Chapter 336: 335 is simply a big tragedy
The first batch of survivors rescued had been back for 48 hours.
Many people had gained the opportunity to enter a safe zone to retrieve their luggage and fly away.
But most did not choose to leave.
Before long, Chi Chuan arrived with a supply transport team. Following Hua Mi’s instructions, they moved all the unmanned vending machines inside D City into the D City safe zone.
Hua Mi looked at the reclaimed vending machines, her heart aching.
Because the survivors were besieged by zombies and lacked supplies, they found it inconvenient to use money to scan and buy essentials.
Or maybe they felt that with D City in such a state, what rules and order could there be? Even if they had money, they didn’t want to spend it on supplies.
They resorted to violence, destroying the vending machines.
They implemented zero-cost purchasing within D City.
After the zombie crisis was resolved, all ten of the reclaimed vending machines were destroyed.
The goods inside had vanished without a trace.
No one knew who had done it.
“From now on, let’s keep the vending machines in the safe zone, not outside,” Hua Mi, holding her waist, instructed Chi Chuan.
She pointed to a patch of empty ground,
“There, a teleportation point just popped up; from now on, your team will bring supplies here to stock.”
Having delegated her instructions to Chi Chuan, Hua Mi looked at the sky. It was already darkening, and the glittering stars were twinkling against the black canopy.
She turned and walked towards her RV.
As she passed by a truck, she heard someone kicking at the door from inside.
Hua Mi walked over, about to see what was happening, when an anxious Da Fu stopped her,
“Sister Ah Mi, Wu Guilong is tied up inside there.”
Wu Guilong had just been bitten; he still needed observation, so the Garrison had confined him inside a truck.
There was no specific quarantine zone here, so a truck was temporarily used as a quarantine observation area.
With limited facilities, Da Fu was responsible for monitoring Wu Guilong.
Hua Mi raised a hand and patted Da Fu’s shoulder, giving the boy a reassuring look.
She took two steps forward and with a “clang,” slid the truck door open.
Inside, Wu Guilong, who had been using his feet to kick the door, suddenly withdrew his feet.
Embarrassed, he looked at Hua Mi,
“Sister Hua? What brings you here?”
He had heard the Garrison call the pregnant woman that.
Before Hua Mi could answer, Wu Guilong, afraid she might misconstrue that he had turned into a zombie, quickly explained,
“I just wanted to kick open the door to look at the stars.”
Thinking about something, Wu Guilong’s eyes welled up,
“There are stars tonight…”
Hua Mi stepped aside, giving up a large part of the view through the door.
Expressionless, she looked up at the sky, yes, a swath of stars, something she hadn’t seen in a long, long time.
Da Fu also instinctively looked up, having been too preoccupied with keeping an eye on Wu Guilong for signs of turning.
He hadn’t even considered that someone might just want to kick open the door to look at the stars.
Then, perhaps remembering something himself, Wu Guilong lying in the truck couldn’t help but start sobbing.
Hua Mi looked down, frowning, asked,
“What are you crying for?”
Wu Guilong tilted his head away, avoiding Hua Mi’s gaze, feeling a bit embarrassed.
A boxing champion, crying in front of a woman and a child.
“I just thought that if I turn into a zombie, I might never see the stars again.”
Wu Guilong was uncharacteristically sentimental, having gone through the most terrifying, restless, and painful darkest moments in his life, all within these short twenty-four hours.
At this point, he didn’t know whom to confide in about the depression and negative emotions he experienced.
Fortunately, Hua Mi and Da Fu were there, and thinking that he was going to turn into a zombie anyway, he overcame his embarrassment and asked,
“Do you think I’ll be able to see the stars afterward?”
“No,” Hua Mi answered rationally.
“Once you show symptoms of zombification, you’ll be put down. You shouldn’t worry about this issue.”
“Even if you successfully escape being decapitated, as a zombie, you won’t be able to appreciate the stars, for zombies lack the intelligence.”
That response hit Wu Guilong like a brutal assault, utterly disorienting him.
His face was pale as he managed to squeeze out an expression more hideous than crying at Hua Mi,
“Well, well, there’s no need to put it so bluntly.”
Hua Mi shrugged, fiddling with the safety zone’s remote control, and turned to head back to her RV.
Behind her, Wu Guilong’s hesitant voice could be heard,
“Um… Sister Hua, could you lend me some money?”
He was asking Hua Mi for money.
Hua Mi turned around with a curious brow raised at Wu Guilong.
This was her first time encountering someone asking her for money.
In the apocalypse, people typically fell into two categories concerning her: those who relied on her for food and those who looked down on her.
The former knew she had money and supplies and did not need to borrow money because they were also well-off.
The latter thought she was probably poorer than them, each afraid of her burdening them, not seeing her as wealthy.
They definitely wouldn’t think of borrowing money from her.
Only Wu Guilong, pitiable with tears streaming down his face,
“I’m just so hungry… could you lend me some, just 1000 to buy a few loaves of bread.”
While goods from small vendors were ridiculously expensive, fluctuating in price daily,
the merchandise in vending machines was, relatively speaking, quite affordable.
A thousand could buy quite a lot of bread.
Wu Guilong didn’t know when he would turn into a zombie, which worried him greatly.
But he hadn’t eaten in several days, and before being rescued by the Garrison, he had been without food.
“I want to fill myself up before I turn,”
Wu Guilong said to Hua Mi, looking more pitiful and wretched, wrapped up like a rice dumpling.
Hua Mi flicked her finger, placing the remote control back in storage level 35 slot 3, hands clasped behind her back, belly protruding, she said,
“You’re telling me you’re going to turn into a zombie, and I should lend you money now? Isn’t that a waste?”
“When you become a zombie, what will you use to pay me back?”
Wu Guilong was at a loss for words; tears streaming down his face, he looked at Hua Mi,
“You make a fair point.”
So, he was doomed to be a famished ghost.
Hua Mi didn’t owe him anything; she had already helped him a lot, always protecting him in front of those fierce survivors.
Now, it was reasonable that Hua Mi wouldn’t lend him money for the bread.
After all, once he truly became a zombie, there was indeed no way to repay her.
Wu Guilong wallowed in self-pity, feeling as if his life was a massive tragedy.
“Here’s an idea,” Hua Mi said,
“Write me an IOU. If you don’t turn into a zombie, you’ll work for me free of charge for a hundred years.”
“I’ll give you five loaves of bread.”