Apocalypse Cockroach

There was a construction site on the left of the tourist stop, where the works had come to a complete halt. A half-dug ditch was in the middle of the site, and there was even some water that had pooled inside. It seemed that the foundation works had not yet begun when the virus outbreak happened, and the workers had become the roaming zombies.

Zhang Xiao Qiang hesitated a while, before deciding to quicken the pace. He handed Yuan Yi a tire spanner, and Su Qian a long steel bar. He wielded his Jing Wei Sword and together with Yang Ke’er, they charged towards the parking lot.

There was only one S-type, and Zhang Xiao Qiang had immediately noticed its nimble figure. He prepared to head towards it to chop at it, having disposed of a few ordinary ones earlier. He soon got within a 40m radius of the S-type.

Yuan Yi charged towards the S-type without a second word, but before the S-type made any move, the ordinary zombie beside it snapped towards Yuan Yi. She stepped back to allow the ordinary zombie to stumble past her, and rammed into it with her shoulder, sending the zombie crashing to the ground.

The S-type quickly slashed towards Yuan Yi, who did not evade the blow. Instead, she brought up her spanner to meet the claws of the S-type. It lost its center of gravity and was led downwards by Yuan Yi’s maneuver, before a huge hammer came crashing down on its brittle bones. With a ‘crack’, the S-type stumbled forwards a few steps and crashed into the ground as well.

Seeing Yuan Yi stealing his prey, Zhang Xiao Qiang felt annoyed,”Damn, so fierce after a taste?” He vented his frustrations on the surrounding zombies, totally annihilating another 4 or 5 more as the battle drew to a close.

Zhang Xiao Qiang had managed to kill about 7 or 8 of them. As for Yang Ke’er, it was practically obscene. Yuan Yi had killed an S-type as well as 2 ordinary ones, while Su Qian killed one face to face. That particular zombie was really unfortunate though. Midway through its pounce, it was knocked to the ground by a fellow zombie that was headless, and Su Qian immediately took the chance to kill it.

Seeing the corpses strewn all over the ground, the empty broken-down buses, the darkening skies, as well as the seemingly uninjured members of his party, Zhang Xiao Qiang felt that with some background music, the scene looked like straight out from a game.

They leaped over the bodies and made their way into a small restaurant.

The furniture in the restaurant was a mess, as all the tables and chairs were in various states of disarray. Chopsticks and cutlery were all over the floor, the pictures of beautiful ladies hanging on the wall were moldy. An old television set hanging in one corner even had a beer bottle stuck in it, and the entire place emitted a horrible stench.

Zhang Xiao Qiang looked around the restaurant for a moment, before walking towards the kitchen. The place was filthy, not just the usual, but the entire place, from the walls to the ceiling, was covered in grime. It didn’t matter where one looked, there was not a white spot to be seen. Even the salt and pepper bottles were blackish and yellow. Seeing the state of this kitchen, he had no intentions of grabbing anything, even a person as lazy as he felt that this was unacceptable.

As he was about to step out, he stopped and looked into the rice bin again. The once-red bin had already turned a darkish-red, but it was empty inside. There wasn’t even a husk. Following that, he discovered that even the storage cabinets were all swept clean. Any area that would be a sort of place to keep the dried goods or spices were also cleared of everything.

Something wasn’t right, did someone come before to take away everything? He walked out again to survey the restaurant and its exterior. There were 5 such eateries around here, as well as a convenience store with a window opened. Each restaurant was in similar states, there was not a single clean place, yet everything had been taken away.

“Is there someone alive?” He came to a conclusion, but was somewhat bewildered, how did this mysterious person get past so many zombies and transport the goods then?

“Pa” Zhang Xiao Qiang slapped his forehead, he had been so used to walking through the front door that he never considered the windows. What a fool.

He turned and entered the kitchen again, noting that the windows were a dummy cover. The originally clear windows had been turned black with the oil and grime. If it wasn’t for the wooden panes, he would have thought those were some wooden boards on the wall.

He pried open the windows carefully and looked out. What he saw instantly caused his scalp to go numb. His stomach heaved and he never thought he would come across something more disgusting and revolting than the zombies that he had gotten used to killing.

Today, he had finally seen it. The layout of the restaurants was similar, with the windows facing one side. Not far from the windows, there was a sunken pit, which must have been a pool in the past. It had now turned into a sewage shared among the restaurants, as all sorts of muck and shit were thrown in. Disposable items, used napkins, bones, and even plastic bags and dead rats were all thrown into the pit. The stench was unbearable, to the point that it was overpowering, violent and severe.

Zhang Xiao Qiang had never faced such a test before, and he didn’t know if it was for 5 minutes or 50 seconds, all he knew was that he quickly rushed out and hugged a broken down signboard as he began throwing up all over the ground. He retched till there were tears in his eyes until his body was rid of that diabolical smell. Even the decomposing smell of the zombies was more comforting than that hell hole.

After what seemed like a long while, Zhang Xiao Qiang regained his breath. He decided not to care about the fate of that unknown survivor. The stench was not meant to be inhaled. No wonder no zombies dared to go in. It was a biological weapon, whoever went in would fall. It was even more potent than the strongest of laxatives. However, things don’t always go according to wishes in life. He had actually given up on the survivor but was unfortunately seen by the survivor.

“Look, what’s that?! Ah! There’s a survivor!” Yang Ke’er held Zhang Xiao Qiang’s binoculars and swept about, and she somehow possessed the ability to zero in on things, as she quickly found something strange.