Chapter 26: Picking a Fight, the Woman in the Red Shirt

LeGou was a large supermarket on XX Avenue. The building had four floors: the first floor housed various shops, the fourth floor was for leisure and entertainment, and the supermarket itself occupied the second and third floors. On either side of LeGou were some cold drink shops, fast food joints, bakeries, and accessory stores. The signs for KFC and Mr. Steak were especially eye-catching.

At this moment, the parking spaces in front of LeGou were a mess, filled with abandoned cars, several trucks, and SUVs. One of the trucks even had a driver waiting inside. The remains of zombies and humans littered the open space, still fresh. Dozens of zombies were blocking the tightly shut entrance to the supermarket, and the sounds of fighting and shouting could be heard from inside—it was clear that a group of people had just forced their way in.

Zhang Hu’s men parked their car in the shadows at the corner of the street, nervously watching the howling zombies. “Brother Hu, what should we do? Should we try somewhere else?”

Zhang Hu cursed, “We’ve already tried three places. Where isn’t it like this?”

His underling thought to himself, What’s the use of yelling at me? I wish there was a big supermarket with the doors wide open and not a soul in sight, so we could just go in and take whatever we wanted. But every single place was either in a busy area crawling with zombies, or someone had already gotten there first. At the last place, a gang of ruthless thugs cleared everyone out, and if you got too close, they’d point their guns at you.

Damn! Where did all these tough guys come from?

“So, uh, Brother Hu, what do we do now?”

Zhang Hu took a hard drag on his cigarette. “If we can’t rob the big ones, we’ll rob the small ones. I don’t believe I can’t get into a convenience store! Drive to the intersection over there!”

Just then, Bian Changxi pointed. “Look, that truck driver.”

Zhang Hu and his men looked over. The driver waiting in the truck was an old man, huddled inside and trembling, occasionally peeking out the window.

“What about the driver?”

“Huh? That’s weird, Brother Hu. The zombies aren’t trying to bite him.”

Zhang Hu squinted. Damn, the guy had a string of garlic hanging around his neck. “That actually works?”

Bian Changxi said coolly, “He’s not just wearing garlic. He’s also mashed it up and smeared it all over himself, along with zombie brain matter, saliva, and bits of flesh. That’s how he fooled the zombies.”

One of the underlings gagged. “That’s disgusting!”

Zhang Hu looked at her. “So what are you trying to say?”

Bian Changxi replied, “Someone’s already got their eye on the convenience store at the intersection. You’d better pick another target. There’s a pedestrian street over that way with plenty of small supermarkets nearby, but you can’t drive there—if you do, you’ll attract all the zombies in the area. If you want to get supplies safely, you’ll have to go on foot and make some preparations. Otherwise, you’ll get taken down by zombies after just a few steps.”

She added, “Didn’t you want me to be your cannon fodder? I just don’t want to die because of your ignorance.”

Zhang Hu snapped, “Watch your mouth, or I’ll shoot you right now!”

She turned her face away indifferently.

She could have pretended to be a helpless damsel to lower their guard, but Bian Changxi knew Zhang Hu was a suspicious man. Maybe acting cold, aloof, and ungrateful would better explain why she was alone, making her story more believable. Besides, she had no intention of sucking up to him, so she might as well keep up the cold attitude. He wouldn’t kill her just for that.

Zhang Hu’s underling suddenly called out, “Brother Hu, look!”

Sure enough, five or six people had entered the convenience store at the intersection and were fighting two zombies inside. Zhang Hu frowned. How had he not noticed those people? Good thing they hadn’t gone over—those folks were all armed, and with just himself and this woman, they’d be no match, and might even get thrown to the zombies as bait.

He looked at Bian Changxi. “So, what kind of preparations? There’s no garlic here.”

Bian Changxi answered, “We can use zombie clothes as disguises. It should have some effect.”

Garlic was almost useless. The only reason that old driver hadn’t been found by zombies was because his windows were tightly shut and he’d smeared himself with zombie stuff. But that stuff was toxic—he’d break out in a rash all over in less than two hours.

She scanned the area.

There were two dead zombies not far from the car. They’d been beaten to a pulp, but their clothes were still usable. Zhang Hu glanced at Bian Changxi. “Fine. Go get three sets of zombie clothes, and dig out whatever’s in their brains for me. Don’t try anything funny—I’ve got a gun on you.”

Bian Changxi had expected this. “I’ll need some tools to dig, right?”

Zhang Hu tossed her the small knife she’d left in the car. Bian Changxi looked around from the car window, checked the rearview mirror, then quietly got out and stepped into the sunlight.

The late May sun was warm, driving away some of the chill from the street. Bian Changxi took a deep breath, exhaled, stretched her limbs, and quickly stripped the outer clothes off the nearest zombie and put them on. The stench was suffocating, but she couldn’t afford to care about that if she wanted to survive.

She turned the zombie’s head over, dug around with the knife, then reached in and felt around. When she found the crystal core, she tossed it into her farm space, but put on a disappointed look as if she’d found nothing.

She repeated the process with the next zombie, all the while keeping an eye on a zombie moving near the back of a bus five meters away.

Without a word, she cut the buttons off the zombie’s clothes and held them in her hand.

“Hey! What are you doing over there?”

Suddenly, a sharp voice called out. Bian Changxi’s head snapped up. It was one of the people looting the convenience store—a woman in a red shirt, standing at the door with her arms crossed, watching with a gloating smile.

Bian Changxi turned her head. The zombie at the back of the bus was searching for the source of the voice, then suddenly spotted her and let out a low growl, lurching toward her.

She quickly reached into the zombie’s head, grabbed the crystal core, and turned to run toward the Sagitar. But Zhang Hu, that bastard, pointed his gun at her. “Don’t come over here! Kill that zombie! If you come any closer, I’ll shoot!”

Bian Changxi sneered and threw the buttons at him. Zhang Hu ducked with a shout, the gun went off, and he fell backward. Bian Changxi had been watching his gun the whole time; the moment it fired, she dove forward and rolled on the ground, the bullet hitting the concrete.

A car remote appeared in her hand. She pressed the unlock button twice, and all four doors of the Sagitar clicked open. She hooked her hand, pulled open the two doors on the left, then dashed around the front of the car and ran. The zombie chasing her saw two living people in the car and immediately changed targets, lunging at Zhang Hu.

Shouts and gunfire erupted behind her. Bian Changxi smirked. Suddenly, two zombies appeared in front of her, and she quickly changed direction. The gunfire had attracted most of the zombies in front of LeGou and those lurking in the shadows nearby. They surged over like a swarm of locusts. The survivors who had been quietly gathering supplies panicked and fled for their lives. Some were caught by zombies just as they opened their car doors, their screams echoing through the air.

The woman in front of the convenience store wasn’t smiling anymore. She stared in shock as her four companions, stuffing things into their bags, ran out, shouting, “Don’t just stand there! Run!”

Bian Changxi moved swiftly and calmly between the vehicles. Seeing those five people about to leave, her eyes narrowed. She glanced around, smashed the window of a nearby car with her knife, grabbed the lucky cat figurine inside, and hurled it at the woman in red."