Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 102 Wasn't I killing zombies?
In a small town in the eastern part of Langya, near Haiqu.

A small group of survivors remained there.

Not everyone is willing to enter the shelter. They have their own purposes and ideas. Among them, the most common are some brave and violent people who often gather around a few superhumans and live outside of supervision.

However, the team in front of us is not exactly committing any evil deeds; they have simply gathered together to collect supplies that were left behind outside the safe zone.

Besides using these supplies themselves, they can also be traded in safe zones for consumables such as weapons, fuel, and batteries, which is a survival strategy for many small groups.

At this moment, several key figures in the group were gathered on a rooftop, looking eastward together.

Last night, the sunrise-like light that rose from that direction could also be seen here. In this era, such an anomaly is particularly unsettling and nerve-wracking.

"Let's go to the safe zone again tomorrow and find out what happened."

"Actually, I've said it before: being in the safe zone isn't so bad, at least you don't have to live in fear every day..."

"If you're afraid, don't come. If you come, don't be afraid." The tall man at the front glanced at the young man who had just spoken: "If you really want to go, you can come along this time to gather information. Just stay there. I never stop you from leaving. You can leave anytime you want."

"Hey Brother Zhao, I was just saying." The young man chuckled awkwardly, "Even if we go into the safe zone, we'll still be living in dormitories and working in factories. It's nothing like the comfortable life we ​​had outside."

"They still have to rely on us to deliver cigarettes and alcohol into the safe zone. If they want them, they have to exchange work points for them, and they can only take what we leave behind."

Old Zhao shook his head: "That's all the ambition you have."

Ignoring the young man, he strode over to the other side, where a disheveled, thin man sat, his age hard to discern, with a little girl who appeared to be only eleven or twelve years old beside him.

The young girl was dressed neatly, but she seemed to be having a conflict with the man. It's unclear what their relationship is.

"Brother Han, you heard what he said just now. Although this brat has no ambition, what he said makes some sense." Facing his subordinate Zhao Laoda, who was not very polite, he spoke to this man in a sincere and kind tone.

This person is not a member of their team, but only arrived here yesterday from a place further south. The fact that Boss Zhao, who is a superhuman, takes him so seriously is simply because of his strength.

It wasn't surprising that he had a gun, but both of them were superhumans who had dealt with a mutated beast that had been giving them a headache for a long time as soon as they arrived, so Zhao Laoda treated them as honored guests.

"Brother, it's still a long way to Xinfu from here. Things are different now; the road is dangerous everywhere."

“You know the situation lately, those zombies are quite unruly. I still think you should reconsider. If it’s not really that important, we can wait until the environment is more stable, and then we can form a convoy and go with you.”

"Thank you, Brother Zhao. I... I have to go." The thin man was silent for a moment before speaking in a hoarse voice.

Seeing this, Boss Zhao stopped trying to persuade him and patted the other man on the shoulder: "Alright, I won't keep you any longer. You can choose one of our cars. Don't be shy with your brothers. If it weren't for the two of you, many of my brothers would probably be dead."

The man nodded without saying much. Just then, a young man rushed up in a panic.

"Boss! Xiao Dong has been stabbed, you should go check on him!"

Old Zhao frowned and stood up: "Where?"

The young man led the way, but after taking a step, Zhao Laoda paused and turned back, saying, "Brother Han, come and take a look together."

The thin man did not refuse and pulled the still-sulking girl to her feet.

The group hurried to a supermarket not far away. There, they saw a woman standing by the shelf, while a young man lay on the ground with a sharp knife stuck in his back, seemingly lifeless.

A crowd gathered there, and when they saw that it was Boss Zhao, they all made way for him.

"What's going on? Xiaohe? What are you doing here?"

"Xiao Dong, what happened? Who did this?"

The group bombarded her with questions, but the woman could only stammer, "I...I don't know, I just got here too."

Before the others could speak, the girl, who had been wearing a sour face, let out a sneer.

"Your hands are still stained with blood, yet you can spout lies so easily."

The woman called Xiaohe was startled and hid her hand behind her back. The little girl laughed even harder: "Just kidding, the blood is on your pants."

When everyone looked at her pants, they could see several faint red stains on her dark jeans, which were not very noticeable due to the dim lighting.

"I...I was just going to check on him, and then it splashed on me. What do you mean by this, you wild brat? You suspect me?" The woman glared at the girl: "You little slut, don't think you're so tough just because you're with this Han guy. Let me tell you..."

"Xiao He, tell the truth."

Zhao Laoda interrupted her, and everyone quieted down. The woman took two steps back, her face visibly paled, and cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

"He...he's infected, yes, he's infected!"

"You got infected and then stabbed me in the lower back? You're really quick."

It was still the little girl who made the sarcastic remark.

"No, no, no, it's him, it's his strong will..."

"boom--!"

No one knew when the gun appeared in the thin man's hand. All that was seen was that a bloody hole suddenly appeared between the woman's eyebrows, and she instantly lost her balance and fell to the ground with a thud.

Blood gushed out, and the crowd of onlookers all took a half step back. Even the little girl who had been speaking froze, and looked up at the man beside her.

Old Zhao was also surprised by the man's speed. He frowned and said, "Brother Han, isn't this...?"

"Killing a zombie is nothing."

The man looked up and met Zhao Laoda's gaze. After a long while, he spoke again.

"That's settled then, Brother Zhao. I wasn't planning on staying any longer anyway, so let's go now."

“…Okay.” Boss Zhao gave him a deep look and personally escorted him to a car.

Only after the car was out of sight did the people surrounding him look at him.

"Boss, what do we do? Xiao He is your..."

"What should we do? What do you want to do?" Boss Zhao turned to the person who spoke: "She's infected, do you understand?"

"……Yes, I understand."

……

In the car.

The girl, who had been giving him the cold shoulder, lowered her eyes and remained silent for a long time.

After a long while, she whispered, "Han Zhong, you killed someone."

"Kill people? I killed zombies."

"..."

"You were quite talkative just now, why are you silent now?"

The little girl turned her head away and looked out the window.

Han Zhong sighed: "Do you think you're the only one who can see that there's something wrong with that woman? You've been here all day, didn't you see what she did?"

"Why do you think Boss Zhao wants me to go with him? This guy will become a menace sooner or later if he stays in the team, but their relationships are complicated, and it's always difficult for his own people to do anything about it. That's when they need an outsider, an outsider who dares to take action."

As Han Zhong drove, he kept an eye on his surroundings. A lone car in the wilderness did not provide any sense of security. Occasionally, the figures of zombies would wander in the distance, each appearance of which made him nervous.

He sighed, then continued, "Besides, he wasn't willing to let us go easily in the first place. What he did, while not the biggest, was enough to get him into trouble. We need to give him some leverage, and also create an opportunity for ourselves to leave..."

"Yes, you're smart, you're the smartest. Then why did you go looking for that commander-in-chief? Don't you know about Haizhou..."

"Yes, we need to find him, we need to go to Xinfu, that base is right behind Xinfu."

"Find him... Only he will believe us. If it's him, he'll definitely have a way."

(End of this chapter)