Chapter 7: Basement

Huang Jin remembered that Zhang Lei had run to the left, so he followed the narrow path in that direction. He quickly noticed a small alley and heard some faint noises coming from the end of it. His brow furrowed, and he quickened his pace.

After turning a corner, he finally saw the scene ahead: a dead-end alley. At the end of this alley, a group of zombies was gathered around the corner, fighting and swallowing something.

Huang Jin had seen this kind of scene more than once. He immediately realized that Zhang Lei had been eaten.

He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. After a moment, he just sighed, "Watch where you're going, you fool. Such a waste of my zombie suit..."

It was clear that when Zhang Lei had tried to lead the zombies away, he hadn't realized he'd ended up in a dead-end alley. Once surrounded by zombies, even though he wore the zombie suit, as long as they got close enough, the zombies could still smell his human scent.

The tragedy happened the moment the first zombie bit him. The smell of blood spread, and the others quickly joined in. It was inevitable: Zhang Lei was dead, and the zombie suit was completely ruined.

Huang Jin considered using the distraction caused by the zombies to push the tricycle away. But as he did, he couldn't help but wonder: why hadn't Zhang Lei called for help? Why hadn't he shouted for his life?

Was it possible that Zhang Lei had resigned himself to death, deciding to die quietly and let Huang Jin feel guilty, thus motivating him to seek revenge?

If that were the case, Huang Jin could only shake his head and think, Scholars are truly interesting.

Pushing the tricycle toward the city's outskirts, Huang Jin's mind was still preoccupied with Zhang Lei's death. But just as he was lost in thought, he heard a sound from behind.

Tap, tap, tap...

Instinctively, Huang Jin pulled out his axe and spun around to strike.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait, it's me!" came a familiar voice.

To his surprise, it wasn't a zombie chasing him, but Zhang Lei—who he thought was dead.

"You're not dead?" Huang Jin blurted out.

"You're the one who's dead," Zhang Lei shot back, rolling his eyes. Then he explained, "Well, I almost was. There were a few holes in the wall of that dead-end alley. I used them to climb up and eventually made it to the top of the building. It took a while to find a way down. When I finally went back to the supermarket, I saw you were gone. You really left without me, huh?"

"Who told you to take so long to come back? But… if you're not dead, what was that thing in the alley?"

"A dead dog's body. It bought me some time to escape," Zhang Lei said with a shrug. "Anyway, where are we going now?"

"We're going to the city's outskirts to stash the food in a safe place. After we leave the shelter, we can come back for it."

The two of them found a less zombie-infested area at the city's edge and hid the food in a relatively discreet house. Then, they retraced their steps back to the villa.

After taking off the zombie suits, Huang Jin's suit was still in good condition, but Zhang Lei's had a large hole in it.

"Sorry, I didn't notice when I was climbing," Zhang Lei said sheepishly, scratching his head when he saw Huang Jin's disapproving look.

The two then returned through the secret passage. By the time they arrived, it was getting dark. They had a light meal—bread and canned food—and Zhang Lei asked, "What do we do next?"

"We wait. We'll wait until night falls."

"And then?"

"Then, you come with me to find the bald guy."

"Okay, okay!" Zhang Lei nodded without hesitation, his face showing a mixture of fear and anticipation, which looked a little eerie.

As night fell, Huang Jin took the opportunity to sneak out for a quick look. As expected, the bald guy was still at Bai Ge's house, playing cards. Without hesitation, Huang Jin returned to the villa and grabbed Zhang Lei.

Under the cover of darkness, they silently pried open the back door of the bald guy's house and ambushed him inside.

The bald guy's house was a large, detached villa. As the second-in-command of the shelter, and the boss's brother, he lived there alone. This made it easier for Huang Jin and Zhang Lei to carry out their plan without anyone noticing.

Huang Jin used a flashlight to search through the various rooms of the house. After some time, he finally found the place where the bald guy was hiding his food. It was a locked iron door in a basement room, but that didn't stop Huang Jin. He quickly broke the lock and entered.

What he found inside was a small mountain of food stacked in the corner—enough to feed one person for half a year. And much of the food appeared to be his own.

Huang Jin had already made a plan: once the bald guy was dealt with, he would take the food and load it into the bald guy's truck, which was parked outside the villa. He would then drive off with the supplies.

Just as Huang Jin was thinking of his next steps, he suddenly heard a soft sound from the corner.

"Mm... mmm..."

Both Huang Jin and Zhang Lei froze. They turned their flashlight toward the noise and saw a woman chained to a bed.

The chain was attached to her feet and to a cement pillar beside her, effectively limiting her movement. In addition, her body was tightly bound with rope, and her mouth was sealed with tape—presumably to keep her from making noise.

This was the food storage basement, but there was also a bed here. It didn't take much imagination to guess what it was for.

The woman was in her mid-twenties, with long, wavy blonde hair and a curvy figure. Huang Jin shone the flashlight on her for a few seconds before recognizing her.

She was a resident of the shelter, one of Tiger Ge's girlfriends. Since she couldn't pay her rent, she had started to cozy up to him for free housing. But it seemed the bald guy had taken an interest in her too, though he didn't want to make a move openly, so he kept his advances secret.

A week ago, she had disappeared. Tiger Ge had searched everywhere, but someone had claimed to see her getting bitten by zombies while scavenging. And just like that, the case was closed.

But now it was clear that the person who claimed to have seen her bitten had lied. The so-called girlfriend of Tiger Ge had actually been imprisoned in the basement by the bald guy as his plaything.

It seemed the bald guy was planning to use her until he grew tired of her, then kill her and dispose of her body in the truck. It was all so easy for him—so effortless that no one would ever know.