Chapter 10: Taking Lives

Volume 1 “Year of Calamity”

Killing – most people have had such experiences. Slaughtering pigs, butchering sheep, even killing larger animals.

Of course, if we’re talking about large animals that ordinary people don’t have slaughtering experience with, then most have personally handled creatures like fish and shrimp.

But killing humans is another matter entirely. Although fundamentally speaking, those mutated people can no longer be called human, after all, just days ago these zombies were living, breathing people.

An Sheng was also an ordinary person. How to cross that psychological barrier was an extremely difficult process. Similarly, this test applied to every survivor after the catastrophe.

After all, this was no longer the peaceful world with order where basic safety could be guaranteed. If you didn’t kill those zombies, then you would become their food.

“Ready?” Old Zhang swallowed hard, looking at An Sheng as he asked.

For the survivors in the tube-style apartment building, Old Zhang was considered a hero in their eyes. He and Old Liu were the first to organize a temporary rescue team to help neighbors, isolating those corpses poisoned by the blood rain and infected survivors. Otherwise, the entire tube-style apartment building would likely have fallen by now. But Old Zhang was also human – he could feel fear too.

The debris blocking the stairwell had been cleared to create a narrow path barely wide enough for one person to pass through. As long as they moved the last worn-out wooden sofa, the zombies would come pouring in.

The plan was to let in a small number of zombies and then block the entrance again. But there’s always a chance of things going wrong. If anything unexpected happened, then the four of them on the third floor would become meat in the zombies’ mouths.

Taking several deep breaths, An Sheng subconsciously tightened his grip on the fire axe.

“Come on!” An Sheng shouted, and his call was answered by the beast-like roars of the zombies.

Old Zhang kicked the worn-out sofa with tremendous force, knocking down several zombies behind it. Simultaneously, the original barricade revealed a gap half a person wide from that kick.

The zombies knocked to the ground were immediately trampled by their kind surging from behind. One zombie’s head even burst open from unable to bear the weight of its counterparts, splattering brown blood and gray brain matter everywhere, emitting a nauseating stench.

Attracted by the fresh flesh before them, the zombies scrambled to squeeze through this narrow passage. Old Zhang and Baldy each held up a dining table, hiding on either side of the passage. This was the strategy they had discussed earlier – An Sheng and Little Old Man would serve as bait to lure the zombies in. When the first zombie entered, Old Zhang and Baldy would immediately use the old dining tables as shields to push back the remaining zombies and block the passage again. After all, this was the first time they were confronting zombies directly – better to test the waters with just one first.

A thin zombie wearing a lace dress managed to squeeze up to the third floor first, taking advantage of its small size. Judging by its appearance, this zombie hadn’t been very old before death. Although its skin had turned ashen brown after mutation, one could still recognize her delicate features. She seemed to have been quite beautiful before – not stunningly gorgeous, but definitely the type that would catch your eye. It’s just that you wouldn’t dare look at her current appearance for more than a second.

“Block the path!”Seeing the floral dress zombie had entered the third floor, An Sheng immediately shouted. Old Zhang and Baldy reacted swiftly – they quickly stood up holding the dining tables, throwing them one after another toward the entrance passage.

The first dining table, being old and decayed, shattered into pieces under the tremendous force, but still managed to knock down the zombies in the passage onto the stairs. Immediately after, the second table was thrown at the zombies in the passage. The two men’s next task was to find a way to block the passage, while An Sheng and Little Old Man began their own mission.

Little Old Man’s weapon was a simple anti-riot steel ring made from iron pipes and wires, designed to immediately restrain the zombie and prevent it from attacking Old Zhang and Baldy who were blocking the passage.

Although Little Old Man’s reactions weren’t as quick as the younger Old Zhang and Baldy, he wasn’t far behind. Working as a loader at a logistics company, despite his age, his physical condition from years of carrying goods could arguably surpass that of today’s office-working youth.

With sharp eyes and quick hands, Little Old Man slipped the simple anti-riot steel ring around the floral dress zombie’s neck and began dragging it backward.

After dragging the zombie over ten meters in one go, Little Old Man gasped for breath while looking at An Sheng who had been following alongside him.

“Your turn!” After saying this, Little Old Man handed the anti-riot steel ring to An Sheng. He needed to quickly go help Old Zhang and Baldy – that was the most critical area. If they couldn’t block it, all of them would end up as zombie food.

Holding the anti-riot steel ring with one hand and the fire axe with the other, An Sheng appeared quite intimidating, but in reality he was so nervous he was almost trembling. His palms and soles were sweaty, and even his calves were shaking slightly.

His task now was to drag the zombie in front of him into the prepared empty room, then execute this young miss in the floral dress… zombie on the spot. Looking at this female zombie that still retained some of its original appearance, a lewd thought suddenly crossed An Sheng’s mind.

If this zombie hadn’t mutated, she would probably have been quite beautiful. Could he have “dealt with her on the spot” back then too?

Thinking this, An Sheng shook his head self-mockingly, mentally criticizing himself for fantasizing about such things at a time like this. However, this wandering imagination wasn’t entirely without benefit – at the very least, he wasn’t as tense as before.