Trapped in a Horde

After Zhao Tianlei dealt with one zombie, another zombie standing nearby turned around upon hearing the disturbance. It saw a living person standing right in front of it. The zombie's slightly open mouth immediately split into an excited grin, and it prepared to lunge at Zhao Tianlei with its arms raised. However, before the zombie could make a sound, Zhao Tianlei swung his axe, cleaving directly into its head. The zombie convulsed and fell to the ground.

Zhao Tianlei quickly pulled out his axe, but because he had put too much force into it, the fire axe got stuck in the zombie's head. Zhao Tianlei had to step on the zombie's head to pull the fire axe free with both hands.

Seeing that dealing with the two zombies hadn't attracted the attention of any others, Zhao Tianlei quickly squatted down and grabbed the backpack. He found the backpack surprisingly heavy and, with a surge of joy, opened it to find an alien computer. He was immediately disappointed.

Before, Zhao Tianlei, who couldn't afford a computer, would have been overjoyed to find such a high-end laptop. But now, in the apocalypse, such an item was useless, sometimes not even worth as much as a bag of spicy chips that cost fifty cents.

He casually took out the laptop, data cable, and other items from the backpack, then stuffed all the scattered snacks he could find nearby into it. Besides a few snacks, there were also preserved plums, potato chips, bread, and sausages. As for drinks, there were quite a few Cokes, Sprites, and bottles of mineral water. However, Zhao Tianlei didn't choose the Sprite and Coke, as those drinks only made you thirstier, far less effective at quenching thirst than mineral water.

Only when the entire backpack was full and couldn't fit anything else did Zhao Tianlei stop. Initially, he thought these supplies would last two or three days. But seeing the bread, sausages, and water, Zhao Tianlei believed that for himself, Wu Bin, and Ye Sitong, they could last three to five days.

He slung the backpack over his shoulders and picked up the fire axe nearby, preparing to get up and leave. As he stood up, Zhao Tianlei was nearly scared to death. It turned out that while he was squatting down and packing the backpack, a group of zombies had appeared behind him without him realizing it.

Zhao Tianlei said it was a group because there weren't just three or five zombies; there were at least ten. These ten or so zombies were gathered together, almost moving as a pack towards Zhao Tianlei. No matter how strong his heart was, he didn't dare to charge forward recklessly.

"Ugh..."

Zhao Tianlei had initially been squatting. For some reason, the zombies had spotted him and slowly gathered. Now, seeing Zhao Tianlei stand up, they clearly recognized him as a living person and collectively began to make sounds. The combined noise was somewhat grating to Zhao Tianlei. Worse still, the cries of these ten or so zombies attracted the attention of other nearby zombies, and more and more joined in.

"Holy crap, I've really messed up this time." Seeing zombies shuffling towards him from all sides, Zhao Tianlei was stunned, a surge of fear erupting within him.

The path back to the library's rear entrance was now blocked by numerous zombies. Zhao Tianlei was unwilling to take such a risk and charge into the horde. His only option was to find another way out. Adjusting his backpack and gripping his fire axe, Zhao Tianlei quickly looked towards some buildings behind him. He saw the school canteen not far behind him and his heart leaped with joy. He immediately ran towards the canteen.

The zombies had originally been lunging at Zhao Tianlei, but now, seeing such a live prey escaping, they all began to clamor and chase after him. Although these zombies walked slowly, their sense of smell and hearing were quite sensitive. Another point was that once they spotted prey, even if it escaped, they would continue to pursue until they completely lost their target.

At this moment, zombies were in every direction around Zhao Tianlei. He could only rely on his instincts, choosing to charge towards areas with fewer zombies. More importantly, he had to break out before the zombies could surround him. Choosing the first zombie as a breakthrough point, Zhao Tianlei accelerated and ran towards it. When he was close, he unleashed a flying kick to the zombie's chest. However, to Zhao Tianlei's surprise, as he kicked, the zombie happened to extend its arms to grab him.

His flying kick was caught by the zombie, but Zhao Tianlei had used his entire body's strength to leap. The zombie, unable to even stand steadily, couldn't withstand Zhao Tianlei's power. It was directly kicked to the ground, but because the zombie had grabbed Zhao Tianlei's leg, it pulled him down as well.

"Damn it, this is going to be the death of me."

Seeing that his kick had knocked the zombie down, but he had also been pulled to the ground, Zhao Tianlei cried out in alarm. The moment he fell, Zhao Tianlei used his other foot to stomp on the zombie's head and, with a forceful push, pulled his leg free.

Of course, without the stability of his feet, Zhao Tianlei fell face-first onto the ground. But before he could tend to the pain, a zombie on his left howled and lunged at him. Startled, Zhao Tianlei rolled to the side, scrambled to his feet, knocked over a zombie, and ran desperately towards the nearby canteen.

He ran all the way to the canteen entrance and found that over a dozen zombies had gathered outside the main door. Fortunately, these zombies hadn't noticed Zhao Tianlei. Zhao Tianlei slowly crouched down and walked towards a side door. Through the glass of the door, Zhao Tianlei could clearly see that although there were some bloodstains inside, there wasn't a single zombie. Zhao Tianlei was overjoyed. He gently opened the door and slipped inside.

A school with tens of thousands of students naturally had a large canteen. This canteen was only one of the school's three canteens, and they were all of similar size. As for why there wasn't a single person in the entire canteen, Zhao Tianlei didn't need to think to know. When the apocalypse broke out, it was during class time, so no one was eating. If the apocalypse had happened during lunchtime, the state of the canteen would have been unimaginable.

Although Zhao Tianlei saw no one at first glance, he still cautiously held his fire axe and walked slowly along the wall, sticking to the edge. Caution ensures a thousand years of safety. In many memories, survivors who went out to search for resources were bitten and killed by zombies hiding under cars or tables due to carelessness. As Zhao Tianlei quietly walked to the serving window, he found plenty of food, clearly prepared for the midday meal.

Especially when he saw the large pot of steamed rice, Zhao Tianlei was ecstatic. Rice was his favorite staple food, but because rice sets were expensive, he was usually reluctant to buy them. At most, he would occasionally get a rice set with one vegetable and one soup. He couldn't afford the meat dishes, not because Zhao Tianlei was too stingy, but because he earned money through odd jobs, and most of his wages went towards tuition fees or daily necessities.