Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person - Chapter 314 - 263: An Empty Building

“Hmm, the light isn’t good…”

In the driver’s seat of a van, Tan Huajun leaned over, positioned her gun out of the passenger window, and looked toward the snowy white church in the dim moonlight. She could see the black windows at the top of the tower, but nothing else was clear. She doubted whether anyone could hit a target from this distance.

“Strange…”

Xin Qi furrowed his brow deeply, lowered the window, and looked out at the pitch-black church, scratching his head, “It shouldn’t be like this, really shouldn’t. Hey, where are the three donkeys going?”

He shouted loudly, but there was no response in the vacant fields, and the atmosphere felt exceptionally eerie.

“What are you talking about…” Zhao Dezhu grinned and asked.

“That line is supposed to be asked by the sentry, and then I’d answer that we’re going to the South Mountain White Bone Tower, which shows we’re on the same side. If it were a different direction, we’d change the response accordingly.”

Xin Qi explained.

“Damn, if knowing just one line doesn’t work, this is quite strict!”

Zhao Dezhu scratched his head.

Zhang Su sneered, “It only seems strict. If you start beating someone, they wouldn’t just stick to one line; they’d spill everything like pouring beans. By the way, what’s going on now? Is slacking off not enough? Are they going AWOL?”

“I don’t know either…” Xin Qi scratched his head, looking around with a puzzled face, as he hadn’t encountered this before.

“Get out of the car.”

Zhang Su picked up the walkie-talkie, announced, and then opened the door and got out.

Perhaps it was because the area was scarcely populated, not even a zombie was in sight, and it was as quiet as a ghost town.

“Driver, stay and watch the car. The rest, follow me!”

Zhang Su led the others to the church.

It was a very traditional Protestant-style church, made entirely of wood. Including the cross on the spire, its total height didn’t exceed twenty meters. The main building was about twelve or thirteen meters tall, equivalent to a four-story apartment building, which was perfect for photography.

Inside the church, there were lined benches, though there wasn’t a traditional prayer room. It seemed like the disaster hadn’t affected the church much, or perhaps the Cyan Dragon Corps had tidied up the interior, as it didn’t look chaotic.

About a dozen flashlight beams lit up the church interior brightly, but no living creatures were found.

“Is anyone there?”

Zhang Su looked up and shouted. He didn’t hear even the faintest breath, knowing the place was empty, but he was doing this for the people around him.

“How about going upstairs? Brother, do you want to take a look?”

Xin Qi pointed at the stairs.

“Let’s go, take a look!”

Zhang Su tightened his gun strap and casually led a few others toward the stairs.

Soon, they arrived at the attic at the top of the tower.

In the three-meter square conical space, there was a mattress in the corner, an ashtray on the windowsill, and some life garbage piled in the corner, giving a lived-in feel.

“Something’s wrong! Wrong, wrong!”

Qi Xiaoshuai frowned, picked up a thermos next to the mattress, opened it, and said, “Brother Su, the tea in here is still hot!”

“Hmm?”

Zhang Su took the cup, felt it, and indeed, there was a steady stream of warmth escaping from the rim. Testing the water temperature with his finger, it was at least seventy to eighty degrees!

“There’s no heating here, and with temperatures close to zero, water in a thermos cools quickly. With this temperature, the person couldn’t have left more than an hour or two ago!”

Zhang Su quickly concluded, based on what he’d deduced out of boredom while working security at a convenience store in the past. It wasn’t precise but served its purpose.

“It shouldn’t be like this…” Xin Qi frowned hard, suddenly enlightened, “I know!”

“Damn, don’t scare me like that!” Zhao Dezhu jumped.

“Sorry, sorry…” Xin Qi apologized repeatedly, then continued, “Something important must have happened at headquarters, so they called all the perimeter sentries back!”

“Something important?” Zhang Su frowned slightly, suddenly recalling Liu Lei mentioned faction disputes, pondering if someone started an internal war while three teams were out gathering food?

“What kind of important thing makes even the perimeter sentries unnecessary? Has this happened before?” Zhao Dezhu kicked the garbage on the floor, asking.

Xin Qi thought for a moment and said, “I heard from the old folks… There was once a zombie horde attack that brought everyone outside back to headquarters. I hadn’t joined the Corps then. Oh, ask Old Fang. Old Fang knows!”

Old Fang, also a captive, was the one eager to prove himself earlier.

Zhang Su and the others didn’t stay long in the attic and found Old Fang as they headed downstairs.

“I heard the Corps once called everyone back to headquarters in an emergency?”

“Huh? Oh, yes!” Fang Daming was momentarily stunned, then nodded, “That was about two months ago, or a month and a half. A huge horde of zombies came from the north then, and the Corps’ defenses were still relatively weak, so the commander called everyone back. It was quite a brutal fight; over thirty people died!”

Recalling the zombie tide from over a month ago brought a fearful look to Fang Daming’s face.

“So many dead? How many zombies attacked headquarters that you lost that many people?”

Zhang Su was surprised. Over thirty wasn’t just a cold number; it was about the same as their population before United Village merged with Celestial Horse Island!

Fang Daming rolled his eyes in thought, “It was counted later, but I forgot… I didn’t really pay attention to this. Anyway, it was over ten thousand, maybe nearly twenty thousand!”

“Ten to twenty thousand…”

Zhang Su was secretly shocked; that number was terrifying. Even behind strong defenses, it would take massive firepower to wipe them out!

If such a zombie horde attacked Celestial Horse Island, even with terrain advantage and fortifications, it would be very tough. All the firepower might not suffice to eliminate them; it would require close combat after firepower extermination, and failing that, they might have to abandon the place…

“Brother Su, given how long it’s been since the last zombie tide, could the Cyan Dragon Corps be under siege by a horde again?”

Zheng Xinyu, seeing Zhang Su lost in thought, asked.

“Let’s go; we’ll find out by going further ahead!”

Zhang Su decided to investigate, determined to keep moving forward.

The group returned to their vehicles, and the convoy set off again.

They continued ahead, and according to Xin Qi, there was supposed to be a second sentry about a kilometer or two from headquarters, but when they arrived, it was still deserted!

“Something must have happened, something big!”

Some captives exclaimed simultaneously.

Zhang Su stood on the rooftop of an abandoned factory outside the city, peering into the distance. Due to Qing County’s rough terrain, the view was blocked, and he couldn’t see what was happening.

“Keep going; we’re not far!”

The Cyan Dragon Corps had built a camp as their base of operations but not in the downtown area. It was about two kilometers west of the town.

After learning from Xin Qi that traffic within the town was clear, Zhang Su planned to cut through the city.

But before they even reached the city limits, Zhang Su suddenly slammed the brakes to a stop.

“What’s wrong?”

Zhao Dezhu pressed his face against the window, scanning the dark street, clueless.

“A zombie horde!” Zhang Su said, staring ahead, his voice tense as he confirmed the expected outcome for everyone!

“There really is a zombie horde?” Zhao Dezhu’s heart skipped a beat. He lowered the window, stuck his head out, letting the cold wind hit his face, looked for a while, and awkwardly withdrew, “Brother, I can’t see it…”

At the same time, the walkie-talkie crackled with questions from the other vehicle drivers. Upon learning zombies blocked their way, they all fell silent.