Chapter Sixteen: A Trip to the Supermarket (Part One)

The bus, once emblazoned with the word “POLICE,” was now completely transformed. The windows had all been welded over with riot shields, each viewing slit converted into a firing port. Steel bars crisscrossed the front and rear windshields, turning the bus into an armored beast. Inside, the atmosphere was heavy, yet the passengers brimmed with hope for the future. As Zhao Qiang had predicted, many of the undead had learned to leap; they were more agile and faster than before. Even so, they could only hurl themselves against the riot shields, sliding down in defeat. Even without a suitable shelter, the safety of the group was assured.

Wei Tao drove the armored cash transport slowly ahead, clearing the way. The disaster had struck at midday, leaving countless vehicles gridlocked on the roads, making it impossible for the group to speed up their progress.

Their greatest challenge now was a shortage of food. Fortunately, less than a kilometer in a straight line from the SWAT headquarters stood a large supermarket, stocked with everything they desperately needed.

They accelerated, the two vehicles quickly leaving the undead far behind. Zhao Qiang understood it was only a matter of time before the tireless zombies caught up. If clearing out the supermarket took too long, even the modified bus might not save them from disaster.

The supermarket sprawled across three floors, shelves once neatly stacked with goods that had entertained countless shoppers. Now, the entire building was shrouded in darkness, shadows drifting endlessly through the gloom.

Two unfamiliar figures slipped inside, their eyes faintly aglow with green light. The other shades, disturbed by these intruders, let out guttural growls and charged at the newcomers in a frenzy.

“Another fight,” one figure murmured, the green glow in his eyes betraying a hint of resignation, while the other remained as motionless and stoic as ancient stone.

In an instant, the swirling shadows surrounded the two invaders, but could not extinguish the green light before them. Twin bands of emerald light danced and weaved, painting a strange and tragic portrait in the darkness. No words were spoken, only the low, menacing growls and the muffled thud of blades sinking into flesh.

Gunfire erupted outside the supermarket. The tide of undead, drawn by the convoy, had arrived, launching a furious assault on the bus. The nearby zombies, summoned by the cacophonous howls, swelled the undead ranks further. From the firing ports, muzzle flashes poured forth like the scythe of death, harvesting lives that belonged to no world of the living.

Hearing the gunshots outside, the two supermarket infiltrators hastened their pace. Zhao Qiang and Wei Tao needed to locate the generator and shut all the doors leading in and out. With their night vision goggles, they could spot enemies in this emerald-tinted world, while the zombies relied only on scent and sound to hunt these dangerous intruders.

At last, they found the generator. Zhao Qiang didn’t count how many undead he had slain—honed by training to numbness, he dodged and struck by instinct alone, each slash felling another unwilling corpse. Guarding the door while Wei Tao started up the generator, Zhao Qiang held the narrow space, where the zombies’ numbers counted for little, and the battle felt no more taxing than a drill.

With a roar, the generator came to life. After a few flickers, incandescent lights blazed throughout the supermarket. Sensing danger, Zhao Qiang sliced down a zombie falling from above, then removed his night vision goggles. The store was in shambles—toppled shelves, scattered goods, mingling with severed limbs and corpses strewn across the floor.

Joining forces, Zhao Qiang and Wei Tao quickly took down most of the remaining undead and rushed back to the shopping area. “What now?” Zhao Qiang glanced at Wei Tao. Though fighting was not an issue, his experience paled in comparison to Wei Tao’s.

“To the security office. That’s where all the door controls are.” Wei Tao sidestepped a lunging zombie, driving his dagger into the back of its skull. With the lights restored, their pace quickened. Outside, the gunfire grew ever more intense—if they didn’t finish here soon, the situation outside would become truly dire.

The bus was now besieged by zombies. The riot shields, thought to be immovable, were starting to buckle under the relentless assault. Zhang Yongming and his colleagues had done all they could, but could no longer secure every window. Exhaustion was etched on every face—even the frail Li Zihan had joined the fight, her revolver steady and true, sending the wandering devils back to hell.

As the rolling shutter slowly descended, Zhao Qiang slipped beneath the closing door alone. The powerful firepower of his Type 81 rifle instantly blasted away several zombies clustered at the edge. He rolled to his feet and shouted, “Retreat! Head for the back door!”

Even as Zhao Qiang shouted himself hoarse, his voice was drowned out by gunfire and the zombies’ howls. Without hesitation, he charged toward the bus, gun spitting flame. In seconds, brilliant sprays of blood burst from the heads of a dozen zombies.

“Retreat! Back door!” At last, the people inside understood Zhao Qiang’s intent and started up the bus. Li Zihan, standing at the rear window, watched Zhao Qiang fighting alone with mounting anxiety. Only when she saw him slip into the armored van did she finally breathe easy.

Seeing everyone safely returned, Zhao Qiang let out a long sigh of relief. Given another chance, he would never want to face so many zombies alone again. Their speed was increasing—they came from every direction, some even leaping through the air to attack. If not for Wei Tao’s special training, Zhao Qiang was certain he could never have lasted so long as he did.

“Zhao, can you still fight?” Wei Tao approached, his tone as cold as ever, but with an edge of appreciation for his apprentice.

“No problem.” Zhao Qiang checked himself over. Though the recent battle had left him flustered and several zombies had come dangerously close to biting him, in the end, every close call sent another zombie back to hell. Aside from being drenched in zombie blood, he had not a single scratch.

“I’ll go with Zhao to clear the supermarket. The rest of you, protect everyone else,” Wei Tao said coldly to Zhang Yongming. “Any problem with that?”

“No problem,” Zhang Yongming replied crisply. But no one noticed the dark look that flickered across Li Zixin’s face nearby.