“Miss, here’s the situation. Now that the villas have lost both water and electricity, and there isn’t much food left at home, we kept thinking the government would take care of things. But no matter how many times we try, the phones won’t connect. We can’t just keep waiting forever, so since you two often go outside, we wanted to ask what the situation is like out there.”
“Zombies are everywhere outside. You should already know that from the news. In the early stages, zombies were relatively easy to deal with, but now some of them have evolved, which makes things more troublesome. If you want to go out and search for supplies, be careful and head toward places with fewer zombies. When killing a zombie, you need to destroy its head, otherwise it won’t die completely,” Mu Xiaoxiao explained carefully.
“We have a request. Could we go out with you? Don’t worry, we’ll only follow along. We won’t need you to protect us or cause you any trouble. Ever since the apocalypse began, none of us have dared to go outside, and we’re really worried. If we find supplies, we’ll give you compensation.”
The middle aged man spoke somewhat awkwardly.
Mu Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, then glanced at Meng Yu before replying, “Alright, you can come with us. But once we’re outside, you can’t scream or make unnecessary noise. That will attract zombies.”
“Alright, thank you!”
Everyone immediately showed excited expressions.
“Do you have a vehicle?”
“Yes, we do.”
“There are too many of you, so only one vehicle can come today. If too many people go, we’ll become too noticeable. Discuss among yourselves and decide who’s coming.”
Mu Xiaoxiao continued, “Also, once we reach the city, there may be all kinds of unexpected situations. Sometimes we can only leave the vehicles somewhere safe and continue on foot, so it’s best for everyone to carry a backpack.”
Some people looked disappointed. After discussing it, they chose four representatives to go. Any food they brought back would be divided so that those who contributed more received a larger share, while the rest would be divided equally.
They drove out in a pickup truck, each of them carrying a weapon, either a baseball bat or a kitchen knife.
They followed behind Mu Xiaoxiao and Meng Yu’s car as they set off.
In just over ten minutes, they reached the foot of the mountain, where a bleak and desolate scene greeted them.
The farther they drove into the city, the more survivors they saw on the road. After the water and electricity were cut off, these people had probably realized that they could no longer rely on anyone but themselves.
Meng Yu stopped the car in a safe place and stored it away.
The four people who had followed them also stopped their pickup truck. This was as far as they could leave it.
Watching Meng Yu make the car disappear, they immediately thought of the supernatural abilities they had seen people discussing on online forums. Now that the electricity was gone, the internet had disappeared as well.
Although they wanted to ask Meng Yu to store their vehicle too, she had already been kind enough to bring them outside. Asking for anything more would be unreasonable.
“You four, be careful. Before entering any shop, observe the surroundings first,” Mu Xiaoxiao reminded them.
“Alright.”
“We’ll split up and search both sides of the street. You can choose a side first,” Meng Yu said.
“We’ll take this side.”
“Alright. Xiaoxiao, we’ll search the opposite side.”
This street had already been thoroughly looted. Goods were scattered all over the ground, and many shelves had been completely emptied.
Mu Xiaoxiao stored whatever others had left behind into her space, collecting supplies as though she were scavenging through discarded items.
When she found batteries, she stored those as well. She and Meng Yu searched one side each.
When they came outside, they saw another survivor passing by. Seeing that they were both women, the man relaxed slightly, but he still remained extremely cautious and hurried past them.
He acted as though Mu Xiaoxiao might rob him of his belongings.
“Let’s go see how they’re doing with collecting supplies,” Meng Yu said.
“Alright.”
When they reached the opposite side of the street, they happened to see the four people coming out. Each of them looked somewhat disappointed.
“How did it go?” Mu Xiaoxiao asked.
“There aren’t any instant foods left, and there isn’t much water or many biscuits either. Fortunately, we still managed to fill half of our backpacks.”
“The people living in the city probably searched this place already. Supplies will only become scarcer in the future. This time, we brought you out so you could collect more. Next time, you’ll have to rely on yourselves.”
She paused before adding, “Also, remember not to let zombies scratch you. If you are accidentally scratched, you can isolate yourself in a separate room or have someone restrain you. There’s a chance you might awaken a supernatural ability, but there’s also a chance you could be assimilated.”
“Thank you for the warning, Miss Mu.”
“Alright, let’s go over there. I can see zombies in that direction, so fewer people have probably searched there. Don’t worry, we’ll deal with them, and you can watch and learn.”
The group headed toward another street, where more than a dozen zombies were scattered along both sides of the road.
Meng Yu’s ability was now Level 2, and both its destructive power and endurance had improved significantly. Ordinary Level 0 zombies were no longer much of a threat to her, unless she was surrounded by a large group.
Mu Xiaoxiao used her electric baton to stun them, then practiced her fighting skills with several strikes of her blade. Although she no longer felt like vomiting, she was still deeply uncomfortable with the experience.
After killing the zombies, they deliberately left one alive.
“You four, come here. This zombie is for you,” Mu Xiaoxiao said.
The four of them were somewhat afraid. Holding their weapons tightly, they hesitated and did not dare to step forward.
“If you can’t bring yourselves to do it today, then one day the one who dies will be you. They aren’t human anymore. They’re zombie monsters, so don’t let it weigh on your conscience,” Mu Xiaoxiao encouraged them.
The four tightened their grips on their weapons and prepared themselves mentally. As the zombie came closer and closer, the man holding the baseball bat struck first, smashing it against the zombie’s head.
The zombie staggered sideways, but all it gained was a dent in its head.
Mu Xiaoxiao stood nearby and reminded them, “You have to destroy the head. Come on!”
Gathering their courage, they attacked again, striking its legs and arms until they were broken. The zombie collapsed to the ground and could no longer get up, but it continued making hoarse sounds.
“It’s still alive. If four of you can’t even deal with one zombie, what will happen when you encounter more in the future? If you keep handling them like this, not only will you waste time, you’ll get yourselves killed too. Unless you plan to never leave your homes again and just wait there to die.”
One of the men gritted his teeth, raised his baseball bat, and repeatedly struck the zombie’s head.
“Alright, alright, it’s already dead,” Mu Xiaoxiao reminded him when she saw that he showed no sign of stopping.
The man finally stopped and came back to his senses. He immediately turned aside and began vomiting.
The other three also retched, but their stomachs were so empty that there was hardly anything for them to throw up.
After recovering, they continued collecting supplies. Fortunately, there were still plenty of things left in this area. Everyone filled their backpacks completely and carried several additional bags in their hands.
They discussed taking the supplies back to the truck first before returning to continue searching.
Mu Xiaoxiao agreed with their decision. If they did not take as much as possible today, who knew how long they would have to search next time before finding enough supplies to fill their bags?
The four quickly drove the truck over, but several other survivors had followed behind them.
“We went back to the truck carrying all these bags, and they saw us, so they followed us here,” one of them explained.
“Then hurry up and take what you can. When there are too many people around, unexpected situations can easily happen,” Mu Xiaoxiao said.
The four immediately quickened their pace and began loading supplies.
Before long, something happened.
Other survivors began fighting over supplies.
“I saw this first!”
“No, I saw it first!”
The two people grabbed at each other and quickly began fighting. The commotion attracted zombies from a distance.
Among them was a Level 1 zombie that was rapidly charging toward them.
“Something’s wrong. Zombies are coming. Get in the vehicle and leave now!” Meng Yu said seriously as she turned toward everyone.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, “Zombies are coming! Everyone, run!”