“Ahhh—!”
The survivors on the second floor, both men and women, screamed in panic. If they fell now, even if they weren't killed by the impact, the swarm of zombies below would surely tear them apart. Given their weight, they’d probably end up being a mere snack for the zombies.
In the critical moment, Lin Tao froze for half a second, but quickly kicked Zhang Xu hard in the backside, sending him crashing onto the second floor in a heap. His rifle flew out of his hands and nded some distance away. Meanwhile, Lin Tao, barely avoiding disaster, pushed off the ground with all his strength and managed to grab the edge of the gss wall. With a powerful heave, he pulled himself up, gracefully leaping onto the second floor, just in time for a rge red hunting dog to leap alongside him, head held high.
“Damn, that was close!” Zhang Xu spat out the dust in his mouth, wiped his hands off, and got up. He picked up his rifle and worked the bolt action, making sure it was still functional. Looking at the group of emaciated survivors before him, he furrowed his brows and said, “Stop standing around like idiots! We went through hell to save you. A good drink and some smokes would be nice to help us catch our breath!”
A roaring bonfire burned in the center of the room, casting flickering shadows on the walls. It was clear that the survivors had used up nearly all the firewood they could burn. Aside from a pile of dirty bedding and pots in the corner, the original stove had been pushed to block the second-floor passage. The scene was pitiful—more like a beggar's den than a safe house.
“We...we’ve run out of food,” said a man in his forties, stepping forward with a young girl, who was perhaps around ten years old, clinging to his side. The little girl cowered behind him, holding onto the corner of his shirt. Her face was also covered in dirt. The man wore rge cotton pants and an ill-fitting gray long-sleeve shirt, which was so dirty that it was barely recognizable. It had once been white, but now, it was stained beyond recognition.
"Ugh, just tea biscuits? That stuff’s so salty it could kill you if you eat too much. Who wants that? What about smokes? You can’t eat smokes, but you must have kept a few, right? Come on, hand over ten or so, and we’ll take you out of here!” Zhang Xu sneered, though his expression was more mischievous than serious.
“Zhang Xu… Is that really you?!”
Before the middle-aged man could reply, a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped forward, his face lit up with excitement. Beside him stood a heavily pregnant woman, equally thrilled to see Zhang Xu.
"Shit... who are you?" Zhang Xu took a step back instinctively, squinting at the man’s dark, smudged face. But the next second, he froze, his eyes wide with shock. “You... you’re Gao Hai?!”
"Yes, yes, it’s me, Zhang Xu! I can’t believe it’s you!” Gao Hai’s face was beaming with joy, his hands alternately raised and lowered in excitement, looking completely unsure of what to do.
“Wait, you’re still alive? But... your brothers all said you turned into one of those zombies…” Zhang Xu looked Gao Hai up and down in disbelief, then hesitated, pointing at the pregnant woman beside him, “And they said... you bit your wife to death?”
“Those bastards are full of crap!” Gao Hai suddenly exploded with fury, his usually gentle face contorting in anger. His fists clenched tightly as he shouted, “They thought we were done for when we came here, but no one expected us to still be alive!”
“You’ve been missing for almost two months now. What happened?” Zhang Xu frowned, taking out a cigarette from his pack and handing one to each man in the room. After lighting his own, he looked back at Gao Hai, puzzled. “Aren’t those brothers of yours all locals you know well? Did they really try to betray you?”
Sighing heavily, Gao Hai took the cigarette but didn’t light it. He spped his forehead in frustration, and the pregnant woman beside him gently patted his shoulder, tears in her eyes. After a long pause, Gao Hai spoke bitterly, “Those idiots listened to the scum from Guangdan... they tried to sell my wife’s milk. They’re animals!”
“What? The Guangdan assholes again?” Zhang Xu’s eyes narrowed. Seeing Lin Tao nearby, he noticed his confusion and leaned in to expin in a low voice, “They came up with a sick scheme to exploit pregnant women. Since fresh milk’s so rare now, they’ve found ways to get women pregnant, wait for their milk to come in, and then sell it. The ugly ones have their milk squeezed into bottles, and the pretty ones? They just let people drink straight from them. Pregnant women are valuable now, so they’ve jacked up the price of milk. And there are some sickos with resources who are all over this.”
Gao Hai and his wife overheard this and their faces turned pale. Gao Hai lowered his head, his fists clenched tighter, trembling with anger. “It’s all my fault for trusting them. I never imagined they’d be so heartless, trying to make my wife sell her milk. It would’ve meant putting our baby in a death trap!”
Indeed, with adults barely able to feed themselves, a baby without milk wouldn’t survive. Zhang Xu looked at Gao Hai’s wife with sympathy. Though her face was gaunt and pale, she had an elegant, oval face—one of those rare, delicate beauties. Despite her frailty, she had a certain charm that made it no wonder the men were eyeing her. A pregnant woman of her quality would be coveted anywhere. However, her eight-month belly, likely the result of malnutrition, looked more like five or six months along. That she was still carrying the child at all was a miracle.
“Sister-in-w, here’s a sausage. It’ll help you get by for now. Once we get out, there’s plenty of food with Brother Lin!” Zhang Xu stepped forward and pulled a sausage from his pocket, offering it to Gao Hai’s wife. Her eyes immediately locked onto the sausage. She swallowed hard but hesitated for a moment. Seeing the genuine sincerity in Zhang Xu’s expression, she quietly muttered, “Thank you” and shyly accepted it. With Gao Hai’s help, she quickly devoured the sausage in just two bites, revealing just how hungry she truly was.
