Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The motorcade's vehicles formed a circle and stopped on an open flat ground for a short rest.

This was the spot that Mi Ge, Wen Jiuzhe, and Dai Ying had scouted earlier. It had fewer zombies and wasn’t far from the suburban factory they were heading to. In the distance, there was an abandoned farmland.

Wen Jiuzhe’s vehicle was parked at the outermost edge as usual, and people in the motorcade couldn’t help but glance at his vehicle.

Earlier on that street, everyone saw clearly that Wen Jiuzhe had brought a zombie onto his vehicle.

Zombies had no rationality and were always looking to attack people. Having one in the motorcade was a threat to everyone.

As soon as Dai Ying got off the vehicle, Mi Ge, the motorcade leader, waved him over to inquire about the situation.

Dai Ying glanced back at the vehicle and said in a low voice, “That zombie was my cousin’s former girlfriend.”

Mi Ge, a man in his thirties, not very tall but sturdy and straightforward, was surprised for a moment before sighing, “I can understand Wen’s feelings, but having him bring a zombie into the motorcade will definitely cause dissatisfaction among others.”

“A zombie is still a zombie, not a living person. Even if you keep it around, it won’t remember past relatives and friends, it will only want to eat people... Sigh, Xiao Ying, you should persuade your cousin to kill and bury that zombie.”

Dai Ying, recalling how his cousin had held the zombie without any concern, felt a shiver run down his spine. “I don’t think my cousin will agree.”

“If he can’t bring himself to do it, he can just leave it behind. After all, he can’t keep a zombie forever,” Mi Ge said.

Dai Ying thought the same.

At the beginning of the postapocalypse, many people had relatives and friends who had turned into zombies. Some couldn’t bring themselves to kill the zombies even though they knew the person was already dead. They held onto the hope that the zombies might one day return to normal.

But after a while, these people either accidentally got bitten and turned into zombies themselves or were ostracized by others for keeping zombies, ending up living alone outside the camps and eventually dying outside.

Some even fed zombies and harmed others to sustain them. Such people were eventually surrounded and killed along with their zombies.

Dai Ying had seen too many such tragedies over the years. Now, everyone had become accustomed to the idea that if a relative or friend turned into a zombie, it was best to kill and bury them for the safety of all.

He didn’t want his cousin to be ostracized by everyone because of a zombie, nor did he want his cousin to lose his life to the zombie one day.

He decided to persuade his cousin, but when he returned to the vehicle and saw his cousin holding the zombie with a determined expression, his resolve wavered.

“Cousin, this zombie...”

“Shut up,” Wen Jiuzhe, with his eyes closed, leaned against Xue Ling’s shoulder and spat out two words.

Dai Ying turned back awkwardly and drove, thinking he would let his cousin cool off for a bit and talk to him again at night.

Because of the zombie, the atmosphere during the motorcade’s rest was subtly tense, and the usual laughter was absent even after they reached their destination.

This trip, their motorcade had a mission in Anxi City.

It had been three years since the postapocalypse, and the affected network signals still hadn’t recovered. Long-distance communication had become a major issue, with large and small bases scattered and managed separately.

Dai Ying’s base was of medium size, with farmland nearby and forests around, allowing them to be mostly self-sufficient in food, but many essential daily items were scarce.

There was a local from Anxi City in the base who knew about an industrial area with textile factories, toilet paper production plants, soap-making factories, and some other small factories.

The base decided to send people to check it out and, if possible, bring some machines back.

Now that they had successfully found the factory area and saw that it hadn’t been significantly damaged, everyone was pleased.

The next step was to move into the factory area, clear out the zombies to ensure safety, and load any usable machines onto the vehicles.

If there were many usable machines, they would need to return to the base to get more help.

Mi Ge assigned tasks to the people in the motorcade. Some looked towards Wen Jiuzhe’s vehicle.

“Brother Mi, will Wen Ge join us in clearing the zombies this time?”

Wen Jiuzhe was skilled and clearly had training. His presence made things much easier for everyone along the way.

Usually, for such zombie-clearing tasks, if Mi Ge asked, Wen Jiuzhe would graciously participate.

When someone brought up Wen Jiuzhe, another person added, “If he joins us, what do we do with the zombie? Just leave it in the camp?”

“I’m not comfortable having a zombie in the camp. My wife is cooking there. What if the zombie attacks someone?”

Hearing this, Dai Ying quickly interjected, “My cousin has tied up the zombie. It’s locked in the vehicle and as long as no one gets close, it’s fine.”

Some still wanted to object, but as Wen Jiuzhe got off the vehicle, those who had voiced concerns fell silent.

Mi Ge, with a cheerful smile, waved at Wen Jiuzhe and negotiated, “We’re going to check out the soap-making factory. Will you join us in clearing the zombies?”

“As per our previous agreement, after the clearing, we’ll give you two cans of gasoline and a hundred bullets. How about it?”

Gasoline and bullets were hard to come by these days and were considered valuable commodities.

Wen Jiuzhe helped this motorcade partly because Dai Ying was here, but also because Mi Ge was generous.

After thinking for a moment, Wen Jiuzhe agreed, “Deal.”

Mi Ge and the others in the motorcade visibly relaxed. Dai Ying raised his hand, “I’ll go too!”

Wen Jiuzhe patted his cousin’s shoulder, “You stay here and watch my vehicle. Don’t let anyone get close.”

“...Alright.” Dai Ying watched as his cousin and Mi Ge’s group left. With only a few people left in the temporary camp, he returned to Wen Jiuzhe’s vehicle, peeked through the window to see the bound zombie was relatively quiet, and sat by the vehicle, brushing Pufu’s fur, rubbing its head, and playing with it.

Cousin isn't here, and he wouldn't dare stay in the car alone with the zombie. It's too frightening.

A middle-aged man came over, holding a pale-faced young boy in his arms.

"Xiao Ying ah."

"Uncle Feng, what is it?"

"Well, I was wondering, does Xiao Wen plan to keep that zombie in the car forever?"

"Ah… well…"

"It's not that I want to say this, but it's not okay. Have you seen anyone who kept a zombie have a good ending?"

Feng Wei and his son were not permanent members of the convoy. They had joined the convoy this time to come to Anxi City to look for medicine.

Feng Zicheng, the young boy, was only nine years old and suffered from a heart condition. The medicine he needed couldn't be found in the base. Feng Wei couldn't bear to watch his son die, so he gritted his teeth and followed the convoy out, hoping that there might still be a pharmacy in Anxi City with the medicine his son needed.

Because of his son's heart condition, Feng Wei took him everywhere, protecting him like his own eyes. Everyone in the convoy took care of them, and Feng Wei didn't have to clear zombies. He just helped around the camp.

Nowadays, with gasoline scarce and usable cars few, everyone had to squeeze together. The young boy couldn't handle the crowding, so father and son often hitched a ride with Wen Jiuzhe, whose car was the roomiest.

Out of consideration for the boy's heart condition, Wen Jiuzhe allowed them to ride along. When they were on the road and didn't have to kill zombies, the father and son would sit in his car.

But if there was a zombie in the car, they wouldn't dare to ride with him anymore.

"If you ask me, you should get rid of the zombie while Xiao Wen is not around," Feng Wei advised earnestly.

"No, no!" Dai Ying instinctively refused, "My cousin would be furious!"

"If you can't do it, I will!" A sturdy middle-aged woman carrying a cleaver came over. "Then you can say I killed the zombie. Let's see if your cousin dares to blame me!"

The woman was in charge of cooking and guarding the camp. She and her husband, Brother Wang, were long-time members of the convoy. Everyone called her Sister Lu.

Occasionally, when the convoy was short-handed, she would go with the men to kill zombies, and she was more efficient at it than some weaker men.

Because the couple had witnessed their only daughter being eaten by zombies, she hated zombies the most.

"What are zombies? They're beasts that eat people and are no longer human. Because of these things, our lives are unsettled. And now we're keeping a zombie in the camp? I won't stand for it!" Sister Lu declared.

If it had only been Feng Wei advising him, Dai Ying might have hesitated, but Sister Lu had known him longer, and it was hard not to be swayed by her words.

After all, he also thought his cousin shouldn't be keeping a zombie.

"Killing her… no, how about I drive her far away?" Dai Ying said after a moment's hesitation.

"Throwing her somewhere else is still harming others. It should be killed once and for all!" Sister Lu said.

"No, my cousin will really be angry!" Dai Ying emphasized, "I'll just send her away and drop her off."

——

Xue Ling sat in the car, having tried and failed to escape multiple times. She was resigned to boredom.

The zombie couldn't open the car door. Damn it, the suspicious man had locked all the doors and windows.

Suddenly, someone sat in the driver's seat. It was the cousin of Wen Jiuzhe. He glanced at her and quickly said,

"Sorry, I'm going to take you somewhere far away. Don't blame me, but you're a zombie."

He knew zombies couldn't understand human speech, but he said it to make himself feel better.

Before driving, he checked that the zombie in the back seat was tied up and secured with a seatbelt, so it wouldn't suddenly pounce on him, then quickly started the car and drove away.

Xue Ling hadn't expected this unexpected opportunity. Just when she was planning to escape, the cousin came to help.

Thanks, bro!

Xue Ling cooperated the whole way, not deliberately growling or struggling to scare anyone, allowing Dai Ying to safely drop her off at a secluded forest edge.

The car stopped by the roadside for a moment, dropped Xue Ling off, and quickly drove away.

Xue Ling got up from the ground and sighed inwardly.

Why couldn't they have been a bit more helpful and untied her hands?

That damned Wen Jiuzhe had tied her up so tightly. It was really hard for a zombie to untie herself!

She would need to find a house, get a knife from the kitchen, and cut the leather straps.

Great, she was free again! Time to go!

She wobbled down the desolate road, thinking she never wanted to see Wen Jiuzhe again.

She had been dead peacefully, but Wen Jiuzhe had held her the entire way in the car, making her feel like she had died again.

In the evening, the men returned from clearing the area, all happy because many machines in the factory were still usable.

Wen Jiuzhe left the group, his pants stained with blood and dirt, wiping a short blade, a gun slung at his waist.

He walked to his car, "Did you take good care of my car? Did anyone come near it?"

"Ah…" Dai Ying's expression faltered, and he responded vaguely.

Wen Jiuzhe immediately sensed something was wrong from his expression and abruptly opened the car door.

Inside the car sat Feng Wei and his son. The kind-looking middle-aged man held his sleeping son and greeted him with a forced smile, "Xiao Wen, you're back."