Before the zombies could catch up, the group arrived at a villa. Seeing several zombie corpses lying on the ground, they were too frightened to enter immediately.
A few of the braver people cautiously went inside to take a look.
“There aren’t any other zombies. Everyone, hurry inside.”
The group rushed in, and the door was quickly shut behind them.
By the time the zombies arrived, there was no sign of anyone outside. Low level zombies could only track people through sound, so they lingered around the entrance of the villa where the group had taken shelter.
“Brother Zhang, what do we do? There are zombies everywhere outside!” a young man asked.
“What are you afraid of? They can’t get in. Rest for now, we’ll figure it out later.”
“Damn it. I can’t believe that a woman in the villa installed an electric fence. I almost got electrocuted to death. If I run into her again, just wait and see how I deal with her.”
Zhang Qiang’s expression twisted with anger.
“Exactly, Brother Zhang. You have to help us get even. My hands are still numb,” one of his lackeys chimed in.
Several others sat off to the side, trembling with fear and silently thanking their luck for surviving.
“Search this place and see if there’s anything to eat,” Zhang Qiang ordered.
After searching the entire villa, several people returned with gloomy expressions.
“Brother Zhang, there’s nothing here. This place has obviously already been searched.”
“What are we supposed to do? There are so many of us, and we don’t have any food at all!”
In their rush to escape, no one had thought to grab any food.
“Useless idiots! All you know how to do is run. You didn’t even think to bring food!”
Zhang Qiang’s voice was so loud that it attracted the zombies outside, which immediately began pounding against the door.
One of the women screamed in fright.
“Ah!”
“What are you screaming for? Shut up, all of you! Keep your voices down!”
Zhang Qiang snapped in irritation.
Everyone immediately fell silent, not daring to make another sound.
After a while, the zombies finally stopped pounding on the door.
“Go check whether there’s another way out from the back,” Zhang Qiang ordered.
A while later, someone returned and said, “No, but we can climb over the fence. It’s only a little taller than us.”
Zhang Qiang nodded.
“Since it’s still daylight, take a few people and go to the other villas to borrow some food. If they refuse, you can always use a little force.”
“Got it, Brother Zhang.”
He led several young men who had not been electrocuted and set off.
After climbing over the wall, they avoided the entrance to the villa community and headed farther inside. Surprisingly, they did not encounter a single zombie along the way.
When they reached a nearby villa, they knocked on the door.
“Is anyone home? Is anyone there?”
Someone inside asked, “What is it?”
“We’re residents from another villa. We don’t have any food left. Could you lend us something to eat? We’ll pay you back later.”
“We don’t have much food left. Please leave.”
“Please, we’re begging you. We really don’t have anything to eat, and we don’t even know what we’re going to do for dinner. Just lend us a little.”
Inside the villa was a married couple. The power had not gone out yet, and through the security camera by the door, they could see several young men standing outside. They did not look like residents of the villa community at all and seemed more like street thugs.
The wife quietly said to her husband, “Why don’t we give them a little? There are so many of them. I’m afraid they won’t leave if we refuse.”
“But we don’t have much either.”
“Just give them some noodles,” the wife suggested.
The husband sighed.
“We have no choice.”
The man packed some food and opened the door.
“We don’t have much to eat. We only have some dried noodles, but we can give you a little.”
“Alright, thank you, brother.”
Without opening the door fully, the man tossed the package of noodles outside.
“Catch.”
The people outside caught it, thanked him, and left.
They continued to the next villa. Some people gave them food, while others refused. By the end, they had gathered enough to settle their dinner.
Before nightfall, they returned to the villa.
“Brother Zhang, we’re back.”
Zhang Qiang frowned.
“Why did you bring back so little? Didn’t I tell you to take it by force if they refused?”
“Brother Zhang, we just got here. We didn’t dare to act recklessly yet. We should observe the situation first and understand what’s going on before making a move.”
“Then have you figured it out?”
“More or less. Some people never come outside, but in some villas there are only two people, and in others, only elderly people are staying there.”
“You did well. Find someone to cook. I’m exhausted and starving after today.”
“Got it, Brother Zhang.”
“You, come over and cook.”
One of the lackeys pointed at a woman.
The food they had gathered was barely enough for everyone to have one meal. However, the lackey only took out half of it and handed it to the woman.
“Brother Wen, I’m afraid this won’t be enough for everyone tonight.”
“What, do you expect to eat until you’re full? You should be grateful you’re getting anything at all. Stop talking and go cook.”
Chen Wen scolded her.
The woman reluctantly took the food and went into the kitchen.
She added plenty of water to the rice, and when it was finally cooked, there was just barely enough for everyone to receive a portion.
When it came time to distribute the food, Chen Wen walked over and served Brother Zhang a large bowl with plenty of solid food. The others who had gone out and done the work also received bowls with some rice in them.
As for everyone else, their bowls were mostly filled with thin broth.
“Why is this all watery? How is anyone supposed to get full from this? Brother Zhang, you’re not being fair.”
A middle aged man spoke up.
“What does it have to do with you? You weren’t the one who brought the food back. You should be grateful you got anything at all. What are you complaining about?”
Zhang Qiang replied impatiently.
“We came here with you. If there’s food, everyone should get the same amount. Why are you treating people differently?”
The middle aged man was unwilling to accept it.
“Do you think I’m one of those kindhearted people? Don’t stand here lecturing me. Eat it if you want, and if you don’t, then get lost.”
“You…”
The middle aged man was left speechless. He knew Zhang Qiang was not a good person, but they still needed to stick together for the time being. In the end, he said nothing more and carried his bowl to the side to drink his thin porridge.
After eating, Zhang Qiang was still full of frustration and needed an outlet. He pulled one of the women upstairs to satisfy himself. Everyone had already grown used to it, and the woman could only follow numbly.
Zhang Qiang had always been nothing more than a low level thug with a bit of strength. After the apocalypse began and order collapsed, his true nature quickly emerged.
All the resentment he had suppressed in the past finally found an outlet. If he disliked someone, he could beat them or curse at them. He no longer had to bow and scrape to anyone, and he found it incredibly satisfying.
“Xiaoxiao, that group went out this afternoon to ask the surrounding villas for food.”
Meng Yu explained what she had observed.
“That group definitely doesn’t belong to this villa community. They came from the city. Without the password or facial recognition, they couldn’t have entered through the main gate. Either they climbed over the wall, or they damaged the entrance and forced their way in.”
“If they damage the main gate, then the zombies can come into the villa community whenever they want. Those people are really terrible.”
Mu Xiaoxiao analyzed the situation.
“Exactly. But we were worried that there weren’t enough zombies around for us to practice on, and now there are plenty. Tomorrow, we’ll go out and kill some zombies.”
“Alright.”
Mu Xiaoxiao agreed. Ever since killing zombies for the first time, she had started doing physical training again. She did not want her arms and legs to become sore after only a short while.
The next morning, the two of them got up, ate breakfast, and packed their things before driving out to deal with the zombies outside the group’s villa.
Before leaving, Mu Xiaoxiao activated the electric fence to prevent anyone from breaking into the house while they were gone.