Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 534 - 527: The Third Stop

In moments of madness, one can do anything, and in desperation, Zhang Zhicai had no other choice but to raise his knife to block.

Instantly, the two blades collided with a 'clang', leaving a notch about an inch long on each blade, showing the force of Li Zhong's swing.

With one strike missed, Li Zhong raised his knife again intending to cut, but this time Zhang Zhicai did not plan to give him another chance.

Seizing the opportunity, he raised his palm to grasp Li Zhong's wrist, then shouted loudly: "Li Zhong! Are you crazy! Look carefully! It's me!"

Li Zhong's eyes gradually calmed down, he panted heavily, his heaving chest sounding like a bellows.

"Did you see clearly now? I'm not a zombie!"

Li Zhong nodded absent-mindedly, seeing that Zhang Zhicai's arm relaxed, Zhang Zhicai let out a breath.

However, their previous shouting and fighting attracted the attention of Xu Renjie and others outside the store. Yet, outside was so intense that Old Xu wanted to investigate but couldn't withdraw.

Helplessly, he could only ask loudly: "Little Zhang! What's the situation inside? Any problems?"

"None!" Zhang Zhicai confidently replied.

"Then hurry up! In one minute we must withdraw!"

"Did you hear that! Li Zhong, we have one minute! We can't waste time! From now on, I'll handle the medications, you stand guard, I'll entrust my back to you, can I trust you?"

Li Zhong nodded indifferently; his expression still held a trace of fear and helplessness, but he still raised the knife, making the proper stance.

The drugs in the counter, stained with zombie blood, were clearly unusable.

To save time, Zhang Zhicai couldn't care about anything else and could only head towards the store's shelves.

Whatever it is, he threw it into the bag with his arms, progressing swiftly.

At the same time outside the store, corpses already littered the ground, black blood forming rivers.

Using the vehicle as cover, Old Xu and others cooperated to kill at least three waves of zombie attacks.

The number of enemies killed was at least 15, not counting the beasts slowly moving and incapacitated from Hu Xiaodong's long-range attacks.

Even so, the severity of the situation was still dire.

Time sped by, and even though it was already early autumn and early winter, the survivors were drenched with sweat from the difficult situation.

One minute quickly passed, Xu Renjie hesitated not even a moment and immediately issued a retreat order.

Zhang Zhicai inside the store decisively led Li Zhong out of the pharmacy, then with the escort outside, Wei Dazhuang, Wang Qiang boarded the vehicle.

The engines of two cars roared immediately, speeding back the way they came.

"How did it go, Little Zhang, how's the haul?" Once they broke through the encirclement and reached a safer section, Tang Xiaoquan in the passenger seat promptly asked.

Zhang Zhicai quickly rummaged through the bag filled with medications, then sighed: "Satisfactory!"

Yes! Zhang Zhicai couldn't find any other words to describe the results of this battle; honestly, compared to their efforts, they evidently got shortchanged.

The cause of this was undoubtedly Li Zhong beside him.

If not for his 'instability' during battle, the results of this mission would have multiplied several folds.

"So, Little Zhang, what exactly happened in the pharmacy just now?" Xu Renjie suddenly interjected.

Zhang Zhicai hesitated for a moment but finally chuckled and shook his head: "Nothing, just a few zombies."

"Really?" Xu Renjie was not foolish, knowing his men well, he glanced at the rearview mirror, and then asked meaningfully: "Li Zhong, what's wrong? You look like you lost your soul, is everything alright?"

"Ah?" Li Zhong indeed seemed lost, as what happened in the store earlier truly frightened him greatly.

Now that they were safe, that fear crept like a nightmare in his mind.

However, compared to this, Xu Renjie's serious questioning made him more fearful.

He appeared very helpless, wanting to lie to muddle through, but Zhang Zhicai was right next to him, and if he lied, he would surely be exposed by Zhang Zhicai.

But if he told the truth, he couldn't guarantee Xu Renjie wouldn't blame him based on the previous 'three rules'.

So, for a moment, Li Zhong was slack-jawed, not knowing how to respond.

Zhang Zhicai saw Li Zhong's distress; to be honest, he had some criticisms about Li Zhong's cowardly expression today; after all, if it weren't for him, the results of the mission wouldn't be so poor.

But considering his change afterward, he kindly spoke up to extricate him: "Captain, Li Zhong performed well, today he was tasked with guarding, without him, things wouldn't have progressed so smoothly."

No one expected Zhang Zhicai to speak such words, Li Zhong gawked at Zhang Zhicai, and the latter smiled and winked at him.

Their interaction was fully seen by Xu Renjie, who immediately understood Li Zhong's real performance during the mission today.

However, he didn't probe deeper into the question but shifted the topic: "Little Li, do you know why you were brought along this mission?"

Li Zhong naturally was clueless, shaking his head slightly.

"Actually, the purpose was simple enough; it was to make you quickly integrate into our team, as well as to test your character, to see if you possess team spirit! How about it? Participating in such a mission for the first time, was it somewhat hard to adapt?"

Li Zhong dared not lie, nodding truthfully.

"Hmm, that's normal; we were also not used to it initially! But to survive, we must overcome this discomfort! Moreover, remember, you are no longer a homeless wanderer; you are one of us, and we will protect you with our lives, so I hope you grow quickly and defend our family with your actions, understood?"

Heartfelt discourse; if Li Zhong had held any reservations or suspicions towards Xu Renjie and his team before, now, after hearing Xu Renjie's words, he felt a sense of belonging.

Though not as strong as Old Xu's group, his heart was warmed, and for the first time, he felt accepted.

He resolved silently that he would prove his value with his actions, whatever the cost.

Due to the disappointing gains, the survivor convoy continued to wander the county street.

Along the way, they raided three additional pharmacies, although these stores were inferior in size and class compared to the previous one.

Still, the survivors ventured forth without hesitation.

The final outcome was quite satisfying.

Thus, the survivors' first wave of search missions concludes; next, it's time to find a place to spend the night. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)