Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1182 - 60 Bitten_2

Chapter 1182: Chapter 60 Bitten_2

"Tang Zheng, you’re back? That’s great!" Zhao Dongtao’s spirits lifted upon hearing the gunshots. His friend was back. If not for Uncle Wang and Ding Jian holding him back, he wouldn’t have waited for the gunfire to stop before rushing out to help.

"Are you all okay?" Tang Zheng nodded in greeting as he saw Song Xin and Black Long Straight following Zhao Dongtao out.

"Any other injuries?" Song Xin, her face full of worry, ran up to Tang Zheng, distressed by the sight of his tattered clothes and the bloodstains on his exposed skin. He shouldn’t have had to suffer like this.

"Tang Zheng, I knew you could make it back alive!" Liu Man also ran over, smiling proud, "Li Wenbo and the others were leaving, but I firmly stood by your side."

The Newbies who had been with Tao Ran all came out, greeting Tang Zheng with nods, their eyes filled with hope, as he was now their beacon.

"Tang Zheng, think of a way to leave quickly. Everyone has been waiting for so long, don’t let them down." Ding Jian urged Tang Zheng, as they only had thirty-five minutes left, and time was tight.

"I know, everyone get your things, we’ll move out fast." Tang Zheng frowned, "Thirty-something? Are there any more?"

"We’re here too!" Xu Zhifeng walked out from another suite, his face tinged with shame, a sentiment echoed on the faces of the other Newbies.

"Only four of you came back? What about the others? Are they dead?" Li Wenbo leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, taunting Tang Zheng, "Eleven people, and you just lost a few less than I did."

The Newbies were easily influenced, their trust in Tang Zheng wavering.

"Li Wenbo, are you a rabid dog? Why the biting words?" Zhao Dongtao wished he could kill the guy, "Don’t forget, Tang Zheng volunteered to go. You have no right to criticize him."

"It’s also due to his poor leadership," retorted Li Wenbo, who had been caught by a zombie, and for all anyone knew, could turn into a zombie at any moment, so he was all too happy to waste more time and drag everyone down with him.

"Stop with your cold remarks. Without him, none of us would have made it back." Kong Licheng waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting an annoying fly, showing no respect to him, "Let’s discuss how we’re going to get out of here, shall we?"

Li Wenbo’s face turned an iron blue.

"Are we down to ninety people?" Tang Zheng’s heart sank upon seeing fewer classmates, saddened by the thought that some didn’t trust him.

"Ninety-one," Su Su added hastily, and seeing everyone’s gaze shift toward her, she quickly waved her hands, explaining, "I’m not saying Tang Zheng was wrong, there’s one more who got bitten by a zombie, locked up in the room."

"I’ll check on it. Everyone else, grab your things – we leave in one minute." Just as Tang Zheng was about to enter the room, the traffic police stopped him, "There’s no need, that guy tried to rape a woman. Even if he hadn’t turned into a zombie, he wouldn’t be allowed to stay with the team."

Tang Zheng had no interest in saving such a scumbag Newbie and was about to leave when he heard Cao Rongxuan’s mocking voice.

"The one who got bitten is Dogzi, are you going to abandon him?"

"Dogzi, are you there?" Tang Zheng ignored Cao Rongxuan and headed straight to the bedroom, pushing aside the furniture blocking the door.

"Don’t go in, it’s too dangerous." Song Xin rushed over, grabbing Tang Zheng’s arm, causing Cao Rongxuan to nearly grind his teeth in anger.

Tong Dahong cast a glance at Li Wenbo, hesitating whether to inform Tang Zheng of his injury.

No one responded. Tang Zheng kicked open the bedroom door and saw Dogzi had mutated, squatting beside a corpse, consuming its viscera. Upon seeing someone at the door, it immediately staggered toward them.

Tang Zheng pulled out his handgun, but as he looked at the familiar face of his middle school classmate, he couldn’t pull the trigger. Hearing Song Xin’s scream behind him, he kicked the zombie away with one blow.

Dogzi got up and lunged again, but before he made two steps, a shotgun blast blew open his head, and the headless body fell.

"What, couldn’t pull the trigger? Such fake benevolence!" Li Wenbo blew on the smoky muzzle of his gun, challenging Tang Zheng with a look of triumph, pleased with killing his classmate. At that moment, he wished he could slaughter all these people and have his way with Song Xin right in front of Tang Zheng.

Tang Zheng didn’t respond, just swung his fist hard, landing it squarely on Li Wenbo’s face.

Li Wenbo staggered back, his nose broken, as blood flowed like floodgates opened, dripping down his chin onto his chest.

"I’m going to kill you!" Li Wenbo cocked his gun, ready to fire, but Tang Zheng had already charged forward, grabbing the barrel and yanking hard to off-balance him, followed by a devastating uppercut to the chin.

Li Wenbo’s head jerked up, and he felt dizzy. Then his hair was grabbed and almost pulled out by the scalp, followed by his vision moving downward, and he saw a knee swiftly striking toward him.

Thud. Li Wenbo spit out several blood-stained teeth and fell to the ground. His best buddies, Xiao Hu and Huang Shan, hesitated and didn’t come to help. Instead, they hid at the back of the crowd.

"Stop hitting me, I was wrong," Li Wenbo suddenly begged for mercy, startling everyone.

"Tang Zheng, that’s enough. Escaping Chicago is the serious business," Kong Licheng was exasperated. What a mess! Why hadn’t a scumbag like Li Wenbo died already?

"Let’s go!" Tang Zheng wanted to leave Li Wenbo behind, to get rid of this disharmonious note.

"I apologize, don’t leave me behind, please," Li Wenbo cried, crawling to Tang Zheng and grabbing at his trouser leg.

Just as Tang Zheng was about to kick him away, Li Wenbo suddenly turned vicious, lifted the hem of the trousers, and bit down on his calf like a rabid dog.

"What are you doing?" Song Xin was startled and bent down to pull him away.

"Get back!" Tang Zheng pushed Song Xin out of the way, worried she might get hurt. A sharp pain came from his calf, where two rows of teeth sank into the muscle like a rasp.

The newbies were frightened by the sudden outbreak from Li Wenbo. Tong Dahong’s expression changed drastically; things were bad now, as Tang Zheng was very likely to be infected.

Tang Zheng lifted his foot and kicked Li Wenbo’s shoulder. Although the man rolled away, he also tore a piece of Tang Zheng’s flesh with him.

"This mad dog!" Zhao Dongtao was furious. Tao Ran also rushed over, crouched down, and took out the bandage they had found earlier to wrap around Tang Zheng’s bloodied calf.

"I am a mad dog, what can you do about it?" Li Wenbo’s eyes, filled with blood strands, glared at Tang Zheng and he even swallowed the flesh in his mouth, causing the other newbies to almost vomit, yet in the next moment, the blood drained from their faces, looking at him with horror and doubt.

"I was scratched by a Licker, haha, now that you’re bitten by me, you’ll turn into a zombie too," Li Wenbo said, looking at the other newbies who all took a step back.

"Don’t believe me, you can ask Tong Dahong!" Li Wenbo was always arrogant, used to being a bully, and he didn’t like playing nice. So the moment Tang Zheng beat him, this outcome was inevitable.

"He does have a scratch," Tong Dahong’s words instantly turned the room temperature to freezing point.

Tao Ran, crouching on the ground, had a shiver run through the hand pressing the wound. It wasn’t for fear of his own safety but for worry over Tang Zheng.

"I’ll kill you!" Song Xin picked up a Benelli shotgun and pulled the trigger at Li Wenbo, forgetting to load the chamber.

Li Wenbo smirked triumphantly and suddenly reached for the fallen shotgun. But Tang Zheng was one step faster, snatching the shotgun from Song Xin, loading the chamber by pulling the tactical handguard, and shooting Li Wenbo’s right calf.

Boom, broken flesh and blood splattered, and the severed foot rolled over to a shock-stricken Jing Lan.

Li Wenbo screamed, and his left hand that had just grabbed the shotgun was shattered, rendering him completely crippled.

"Let’s go!" Tang Zheng wouldn’t have been bitten by Li Wenbo if he hadn’t been so tired.

"Why not kill him?" Zhao Dongtao felt it was unfair for his friend; the guy didn’t deserve to live.

"Let him perish on his own. I’m not used to killing one of our own!" Tang Zheng continued to maintain goodwill. If this were a typical game scenario, Tang Zheng would definitely have killed him. It was just 500 points after all, but this was a battle for a ticket to the Holy Land, full of variables, so he had to be careful.

"If you want to follow me, then continue. If not, you can leave now." Tang Zheng noticed the tense atmosphere; after all, in their eyes, he was already a zombie reservist.

Kong Licheng couldn’t wait for more people to leave. That way, he could get on the helicopter. Even if Tang Zheng turned into a zombie, he estimated it would take fifteen minutes, enough time to flee Chicago.

.....

PS: I struggled for half the day, and Li Wenbo’s fate has indeed changed! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to cast your votes for recommendation and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)