Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1158 - 38 Encountering Survivors

Chapter 1158: Chapter 38 Encountering Survivors

After organizing the captured equipment, Tang Zheng stripped off a tactical vest from a Corpse and put it on over his backpack. The total load exceeded fifty kilograms, which somewhat affected his tactical maneuvers, but it was all essential items he couldn’t afford to discard.

He glanced at the smashed brain of the Corpse and stood up holding his gun. He then found another Corpse that had been killed by the blast, undid its intact black Kevlar helmet, and pulled off the communicator attached to its ear.

"Team Eleven, report your status, repeat, report your status, OVER!" A hoarse male voice hit Tang Zheng’s eardrums through the earpiece, tinged with a hint of urgency and tension. He also heard dense gunfire and shouts of "cover me."

"Team Eleven, lost six people, enemy annihilated, report your position, do you need support? OVER!"

If the other party weren’t engaged in combat, Tang Zheng would never respond. The communication equipment was luxurious, and the sound quality was crystal clear, so the other party could distinguish his identity. They might deceive him and set a trap. He would never take such a risk. However, this was an opportunity. The other side, being engrossed in combat and tense, would probably not have the time to identify a fake.

For safety, Tang Zheng even pretended to be tense, made his voice tremble, become hoarse, and deepen to decrease the chances of the other party recognizing him. He also brought up the support issue which they would be most concerned about. Nevertheless, he still worried because he didn’t understand the communication habits of the Recovery Team, and that might give him away.

"I am in zone five, need support, OVER!" The other party was a Captain, too distracted with commanding the battle, so he was fooled by Tang Zheng, thinking that the rookie was just too scared.

"Roger that, OVER!" Tang Zheng was not interested in hunting these natives; he just wanted to ascertain their location and then avoid them to go directly for the Virus Strain. As soon as the communication ended, he heard footsteps.

At the entrance of the cafeteria, two Zombies appeared, followed by a dozen more. Attracted by the recent intense gunshots, they had come over.

"Probably the chefs and the dining staff," Tang Zheng was about to pick up the backpack next to him to evacuate from there when suddenly a strong gust of wind came from behind him.

"Licker?" The term flashed through Tang Zheng’s mind. Instantly, he twisted his waist and pressed his feet against the ground, dodging to the right. Diving forward would be fastest and most convenient, but it would not allow immediate retaliation and would also make it easier for the Licker’s second strike.

Bang, the Licker pounced on the spot Tang Zheng had just vacated, reaching out with its claws to grab him and shooting out its sturdy tongue.

Whoosh, the claw grazed Tang Zheng’s shoulder, narrowly slicing past, and the tongue also jabbed off target.

"Die!" While dodging, Tang Zheng raised his assault rifle with one hand and jabbed it at the Black Shadow beside him, hitting the Licker in the chest on its second pounce.

The tremendous impact almost caused Tang Zheng’s wrist to strain, but luckily he fired. The bullets penetrated the Licker’s chest, repelling it by half a meter. However, since it was not a fatal shot, the creature grimly withstood the attack and lunged again.

Tang Zheng lifted the muzzle slightly, adjusted the direction, and blew the Licker’s head off.

The Zombies flooded into the lobby, all aggressively rushing towards Tang Zheng.

Panting, Tang Zheng grabbed his backpack and, after ensuring there was no second Licker on the ceiling, he retreated towards the kitchen of the cafeteria.

Backpack slung, Tang Zheng sprinted at full speed, sideways, using his shoulder to barge through a door. Then, he raised his rifle, sweeping it around inside the kitchen. Only five Zombies were there. This slightly relieved him; he didn’t immediately take care of them but quickly shut the door and bolted it, locking it.

The five Zombies, clad in white chef uniforms now stained and bloodied, were inside— one’s belly burst open, dragging its intestines on the ground, tripping itself after a few steps.

Tang Zheng braced the rifle butt against his shoulder, closed one eye and aimed at the Zombies. As their heads were magnified within the crosshairs of the ACOG scope, he pulled the trigger.

Tap, tap, though it was single shot, no bullets went astray, shooting through the Zombie’s cheek and exiting from the back of the brain. The Zombies were struck dead, crashing to the ground.

Zombies outside crowded the door, banging madly, making a lot of debris noise, trying to smash their way in.

It took three seconds to dispatch the five Zombies. Tang Zheng continued his retreat, planning to leave through the back door. As he crossed the room, he turned off his tactical flashlight and the laser sight, which he found rather useless.

"Cross the cafeteria to the residential area, no way, I hope the natives don’t have the habit of sleeping during the day," Tang Zheng frowned as he looked at the map. Generally, residential areas are densely populated, especially at night. He even considered turning back the way he came.

Kicking open the alloy door in front of him, Tang Zheng entered a corridor, lowered his center of gravity, first cautiously aimed his gun to the right—clear, then quickly turned to check the left.

A Zombie in a black apron was squatting in front of a pile of pork, gobbling it up furiously. Upon hearing the noise in the hallway, it turned its head. Upon seeing Tang Zheng, it immediately stood up, snarling and running towards him.

With the exit on the left, Tang Zheng had no choice but to force his way through. Considering the gunfire might attract more Zombies and to save bullets, he casually picked up a blood-stained boning knife that had fallen on the floor and charged.

Seeing Tang Zheng approach, the Zombie reached out its arms towards him, leaned its upper body forward, stretched its neck, opened its mouth wide, aiming to bite him.

Thwack. Tang Zheng stabbed out with the bone knife, bursting a zombie’s eyeball before jabbing it into its brain. The zombie’s body went limp, and its arms drooped down.

Without much effort, Tang Zheng kicked it aside and let go of the bone knife, dashing past it. These common zombies posed no danger unless there were more than ten of them. Even if there were more, as long as there was enough room to employ "human train tactics," he could still fight. Of course, if a few more Lickers joined the attack, his only option would be to run.

After running out of the corridor, he encountered two wandering zombies. Tang Zheng glanced to the left and right and saw a fire cabinet at the end of the corridor. He rushed over, kicked the glass to shreds, grabbed the conspicuously red-painted short handle firefighter’s axe, then charged at the zombies.

Whoosh. Swinging his arm, Tang Zheng’s firefighter axe chopped into the neck of a zombie. Its head immediately tilted to the side. He kicked the zombie’s stomach and yanked the axe free with force, then delivered another blow, severing its head completely, before turning to the second one.

This time, the firefighter axe landed on a zombie’s skull, a one-blow kill!

Holding the blood-dripping axe, Tang Zheng twisted and turned, cautiously but quickly making his way. He left the kitchen area and entered the accommodation zone where pairs and trios of zombies began to appear in the corridors.

"Bother, I’m saving bullets, but this exhausts too much strength." After killing the seventeenth zombie, Tang Zheng felt a sour weakness in his arm and decided it was time to rest.

Along the spacious corridor were the employees’ rooms. Tang Zheng chose one with a slightly ajar door to enter, confirming there was no danger before closing the door behind him.

This was a woman’s boudoir, with dolls on the table and various items on the vanity. The single bed was scattered with commuter clothes and some underwear.

"So lazy," muttered Tang Zheng as if judging the room’s untidiness. He set down his backpack, took out mineral water for a gulp, and ate some chocolate.

There was a laptop on the ground. He picked it up, found it still worked and was connected to the internet. He tried browsing the web but failed, then turned on the television, which had no more programs running.

Lying on the bed, Tang Zheng casually opened some folders and found some selfies of the room’s owner in her underwear, showing off a good figure. But he wasn’t interested in admiring them. He put aside the laptop and reopened the map, memorizing nearby routes.

While Tang Zheng rested, other survivors struggled for their lives. Even some group leaders weren’t spared in the perilous environment; no one could afford to be careless.

Dong Zixuan and her group were frantically fleeing from the Recovery Team. After Kong Licheng killed one of theirs, they faced furious reprisal.

Gao Ming took a bullet to the chest, puncturing a lung lobe, and fell to the ground.

"Mingzi!" Liu Binshi wanted to stop and help him but was pulled away by Kong Licheng.

"He’s gravely injured, beyond saving. If you stay, that’s just another person dead," Kong Licheng left it at that. If Liu Binshi was foolish, then he could die too.

"Brother Liu!" Gao Ming looked at Liu Binshi, his eyes filled with a plea for life; he didn’t want to die.

"Ah!" Liu Binshi sighed heavily and turned to leave. At that moment, Gao Ming’s eyes dimmed, as if his world had collapsed.

"Brother Liu, I don’t blame you!" Using all his remaining strength and enduring the excruciating pain, Gao Ming shouted out before collapsing to the ground, opening fire to block the Recovery Team.

The Recovery Team was suppressed for less than a minute, but after the initial panic, they counterattacked and turned Gao Ming into a sieve. To make sure, they threw two hand grenades, completely blasting the miner into pieces of meat.

Ten minutes later, Tang Zheng strapped on his backpack and set out again. This time, he left behind the firefighter axe and began using a silenced MP5K to eliminate the zombies in the corridor.

Bang, bang, a zombie frenziedly hammered at a room door, trying to get out, with its glass already shattered.

Gliding along the opposite wall, Tang Zheng passed by without notice as the zombie roared and stuck its head out the doorway. He pulled a straight knife from the sheath on his tactical vest and swiftly plunged it into the monster’s head. The zombie slumped down immediately.

Turning the corner into another corridor, Tang Zheng saw at least fifty densely packed zombies inside and couldn’t help but curse.

Leading the horde was a blonde zombie girl, clutching a doll. Upon seeing Tang Zheng, she lunged towards him, one of her toy-themed slippers missing from her foot.

Tang Zheng raised the submachine gun and fired. Bullets whistled out, and with muffled gunshots, the zombie girl was hit in the head and fell backwards to the ground.

Four Americans who were hiding in a room, barricading the door with a desk and bed, suddenly heard gunshots and were overjoyed. Peering through the crack, they looked down the corridor and indeed, all the zombies were being drawn away. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes, monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)