A Mother and Daughter

The supermarket was filthy and chaotic. Shelves lay scattered across the floor, and much of the puffed food had been trampled by the zombies, their packaging burst open and their contents crushed to mush. Mixed with the rotten chunks of flesh that had fallen from the zombies, it had been ground into a thick layer of filth that made the floor slippery underfoot.

Shang Jiudi called Chen Shaoye over to help clean up. They were sweating profusely, having already worn out several mops.

Meanwhile, Chu Han searched the supermarket for any zombies that might have been missed, as well as, more importantly, food. The supermarket was well-stocked. Aside from some smashed cans and damaged packages, much of the food remained intact. The grime on the outside of the packaging did not affect the freshness of the food within.

Luo Xiaoxiao followed behind him like a little tail. The little girl jogged to keep up with Chu Han while continuously picking through the still-standing shelves beside them. Of course, despite her good mood, she had not let down her guard. She still gripped the automatic rifle tightly in her hands.

Never let go of your weapon. Chu Han had drilled that into her repeatedly.

The supermarket had two doors. The front entrance was the one they had smashed through, while the back door was tightly locked. The roars of zombies outside carried inside, making it difficult for them to tell whether it was safe beyond that door.

"I'll take a look." With that, Chu Han carried his axe forward.

Luo Xiaoxiao hesitated briefly, then followed after him with the automatic rifle steadily raised.

Chu Han did not stop her. In the post-apocalyptic world, twelve-year-old children were capable of standing on their own. No matter how noble Luo Xiaoxiao's status might have been, everyone was equal in his eyes. She had to grow.

The back door was shut tight. Chu Han approached without a sound and gently turned the handle with his left hand.

Click! Click!

It would not open. The door had been locked from the other side!

There was someone inside?!

Roar—

Just as the thought surfaced in Chu Han's mind, a somewhat weak zombie howl came from within. At the same time, a series of bangs against the door rang out.

It was a zombie. Thankfully, just a zombie.

Judging from the sound, there was only one zombie inside.

The door was sturdy, yet it kept shaking from the impacts. It looked as if it could either be forced open or fall apart at any moment. It seemed the zombie inside had been crashing into it for a long time. Days on end, perhaps even dozens of days?

Truly persistent.

Chu Han gave the emotionless remark, then suddenly raised his right hand and swung his axe precisely at the lock!

Click!

The door opened in response. It was a storage room.

Roar— Roar, roar, roar!

The zombie inside went mad. The moment the door opened, it pounced. Its rotting flesh had nearly worn away, leaving it almost nothing but a skeleton, yet that did nothing to diminish its craving for food.

Its original features were long beyond recognition. Its cheeks had completely caved in, its lips were gone, and the only thing on its body that revealed it had once been a woman was a tattered dress.

The hungry zombie lunged forward, eagerly opening its gaping mouth.

Bite! Bite! Bite! Swallow it! Swallow it!

Bang!

Expressionless, Chu Han swung his axe and blew the female zombie apart. This zombie had likely been starving for a long time; the moisture in its body had dried up severely, shrinking it considerably more than other zombies.

Silently counting the one additional Point, Chu Han stepped inside, with Luo Xiaoxiao following so closely behind him that she never fell even a step away.

Suddenly, Chu Han stopped short. Then he spun around, stretched out his relatively clean left hand, and covered Luo Xiaoxiao's eyes.

After making that instinctive move, Chu Han froze. Why did he feel such a protective urge toward this little girl?

He was afraid she would be traumatized, afraid she would be frightened, afraid she would cry.

He actually wanted to protect her?!

It was not just Luo Xiaoxiao. He had the same instinctive feelings toward Shang Jiudi and Chen Shaoye as well. Was loyalty mutual?

His confusion lasted only an instant. Then Chu Han felt Luo Xiaoxiao's eyelashes growing damp against his palm.

"I saw it." Her voice trembled.

Then Luo Xiaoxiao gently moved Chu Han's hand away. Her eyes were red as she stared ahead.

There was a human skeleton that had been gnawed clean. Calling it remains was already a stretch; more accurately, it was a skeleton. A child's skeleton, with several bones broken.

Long strands of hair were scattered all around it. Nearby lay a few scraps of cloth, revealing a torn pink dress. It had been a little girl, probably around Luo Xiaoxiao's age.

Clearly, she had been trapped here and then attacked by the zombie.

But judging by the zombie and the remains, they had originally been a mother and daughter.

The mother had turned into a zombie, while the little girl...

Chu Han remembered that when he had first met Luo Xiaoxiao, she had been wearing a pink puffy dress very similar to the one on the ground.

"Let's go find Fatty Chen." Chu Han could not bear to let Luo Xiaoxiao remain here any longer.

Clang! Clang!

Several faint, irregular impacts sounded. Chu Han looked up. Passing zombies had bumped into the protective iron door. There were many zombies on the street outside, but fortunately, they could not get in.

The storage room was large. Boxes of goods were piled up along the sides, and a delivery truck stood in the middle. Some dark, blackish sludge was stuck to its white body—the rotten flesh from the zombie earlier.

After Luo Xiaoxiao left, Chu Han sighed and found a box. He placed the little girl's skeleton inside, then moved away the zombie's corpse as well, cleaning this nearly intact storage room thoroughly. He did not know why he was wasting time on such a thing. He simply did not want Luo Xiaoxiao to see it again.

Not far from that supermarket, in a residential building, a group of bare-chested men played cards in a room. Cigarette butts littered the floor, and beside every man sat one or two women reeking of a strong stench.

In the apocalypse, women were neither clean nor pretty. Without enough water, their bodies stank from not bathing for long periods. Their hair was so greasy that bugs had begun to breed in it, some of it even clumped together with grime. Their fingernails were black with filth. Dressed in revealing clothes, they smiled ingratiatingly and tried their best to please the men beside them.

Zhou Shuli sat in the center of the group. His face was full of flesh and framed by a thick beard. The largest share of food and cigarettes showed that he held an extraordinary position among them. The woman beside him was also prettier and somewhat cleaner than the others, though she was still filthy and foul-smelling—enough to make people sick to their stomachs and unable to eat in civilized times.