Chapter 15: Wichita—Asians Are Easy to Deceive
Unexpectedly, whether it was because the apocalypse had lasted too long or for some other reason, Tara and Columbus both expressed their desire to join Li Changsheng’s team.
Columbus had no requests at all, while Tara only wanted a pine nut cake.
Li Changsheng couldn’t help but laugh at this, and after a brief hesitation, agreed.
The two of them rode in the same vehicle as Moore and Daryl.
“Hey guys, did you know that before the virus outbreak, on Friday nights, I spent three weekends in a row at home playing World of Warcraft? I ate pizza every day for five days straight—the boxes were piled up like a mountain. At least I had some cola to keep my diet from getting too monotonous…”
As soon as they got into the car, Columbus began displaying his talkative nature, chattering endlessly.
Even as dusk fell, Columbus was still going strong, chatting away without pause.
Moore finally couldn’t stand it anymore. “Columbus, shut your damned mouth for me, will you? If you say one more word, I’ll shove this gun barrel right into your yap.”
Tara, sitting in the back seat, yawned. “At last, someone shares my suffering…”
Daryl remained cool and silent, but inwardly he resolved to get his hands on a motorcycle as soon as possible and put some distance between himself and these people.
Moore picked up the walkie-talkie. “Boss, I strongly request you move this guy to the car in the back.”
The walkie-talkie was originally from Tara’s car, but since both their vehicles had broken down, they’d transferred items like this to the convoy.
Amy and Andrea replied in unison, “No way.”
Seeing Amy looking at him pitifully, Li Changsheng could only smile and shake his head.
After another hour, Daryl’s voice suddenly crackled over the walkie-talkie: “Boss, up ahead is Pinewood Town. There’s a medium-sized supermarket inside. Want to search for some supplies?”
He calculated that they’d reach the CDC by noon the next day. After driving all day, everyone was exhausted, so Li Changsheng agreed.
…
At that moment, in a supermarket in Pinewood Town, someone was pushing open the storage room door.
A woman and a girl stepped out. The woman was in her twenties, wearing jeans and heavy eyeliner, with a figure that was strikingly attractive.
The girl was slightly chubby, in her teens, with the mischievous look of someone far more mature than her years.
The two walked out of the storage room. The girl spread her hands. “No food, no water, no weapons, no car. So, Wichita, what do we do now?”
“Little Pebble, seems like we need a sucker…” Wichita glanced into the distance.
“Let’s hope we run into one,” the girl called Little Pebble sighed.
Wichita said nothing, but inwardly she was weary. It had been over two months since the virus outbreak. She and her little sister had been hiding ever since. It had taken so much effort to find a supermarket that wasn’t crawling with the undead, only to discover that everything had already been looted.
She didn’t have any particular skills—before the apocalypse, she’d scraped by tricking naive boys, just enough to get by.
Just then, the sound of a car engine drifted in.
Wichita’s expression changed. She hurried to the supermarket entrance and peered through a crack.
Three people—a middle-aged man with a shotgun (not much of a threat), a nerd with a shotgun (also not much of a threat), and an Asian guy with a steel rod (no threat at all).
Wichita hurried back, smiled at Little Pebble, and said, “Three idiots. Time to put on a show. If we can trick them, we’ll get ourselves a car, weapons, and food.”
“Three people. Could it be dangerous?” Little Pebble asked.
“No way. I’ve tricked plenty of guys like this before.”
…
Considering that if there was an ambush in the town, the RV would be hard to maneuver, Li Changsheng took the newly joined Columbus and Tara into town first, leaving Daryl and Moore to watch the RV.
They’d use the walkie-talkie to stay in contact if anything happened.
He had Tara drive the car around the outskirts of the town first. Seeing no large horde of zombies, he let Tara drive them in.
The three of them got out and entered the supermarket.
It was deathly quiet inside.
Tara picked up a violin from the floor and began to play, trying to lure any undead out with the sound. But after a long while, not a single shadow appeared.
They all relaxed and began searching for supplies.
But the supermarket looked as if it had been hit by a zero-dollar purchase spree—anything useful was either spoiled or gone.
As they searched deeper in, a woman ran out of the storage room, sobbing.
She furtively glanced over the group, then choked out, “Please, come quickly. My…my sister…she’s dying.”
She didn’t seem afraid of strangers at all.
Li Changsheng looked at the woman and gave a meaningful smile.
Well, what was meant to happen would come. If he wasn’t mistaken, this woman was one of the four protagonists from Zombieland, and a con artist who specialized in tricking naive nerds out of their sympathy…
Trying to scam him, huh?
This time, you two are out of luck.
Tara and Columbus followed, while Li Changsheng lagged behind on purpose and secretly issued an order through the walkie-talkie.
Inside the warehouse.
Wichita gathered everyone together. “Listen, I don’t think she has much time left.”
She pointed to a little girl sitting on a table not far away. The girl was crying, looking dejected, with a wound on her wrist that appeared to be a zombie bite.
Columbus hesitated, trying to comfort her. “Uh…m-maybe it’s not as bad as it looks.”
Wichita cut him off. “I know, I know—she knows too. We’re just looking for a solution.”
“No, no, no, that won’t do. She’s just a child!” Columbus said anxiously.
Tara’s face was also clouded, as if remembering something sad.
The four whispered together, but Little Pebble overheard everything.
“Don’t think I can’t hear you talking about me behind my back!” Little Pebble said angrily.
Wichita looked at her, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
Columbus approached Little Pebble. “Listen, I know you’re very sick, but your sister… wants us to…”
Little Pebble said loudly, “It’s not her decision, it’s mine.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Yes, I made her promise me. We’ve already said our goodbyes. We just don’t have a gun.”
Columbus said, “We don’t know if you can be cured or not. Listen, we’re heading to the CDC—maybe there’s a treatment there.”
Little Pebble clung to the table, glaring at him. “You really are a coward. Give the gun to someone with the guts to do it. I don’t want to become one of the undead.”
Tara sighed deeply. “I’ll do it…” She raised her gun, aiming at Little Pebble.
Wichita quickly shouted, “Wait! Wait… let me do it myself.”
Tara sighed again, handing the gun to Wichita.
Wichita walked over to Little Pebble, embracing her. “I love you.”
Little Pebble sobbed, “I love you too, Wichita.”
Wichita checked the ammo, then raised the gun and aimed at Little Pebble.
Tara and Columbus turned away, unable to bear the sight.
Li Changsheng, knowing exactly what trick they were playing, felt no sympathy. “Go ahead, I can handle this level of tragedy…”
Wichita shot him a vicious glare. Cold-hearted bastard, I’ll get you for this later.
Tara and Columbus also felt a surge of contempt for Li Changsheng.
Seeing Wichita still hesitating, Li Changsheng asked, “What’s the matter? Can’t do it? Need some help?”
Wichita suddenly snorted coldly. One second she was crying, the next, all traces of sorrow vanished. She spun around and aimed the gun at Li Changsheng and the others. “Since you put it that way, I won’t be polite. Your guns are ours now. Hand over the car keys and all your ammo.”
Little Pebble wiped her tears, jumped down from the table, and deftly snatched Columbus’s gun, pointing it at the group. “If you have any, I’d like some sugar-free gum too.”
Columbus and Tara stared in disbelief, shouting, “Damn it, what are you doing?”
Wichita replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Tricking you, of course. Better you trust us and lose than we trust you and lose, right?”
She and Little Pebble spoke as they slowly backed away, every movement practiced and smooth, as if they’d rehearsed it countless times.
Tara raised her middle finger in anger.
At that moment, Li Changsheng suddenly said, “Hey, ladies, you seem to have been ignoring me this whole time.”
From the start, he’d noticed that the women’s attention was mostly on Tara. They’d judged her to be the biggest threat.
Wichita replied, “Oh, sorry, forgot about you. You’re the most shameless. Get down on the ground, now!”
Little Pebble added, “You really don’t seem threatening at all! Just like that nerd.”
Li Changsheng laughed in exasperation. “Is that so? Hope you won’t regret it.” With that, he gave a sharp whistle.
Loud footsteps thundered at the entrance.
Wichita’s face fell. A terrible feeling rose in her chest.