Originally, Li Qiu had been leading Suit Brother around, but now the situation had completely reversed. Li Qiu was being yanked by the red plastic rope and was actually dragged forward by Suit Brother.
Big brother, don’t go over there and throw your life away!
Li Qiu hated to see such wasted potential and quickly used both hands to grip the red plastic rope tightly. She pulled until her face twisted and her teeth clenched, finally managing to stop Suit Brother with great difficulty.
Only then did she prevent Suit Brother from rushing around the corner and being discovered by those humans.
But a zombie’s instincts were very difficult to suppress.
Deep growls continuously emerged from Suit Brother’s throat. The sounds carried a rhythm and grew louder with each passing moment, making Li Qiu’s head buzz. She nearly let go and threw the rope away.
She saw Suit Brother straining forward with all his might, his strength gradually erupting. The thin plastic rope was stretched so taut that it became even thinner, rubbing against Li Qiu’s palms until the skin was almost worn off.
This was a contest between zombie and zombie.
Li Qiu won by a narrow margin.
As for why it was only a narrow victory rather than an overwhelming one, Li Qiu attributed the biggest reason to not having eaten her fill, which left her with almost no strength.
Simply carrying that pile of supplies had already made her hunch over, and now she also had to hold back Suit Brother, who weighed around one hundred and eighty pounds. It was truly difficult.
She could not let Suit Brother carry her backpack either. Otherwise, if a situation like this happened again, Suit Brother would take the hard-earned bag of supplies and go throw his life away!
The way Li Qiu looked at Suit Brother was just like how the head of the discipline office in her old high school used to look at students who skipped classes and got into fights. It was the very definition of hating someone for failing to live up to expectations.
Li Qiu’s mind and eyes moved rapidly. She spotted a filthy, chaotic garbage truck nearby, buzzing with flies. Forget whether she found it disgusting or not, she quickly hid inside with Suit Brother. She then covered the two of them with a pile of random trash.
In the past, whenever she passed a garbage truck like this, she would walk faster out of fear that the smell might catch up to her. But now, her expression did not change in the slightest and her heart did not race at all.
After all, her zombie nose could not smell anything.
Li Qiu used one hand to press down on Suit Brother’s head to stop him from moving around, while using the other hand to cover his mouth.
The necktie tied around Suit Brother’s mouth had fallen off at some point. Without that restraint, the zombie’s sharp teeth rubbed against Li Qiu’s palm before gradually sinking into the flesh there. Perhaps because of Li Qiu’s neither-human-nor-zombie scent, Suit Brother actually quieted down for a short while.
Back when she was human, Li Qiu would howl in pain for quite a while even if she accidentally cut her hand while cooking. But now that she had become a zombie, being lightly nibbled on barely caused her any pain at all. Seeing that this method worked, she merely gave Suit Brother a warning glance before letting him continue.
All her attention was focused on the people gradually approaching.
Three men and two women, a group of five.
One braised, one spicy, one steamed, and the remaining two skinny ones stir-fried into a single dish…
Damn it, are you even human anymore? Li Qiu twisted herself hard and swallowed her saliva again, dragging herself out of her overwhelming urge to eat.
Li Qiu sighed inwardly. Although she really did not want to use the phrase “a dog can’t stop eating shit” to curse herself, her instincts now treated her former human companions as food.
Moreover, due to a zombie’s instincts, she even categorized food according to strength. The stronger the person was, the more attractive they were to Li Qiu. Specifically, it was reflected in how frequently she swallowed her saliva.
Actually, even all five of these people together did not smell as delicious to her as the person she had encountered when she first regained consciousness. She could even tell that two of these five people had no abilities at all and were merely putting on a brave front.
As for the person she had met at the beginning, although Li Qiu had only heard his voice and footsteps and sensed him approaching with a knife in hand, that alluring aroma of flesh had remained unforgettable to her.
Of course, even more unforgettable was the immense pressure that person had given her.
At that time, Li Qiu had possessed an extremely strong intuition. If she had been discovered, that “Captain Zhou” would have sent her on her way without the slightest hesitation and sent her underground to meet her ancestors.
Thinking of this, Li Qiu could not help reaching up to touch the back of her head. Such a round and adorable back of the head, if it got split open, how heartbroken would her parents be?
As her thoughts gradually wandered all over the place, she noticed that the five people had stopped at the corner.
The first to speak was the tall girl in the group. She wore a high ponytail and a denim jacket, and her voice was somewhat hoarse.
“Give me a drink of water.”
The short-haired girl, who was petite, sounded somewhat unwilling.
“Sister Qi, we’ve only been out for a little over three hours, and you’ve already had water five times. We only brought three bottles altogether. If you drink them all, what are the rest of us supposed to drink?”
Someone tugged at her.
“Xiao Mi, say less.”
Another person looked as though he had laughed in exasperation.
“Along the way, Brother Zhao and Sister Qi have killed the most zombies. What’s wrong with Sister Qi drinking a little more water?”
The only person who had not spoken at all was Zhao Siyuan, the one called Brother Zhao.
Fang Qi fell silent for a moment. She looked at Chen Mi’s backpack and subconsciously licked her cracked lips. Before leaving the camp, she had clearly drunk a large cup of boiled water that had been allowed to settle. She had also drunk several times along the way, so why was she still this thirsty?
It was as if there was an unbearable heat inside her body, sucking away all her moisture.
“Forget it, I won’t drink anymore.” Fang Qi spoke, forcefully suppressing her body’s craving for water.
She had never been the type of person who cared about other people’s expressions.
“Alright, alright. We’ll search for supplies around here in a bit, and we’ll definitely find water. Xiao Mi, don’t you still have two bottles left? Give one to Fang Qi.” Zhao Siyuan said as he surveyed the surroundings. Even though the area was wide and quiet and no zombies could be seen, he remained vigilant.
Seeing that so many people were speaking up for Fang Qi, Chen Mi reluctantly handed the water over.
“No need.” Fang Qi did not even glance at the water again. She stepped away toward another area. “Captain Zhou’s group cleared this place yesterday. I’ll look around again to see if there’s any useful supplies.”
“Why is she like this?! I was only thinking of everyone.”
“See? It’s all your fault. Sister Qi got angry.”
“Sister Qi’s temper is just like that, Xiao Mi. Don’t take it to heart.”
The chatter of the three people made Zhao Siyuan frown deeply.
“If you want to argue, do it back at camp. If you attract a horde of zombies, let’s see what you do then.”
He was the captain of the five-person team and also the strongest ability user among them. After he said that, the others wisely stopped talking.
Zhao Siyuan’s expression improved a little, and his tone softened. “We’ve already been out for over three hours. Stop fighting among yourselves and move faster. It’s not safe outside. We need to get back before sunset.”
“Brother Zhao, should we search through the garbage truck?” Someone pointed at the garbage truck not far away. It was the person who had just spoken up for Fang Qi, a young man named Su Zhihai.
The moment she heard that, speechlessness was written all over Li Qiu’s face. No way, you people won’t even let garbage go? But at this point, she could only continue holding her breath inside the garbage truck and wait to see what happened.
If these people really came over, then before they could dig her and Suit Brother out, she would pull out the wrench in her hand and strike first. Once she smashed them silly, she would run.
Of course, if she really could not escape, she would have no choice but to abandon Suit Brother and flee for her life alone.
You won’t blame me, right, Suit Brother?
Li Qiu gave Suit Brother, who was still licking her hand, a deep look.
Very well, he wouldn’t.
Zhao Siyuan glanced at the young man. There was a smile on his face, but his eyes were completely cold.
“Zhihai, do you think Zhou Jinshi can find good things while I can only dig through garbage?”
Although his tone sounded like a joke, Su Zhihai felt a chill run down his back. He was still a high school student, only seventeen years old, and for a moment he did not know how to explain himself. He could only laugh awkwardly.
Even Chen Mi and Shen Yucheng looked at each other.
But Zhao Siyuan suddenly burst into laughter.
“Just kidding. Everyone knows Captain Zhou is amazing. I just think this garbage has been piling up for over a month, and who knows how much mold has grown inside. It’s better not to touch it. Come on, if we’re any slower, Fang Qi will disappear.”
The others quickly answered and followed after Zhao Siyuan.
Zhou Jinshi, Captain Zhou? Li Qiu poked her head out from the garbage truck and repeated the name in her mind. So that delicious-smelling person was called Zhou Jinshi.
By the time Zhao Siyuan and the others had already walked several hundred meters away, they were too far to be seen.
“Luckily, we had good luck today. You don’t have to die, and neither do I.” Li Qiu climbed out of the garbage truck. The clothes that had barely looked decent before had become even dirtier and messier.
Suit Brother was pulled out by her in a daze. On his head sat a green plastic basin that someone had thrown away after cracking it.
“This basin is nice. I’m confiscating it.” Li Qiu swiftly took the basin into her hands and stuffed it at the top of her backpack.
Then Li Qiu lifted her short legs and climbed onto the old-fashioned bicycle with some difficulty. There was a reason why this kind of bicycle was gradually being phased out. After getting on, her feet could not even reach the ground?!
“Let’s go!” Li Qiu mouthed the words.
The bicycle creaked noisily on the asphalt road. A “person” wearing a hat and scarf rode on it, while behind the bicycle, a dazed zombie in a suit ran after it.
As Li Qiu felt the wind blowing against her face and watched the trees on both sides of the road continuously retreat, a feeling of joy from surviving a disaster rose in her heart. Then she accidentally pressed the bicycle bell.
The crisp ringing sound carried exceptionally far, frightening Li Qiu into immediately lowering her body.
In the distance, Fang Qi, whose hearing was exceptionally sharp, seemed to hear the bicycle bell. She was about to tell her companions when she suddenly stopped in place.
When had an extra wound appeared on her elbow?