(1) A Shining Moment (1)

"Is this woman trying to lure me into a trap?"

In that fleeting 0.1 seconds...

Chu Quy's brain operated at the peak of human capability.

He had already considered many possibilities. In the apocalypse, how could a woman and a baby survive? It was clearly impossible.

"If I get out of the car, I'll definitely be ambushed. There must be other survivors hiding nearby."

Chu Quy thought the situation through.

He had to pass.

The apocalypse was dangerous now. Trust between people had fallen to its lowest point. The kindness you showed would often bring about the opposite result.

Chu Quy made eye contact with the female survivor.

Waiting in the car, he had no intention of getting out.

He saw the woman's desperate gaze. She looked like she wanted to approach, but then, as if she thought of something, she stopped, looking at Chu Quy waiting in the car.

"I'm sorry. It's hard to trust people now. I have to go find my companions."

Chu Quy muttered to himself, changed direction, and stepped on the gas to drive away.

He glanced in his rearview mirror and saw that the female survivor was still standing there. In the distance, a zombie appeared, limping and shambling towards her.

In front of the shop, the female survivor looked down at the baby in her arms.

Despair filled her eyes.

She turned, intending to go back into the shop. But as she turned, she saw a zombie behind her, only ten meters away. The zombie ran very fast. The sudden situation made the woman's face turn pale in an instant.

She wanted to run, but she didn't, as if she had already made some kind of decision.

She calmly faced the reality of her situation.

Just as she thought she was about to die in the zombie's mouth...

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

The charging zombie's head instantly exploded, and it fell to the ground.

"Don't you know how to run?"

Hearing the voice, the female survivor turned her head and saw the jeep that had returned. Hope gradually appeared in her eyes.

In the end, Chu Quy still couldn't bring himself to sit by and do nothing.

He knew that to survive in the apocalypse, one had to turn a blind eye. That was the only true way to protect oneself. Any act of compassion would often lead to tragedy.

That's what they say.

But when really faced with this kind of situation, one's heart would often be in conflict.

"Can you take me with you?"

The female survivor's face was pitiful, her voice filled with longing.

Chu Quy had already taken a risk by returning. To continue would be to get in deeper and deeper. If there was a noose, he would definitely not escape. He glanced at the dead zombie, then at the quiet shop.

The female survivor seemed to understand. She gently placed the baby on the ground and began to undress to prove her innocence.

"I'm not bait. I have no weapons on me. I just want to leave with my child."

She was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Once she took them off, all that was left was a black bra. Whether she had a weapon or not was obvious at a glance; there was nowhere to hide anything.

A proper gentleman might be shocked and exclaim, "Miss, in broad daylight, what you're doing is making things very difficult for me! Put them on, quickly put them on!"

But Chu Quy watched with extreme caution, his eyes scanning her up and down, back and forth several times, observing meticulously to confirm she had no hidden weapons.

"Turn around."

Chu Quy saw no weapons in front of her. A bra definitely couldn't hide anything; if there were a weapon, there would be a bulge. If there were even a hint of suspicion, he would have stepped on the gas and sped away.

He just hadn't expected the woman before him to, right in front of him, unhook her bra and pull her panties down to her knees. This was a state of vulnerability usually reserved only for the most intimate person.

"Get dressed and get in the car with the baby," Chu Quy said.

He was a normal man. Would he have a reaction in this situation?

Definitely not.

This was the apocalypse. The outside world was dangerous. His nerves were tense all day long. A safe rest was a luxury. Where would he get the energy for such chaotic things?

In his view, anyone willing to do such things was probably living in some shelter, full and bored.

"Thank... thank you." The female survivor said gratefully.

In the car.

Chu Quy saw that the baby's mouth in the woman's arms was covered with a cloth, and his expression changed slightly.

The woman explained, "The child is still young, and her crying is uncontrollable. I was afraid the sound would attract zombies, so this was the only way."

Chu Quy sighed. This was something that couldn't be helped. What mother would be willing to treat her child like this? But the reality of the situation didn't allow it.

"It's okay. Take it off. Let the baby be more comfortable."

"Mm."

The woman quickly removed it and looked at Chu Quy gratefully, her gaze drifting blankly out the window, perhaps still thinking about the road ahead.

"The apocalypse has been going on for several months now. How did you and the child survive?"

Chu Quy was very curious. Even strong men had a hard time surviving in the apocalypse, let alone a woman, and one with a child. It was simply incredible.

The woman told Chu Quy everything that had happened.

Hearing the situation, Chu Quy was a little impressed by her intelligence. That shop had a basement, and the entrance was covered by a wooden board. She had moved some of the supplies from the shop to the basement, leaving some supplies outside.

She was afraid that refugees who came here, upon finding no supplies, would start searching and discover her and the child's hiding place.

During this time, survivors came one after another. Some collected supplies and left. Some survivors even fought and killed each other over supplies.

Zombies also wandered here. Hiding in the basement, she didn't dare make a sound until the zombies left before she dared to breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's good that you're alive. I still have three companions. I'm going to meet up with them now. We received a notice from the Old House Mountain shelter and want to go check out the situation."

Chu Quy didn't hide anything. During their conversation, he had already learned her name: Duong Tinh.

He didn't ask anything else.

For her to be alone with a small child meant that the man of the house had already died in the apocalypse.

This was something that would easily make people recall unpleasant memories of the past. Silence was the best form of inquiry.

Was bringing a woman and a child a burden?

Chu Quy didn't agree with that statement. In the early days of the apocalypse, he was also not brave. Seeing ferocious zombies, his legs would also tremble with fear. But gradually, he also became brave, and could even calmly think of a way to escape when facing a zombie siege.

"Is it safe there?" Duong Tinh asked cautiously.

Chu Quy said, "I don't know. We only found out recently. We've already decided to go. If you don't want to, I can take you back. You can continue to wait there. If that place is really safe, I can come back and pick you up."

Duong Tinh shook her head, still choosing to follow.

Perhaps... if she went back there, what would welcome her and her child would be death.

She didn't want to give up any chance.

After a while.

Chu Quy saw the jeep parked ahead. He drove up alongside it. Through the car window, Lao Vuong and the others were waiting for him in the car.

When Lao Vuong and the others saw the unfamiliar Duong Tinh, their faces showed suspicion and vigilance.

Why would he suddenly appear with a strange survivor?

In the apocalypse, even women could not be underestimated.

Chu Quy explained what had just happened. Lao Vuong and the others gradually let down their guard. If it had been a trap, Chu Quy wouldn't have been able to come back safely. It seemed he had really encountered a helpless survivor and, seeing her pitiful state, had brought her here.

"Lao Vuong, is that the entrance to the Old House Mountain shelter?"

Chu Quy saw a metal gate embedded in the face of a mountain. Was this a shelter formed by hollowing out the mountain?

If that was the case, it was indeed very safe.

The sealed metal gate could not be broken by ordinary zombies, and probably not even by evolved ones.

"Yes, this is our destination." Lao Vuong sized up the huge gate, wondering what the situation was like inside, and whether the survivors living inside already knew they had arrived.

Were they watching them on a screen somewhere? Or did this shelter have a secret door, with survivors hiding in some corner, observing their every move?

These were all possibilities.

Chu Quy said, "When you came earlier, you didn't encounter any zombies?"

"No, not a single trace of a zombie. Maybe the people in this shelter eliminated the nearby zombies or led them away."

Lao Vuong observed the surroundings. He didn't find any zombie corpses, or even any signs of a fight with zombies. It was possible they had really been led away.

Lao Vuong said, "I'll go in first and see what the situation is like. If I don't come out to get you myself, you guys leave."

"Lao Vuong, there's no need. If this place is safe, then it's our luck. If you can't get out, we'll definitely go in to save you. Thinking about it, I think the best way is for us to go in together. At least we can look out for each other, right?" Chu Quy said.

The other two companions also nodded.

It was exactly so.

Lao Vuong's suggestion was indeed a good one, but that was for other survivor teams. Their team advanced and retreated together; they would never abandon one another.

All this time, they had been united, never giving up on each other. Otherwise, with the dangers they had faced during this period, someone would have broken off long ago.

"Alright, then everyone be careful. We still don't know the situation of the survivors inside. If something isn't right, we'll fight our way out immediately." Lao Vuong was very moved. Everyone was a trustworthy companion.

"Mm."

Chu Quy held a pistol. He had found it on the corpse of a policeman.

Now there were only ten bullets left. Normally, unless he encountered an absolute situation, he would not fire. Conserving bullets was very important.

They walked up to the metal gate and looked up at the camera in the top corner. The camera had a flashing red light, indicating that it was working.

Lao Vuong waved at the camera.

Chu Quy also waved. The hand he waved was still holding the pistol. It was just that blatant, as if he were telling the other party, "See? I have a gun in my hand. If you're thinking of doing something to us, you'd better see if you have the ability."

If you have any bad ideas, bang bang a few times, and we'll send you a few peanuts.

But at this moment.

Creak!

The metal gate slowly opened.

The first thing they saw was a bright corridor, completely clean and tidy. The first impression it gave was that someone had definitely cleaned it; otherwise, the environment wouldn't be like this.

Immediately after, a voice came.

"Hello. Welcome to the Old House Mountain shelter. There are abundant supplies here. Please come inside. When you meet the requirements, you will become a member of the Old House Mountain shelter."

The voice from the loudspeaker came.

They looked at each other.

What the other party meant was that there was still one more hurdle. Whether they could stay here or not still depended on passing a test. This made them feel a lot more at ease.

With the apocalypse having developed to this point, who dared to say that all survivors they met were good people?

If this kind of shelter accepted just anyone, they would be suspicious that the people inside had some ulterior motive. Otherwise, why would they be so confident as to let any survivor who came here stay?

"Let's go. We'll never know the real situation by staying here. Let's go inside and see." Lao Vuong was very brave. His courage had always been great. Even when facing more than a dozen thugs, he still dared to charge in.

Therefore, in the current situation, he was also not afraid.