Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 653 - 642: Small Town (Part 1)

Huang Yong’s sudden change of face left Li Huiru completely flustered. Asking her to go to Liu Fugui’s office with him to explain this matter was no different from seeking her own doom.

Undoubtedly, Li Huiru had cornered herself with her various excuses. If she continued to insist on avoiding it, it would really be akin to asking for trouble.

So, Li Huiru hurriedly explained ingratiatingly: "Brother Huang, please don’t be angry. I think you misunderstood my intentions. I don’t want to cause you trouble. I’m just worried that I’m unprepared and would mess up the important task of searching for supplies outside. After all, you know I, as a woman, don’t have much skill, so..."

"I don’t care about any woman stuff. In my eyes, Huang Yong only sees useful people and useless ones in the apocalypse. So... stop with the nonsense. Decide if you’re going or not, immediately."

Before Li Huiru could finish her words, she was curtly interrupted by Huang Yong, making her feel awkward. Under pressure, she had no choice but to reluctantly agree: "I’ll go, I... I’ll go!"

"Great!" Satisfied with the affirmative reply, Huang Yong nodded contentedly. He immediately called over two subordinates in the distance to come over, then turned to Li Huiru and said:

"These two will accompany you on your trip this time. They will be responsible for your safety and also gathering supplies. All you need to do is stay put in the car. Remember, this trip isn’t for leisure, nor for fun; any mishap could cost us our lives. So, if you want to survive, obediently follow their commands. Do not act rashly; it’s all for your safety."

Huang Yong’s reminder made Li Huiru nod repeatedly, yet the sight of the so-called escorts made her frown.

Because these two were not unfamiliar; one of them was the Mediterranean-looking short and skinny guy who led her down just now, and the other was tall and thin like a pole. The pair, standing together, presented a stark contrast and a slightly comical scene.

Meanwhile, on the other side, after a bumpy journey, the action team finally reached the first target location marked on the map.

Tang Xiaoquan instinctively glanced at the electronic clock in the car, not expecting that what seemed like a short country road took them over two hours.

It’s 9:30 now, and the time left for them to search for supplies is becoming increasingly tense. Tang Xiaoquan hopes that this town can provide all the necessities they need in one go.

The Jianghuai car continued to drive slowly, with the three survivors inside staring intently out the window. Yet, after driving for more than an hour, all they saw were small funeral supply shops displaying wreaths and shrouds.

It was indeed ironic. In every one of these small shops, without exception, zombies were wandering around inside, making one wonder if these brainless creatures knew that the goods sold here were meant for the dead?

"Damn, we can’t be this unlucky, can we? Is this market entirely composed of these shops selling ghost stuff?" Wang Qiang struggled to look outside through the round observation port, unable to understand why such a remote market would specialize in selling items for the dead.

"Let’s go a bit further. I think it shouldn’t be only these things for sale." Old Zhao, who used to lecture all around and was familiar with local customs and practices, knew that the poorer and more backward a place, the more attention was paid to funerals.

Thus, merchants often set up their shops at the entrance of the market to occupy prime business locations in hopes of making more transactions.

As expected by Old Zhao, as the car continued deeper, the number of shops in the market rapidly increased.

There were makeshift tents, formal shops, and of course, street vendors. Judging from this chaotic arrangement, it seemed that this place was left unmanaged, likely a spontaneous trading market formed by neighboring villages to facilitate the impoverished locals in doing small business or finding cheap necessities.

Most of the goods in these tents and on the ground were quickly passed over by the survivors, as they had become utterly unusable after more than four months of exposure to the elements.

Now, the last hope for Old Zhao and his team rested on the small shops with formal storefronts.

"Hey, hey, old... Old Zhao, stop the car, it’s a... rice and flour store." Wang Qiang immediately noticed a roadside shop, primarily because the outside was piled high with big white sacks, and on an old gray wooden sign were the eye-catching characters "Zhaocai Rice and Flour Store."

Tang and Zhao were not as excited as Wang Qiang. They had already spotted this store even before Wang Qiang did. If not for Old Zhao slowly pulling the car over, Wang Qiang might not have noticed it at all.

"Zhaocai Rice and Flour Store... Can’t underestimate this impoverished area too much; the people’s get-rich mentality is certainly not lacking!" Old Zhao stepped on the brake, taking the chance to humorously comment on the shop owner’s choice of name.

"Haha, yes indeed, although the wish is nice, the reality is quite a bit harsher!" Tang Xiaoquan couldn’t help but voice his bitterness, recalling how earlier that morning, lacking a vehicle to carry corpses, he had to manually transport the dead bodies.

Time was pressing, and the survivors didn’t waste time chatting. They hurriedly got out of the car to load the goods. Being a market, there naturally wouldn’t be a shortage of people. Even if this small town wasn’t very large, it didn’t deter people’s desire to stock and buy here.

It’s said that the poor have their ways of living. Big cities are too far and expensive. So, people come to this small town with relatively fair prices and proximity to their homes.

However, this wasn’t good news for Old Zhao and his team. More people meant that after the outbreak, the number of those infected and turned into zombies here was likely plentiful.

Currently, Old Zhao’s team only consists of three members. To fight the whole town’s zombies with just these three would put them at a significant disadvantage, both in strength and numbers.

But since direct assault isn’t feasible, they resort to clever tactics. Aware of their disadvantage, their only option is to race against time. While the store indeed has a fair amount of rice and flour, carrying it all into the car is evidently unrealistic.

Old Zhao and his team adopted a strategy of two men defending and one carrying, trying to move as much as possible before the zombies gathered, prioritizing safety over quantity.

After all, as long as other survivors don’t discover the rice and flour, it won’t disappear. What’s not removed this time can always be retrieved on another day. It’s unnecessary to risk their lives to take all the rice and flour away.

Old Zhao quickly moved back and forth, tossing one bag of rice and flour after another into the Jianghuai car. In no time, the five or six bags placed at the entrance were entirely cleared out.

To ensure efficiency, the survivors did not blindly assign one person for carrying. Instead, they implemented a rotation system, maintaining two people on guard and rotating the carrier position, significantly reducing the risk of reduced efficiency due to fatigue from continuous carrying by an individual. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)