Chapter 71: Married?!
Brother Long walked into the living room and saw Zhang Xiao Qiang, who greeted him. He smiled forcefully. Following behind was Chen Yi and He Wen Bin, their faces were unsightly as well. Their foreheads were creased in an expression of hate.
“Brother Long! What happened?” Zhang Xiao Qiang felt surprised, the group had gone out with 20-over men, what problems could they have met with? A D2?
“Ai! Lil’ bro, you have no idea… when shit happens, they happen in a row…..”
In the morning, Brother Long and Chen Yi had brought their men and gone to Ping Shan Town, there was a grain purchasing centre that belonged to the armed forces. It was then converted to a granary, and the surrounding farmers would bring their crops here to sell.
At the edge of this town, the usual human traffic was not high, and after a period of grain storing, it was sort of safe here. Brother Long had thought of opening this granary and had driven 4 SUVs as well as a truck there.
At that time, there weren’t any zombies around the centre, and even after sending scouts out, they didn’t discover anything unusual. The whole party had then relaxed and began to drive closer to the centre. They then broke the doors open.
When they saw a huge number of supplies stored, their eyes all went red, and without any wasted breath, they began to transport them out. However, disaster struck before they even got started on the 2nd trip. There was a small warehouse near the huge centre, and it used to be the armory for the armed forces. After that, it had become the facility where the villagers would stay to do their accounts and settle their money.
The scouts had been focused on the exterior of the centre, and by the time they discovered the zombies running out from the warehouse, it was too late. A number of men fell at the centre, and Brother Long immediately gave the order to retreat. They drove the cars towards the exit, with Cannon sitting in the first vehicle, leading the rest to charge through the zombies.
Unfortunately, there were a few D-Types blocking the door, after they knocked a few zombies down, the speed of their charge was reduced significantly. Soon, the first car was overturned. The drive had been crushed by the car, while Cannon had knocked his head in a hurry to escape the vehicle.
When the zombies caught scent of the blood, they immediately went crazy. A few pounced on the dead driver, while a few tried to attack Cannon. Cannon hurried climbed onto the truck, and soon, the vehicle fleet was surrounded by zombies.
The situation was chaotic then. An SUV was overturned at the exit, the few SUVs behind had no means of pushing it away. The truck that had the capability to knock it away was stuck behind. The overturned car blocked the path, and there were zombies all waiting outside. The rest of the team did not dare exit their vehicles to get on the truck. Like this, 20 men were all surrounded by a few zombies.
As they lacked sufficient bullets, Brother Long did not order them to open fire. He became more anxious by the minute until he decided to grab a subordinate and slashed him a few times, before throwing him towards the exit. The unfortunate man screamed and howled in pain on the ground, and caused the zombies to be attracted to the commotion. Everyone then scrambled out of their vehicles to get on the truck, after which, they drove straight through the exit, knocking the overturned car.
“Keke, honestly speaking, it wasn’t that bad, lucky those fast monsters didn’t appear, otherwise even the truck would not be able to hold them off!” Brother Long was even pleased that they didn’t meet the S-Types.
Zhang Xiao Qiang was stunned silly, a few grown men were just surrounded by a few zombies, and they had abandoned all their SUVs and lost 2 men?! Brother Long was still even counting his lucky stars that they didn’t meet an S-Type?!
Zhang Xiao Qiang was finally beginning to worry for the chicken farm. What if they met a D2? Wouldn’t the entire place be plunged into chaos? ‘This place is decent, but we can’t stay long!’ He thought to himself.
“Brother Long, the centre must have some survivors there! Those monsters must have been lured to the warehouse by some of the survivors.” Zhang Xiao Qiang suddenly thought of this and tried to validate his conjecture.
“I know! We met them before, however, they had been surrounded by those zombies as well. Usually, it takes just a few men to settle the zombies! But this time! The moment we were surrounded, we could only escape!”
Brother Long was depressed, why did those guys have to hide in the granary centre, causing himself to lose 2 of his men, and suffer a blow to his power?!
“Then what about the food you brought back?” Zhang Xiao Qiang asked in concern, the ration was important, if there was not enough, everyone would be uneasy!
“About a ton! We can sustain for another month or so!” Brother Long felt that the results were acceptable, having gained a month’s worth of food for the price of 2 lives.
“Brother Long, what’s the charter for going out to search for food?” Zhang Xiao Qiang wanted to clarify things, not wanting to work for free.
“Haha! Lil’ bro, you can’t wait anymore? We base the distribution on individual ability here. Whatever you bring back, 20% has to be forked out, of which, 5% is mine, 5% is Chen Yi’s another 10% will be for your future upkeep, in case some mishap were to befall you, then it’s sort of an insurance to look out for yourself. The remaining 80% is for you to distribute among yourself and your subordinates.”
Brother Long’s rules were like a personal income tax, other than taxing on the returns, you had to procure some ‘insurance’ for yourself as well.
“Oh right, Brother Long, the women, how do I settle their food?” Zhang Xiao Qiang remembered that Yuan Yi and Su Qian could not enter the dining room.
“They will eat whatever you give to the kitchen, of course! If you hand them rice, they eat rice. You give them fish or meat, they have to eat fish or meat!”
Up to this point, Brother Lon seemed to have thought of something and continued: “Early this morning, the lass came out from your room. You better treat her properly! Don’t let her down!”
Zhang Xiao Qiang’s heart stirred: “Are we considered married?!”
“Do we bring back survivors that we encounter?” Zhang Xiao Qiang decided to make a trip to the granary centre. In any case, Brother Long had already scouted the place, he just had to be more careful.
“Bring them all. Those who dare to risk their lives can go and work, those who don’t dare can only eat chicken feed and do manual labor. The women that catch your eyes can be with you in your room, the rest can be sent behind to be taken care of together with the rest.”
Obviously, women had no price in this world now, they were mostly treated as toys by men, those with better looks would be monopolized, those with average looks would be shared among a group of men. It was hard for a female figure to make a mark in this current world. The strong and independent women or even the wilful and stubborn ones would live a harsher life in this apocalypse.
After everyone dug into a less-than-appetizing dinner, Zhang Xiao Qiang went back to his room.
Yang Ke’er was sprawled in bed playing some games on the notebook that she brought. She was dressed in pajamas that were covered in cartoon stars. Her little legs were moving constantly.
Yuan Yi and Su Qian were taking care of her, pouring water and offering snacks.
Zhang Xiao Qiang was preparing himself for a good time, seeing Yang Ke’er there, he knew there was no chance now. She was constantly keeping watch on him and was not at ease leaving him together with the 2 beauties. She was now acting like a queen, overtaking his bed, and his women. There won’t be any good times tonight!
“Why aren’t you in your own room?” He asked Yang Ke’er.
“I’m considered your woman after all, why are they allowed in your room and not I?” Yang Ke’er replied brusquely.
“Forget it, you go back to your room, they can follow you there. I’ll sleep alone, alright?!” Zhang Xiao Qiang couldn’t be bothered anymore. Ever since they came out from the cave, he hadn’t been training. Today, his eyes were opened once again to the harsh reality of the world, and his feelings and desire to get strong were stirred. He wanted to rest early, and resume his training tomorrow.
Yang Ke’er then climbed up slowly, putting on a silly expression: “I’ll just sleep on one side, really! I’m very honest, you can do whatever you want, I’ll just sneak a peek!”
“Peek at what? Tomorrow, all three of you will have to start your training, Yang Ke’er you’ll train thrice as hard!” He eyed the 3 of them and barked. Yang Ke’er had become lazy after she gained her strength, even stopping her own training. Since he himself had not trained, he was not at liberties to pick on her. Now, he had to lead by example.
Yuan Yi and Su Qian were temporarily under his care, and he had to increase their survivability. Of course, the bottle of rainwater could not be given to them, it was his treasured possession after all. Even Yang Ke’er did not know her strength came from the rainwater.
It was not that he was petty, but until he could ascertain that their characters were truly trustworthy, he would not give them any. Not to mention the Yuan Yi that he disliked, even Su Qian who caught his eyes would not be given any until they have proven themselves. Surviving in this apocalypse was tough, if one was not careful, one would be eaten by others, with nothing left behind.
Yang Ke’er carried her notebook and pouted as she marched out the door, and Yuan Yi and Su Qian followed behind.