BC Chapter 31

Chapter 30

Not long after, Zhang Biao, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and one eye squinted, emerged from the second-floor room while fastening his belt.

“Hiss—whoosh—.” After buckling his belt, he held the cigarette with the “Liqun” brand name between his index and middle fingers, took a deep drag, and exhaled the smoke through his nostrils.

In the fleeting moment as the smoke rose and dissipated, a complacent smile crept onto his lips as he leaned against the second-floor railing, puffing away while thinking, “Now all that’s missing is a plate of braised pork ribs and a case of ‘Big Green Sticks’ beer. Hehe, apocalypse or no apocalypse, with cigarettes, women, food, and drinks, then your Grandpa Zhang is practically a god!”

However, the thought of food made his stomach rumble in agreement. He frowned. He’d been so preoccupied with getting a woman that he’d forgotten to take care of his belly. After all that physical exertion, he was genuinely hungry. No, he needed to get something to eat.

With that thought, he took one last drag of the cigarette butt, tossed the filterless end on the ground, crushed it with his foot, and headed downstairs.

“Boss.”

“Boss!”

Seeing him descend, the four men who had gone out with him earlier stood up, beaming, and greeted him.

Sun Qiang stepped forward, offering Zhang Biao a bottle of mineral water. “Did you have a good rest?”

Zhang Biao twisted open the cap, took two large gulps, wiped his mouth, nodded, and replied, “Yeah, you guys should have eaten already, right? The second floor is empty now. You four brothers can discuss taking turns resting. I’ll arrange for others to go out scavenging tonight. You guys just relax and ‘rest.'”

“Aye, got it.” The men exchanged glances and responded in unison with smiles.

Zhang Biao had Fang Jun prepare some food for him. While eating, he instructed Fang Jun that tonight’s operation would only involve three people, including Fang Jun as the leader. Their main task was to search nearby pharmacies for useful medicines. They could grab any food and drinks they found along the way, but it wasn’t a priority.

“As for the bait… just take that four-eyes we just caught. Take off the handcuffs, replace them with rope to bind his hands. Take whatever weapon you’re comfortable with.” As he spoke, he unholstered the handgun from his waist and solemnly handed it to Fang Jun, saying, “Precious weapon, use it sparingly, understand?”

“Got it. Boss, don’t worry.” Fang Jun’s eyes lit up as he accepted the weighty handgun, running his fingers over the engravings with a hint of obsession. After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In normal times, he might never even get to touch something like this.

These things held a certain significance in every man’s heart. The fascination with weapons seemed to be etched into their bones from birth. And for women, some also liked them, though not as many. Those women were just as capable heroes.

“If you find a suitable bait, you can bring it back too. After all, these things are used up one by one.” A cruel glint flickered in Zhang Biao’s eyes as he delivered the final instruction expressionlessly.

…

As night deepened, those remaining in the base went to sleep in the partitioned rooms of the second-floor treatment area. Except for the constant sounds emanating from the room where Zhang Biao was, only Fang Jun, Huang Wei, Dai Liang, Wang Dong, and Wang Kun, who was responsible for locking and unlocking the door, remained on the first floor, preparing to embark on their mission.

“Alright, no activity at the door. Be careful.” Wang Kun peeled back a corner of the paper covering the door, peered through the gap to observe the outside. Seeing no zombies gathering or wandering near the door or on the street within a hundred meters, he opened the door for the four men.

Fang Jun nodded, patted Wang Kun with his free hand, and stepped out first. Huang Wei and Dai Liang followed behind, each supporting Wang Dong, whose wrists were bound, eyes covered, and mouth taped shut.

After they left, Wang Kun locked the door from the inside, then lay down on the row of waiting room chairs, adjusted his position, and prepared to doze off.

…

The night temperature had begun to warm up slightly. Fang Jun and the others walked slowly down the street, mainly because Wang Dong had understood what they were taking him to do, so his legs had become too weak to move. Huang Wei and Dai Liang could only half-support and half-drag him along. To match their pace, Fang Jun had to slow down as well. It wasn’t until they had walked past two blocks that Fang Jun saw dozens of wandering zombies on another street, and he knew it was time to release the bait.

Untying the rope around Wang Dong, he tore the tape from his mouth, and then, standing behind him, shoved him toward the center of the intersection. Wang Dong staggered a few steps. Out of a sense of self-preservation, he ripped off the blindfold from his eyes. His vision was already poor, and his eyes were still stinging from being bound, so he rubbed them instinctively. Then, he heard Fang Jun’s cold voice behind him.

“Run! Scream! If you don’t want to be shot dead right away!”

Wang Dong turned his head abruptly and vaguely saw Fang Jun pointing something at him.

“3, 2,…” Fang Jun raised the gun and began counting down.

“No! Don’t kill me!!!” Only then did Wang Dong realize what the other party was threatening him with, so he instinctively cried out.

The silent night, the empty street, this shout directly attracted the attention of dozens of zombies wandering the street. They reacted for a moment, and then all started moving, growling as they rushed toward Wang Dong’s location…

Although Wang Dong couldn’t see clearly, he could guess what those dozens of moving black figures were.

“Ah—” he screamed, turned, and tried to run back toward where Fang Jun and the other two were. As if he had anticipated Wang Dong’s next move, Fang Jun fired a shot “bang” onto the asphalt road between Wang Dong and himself. Wang Dong covered his ears and immediately stopped running toward them. Seeing Fang Jun raise the gun directly at him, his legs shook, and he immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Although the zombies’ eyesight was poor at night, their hearing was greatly enhanced, so they followed closely behind the noise maker, Wang Dong. Soon, the zombies on the entire street and several intersections were drawn away by Wang Dong.

There were two pharmacies on this street, Sixth Pharmacy and Jishengtang. Fang Jun remembered seeing them before, which was why he chose to release Wang Dong here.