Chapter 513: Don't throw away your chance to live

"Old Tan, you don't know what we've been through. Zhuzi, tell Old Tan about our hair-raising moment."

Zhang Su pulled out a cigarette and lit it, feeling a rare sense of relief. To him, "hair-raising" felt a bit exaggerated, but for the others, it was no overstatement.

"Come, come, come, I'm the best at telling stories. Old Tan, let me tell you, that kind of zombie you saw earlier—our big brother gave it a catchy name: 'Big Guy.' They aren't slow, and their strength is off the charts. One slap can turn a car into a hamburger, and a fierce ram can flip it over! Their heads look like they never finished developing, just tiny little things perched on their necks. We ran into them outside a residential complex earlier. It took a lot of us firing at once to take one down. Later, several Big Guys rushed out of the complex together. If it weren't for Big Brother's quick thinking and that thing he used to spray them, we'd all be running for our lives!"

Zhao Dezhu pointed to the hot cargo container nearby. The previous rollover had left quite a few scrapes on it, but fortunately, it was sturdy enough; there was only slight deformation, which didn't hinder anything.

After hearing Zhao Dezhu's account, Tan Huajun couldn't help but be shocked: "I thought that big... Big Guy?"

"Right, let's just call it that for now. It should be a mutated zombie that appeared after this precipitation, it's just that there are quite a few of them..."

Zhang Su nodded.

"I thought the Big Guys were just big-bodied and looked clumsy. I didn't expect them to be so formidable. It's a good thing they're afraid of fire; we still have a trump card."

Tan Huajun's build was quite sturdy, but the contours of her cheeks were harder than when the disaster first broke out. She was much more confident when discussing combat details than before.

"No, no, no, I have to correct you there."

Zhang Su waved his hands quickly: "The Big Guys aren't afraid of fire; it's just that the fire from the flame-throwing zombie is too hot and intense. Never try to use ordinary fire to deal with a Big Guy!"

"If the fire melts the Big Guy, we don't even know if it might become even more powerful in a burning state..."

Zhao Dezhu added, taking a long drag of his cigarette.

"If it's like ordinary zombies, where their combat power skyrockets after being ignited, that would be too terrifying!"

"We absolutely cannot rule out that possibility. If we get a chance, we'll capture one to study. In any case, when we encounter those big fellows, our best solution is long-range shooting. Close combat would be very troublesome."

Zhang Su said seriously.

Tan Huajun said with an exaggerated expression: "With something that powerful, who would dare to go head-to-head with it? Isn't that just asking for death?"

"Heh..." Chen Hanzhou grinned: "Brother Su dares to. He killed one with his own hands, which is why everyone let him name the Big Guys."

"So that's how it is. Impressive, impressive!"

Tan Huajun couldn't help but nod, her eyes filled with admiration.

"Report! All zombies are dead."

"Same here on my end."

"No survivors in this area either!"

Before long, the on-site inspection was complete. All zombies had been thoroughly dealt with. People walked unsteadily through the mall, which was littered with corpses; the scene was a complete mess.

"Brother Su, should we call people down to clean up? This place is impossible to stay in."

Liu Yao stood with one hand on his hip, looking at the mall, which was at a "plus" level of battle damage, and couldn't help but shake his head.

"Don't rush to clean up yet. Old Liu, Old Yang, arrange for a few brothers to stand guard. You come with me upstairs to check the situation."

Zhang Su looked through a gap at the street. Qi Xiaoshuai hadn't rashly entered the office building opposite; he was currently pacing outside the building, sticking to walls to listen for sounds, likely having his own plans.

Walking from the curtain wall toward the emergency exit, the ground was littered with debris, mostly zombie corpses, along with quite a few shattered obstacles. The marks left on them recorded a bitter struggle, followed by the corpses left behind by the combatants...

The living hadn't even been treated yet, so there was no time to deal with the dead. It was bleak, but this was the apocalypse; human life was no more precious than wild grass.

As the group went up to the second floor, the ordinary members of the Le Gou branch gathered in the hallway saw the great hero in their hearts for the first time.

"King of Hell..."

Someone immediately bowed in worship, their expression devout.

"King of Hell."

Some others followed suit.

"Just call me Brother Su. 'King of Hell' is a title for enemies. Everyone, don't crowd here. Go back to whatever you were doing; keep everything as usual and don't cause chaos."

Zhang Su waved his hands at the crowd and then gave an order. After thinking for a moment, he added: "Organize a team to prepare food. It's getting late, and everyone is starving."

"Aye, aye, got it!"

"Sure, Brother Su, we'll get right on it."

Upon hearing this, the crowd became spirited. They hadn't been able to contribute to the previous battle, but now they finally had a use, and they ran off to spread the word.

Many people, upon learning that they were to cook for the combatants, rolled up their sleeves and called over the warehouse management staff to get to work.

The ordinary members were enthusiastic, but Zhang Su still didn't let his guard down; he arranged for Pan Guoliang and Jia Shiqin to go and help.

A women's clothing store was filled with wounded people. The dark clouds in the sky had gathered and refused to leave, causing the Le Gou mall to be pitch black everywhere.

Wu Baokang found someone to fetch a batch of camping lights for emergency lighting, illuminating the shop as much as possible. These supplies originally belonged to Liao Youzhi; even if he couldn't use that many, he kept them locked in the warehouse to prevent others from using them. This was the privilege of a leader.

"Ah... my hand."

"Can you not cut off my leg..."

"I'll just be like this. Living is my fortune, dying is my fate; I won't force it!"

The atmosphere inside the clothing store was very complex. Some had a strong desire to survive, willing to live even if only their head remained. Others had seen through life and death and completely given up on treatment. Most, naturally, were those who wanted to live but couldn't make up their minds about amputation, their hearts filled with hesitation, but time didn't allow them to delay.

Zhao Dezhu and Zheng Xinyu were busy and didn't even notice the arrival of Zhang Su's group.

They weren't the only ones in charge of rescue work; Ouyang Qiao, Pan Ru, and others who hadn't been affected and had some medical common sense were all busy.

Almost every combatant had varying degrees of injuries, but everyone focused on those bitten by zombies, ignoring them.

Looking at the short history of the Survivor Alliance, there had never been such a serious casualty event. Several zombie attacks had been resolved outside before they even reached the mall. This was the only time they had rushed into the mall.

Fortunately, on the other side of the Taiyangcheng pedestrian street was the Qincheng Third Hospital, and they had collected quite a few first-aid supplies during their usual scavenging, all of which were now being put to use.

"Brother Su!"

Liu Tianji sat in a corner, his upper body firmly bound with rope. He was in a sorry state, but his mental state was quite good. Zheng Xinyu had given him a zombie thalamus immediately; whether he would turn into a zombie or not was a matter for later, but he couldn't be allowed to die from blood loss—that would be a real disservice to him.

"Sit down, sit down..." Seeing Liu Tianji rubbing against the wall to stand up, Zhang Su walked over and pressed his shoulder, encouraging him: "Hang in there. The construction of the communication network is still waiting for you to work on it. Don't you dare drop the ball!"

"I can do it, Brother Su. I will definitely complete the mission, I promise!" Liu Tianji replied excitedly. Who wants to die if they can live? Others were encouraging him, so he had no reason to give up.

"Brother Liu, you should be sleepy at this time. If you're sleepy, just sleep. Is it too noisy here? Do you need to change places?"

Chen Hanzhou asked, referencing his own experience.

The smile on Liu Tianji's face froze, and he said slowly: "It's over. I'm not sleepy at all, just very tired. Is that a bad sign?"

He knew about Chen Hanzhou's experience; this was the valuable experience of a veteran.

"Don't say discouraging words. Maintain your desire to survive. Everyone's situation is different; don't give up easily!" Zhang Su squeezed Liu Tianji's shoulder.

"Brother Su is right, Brother Liu. We're both still single dogs; are you really willing to die like this? I have a lot of good stuff on my computer you haven't seen yet. When we get back, I'll lend you the computer so you can enjoy it to your heart's content!"

Wu Lue appeared from nowhere and leaned in to comfort Liu Tianji in his own unique way.

Suddenly, many people noticed that Zhang Su had returned. Various gazes converged—reverence, gratitude, admiration, and fanaticism. Greetings echoed incessantly. Even the depressed wounded felt a bit more spirited, as if they wanted to draw strength from Zhang Su to serve as a pillar of support to help them through the difficult road ahead.

Yu Wen walked up to Zhang Su with a heavy expression, feeling very self-reproachful: "Mr. Zhang, I need to make a self-criticism. I was the one who first suggested going downstairs to eliminate the zombies. If we had been more cautious and held the emergency exit, we wouldn't have caused such a tragedy."

Would they not have? Perhaps it would have been a bit better, because the narrow stairwell was a natural defensive fortification.

"It was my fault too."

Li Zongkai came to Zhang Su with a look of shame. The other party had trusted him immensely, asking him to assist Yu Wen, but the two of them, despite putting their heads together, had almost doomed everyone.

"You two..."

Wu Baokang stood up from the corner, crushed his cigarette butt on the ground, and walked toward the door, saying: "You can't take all the blame for this. After going downstairs, I was the one who led everyone to rush out. In that situation... sigh, never mind, I was a damn idiot too!"

Zhang Su had already roughly understood the situation from Tan Huajun. Hearing the three of them taking responsibility for each other, he waved his hand: "Summarizing mistakes is very necessary. Everyone makes mistakes, and besides, looking at it from the perspective of that time, your decisions didn't have major problems; you just lacked some caution. Remember this lesson for the future!"

After speaking, he patted the three on the shoulders, then turned his gaze to Li Zongkai, pulled him slightly to the side, and asked: "Have you contacted the barracks? Has anything happened?"

He was very concerned about the safety of the barracks now. From the previous situation, it wasn't difficult for the reinforced zombies to break through obstacles, and their ability to find humans had improved—this was a terrifying enhancement!

Li Zongkai shook his head, shrugged awkwardly, and said: "For now, I can only passively wait for them to contact me. The communication equipment is always on, but there's been no news. I think no news is the best news at this time."

"I'm just asking you if there are many zombies locked up near the barracks."

Zhang Su asked directly.

Li Zongkai shook his head immediately: "How could we lock zombies near the barracks? We've lured them all away. The nearest zombie horde is over ten kilometers away. There might be some left behind in the apartment complex, or some we were too lazy to kill and just locked up, but there are very few, and they can't form a threat."

The way Civilization Guardian handled surrounding zombies was different from the old Eagle Society.

Zhang Su nodded, reassured. If that was the case, it would be much better. He then walked to the crowd, felt their emotions, and at the same time saw the helpless expressions on the faces of Zheng Xinyu and the others in charge of rescue, guessing that the treatment process wasn't going smoothly, so he said loudly.

"Everyone! Living hard in this shitty world, life is cheaper than wild grass. If we don't cherish it ourselves, who do you expect to cherish it? As long as you're alive, anything is possible. To put it plainly, it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. The wounded must cooperate with the medical staff's treatment. An unyielding desire to survive can help you overcome the zombification!"

"Really... really can it? King of Hell, I really want to live."

After Zhang Su finished speaking, a middle-aged man around forty years old asked, crying.

"If you didn't die on the spot, you should be grateful. Don't throw away your chance to live!"

Zhang Su stepped up to the man who had spoken and patted his shoulder.

Don't throw away your chance to live.

A very plain, very simple sentence, even with some grammatical errors, reignited hope in the hearts of many who were gradually despairing. Life is such a precious thing; of course, it's worth protecting with all your might. Don't lose it, absolutely don't lose it!

"Hey, hey... Brother Su, we have a situation!"

Just at this moment, Qi Xiaoshuai's voice entered Zhang Su's ear. His walkie-talkie volume was very low, and others usually couldn't hear it, but Zhao Dezhu and the others were also wearing walkie-talkies. Suddenly, many people in the shop heard it.

Qi Xiaoshuai's voice didn't sound particularly nervous or grave, which made many people's hanging hearts drop. After all, situations could be good or bad. Everyone looked at Zhang Su with expectant eyes, hoping he would ask clearly.

Zhang Su took the walkie-talkie from his waist with some effort; he hadn't lost it even during the intense fighting, as it was clipped on quite tightly.

"What's the situation? Speak."

"Six Big Guys were discovered behind the office building, but... their situation is a bit strange. They don't seem to intend to come looking for us!"

At the entrance of the office building parking lot, Qi Xiaoshuai was hiding behind a dilapidated guard booth, his eyes like a hawk's, staring through the broken glass door at several swaying figures in the distance.

He had volunteered to scout the office building, but when he actually got close and saw the broken gate and the pitch-black hall, his heart started pounding, so he decided to probe the situation from the perimeter first. This probing was no small matter; he had made a major discovery.

He wandered to the back door of the office building. The whole world was surprisingly quiet, but he heard abnormal movements inside the building. A moment later, he saw six swaying figures stumble out of the back door. The KFC door hanging on the hinges finally reached the end of its life and fell to the ground.

Seeing the six Big Guys appear, Qi Xiaoshuai's heart jumped into his throat. He hid at the corner of the building, not daring to move, pressing tightly against the wall, even slowing his breathing...

Fortunately, they hadn't been discovered by the Big Guys, and the Big Guys didn't intend to walk toward the Le Gou mall either; they were actually strolling toward the west. After they had walked a bit further away, Qi Xiaoshuai hurriedly followed a few steps and hid in a more suitable place to contact Zhang Su immediately.

"Six of them!"

This number made Zhang Su's expression grave. Based on the number of zombies killed earlier, this was still considered few. He hoped there wouldn't be any more.

"What exactly is the situation? Are they trapped, or are they wandering in place?"

If the Big Guys weren't coming over, Zhang Su didn't dare to just leave them alone. The threat of those things was too great. Now, this whole area north of Qincheng was almost entirely survivors from Tianmayu; they had to be dealt with as soon as possible!

"Uh... looking at the direction they're walking, they might be planning to go to the kindergarten?"

Qi Xiaoshuai said uncertainly.

"Holy crap!" Liu Yao jumped up on the spot, waving his arms and dancing: "Brother Su, this, this, this damn thing, can't let that, let..."

"Stop making noise!"

Zhang Su impatiently interrupted Liu Yao's stuttering, pressed the talk button, and said: "Xiaoshuai, you can't let those Big Guys go to the kindergarten. Follow them closely. If you can disrupt them, disrupt them, but don't take risks. We'll speed up our deployment here. Once we're ready, you lead them back immediately. Are you confident?"

Hearing Zhang Su's arrangement, Liu Yao and Yang Xin both breathed a sigh of relief. Now, the kindergarten didn't just have the former Eagle Society people; all the survivors from the auto park were there, a full two hundred people. Perhaps it was precisely because of the population increase that the Big Guys were attracted.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 514 =====