Chapter 1

My right ankle bone has been shattered by a bullet.

When the first zombie in the tattered jacket lunged at me and bit my shoulder, I didn't have the strength to struggle. Then came the second, the third …

The disaster began ninety days ago when a zombie virus of unknown origin spread rapidly within two weeks , soon crippling power and communications across the United States . The zombies easily destroyed military defenses.

 A month ago, my sister and I, along with about sixty other survivors, set up a makeshift shelter in the relatively sturdy Blackwood Freight Center.

 Everything was still under control until the evening of the 17th day of the catastrophe.

Chloe heard faint cries for help outside the roller shutter. While we were repairing the fence at the other end, she took it upon herself to pull open the bottom bolt of roller shutter number four.

The man she let in wasn't alive at all; he had already been infected with the virus and had less than a minute left to mutate.

My sister Maya died that day.

She was only seven years old at the time, and she was hiding behind several stacks of cardboard boxes.

The zombie bit her leg and dragged her into the darkness, she didn't even have time to scream.

I swung the crowbar in my hand like a madman, and finally managed to stabilize the situation and lower the roller shutter again .

I carried the metal crowbar and walked step by step toward Chloe, ready to smash her head open .

Looking at the corpses scattered on the ground, she actually burst into tears and protested, "How was I supposed to know he'd been bitten?! I was just trying to be kind, how can you all be so heartless! "

Just as I was about to smash my crowbar into her head, Victor's convoy arrived.

He brought his fully armed private mercenaries, and the dark muzzles of their guns were instantly pointed at us.

Viktor pinned me to the ground, took control of all our remaining supplies and medicines, and pulled Chloe behind him in front of me, berating me for my "thuggish behavior . "

Viktor didn't kill me directly.

He brought us back to the base and treated us like expendable resources, making us clear the way for them and distract infected people in the most dangerous neighborhoods every day.

We were out there battling a virus-carrying monster, and every day we were only given half a moldy, hard grain cake and were drinking muddy water that wasn't properly filtered.

Chloe, however, with her self-righteous kindness and her pretty face, became Victor's lover .

I still vividly remember last week when Chloe came out as I carried my wounded companion back to the camp gate.

She was wearing a clean sweater washed with expensive soap, and even holding a steaming cup of black coffee in her hand.

Looking at the bloodstains on our bodies through the iron fence, she squeezed out a few tears: " Don't be sad. Victor said that this is a necessary growing pain for rebuilding human civilization. As long as you obediently abide by the quota regulations on the periphery and don't hoard even a single roll of bandage, everyone can live peacefully."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out half a piece of chocolate she had left over, handing it to the barbed wire: "This is what I got from pleading with Viktor. Take it and get some strength."

At that moment, looking at her face, I really wanted to shove her head into a meat grinder.

She takes the supplies stained with our blood, enjoys warmth and privileges, and then tells us to be grateful.

I planned for three days before escaping with the remaining few people .

But during the firefight, my ankle was pierced by Viktor's rifle.

Everyone else has been devoured by zombies in the past half hour, and now, it's finally my turn.

I didn't want to become a zombie after I died, so I endured the pain, raised my pistol, and pointed it at my temple.

Bang!

I sat bolt upright on an old cot as if I'd been electrocuted, panting, and quickly scanned my surroundings.

The concrete dome, several meters high, had no windows that hadn't been shattered. The heavy steel roller shutter door on the first floor was tightly shut.

There was no nauseating stench of corpses in the air.

I immediately threw off the blanket, stepped barefoot onto the rough cement floor, and quickly walked to the corner behind the stack of cardboard boxes not far away.

Maya was curled up in her sleeping bag, clutching the dirty plush rabbit tightly in her arms.

She was fast asleep, and even the footsteps of several people passing by did not wake her.

I glanced at my perfectly intact right ankle.

Then, I looked up at the calendar hanging on the wall, which had the number 14 written in chalk. It was the 14th day since we moved in.

The day the No. 4 roller shutter was opened was the evening of the 17th day.

I have three full days left.

I leaned against a concrete pillar and took out a folding knife from my pocket.

No, I can't go over there and slit Chloe's throat right now.

At this time, the logistics center was still in a chaotic early stage of construction, with forty or fifty refugees gathered together, without a leader or any rules.

Because there are still some snacks in the vending machine, everyone can still pretend to be at peace for now.

If I were to kill someone right now, this place would absolutely descend into panic.

They would subdue me or expel me and my sister in order to protect themselves.

Moreover, even if Chloe were dead now, Victor's convoy would still be roaming the area.

To make that woman and Viktor pay for this blood debt, I must take complete control of this warehouse.

In the open space not far ahead, the sounds of a moderate argument could be heard from several people.

I put away my folding knife, stepped over the debris on the ground, and walked expressionlessly toward the direction from which the sound came.

Around two joined folding wooden tables, a dozen or so dusty survivors were gathered. On the tables lay the last bit of food they had found that day : several bags of crushed potato chips, two packs of biscuits, and seven or eight empty bottles of water.

A burly mechanic named Marcus frowned, pointing at the meager amount of biscuits and muttering, "These two packs of biscuits aren't nearly enough. The men who went to move sandbags to plug the gap last night were exhausted ... "

Just as the person next to him was about to retort, Chloe walked over from the side.

She was wearing a clean beige sweater and her hair was neatly combed.

“Everyone, stop arguing,” Chloe said, walking to the table and picking up the two packets of cookies without hesitation. Turning to Marcus, she said, “Marcus, you’re strong, you won’t be hurt by eating half a cookie less. But there are elderly people over there . We must be considerate of each other and retain our basic humanity. The rescue team won’t abandon us.”

 After saying that, she took the biscuits and walked over to an elderly man not far away, handing him the biscuits.

 Marcus's brow furrowed into a tight knot.

Those cookies were something he had worked hard to find, but now they had become a prop for Chloe to show her "kindness," and she hadn't even gotten her hands dirty the whole time.

" The rescue team isn't coming ."

I interrupted her directly.

Everyone's eyes instantly shifted from Chloe to me.

"The military convoy has already retreated; those who didn't manage to retreat are trapped at the bridgehead and become easy targets for zombies ."

Chloe frowned: "Zane, you don't understand. As long as we stay here ..."

I completely ignored her nonsense and kept my eyes glued to Marcus and the others .

"Go five blocks east, there's a pawn shop on the corner of the main street . In the basement, there are unopened cans of beef and antibiotics . If you're lucky, you might even find shotguns and bullets. "

Having been used as a expendable resource by Victor in my past life, I have already thoroughly investigated the surrounding situation and know where there are supplies and weapons.

I pointed to the side door : "I'll lead the way and clear out the infected, but I need two people to carry supplies and weapons. I can't guarantee this operation will be 100% safe, but I can guarantee that those who come back alive will have priority access to food and weapons. Who's going? "

Marcus's Adam's apple bobbed heavily: "Count me in."

A porter named David also stepped forward: "I'll go too."

Chloe immediately stepped forward, her face flushed red.

"You can't just act on your own like this!" Chloe raised her voice, accusing me in a tone that made me want to vomit. "This is a shelter! If you attract zombies, you'll kill everyone! And even if you find supplies, you must distribute them all together after you bring them back! This is the guarantee for the collective survival here!"

I turned my head and looked at her stern and righteous face.

I gave a cold laugh.

"Your act of offering something borrowed from someone else is cheap, Chloe. You're just being a do-gooder by taking something that someone else risked their life to find for you."

the whispers around me , I announced the rules: "If you want to be safe, go carry sandbags to patch the cracks in the walls ; if you want priority access to supplies , grab a crowbar and fight your way through the streets ; if you want to do good, use your own supplies. As long as everyone follows the rules and doesn't just lie around waiting for freebies to fall from the sky, I can guarantee that no one will starve or die of disease. "

 I leaned forward slightly and looked at Chloe .

 "If some people just want to sit in their sleeping bags and do good deeds without making any contribution, then let them go hungry. If they dare to take the supplies we brought back with our bloodshed, I will personally send them outside to find their own food. Do you understand?"

The entire space fell silent, and no one could find a reason to refute it .

I ignored her, pulled a threaded steel bar from the pile of tools on the ground, inserted it into the side of my backpack, and then tilted my head at Marcus.

"Take your sturdiest bag. See you at the side door in two minutes."

In the coming days , I will use real supplies and equipment to transform this scattered group into an efficient and practical shelter.