Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 645 634: The Black Shadow Under the Bed

Holding a hatchet, Tang Xiaoquan was situated on the left, while Wang Qiang, armed with a hand crossbow, guarded the right side as they both slowly proceeded towards the inner door.

Wang Qiang stared intently through the scope, ready to pull the trigger without hesitation at the sight of anything non-human in its view.

Tang Xiaoquan glanced back to confirm the action sequence with Wang Qiang, who nodded knowingly to signal him to proceed.

After taking a deep breath and calming his nerves, Tang Xiaoquan raised three fingers and silently counted down in his heart: "Three, two, one!"

As soon as the middle finger dropped, Tang Xiaoquan swiftly lifted the door curtain and darted out, with Wang Qiang quickly following suit.

Upon bursting out, they immediately scanned the surroundings to assess the situation.

Judging by the layout, this should be the living room, as no one would place a large table and several chairs in a bedroom.

Aside from that, Tang and Wang also discovered an old, shabby television, estimated to be only 14 inches. Yet, its presence added a slight modern touch to the otherwise empty room.

Observing the simple setup around them, Wang Qiang genuinely wondered how the people here lived.

Although he was also a homebody and considered himself resilient against loneliness, it was only upon arriving here that he realized how undeserving of the "homebody" title he was compared to those who lived without any entertainment.

"Creak" - the sound of a door turning brought Wang Qiang out of his thoughts, and seeing it was Tang Xiaoquan opening the door for Old Zhao, he relaxed his grip on the trigger.

"Quick action! So, any survivors?" Although Old Zhao had entered, his wariness remained unchanged, and he spoke in such a whisper that Wang Qiang, standing in the center of the living room, couldn't hear him clearly.

"Not yet, there's still a house left to check!" Tang Xiaoquan replied in a similarly low voice after closing the door again.

"Oh, then let's continue!"

With Old Zhao's participation, their search progressed significantly faster.

The bathroom and kitchen were checked next, with no signs of either zombies or survivors found.

Now, only one room remained unsearched. Whether Tang Xiaoquan's judgment was correct, and if there were any living inside, hinged on this last room.

Wang Qiang had always taken Tang Xiaoquan's judgment lightly, making him undoubtedly the most relaxed of the three.

Old Zhao, holding a crowbar, took the lead at the front of the group. The upcoming room also lacked a wooden door, separated from the adjacent room only by a curtain.

Old Zhao lifted the dusty curtain, causing a swirl of dust like black mist, accompanied by the disgusting stench of decay wafting in, even stronger than before.

Unsurprisingly, the source of the acrid odor was in this final room.

For safety, Old Zhao avoided rashness, and after a whispered discussion of tactics with Tang and Wang behind him, they began to act.

Old Zhao slowly took his place to the right of the doorframe, trying to sound as composed as possible while courteously saying, "Hello, we are survivors from afar. Due to nightfall, we had no choice but to intrude and seek refuge. Please forgive any offense. May we enter?"

No response came; the room was very silent, yet Tang, Wang, and Zhao could clearly hear the faint rustling on the floorboards.

They were all too familiar with this sound, causing the air to instantly thicken with tension as they prepared their weapons, ready to confront any foe.

A minute passed with no reaction from the inside, prompting Old Zhao to decide on brute force entry. Still, he gave notice first: "We're coming in."

He cautiously pried open a slit in the curtain with the crowbar, and Wang Qiang quickly raised the hand crossbow, peering inside. His grip on the crossbow aimed steadily at whatever came into view, ready to fire at the first sign of trouble.

"Damn! Not a soul in here!"

The room was small, with a double bed in the corner. Wang Qiang needed only a casual glance to take in the whole scene.

Thus, enduring the foul stench, the three of them entered the room in single file, only to be shocked by the sight inside.

A dismembered skeleton lay on the floor, devoid of any flesh, blood splattered and dried on the gray cement wall like an apocalyptic art piece. The cement floor, stained to a dark crimson, chilled them to the bone with just a glance.

While the survivors reflected on the tragic scene, the shuffling sound they heard outside resumed once more.

"What's going on!" Wang Qiang turned, his vigilance directing his gaze to the only piece of furniture, the bed.

Without a doubt, the sound could not arise for no reason; something alive must be present. However, with no hiding place left discovered, there remained but one overlooked spot…

Tang Xiaoquan gestured toward the bed, and Zhao and Wang quickly understood. The pair positioned themselves on either side, crouched down, and as Old Zhao used the crowbar to lift the thin sheet draped over the bed, a shriveled corpse claw appeared before them.

The sudden event startled Old Zhao, making him involuntarily step back. It was only when he saw it wasn't lunging forward that he calmed down.

With light filtering through the window Tang Xiaoquan uncovered, those in the room now saw clearly the scene beneath the bed.

Beneath lay an aged zombie, with only a few yellowed teeth in its gaping mouth.

Yet, under the virus's transformation, these remaining teeth had become extraordinarily sharp.

Looking lower, half the old man's body was missing, and he remained immobile because his robe was entangled with the bed post.

Faced with such an incredible scene, Wang Qiang couldn't imagine how this old guy managed it.

Seeing the zombie posed little threat, Wang Qiang lowered his hand crossbow on a whim, drew his hatchet, and started to toy with the creature.

He poked here, patted there with the hatchet, inciting more agitation with each strike on the zombie.

Tang Xiaoquan, busy opening the window to air out the room, turned to find Wang Qiang's actions. Disapproving, he said, "Qiang, don't torment this once-human soul, end its suffering."

Having fun, Wang Qiang felt a bit guilty after hearing his friend and sheepishly scratched his head, "Alright, I know!"

He added, jokingly, "I wasn't taunting him; just observing the zombie traits."

Was observing traits necessary for a harmless, over fifty-year-old zombie… Tang Xiaoquan couldn't be bothered to argue with Wang Qiang. Shaking his head in exasperation, he remarked, "I'll open other windows in the house for air, or we won't be able to stay the night."

With that, he turned and left. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)