Of the dozen or so people who escaped from the hotel that day, most died miserably at the mouths of zombies. The five of them were lucky enough to hide in this building, and relying on the supplies left behind in the rooms, they did not go hungry.
However, having witnessed the horror of the infected, no one dared to face them.
After all, those were not slow-moving virus-body zombies, but infected that chased people down to bite them; the level of threat was not on the same scale.
"Let's go, we're heading downstairs!"
Watching Lin Qi gradually disappear at the end of the street, Liu Bo immediately issued an order and led the four people outside.
Perhaps influenced by Lin Qi back at the hotel, all five of them had fashioned a spear. Liu Bo, in particular, held a 1.8-meter-long steel rebar in his hand; it didn't even need deliberate sharpening to have impressive power.
He had also deliberately wrapped linen cloth around the steel rebar to improve his grip.
The weapons of the remaining four were somewhat pathetic; some were modified from mops, and others, like Lin Qi's, were just clothes drying racks.
The five of them went downstairs cautiously, with Liu Bo still taking the lead.
Once they reached the ground floor, they saw a zombie slowly wandering over from the street.
"You two, come and practice your courage!"
Liu Bo was not afraid of this kind of virus zombie. To him, it was no different from bullying a terminally ill patient, and he had long since overcome his psychological barriers.
But for the others, facing such a zombie required immense courage.
"Boss, you should do it; we'll just support you from behind!"
The simple-minded young man was pale with fear. Two more days had passed, and the rotting state of the virus-body zombie was becoming increasingly terrifying; even as it walked, pieces of rotten flesh were falling off its body.
"Damn it! If you had even one-tenth of that guy's courage, I would have dared to take you out to roam the streets!"
Liu Bo cursed, resigned himself to his fate, and took two steps forward. He raised the steel rebar in his hand and thrust it into the zombie's face, the tip piercing straight through its skull.
With a casual flick, he knocked the zombie to the ground.
"It's dead now. All of you come over and poke it a few times to overcome some of your psychological barriers."
Liu Bo knew that if things continued this way, these burdens would eventually drag him down. It would be better to train them properly. If anyone still dared not face a zombie, he would have to find a way to abandon them; such people were just dead weight.
Although the zombie was dead, the stench it emitted made it hard to get close. The four of them shuffled their feet for a long time before slowly approaching, raising their spears and poking it a few times with their eyes closed.
Feeling the soft, greasy sensation of the spear making contact with the rotten flesh, one of them immediately couldn't help but vomit.
It seemed to trigger a chain reaction, and one after another, they all leaned against the wall and retched. In the end, even Liu Bo was affected and couldn't help but dry-heave a few times.
It wasn't until he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag that he suppressed the nausea in his stomach.
"Boss, give me a puff!"
Seeing Liu Bo squatting to the side smoking, the simple-minded young man nearby wiped his mouth and leaned in with a fawning expression.
Liu Bo took another deep drag before tossing the half-finished cigarette over.
"Damn it, it's disgusting as hell. Don't vomit your guts out, let's move quickly, or the zombies will smell us and come over!"
Liu Bo looked at the group making a fool of themselves and felt a sense of annoyance. Why did he ever agree to bring these idiots along?
Seeing Liu Bo walk away, the remaining three didn't dare to vomit anymore and hurriedly chased after him with their spears.
Despite the distance being less than a hundred meters, it took them nearly ten minutes to reach the front of the residential building where Lin Qi was staying.
A few rotting zombies in front of the Iron Gate emitted a nauseating stench, but fortunately, they had already vomited enough.
"Boss, there's a lock. What do we do if we can't get in?"
The simple-minded young man was named Chen Xiaobo. Although he wasn't very brave, he knew how to read the room, identify problems, and create trouble.
"If there's a lock, smash it! Smash it open!"
Liu Bo's face darkened. He pushed aside the person blocking his way, lifted the eight-pound steel rebar, and swung it with all his might!
With a loud clang, the Iron Gate trembled, but the lock didn't break. Liu Bo's eyelid twitched wildly, and he shook his hand discreetly.
"You guys stand further back, you're affecting my performance!"
After the four of them retreated a few steps, Liu Bo didn't dare to smash it again. He inserted the steel rebar into the lock and pried it with force.
With a click, the padlock was pried open. Before he could even pull the steel rebar out, the four of them pushed the door open and scrambled inside.
During the days they had been observing, they already knew that this residential building was a very safe place. Even if there had been zombies, they had all been cleared out by Lin Qi. Subconsciously, they wanted to step into a safe place so their hearts could calm down.
"Damn it, they run fast!"
Liu Bo couldn't help but curse again. After pulling out the steel rebar, he followed them inside.
After circling the three residential buildings, two had their doors tightly locked, and only one was left ajar.
At this moment, Zhao Tuantuan, who was by the second-floor window, had already noticed the movement outside. She hid behind the curtains, secretly watching the people downstairs.
Right now, only a tightly closed door could give her a sense of security.
"Brother Lin! Please come back soon!"
Zhao Tuantuan curled up on the sofa, her eyes filled with panic.
"Boss, the door to this building isn't locked. That kid must have forgotten to lock it when he went out!"
Chen Xiaobo seemed to have discovered something and ran back, eager to claim credit.
"It's not like I'm blind; I already saw it!"
Liu Bo was becoming increasingly disgusted with this lackey of his. He strode forward and arrived in front of the building.
Just as he pushed the door open, he saw a layer of black-brown blood on the floor and subconsciously took a step back.
"There are footprints on the ground. There's no mistake, it's this building!"
Based on the clues on the ground, he quickly made his judgment.
He took a step forward, but just as he was about to go upstairs, he stopped.
"You two, go in front!"
Liu Bo pointed at the other two with his steel rebar. As the boss, he had to maintain his dignity at all times; how could he be the one to take the lead?
"Boss, we aren't as strong as you. What if we run into a zombie? We can't fight them!"
The two were trembling so hard their legs were shaking. Following Liu Bo out was already the limit of their courage; how could they dare to face a zombie alone?
"What are you afraid of? How could there be zombies in the place where he lives? They've already been cleared out by him. If you don't even have this much courage, don't bother following me in the future!"
Liu Bo's face was gloomy, and he had the impulse to kill these two pieces of trash.
The two thought about it and realized he was right. After exchanging glances, they finally mustered the courage to walk into the stairwell.
The black-brown slime on the ground made it feel as if their feet were being dragged by something as they walked. With every step, their fear grew, but with Liu Bo pressing them from behind, they didn't dare to retreat.
Fortunately, the doors on the first floor were all closed, so it was a close call.
When they reached the second floor, just as they emerged from the stairwell, they saw a bright red bloodstain on the floor, which scared them so much they couldn't lift their feet anymore.
"Boss! There's blood on the ground! Bright red blood!"
The black-brown blood was nowhere near as terrifying as the bright red kind. The two scrambled to retreat back into the stairwell, as if there were a man-eating monster ahead.
"A pool of blood has scared you like this? Damn it!"
Liu Bo pushed the two aside and walked out slowly, holding his steel rebar. Following the bloodstains, his gaze gradually shifted, and when he saw the skinned zombie nailed to the wall, his pupils constricted.
"Mommy!"
Even though he had been mentally prepared, Liu Bo was startled into a scream. When the four people behind him heard the cry, they didn't even look back and ran downstairs.
When he turned to look, the four of them had already disappeared.
"Damn it! This place is too weird!"
With only Liu Bo left, he didn't dare to continue investigating and had to retreat cautiously.
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