Chapter 6 A Glimmer of Humanity

From behind the building that Li Chenzhou had pointed to earlier, a swarm of twenty or thirty people emerged. There were men, women, and children, many carrying bags and sacks, but only a few held weapons like kitchen knives and rolling pins.

"Gao Suyun, what the hell are you yelling about? If you hadn't screamed, the zombies wouldn't have found us. Get out of here, or you'll get us all killed!"

"That's bull! Was I the only one shouting? Besides, that monster was less than ten meters away from us. With so many people running, how could it not see us?"

"Zhang Jinlong! You're no better! Why did you push my old Cheng out? I'm telling you, people like you deserve a terrible death!"

"What if I pushed him? That cripple of his wouldn't have lived anyway. It's better to let the monster eat him and buy us some time. If you utter another word, I'll break your legs and leave you here to wait for the monsters too!"

"..."

As they ran, they continued to accuse and curse each other by name – this being an old neighborhood, most of the residents knew each other, some very well.

Zhang Hu looked behind them but didn't see any zombies, causing him to frown.

"They must have encountered zombies near the small gate, and then… someone in the group was caught, so they haven't caught up yet!"

Li Chenzhou, knowing what Zhang Hu was thinking, said, "Actually, their best option right now is to scatter and run. Whether they escape back to their homes or run into a building and close the unit door, they have a chance to survive, at least for a few more days. However, they're afraid that if they leave the group, they'll attract the zombies, letting others benefit. And… in a large group, if they're caught by zombies, it might not be them! That's why they're all sticking together and running!"

Before Li Chenzhou could finish speaking, four zombies burst out from behind the building. Seeing them, the group's fear intensified, and they desperately ran towards the gate.

In fact, the guardhouse at the gate was still surrounded by zombies, making it an unsuitable escape route. However, the zombies were still attracted by Li Chenzhou and Zhang Hu above and hadn't looked this way. Also, the west gate and the main gate were the only two exits open in the complex, so the youths running in the front subconsciously turned here, and the people behind had no time to analyze, only knowing to follow the main group and run!

The screaming woman was still alive, being dragged forward by her old husband carrying a large bag. But the group was soon blocked by the cars parked haphazardly in front. They didn't have the ability to climb over the cars like the zombies, so they could only squeeze through the gaps between them, slowing their speed instantly.

Seeing the zombies catching up, a middle-aged man with a shaved head and a paunchy figure suddenly revealed a sinister look. Without warning, he swung the kitchen knife in his hand and slashed it across the neck of the person to his right.

Blood spurted from the man's neck. He cried out, instinctively covering his neck, and turned to look at the middle-aged man, screaming shrilly, "Zhang Jinlong! You b*stard..."

Before he could finish shouting the middle-aged man's name, Zhang Jinlong had already kicked him hard to the ground and ran forward without looking back.

The man on the ground let out a desperate howl, struggling to get up, but the zombies behind him, stimulated by the blood, all pounced on him and began to tear at him. Blood splattered like a fountain.

Watching this scene, Zhang Hu's hand holding the steel bar trembled slightly. His disbelieving eyes moved from the man being overwhelmed by zombies to the crowd struggling to get through the cars.

At this time, the people were also pulling at each other. One person had just climbed onto the hood of a car when another pulled him down by the leg, climbed up himself, rolled off, and continued forward. And the one who had climbed up from the ground grabbed someone about to pass him and pushed him down with all his might...

"Ever heard the story of the two friends and the bear?"

Li Chenzhou was also watching those people, his eyes without any fluctuation. He spoke softly, "Two good friends encountered a bear in the forest. One of them quickly put on spiked shoes. The other asked strangely, 'Even if you put on spiked shoes, you can't outrun a bear, can you?'

His friend replied, 'Who's trying to outrun the bear? I just need to outrun you!'"

As he spoke, Li Chenzhou slowly stood up and took two steps back, moving himself out of the sight of the zombies below. Then, he raised his arm, looked at the people who had already passed through the car blockade and were about to rush out of the gate, glanced at Zhang Hu, and gently pressed the car key in his hand.

The alarm stopped abruptly. The youths who had just rushed out of the gate were startled, then sped up, trying to get out of the complex as quickly as possible. But the zombies on the periphery, attracted by their sound, turned and pounced on them.

"F*ck your mother, you two bastards, you can't escape anyway, why can't you help us attract these monsters?"

One of the youths cursed loudly, while shoving his companion toward the oncoming zombies, sending him staggering. He then turned and plunged back into the crowd.

The youth's companion was grabbed by two zombies, one of which bit his cheek, tearing off the entire right half of his face, revealing his ghastly teeth and cheekbone. His screams and blood instantly caused the zombie horde surrounding the guardhouse to boil over.

Seeing that the road ahead was also blocked, the crowd immediately stopped, preparing to turn around, but about ten zombies had already rushed over from behind, and they were completely blocked.

"Ah!"

Zhang Jinlong, who had slashed someone earlier, suddenly let out a mad cry. He raised the kitchen knife in his hand and slashed it at the shoulder of a mother who was pulling a seven- or eight-year-old child, then kicked her, spraying blood, toward the zombies in front.

"Those who want to live, throw the others to the zombies! While they're eating them, we still have a chance to escape!"

Zhang Jinlong roared violently, while grabbing the wailing child, lifting him up and throwing him into the zombie horde.

Hearing Zhang Jinlong's words, the other survivors scattered instantly, each warily watching the people around them. At this time, the zombies that hadn't gotten any food rushed into their midst.

The area near the main gate instantly became extremely chaotic. Despairing human cries, excited zombie roars, and blood splattering everywhere attracted all the zombies nearby. The previously surrounded guardhouse was now devoid of even a single zombie.

Zhang Hu stared blankly at the scene below, his eyes filled with sorrow and confusion, because he saw that the people holding weapons were not wielding their blades against the zombies, but against the people beside them.

Because a person with a wound, his screams, and the smell of blood, could attract more zombies, which was far better than risking his life to kill a zombie blocking his path.

The number of surrounded survivors began to dwindle, and the zombies began a feast of carnage. The sound of flesh being torn and chewed filled the air above the complex, constantly echoing with people's cries and groans, both loud and weak…

Zhang Jinlong managed to survive. He ran out of the complex, stripping off his blood-stained clothes as he went. Behind him, three or four people followed closely, each keeping a certain distance from the others.

"Quick! Go over there!"

Just then, a familiar scream rang out. The middle-aged woman and her husband were still alive. The old man was pulling the woman across the gate of the complex, and the woman was pointing at Li Chenzhou and Zhang Hu on the guardhouse, shouting loudly.

"Shh!"

The old man turned back and gestured for the woman to be quiet, but he found that her voice had already attracted the attention of a zombie that was feeding. It raised its head, looked at them with scarlet eyes, opened its blood-dripping mouth, let out a roar, and dropped an arm it was holding, lunging at them!

"Run!"

The old man became anxious, pulling the woman towards the guardhouse. The windows of the guardhouse had iron bars, so if they could rush in and close the door, they could hold out for a while.

Unfortunately, the zombie was too fast. They had only taken two steps when the zombie caught up to them. Just as the zombie's claws were about to grab the woman, the woman suddenly grabbed the old man's hand and flung him behind her.

"Ah~~!"

The zombie embraced the old man, lowered its head and bit his neck, tearing off a long strip of flesh. Amidst the old man's screams, the woman took the opportunity to rush to the bottom of the guardhouse, staring anxiously at Zhang Hu, who was holding a steel bar and staring at her in a daze, "Quick! Pull me up!"

Zhang Hu looked at the old man, who hadn't lost consciousness yet but had given up struggling, letting the zombie tear at him, staring at the woman with astonished and disbelieving eyes. He looked at the woman below, waving desperately and calling out to him. Suddenly, he stepped forward, bent down, and handed the steel bar to the woman.

"Quick, quick, quick! Pull hard! Pull me up! Hurry!"

The woman immediately grabbed the steel bar, urging him repeatedly, her fleshy face contorted with fear.

Zhang Hu bent over, moving his hands down the steel bar. Soon, the woman reached the edge of the roof. She immediately released the steel bar, grabbing the edge of the roof with one hand and the hand Zhang Hu extended with the other, her entire body hanging in the air!

At this moment, Zhang Hu didn't try to pull the woman up onto the roof. Instead, he turned to look at Li Chenzhou.

Li Chenzhou was standing in the center of the roof, also looking at Zhang Hu, but he just smiled slightly at him, without making any expression or saying a word.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and pull me up!"

The woman noticed that Zhang Hu had stopped and immediately cried out.

Zhang Hu ignored the woman, looking directly at the woman's husband, and then at the residents of the complex who had been bitten to death but had stood up again and were gathering towards them.

He then looked at the woman's face, filled with anxiety and anger. Zhang Hu suddenly smiled, just like Li Chenzhou had smiled at him earlier, and said, "I saved you once before, and that time, I learned a lot, so… thank you!"

Then, in the woman's terrified eyes, Zhang Hu slowly and resolutely withdrew his hand…

"You little b*stard! You… Ah!"

The woman fell with a scream, her fat body slamming heavily on the ground. She was cursing when she suddenly felt a darkness in front of her. Old Wu's face, which had been with her for decades, familiar yet terrifying, was rapidly approaching…