Chapter 79: Counting the Number of People

Three cars.

Parked in a line at the entrance of the community activity center.

Zhang Cheng proceeded cautiously, quietly approaching a building to observe the community activity center.

Inside the community activity center, a fire was burning.

The fuel came from wooden chairs, hacked apart with kitchen knives to be used directly as kindling.

Men, elderly, children, and women were all gathered around the fire, staring at the pot resting on a rack above it.

The smell wafted about.

People unconsciously swallowed their saliva from time to time.

The pot had been borrowed from the security guard at the front door.

They gave him a packet of instant noodles and a bottle of water in exchange.

The mineral water boiled the instant noodles, cooking up a large potful.

Even if there were not enough noodles to feed everyone, drinking the soup alone should tide them over for some time.

The leader of their group was called Old Ma.

Formerly, he was the director of the street office. He possessed notable leadership abilities.

At this moment, Old Ma first scooped up a bowl of noodles and soup and gave it to the elderly and the children.

No one present objecting.

Because the person who was responsible for driving and luring away the zombies this evening was the son of the elderly man and the father of the child.

The old man drank the soup and left the noodles to his grandson.

Given his age, he didn't have many years left. But what will happen to the child?

This was when Old Ma started dividing the food among the others.

One after another.

Old Ma was fair. He didn't distribute excessively nor scantily.

After everyone else, Old Ma's own share of noodles was the smallest. He took what was left of the soup.

Nobody objected.

They knew that even after this meal, they were bound to be hungry.

But there was no option, given their limited returns tonight. One of them had even lost his bag. 

The food that was brought back had to be rationed for a few days.

So they wouldn't end up with nothing after a single meal.

Then they would have to suffer the embarrassment of borrowing.

And of course, others might not necessarily be willing to lend.

"Hu hu~~" The child was eating slowly, blowing on the hot noodles.

The grown-ups around, looking at the unfinished noodles in the child's bowl, could not help but salivate.

So far, this team was still filled with decent people. At least, no one had tried to snatch anything by force. 

There were fourteen of them. Excluding an elderly and a child, there were twelve adults.

If they wanted to rob another team, Li Shengnan and her team would definitely be no match.

Old Liao's team would not be able to fend them off either.

Thankfully, Old Ma and his people retained their humanity.

But, how long could this humanity last?

After several days of hunger, when madness from starvation sets in, will rationality still remain?

Zhang Cheng left quietly, moving like a cat, stealthily vacating the area.

He continued to look for cars in the residential area.

The Wutong Tree Garden had not yet been handed over.

These people were clearly not homeowners.

Naturally, they didn't have keys to any of the houses.

They were all temporarily residing on the first floor.

As a result, finding the cars meant finding the people.

Quickly, Zhang Cheng found the property office.

The property office only had the space for three garages. Compared to the community activity center, it was much smaller.

At this point, a bespectacled male student and four female students were also gathered, cooking noodles.

The difference was, the fuel they used was dried grass and sticks they had collected outside.

Their team was smaller, and they had more food.

Thus, when the noodles were ready, each person had a large bowl.

During the meal, the three girls often talked to the male student and even offered him snacks.

Zhang Cheng could see that the team was centered around the bespectacled male student.

Also, because he was handsome, he was particularly popular.

However, this wasn't universally true. The short-haired girl was eating her noodles throughout.

On the other hand, the bespectacled male student tried to chat with the short-haired girl.

But the short-haired girl didn't pay him much attention.

Zhang Cheng took note of everything and then quietly left. He continued his survey of the residential area, keeping count of the survival teams' vehicles and members.

PS: Seeking collection, flowers, rewards, monthly tickets, perfect score tickets, all kinds of seeking, I want every bit of it o!!!