin couldn't bear it and spoke up to explain.

Because of fear, the woman hadn't even noticed Zheng Xin until she spoke. Seeing Zheng Xin's gentle gaze, she felt a bit more settled and nodded repeatedly to show she understood.

"Are you still going to scream?"

Zhang Su asked viciously.

The woman, who had been nodding, quickly switched to shaking her head, though her eyes kept looking at Zheng Xin, likely not daring to meet Zhang Su's gaze.

Zhang Su let go and, looking very unhappy, wiped his hand on the woman's chest, saying, "You got snot all over my hand, you're disgusting!"

"This..."

The woman felt the man rubbing his hand vigorously on her, but didn't dare to resist, as her face was indeed covered in snot and tears.

"Alright, you've taken advantage of her enough..."

Zheng Xin watched Zhang Su's hand rubbing back and forth on the woman's clothes, continuing even though it was already clean. She leaned into his ear and whispered without moving her lips.

Some book friends have left comments questioning certain things. I thought about it carefully; it's possible that readers have incorporated their own settings regarding the zombie apocalypse. Also, the content provided in the book is limited, so it's normal to have doubts. Keep reading, and some questions will be answered.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 18 =====