Chapter 10: Promise

"Beep beep beep!!!"

The massive truck sped down the deserted highway.

Since they had already left the city, the surrounding area was nothing but barren land. There were no houses or buildings, and it was eerily quiet—no zombies in sight.

But that wasn't surprising. Most zombies tended to stay in the city, where it was noisy and bustling, and there were "prey" to attract them. As for the wilderness outside the city?

At the beginning of the outbreak, there may have been a lot of zombies wandering around, but over time, they either returned to the city or died in the wilderness from starvation.

In fact, the farther away one got from human settlements, the safer it became, with fewer zombies around.

The downside? The lack of supplies. The safer places had no resources, while the places with resources were far more dangerous.

—An interesting natural balance.

"Beep beep beep!!!"

As he gazed out the window at the passing scenery, Huang Jin's heart swelled with joy. He was genuinely happy, filled with expectations and hopes for the future. He almost felt like humming a little tune.

But ahead, the road was blocked.

There was an old, junked van parked on the left side of the road.

Given the size of the truck, Huang Jin could easily drive to the right and pass the van.

He quickly turned the steering wheel.

"Bang!!!!"

With a deafening crash, the left side of the truck collided hard with the van.

It seemed that when it came to driving over obstacles, he needed more practice.

"The car's problem…"

He muttered as he turned the truck around. Although the truck's left side was badly dented, it was still drivable.

Huang Jin carefully maneuvered the truck and finally managed to get past the obstruction. Just as he was about to relax and accelerate again, the truck slowly came to a stop.

The truck had run out of fuel.

Huang Jin could only hold his head in regret. Of all things, he had forgotten about the fuel.

On the other side, after saying his final goodbye to Huang Jin, Zhang Lei returned to the shelter.

He snuck through the secret passage that led to Huang Jin's underground basement.

When he returned to the first floor, he found that Huang Jin's house was in disarray, as if it had been looted by bandits.

It seemed that the shelter's henchmen had come to ransack the house, perhaps to vent their anger.

Zhang Lei didn't leave immediately. He waited for nightfall.

When it was dark, he quietly slipped out of Huang Jin's house and went to the Bald Brother's place.

He entered from the back door, which had already been unlocked by Huang Jin. It seemed no one had noticed the lock was broken.

At that moment, there was light coming from the Bald Brother's house, meaning there were people inside.

Zhang Lei sneaked in but found the entire building eerily quiet. The only sound was coming from the basement, where footsteps echoed.

Zhang Lei immediately panicked and quickly hid behind a large sofa.

He watched the basement entrance intently as the footsteps grew louder.

A sweaty, middle-aged, fat man wearing only shorts appeared. Zhang Lei didn't recognize him, but from the way he looked—fat and with a large head—he assumed he was one of the top brass in the shelter.

It seemed that after the Bald Brother's death, this fat man had taken over the house.

The fat man walked straight into the bathroom, and soon Zhang Lei heard the sound of water running and the man's cheerful humming.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhang Lei quickly headed to the basement.

He made his way to the room where Zhang Hua had been locked up. There, by the dim candlelight, he saw her curled up on the bed, naked, looking utterly disheveled.

Her iron chains were still attached to her feet, unremoved.

It seemed the fat man, like the Bald Brother, had no intention of letting Zhang Hua go.

However, the fat man hadn't bound her tightly or gagged her like the Bald Brother had.

Instead, he had taken a more direct approach—he had cut out her tongue.

Zhang Lei felt a pang of discomfort in his heart when he saw her. The more he thought about the woman's suffering, the more he couldn't help but remember the torment his own girlfriend had endured before her death.

But there was no time for dwelling on that now.

Despite the overwhelming sadness, Zhang Lei still smiled at Zhang Hua, trying to comfort her. "Wait for me. I'll get you out of here."

Zhang Hua, wrapped in Zhang Lei's coat and a stinking bed sheet, followed him quickly out of the basement.

Thankfully, the fat man was still in the shower, so they managed to escape without being noticed.

Zhang Lei took her through the secret passage and led her to a villa nearby. He had carefully checked the area and found no zombies.

But the villa wasn't as well fortified as the shelter, so if zombies did come, it could get dangerous.

Zhang Lei kept emphasizing to her the need to stay quiet.

"It's to keep the zombies away and prevent the shelter from discovering us," he told her.

When Huang Jin had left, he had left behind a zombie disguise and some food. Seeing how malnourished Zhang Hua was, Zhang Lei decided to give her the zombie suit and all the food.

Zhang Hua immediately devoured the food, as though afraid someone would take it away from her.

Zhang Lei quietly observed her, like an older relative.

"Ah... you... you don't... eat...?"

Zhang Hua, who had no tongue, had to struggle to produce any sound.

Zhang Lei only smiled and replied, "I've already eaten."

That was a lie, but a natural attempt to reassure her.

What he really wanted to say was:

"I don't need it anymore."