Preparations Before Departure

Zhang Xiao Qiang became dull after looking downstairs. “Could it be that all the zombies on the streets had come here?” The small s.p.a.ce downstairs was crowded full of zombies. Where the stairs met the platform, the ground was slanted. The stairs entered the main building and creates an angle. Hundreds of zombies were all squeezed at the end of the slant. A few of the zombies at the edge of the group smelt Zhang Xiao Qiang and started heading towards him.

Having just experienced a fierce fight, his body was getting weak. After thinking about killing a few hundred zombies, he decided that he might tire himself to death, so he returned home, bitterly thinking of a plan.

Downstairs outside the window, the streets were empty. There were only a few zombies with broken legs crawling around. The zombie that liked eating rats, that was possibly still evolving was among them. There was also one where its thigh had only bone left, as the big mutant dog took a bite. At that time, it was the fiercest one. It was running the fastest, so naturally, now it looked miserable.

“What can I do?”

“Use fire? I don’t have any gas and even if I used cooking oil, I don’t have much of it!!!”

“Use the sniper crossbow? I only have 6 bolts. I’ve got 40 steel b.a.l.l.s left but at most I can kill a quarter of them, what about the other three quarters?”

“What if I ignore the zombies and used a rope to get from the window to downstairs? But how do I get over the protective fence as I don’t have any equipment.”

“Cover my entire body with thick clothing and rush out?” Zhang Xiao Qiang shuddered and shook his head.

“That’s just asking to be killed”

“They have no sight, an average hearing ability and a strong sense of smell.” Zhang Xiao Qiang started to sum up. Zombies are sensitive to flesh up to 1000m away. All the zombies that were within a 1000m radius were downstairs.

“Strong sense of smell…” Zhang Xiao Qiang continued to speak aloud. They can smell things that are up to 1000m away, meaning that the olfactory organs are developed. It means what they smell is precise, which means it is vulnerable to being damaged.

“I’ve got it” to Zhang Xiao Qiang, the more sensitive the sense of smell, the more important it is to the body. When the zombies are mutating, their sensory organs are developed unevenly as there is an over reliance on smell. The stronger the sense of smell, then the more it will affect the zombie’s bodies. The sense of smell is the zombie’s radar, if it is lost, then they will just be like headless flies!

He couldn’t make a molotov, but making a few homemade gas bombs should be no problem. If I can think of it, I can do it. Zhang Xiao Qiang walked towards the kitchen.

After a short while, there were a few gas bombs before him. The main component was dry hot pepper with some cinnamon pepper wrapped with sheets into a ball, topped with peanut oil. (At the time of making, he almost added in some bean paste, luckily he came back to his senses.) In addition, he separately wrapped some black pepper in some newspaper.

Preparing to leave, the mutant cat body had gathered 7-8 more zombies. They were probably the ones that followed Zhang Xiao Qiang. He didn’t bother with them as there are still a whole bunch of bodies around. It should be enough for them to eat for a while!

Zhang Xiao Qiang returned to the entrance of the stairway. The zombies were still crowded downstairs. The zombies on the outer side once again started to stagger towards him. He then threw the pepper wrapped in newspaper at the group. The newspaper opened up midair and the black pepper inside spread out. The black pepper in the air created a grey fog that slowly covered their bodies. Not long after, the whole group started to go crazy. Zhang Xiao Qiang then lit the homemade gas bomb and threw it into the group of zombies. In moments the group of zombies were enveloped in a cloud of thick smoke. Zhang Xiao Qiang could even smell the odour of the tear gas standing at the top of the platform, which says something about the zombies downstairs.

The group of zombies were acting like they had poked a hornets nest as they were mindlessly running around. The zombies were pus.h.i.+ng each other, scramming about. others that were ga.s.sed were scratching and biting the zombies around them. Some zombies were knocked to the ground, then over a 100 legs stepped on it, submerging them into the group. Zhang Xiao Qiang, from the platform looked on. Seeing this kind of scene was rare and was a wonderful refres.h.i.+ng sight.

The zombie group downstairs ran away with not a single one left. The 10 remaining zombies were the ones that were paralysed as they were trampled by the zombie group. Zhang Xiao Qiang looked back to see those few zombies that were around the mutant cat body still munching. Seeing this, he tightened his grip on the spear.

Standing near the canteen, the floor was filled with bags. Zhang Xiao Qiang picked up cookies and started eating. Every now and then he took a large drink of mineral water. In the morning, he had completely finished all the food in the house and he still wasn’t satisfied. After that, he killed over 10 zombies. He was exhausted and felt even more hungry, so now he was just standing in the canteen, eating to replenish his strength.

The biscuits on the shelves were quickly consumed. When it was the last biscuit remaining, he greedily scanned the food shelves.

“There were only 8 full bags left” he said with some regret. The small store was never really big, so after looting it a few times most of the shelves were now completely empty. They were only left with a few dozen packets of instant noodles and some rice noodles, but there was still a lot of seasoning. Not wanting to leave anything behind he stuffed it all in his backpack. Remembering that his house didn’t have many cigarettes left, he took a red box  of>, (they were 50 dollars before so couldn’t afford them but now he cant leave them behind,)  and a soft china and went home!

Zhang Xiao Qiang prepared to escape the city tomorrow. Now that he had to prepare all his supplies, after going home, the first thing he had to do was to search a few houses to see if he can gather any more food, but unfortunately he only got a handful in return. However, in the military home he found a box of steel b.a.l.l.s, and a multi functional folding shovel. The shovel can be used like a pair of pliers. It was hidden under the bed. Lastly, he found a map of the province in the table drawer.

He put all the instant noodles first, then the 10 pounds of thai rice, two bundles of noodles and some pickled vegetables. After a few bottles of mineral water and after looking at the backpack, it was only about half full. It can still can pack a lot of things. He added a few more bottles of water. Thinking about it, he went back and put in the beef and chili sauce. After thinking about the gla.s.s bottle’s weight, he found an empty bottle of mineral water and mixed a variety of sauces into it. Then, after packing a number of cigarettes into it he was basically done.

Then he found a large military water bottle. It was what his dad used to use when he went hunting. After was.h.i.+ng it clean and filling it with water, there wasn’t much water left. Who knows whether the water outside has viruses in it.

He also found an old military bag that can be used to store the metal lunch boxes from home. The lunch box can be used when cooking along with a small ceramic cup. These were all left by this dad. Zhang Xiao Qiang couldn’t help but sigh.

“Even though the stuff left behind by dad is old, they’re all pieces of treasure.”

Doing a final check, then thinking for moment, he took the > in the house and poured it into a plastic bottle. He also took 2 bags of salt and a bag of tea, putting them into the bag,

Living supplies are ready now. To check the weapons, there were the spear and knife. After using it a dozen times Zhang Xiao Qiang found a tick with the sniper crossbow. He sanded off the protective lacquer from the body of the arrow. It can prevent wear this way. In addition, it can also increase the arrow’s stability. Just make sure that it’s lubricated with oil from time to time. Then he finally packed the military shovel and its all “OK”. He wanted to put the iron hammer and military shovel together, who knows when they’ll come in handy.

When Zhang Xiao Qiang was done preparing it was getting dark. Zhang Xiao Qiang moved a few imitation mahogany chairs against the door, then lit a fire in the living room. A wind blew in through the open window. The fire in the living room started dancing. The room was then dark and bright. The light and darkness were dancing with his thoughts of all the memories, both the good and bad of this house. It was the last night before Zhang Xiao Qiang left.