"What's going on?"
"Gunshots!"
"What happened?"
"Kid, open up."
"..."
Through the crack in the door, he could see flashlights flickering outside. They hadn't turned on the lights, either.
Tao Yu had opened his door as well, and happened to see Tommy standing there with a flashlight, about to knock.
"There were gunshots nearby. What happened?"
Tommy first shone his light into Tao Yu's room and checked the window before speaking in a low voice.
"No idea. Let's break in and take a look."
Tao Yu knew that Tommy and the others took turns keeping watch in the hallway at night.
They were guarding against zombies and other trouble, but also against Tao Yu and Cao Shaolin.
In an apocalyptic world like this, someone had to keep watch. So it wasn't strange that Tao Yu, who had supposedly been "roused from a sound sleep," came out later than the people on watch.
Bang!
The door burst open, and several flashlight beams swept inside, revealing the room's disorder and the broken wooden boards covering the window.
With the door open and the air rushing through, the night wind chilled them to the bone. The faint stench of zombies seemed to drift in from the street.
"What happened? Was it the three people who vanished during the day?"
Stranger things had happened, so naturally, that was Tommy's first thought.
He had more or less checked Tao Yu's room already. He couldn't rule out suspicion entirely, but Tao Yu was now further down the list.
Jack had arrived by then, too. He looked over the room, then walked alone to the window and looked down.
"Bring me a flashlight."
He took the flashlight someone handed him and pointed it straight down.
It didn't take long to spot Cao Shaolin's body lying on the ground.
The important thing was that a group of zombies had already followed the noise to the body and were crouched over it, eating.
There were no other clues.
Tommy came over and whispered something in Jack's ear. Jack nodded, then turned to Tao Yu.
"Brother, sorry about this. We need to check your room."
"Go ahead."
Jack didn't stand on ceremony. He went straight to the window and ran a hand over the rough wooden boards, then shone his flashlight on the nails. Once he found no signs that anyone had pried them loose, he breathed a sigh of relief.
But then his expression turned grave.
"Today's events are strange. First, three people vanished without a trace, and then Shaolin was attacked and killed. From now on, we need to stay together as much as possible at night."
"Damn it, I can't figure out how they pulled it off."
Tommy's expression was just as grim.
This was the apocalypse. They didn't have high-tech tools for investigating clues. Tao Yu had only gone along with the search for now to avoid misunderstandings and trouble.
"We can only defend ourselves, or... find somewhere else."
Someone sighed. But finding somewhere else was easier said than done. It had been seven months, and this was the place they had settled on after searching.
The zombies along the way alone would be a huge problem, and there would inevitably be casualties.
A few grown men might be all right, but the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled would probably have a hard time making it.
"Brother Zhang Wei, how likely is it that the company settlement you mentioned is real?"
Jack asked again.
They had heard Tao Yu's earlier account of the settlement and taken note of it as information. They couldn't believe him just because he'd made the claim without a shred of proof.
Even if they did believe him, they certainly wouldn't abandon their relatively secure base anytime soon.
But what had happened today weighed heavily on Jack.
Three grown adults had vanished without a trace, and then Cao Shaolin had been killed in the middle of the night!
If they had to keep living under this kind of strain, worrying about zombies, food, and nighttime attacks, they wouldn't last long.
"It'll definitely be built, but I can't guarantee it'll be nearby. That's not something I can control. But I can promise to tell you where it is. The New settlement will definitely need people."
Tao Yu more or less understood what Jack was thinking, so he didn't try to fool him.
"Fine. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."
Jack nodded with his eyes closed, seeming to have made up his mind.
He had a scar across his face and looked somewhat fearsome, but he really was willing to take risks for the others.
Perhaps he also wanted to use the meteorite as proof of his contribution and secure protection for them...
Early the next morning, Tao Yu and Jack made some simple preparations.
Both of them were capable enough to find food for themselves while out, so they didn't bring much. Jack, on the other hand, kept reminding Tommy about what to watch out for.
Aside from Tommy and Senke, nobody else in the settlement seemed concerned about Jack going out. They appeared more interested in what they'd be eating that day.
"Boss, why don't we go with you? Senke and I wouldn't slow you down."
Tommy was a little worried. He had tattoos on his bald head and looked brutish, but he trusted Jack completely.
"No need. After what happened yesterday, we need to stay extra alert for the next few days. Keep your guard up."
Jack didn't make the indecisive choice to delay their departure until they'd figured out what was going on. If they never managed to solve it, were they supposed to stay inside forever and live off their dwindling supplies?
When it was time to act, he acted!
"Boss, come take a look. I went downstairs earlier to bury Cao, but I found that his body hadn't been eaten."
They were just about to leave, but Senke's words made both Jack and Tao Yu pause in surprise.
They hurried down the stairs. The hotel stairwell was messy and dim, and the handrail was covered in dust. Anyone with rhinitis would probably have a headache as soon as they walked in.
But the hotel's zombies had already been dealt with, and its supplies had long since been scavenged. Nothing happened as they went downstairs.
They moved a little more cautiously when they reached the lobby, proceeding quietly so they wouldn't make a sound.
The hotel doors had all been barricaded with the lobby's sofas, cabinets, chairs, and wooden boards nailed into place, sealing them tight.
There was only one small door for getting in and out.
A bell on a string had been set up on the other side of the hotel. Whenever they needed to go out, they could ring it and lure the zombies at the entrance around to the side.
There was also a small garden enclosed by a railing at the back, along with a rear door that served as a backup escape route.
Senke had already dragged Cao Shaolin's body inside. It lay in the small garden, where several mounds of earth showed that they had apparently planned to bury it.
One of Cao Shaolin's eyes had become a dark-red, blood-filled socket. His other eye stared open, unblinking. The scabs of blood on his head had clotted together with his hair.
But the strange thing was that the zombies had torn most of his clothes to shreds and covered his body in bite marks, yet he was still almost entirely intact!
They even saw several teeth embedded in his body!
"What is this...?"
Jack looked shocked. He took off his glove and pressed a hand against Cao Shaolin's rigid corpse. Then he pulled out a dagger, clasped his hands together in apology, and began cutting into the body.
It felt tougher than cowhide. He had to press down hard to cut through!
Tao Yu was secretly startled, too. The man's explosive strength and vitality the previous night had already been terrifying, but Tao Yu hadn't expected his body to remain so tough after death.
By Tao Yu's reckoning, even with Deification of the bear form driving the force of Five Forms Unification into a focused defense, his own body would only be a little tougher than this. And Cao Shaolin had reached this level passively!
Good thing Tao Yu had plenty of other methods, and injuries didn't affect his condition. Otherwise, if he hadn't managed to suppress Cao Shaolin in one go the previous night and the man had recovered enough to launch a counterattack, things could have gone very badly.
Compared to that, it was only natural that zombies' teeth and bite force couldn't tear his body apart.
"Unbelievable. Shaolin was this strong?"
There hadn't been time to examine the body closely the night before. Now, when Jack found bullet fragments embedded in the skull, he was even more shaken.
The bullets hadn't even gone all the way through?
Jack himself had started growing stronger by killing zombies, but compared with Cao Shaolin, he was nowhere close.
His first thought was that Cao Shaolin must have been able to grow stronger by killing zombies, too!
But if he was so strong, why had he kept such a low profile?
It made no sense. Jack couldn't figure it out.
The strangest thing was that someone with a body like that had still died!
"I'll be gone for a few days. Don't search for supplies if you can avoid it. Stay on full alert. I'll also keep an eye out for a suitable new place to settle along the way."
Jack had begun to suspect that Cao Shaolin might have had some other motive. Still, he put the safety of the settlement first, then turned to Tao Yu.
"Brother Zhang, let's go. We've got a modified vehicle. Follow me."