Chapter 214

"Teacher Duan, I remember when you left Shengqin Garden, a big group of six or seven people set off together. How come only you are left now?"

Sitting in the RV, Zhang Su unfolded the tea table and sofa, pulled out a cigarette case, and placed it on the table, signaling Duan Wuhu to help himself.

Duan Wuhu didn't stand on ceremony. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and said with a face full of sorrow: "Damn, the past is too painful to look back on. Brother Zhang, I regret it..."

"Phew..." Exhaling smoke, he continued: "Seeing you and Little Zheng safe and sound, I knew I chose the wrong path at the time. To be honest, I was too superstitious about the strength in numbers..."

"I can understand your thinking. Where did you go later?"

Zhang Su didn't dwell on those things. At that time, the disaster had just broken out for about a week, and everyone was planning to break out of the 'novice zone'. It was normal for everyone to have different ideas. From their simple contact, he had a decent impression of Duan Wuhu. If he hadn't been carrying a burden of a younger brother at the time, he would have definitely tried his best to recruit him.

"That day, we left Shengqin Garden and headed straight for the Olympic Center resettlement camp. The result was completely different from what we expected!"

"What do you mean?" Zhang Su pressed.

At the time, the Olympic Center resettlement camp gave many people hope, and he had even thought about going to take a look, but finally gave up for various reasons.

"That place wasn't a resettlement camp established by the authorities at all. When we arrived, there were only seven or eight people. However, they did seal off the entire Olympic Center area, and it was hard for wandering zombies to break in, but as for living security, there was basically none."

"It could only be said that it barely provided a place to live. All supplies needed to be scavenged by ourselves, which was reasonable. Officer Qin led us to scavenge for supplies everywhere, which was barely enough to live on. Later, scattered survivors joined the resettlement camp one after another."

"Everyone thought it would get better and better, but it only lasted for about a week. I don't know where a huge group of zombies suddenly appeared—really a huge group, countless. I felt like there were more of them than students during morning exercises. They easily broke through the iron fence, and it was at night, damn it. My brother died then."

Duan Wuhu imagined that scene, puffing on his cigarette. The scar on his face looked even more desolate against the smoke.

"More than morning exercises..." Zhang Su frowned, pondering in his heart, and clicked his tongue: "That must be two or three thousand?"

Duan Wuhu nodded: "Yes, definitely, overwhelming!"

When zombies reach a certain number, people lose the courage to fight from the bottom of their hearts. Once the morale breaks, even if they hold weapons, they lose their combat ability—that is, throwing away their helmets and armor.

"I remember Officer Qin was carrying a child at the time?"

Zhang Su clearly remembered that the little brat taught him to be a good person, and he was very articulate.

"You mean Liu Xuanyu." Duan Wuhu stubbed out his cigarette and shook his head: "He's gone too."

"Gone..."

Zhang Su muttered in a low voice. He had a deep impression of that little brat. Although he had predicted long ago that he might have difficulty surviving in the apocalypse, when he really heard that Liu Xuanyu was dead, he couldn't help but sigh.

He opposed Zhao Dezhu having children, but he knew very well that children were the future and the hope. If they waited until their generation grew old without having time to reproduce, then human civilization would still be heading toward extinction.

Although these things didn't need him to worry about for the time being, he couldn't help but miss them.

Zheng Xinyu leaned gently against Zhang Su's arm. Hearing others tell tragic stories and thinking back on her own experiences along the way, she also felt a bit sentimental.

"How many people died in that zombie attack at the Olympic Center?" Zhang Su asked.

"Xuanyu didn't die in that zombie tide attack. Only my brother accidentally got hit that time, everyone else ran out. Officer Qin, Yu Nuo, Tian Fan, me, and three other survivors in the resettlement camp at the time..."

"Later, we tried to return to the Olympic Center, but gave up after taking one look at the situation inside. It was densely packed with zombies, like they were holding a sports meeting. Later, we went to the Xinmao Mall in the development zone, which is near the university town. Liu Xuanyu died there."

Zhang Su didn't ask in detail, but Duan Wuhu chattered on and told the cause of Liu Xuanyu's death. The general idea was that because he was greedy and went to a snack shop to find food, he was attacked by a 'sixth-man' zombie stuck in the shelf.

"The little brat wasn't even ten years old. It was suffering for him to drift with us. Honestly, liberation is a kind of happiness."

In the apocalypse, people often use this sentence to comfort each other. As for whether they really think so, only they know.

Duan Wuhu took a bottle of pure water from his backpack, unscrewed it, and took a gulp, then continued: "The night Liu Xuanyu died, Officer Qin sat on the roof and smoked all night. The next day, Officer Qin was gone... He left all the food and drink he had and left with his weapons."

"I can understand Officer Qin leaving. Later we found out that Officer Qin was able to survive because of Liu Xuanyu's father. It was also Liu Xuanyu's father who entrusted Officer Qin to take care of his son, but in the end..."

Duan Wuhu shrugged helplessly.

"Officer Qin was too hard on himself. It's lucky he didn't get himself killed..." Zheng Xinyu said very dejectedly.

Zhang Su nodded slightly, very much agreeing with Zheng Xinyu's point of view. If there hadn't been Liu Xuanyu at the time, he might have lobbied Qin Ya to join them, because the remaining people, no matter how rotten, had plasticity. Even Yu Nuo, whose mouth was stinking, could be trained!

But a child under ten was too difficult. He didn't deny that the child's future growth space was huge, but unfortunately, he had already lost the novice protection halo and couldn't develop.

"What about the others? Didn't you have five or six people?" Zhang Su pressed. Sometimes more people don't necessarily mean things are easier to handle; small survival groups can also be very flexible.

"After Officer Qin left, the three people who escaped from the Olympic Center with us also slipped away. The bastards even stole a lot of our supplies. Only I, Yu Nuo, and Tian Fan were left. We struggled in Xinmao Mall for about half a month, then a group of bandits came and drove us out."

"Why didn't you join them?"

Zheng Xinyu asked curiously. In this world, where are there any bandits? Highway robbery, murder, and looting are common occurrences.

Duan Wuhu touched the scar on the bridge of his nose and shook his head: "That group of people didn't reason at all. At that time, we had absolutely no strength to negotiate with them, so we could only escape..."

Zhang Su understood this situation very well. With Duan Wuhu's three-person situation at the time, they were only there to be slaughtered. He raised his hand and said: "Then what about after you left Xinmao Mall?"

"After leaving the mall, we went through several twists and turns. In an accidental incident, Tian Fan got lost, and only I and Yu Nuo were left. Later... about half a month ago, we met a force called the Survivor Alliance and joined them!

Damn, as soon as she joined the organization, Yu Nuo climbed into the bed of the alliance leader. I thought she would find a way to get some benefits for me, but she said she only knew me halfway and we weren't close, forgetting all the care I had given her along the way!"

Speaking of this, Duan Wuhu was extremely angry, using profanity very rarely, his eyes full of cold anger.

Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu exchanged a look. They had a fresh memory of this woman, Yu Nuo. Her mouth was quite stinking at the time, but they didn't expect her to have no bottom line when doing things.

It wasn't that she didn't have a bottom line for climbing into the boss's bed; using her own capital to obtain resources was a matter of course. But ignoring the companions who had lived and died together along the way was unjustifiable.

If she didn't have the ability, that would be one thing, but being ungrateful was really too much!

Of course, all of this was based on the premise that Duan Wuhu's words were true.

"We've heard of this organization called the Survivor Alliance. I heard the headquarters is... in some Jinyuan Mall?"

Zhang Su asked tentatively.

Duan Wuhu shook his head: "Not Jinyuan, it's in the Legou Mall not far away. I don't know what happened to Jinyuan Mall, but a big fire broke out a while ago, and it's already been burned into an empty frame!"

Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu exchanged a look. They naturally knew the situation of Jinyuan Mall, but they were testing Duan Wuhu.

"Then Teacher Duan, why did you run out with your friend? Is the Survivor Alliance hard to mix in?" Zhang Su asked.

Duan Wuhu shook his head gloomily: "It's not a question of whether it's hard to mix in. With my ability, I'm doing okay in the alliance, but some things are unacceptable!"

"Oh?" Zhang Su was a bit surprised: "It's been so many days in the apocalypse, I've seen all kinds of outrageous things. What else is unacceptable?"

"Brother Zhang, some things are really unimaginable! Eh, aren't you curious? In such a harsh environment, I'm carrying a disabled person everywhere?"

Duan Wuhu looked at the Jinbei and asked mysteriously.

"Haha..." Zhang Su laughed dryly and said: "I've been wondering. Honestly, this Old Duan is actually quite a good person. It's the apocalypse and he still knows how to take care of a disabled person. What's going on?"

"That brother has some background!"

Duan Wuhu pointed at the Jinbei and said: "The one in the car is named Fu Weijun. Don't look at his lower limb paralysis, he is a doctor in biological medical research. He returned to China not long after studying in the United States and has made extraordinary achievements in academics. He used to serve as the chief researcher in the alliance, mainly responsible for zombie research!"

(End of chapter)