Chapter 15: New Changes in the Shelter
Fifty-year-old electrician felt he had never seen such a tangled mess of wiring in his entire life.
But since he was already here, the current situation didn’t allow him to throw down his tools and walk away.
So he had no choice but to carefully sort through the lines. Clutching a pair of insulated wire strippers, he carefully peeled the rubber sheathing off a copper-core cable and reconnected it.
When he threw the switch, the hallway lights on the fifth floor of the dormitory building clicked on with a soft white glow, dispelling the last trace of shadow in the corner.
“Mr. , the lighting circuit on the west side of the third floor has been repaired,” reported respectfully to the surveillance camera in the corner.
He still wasn’t quite used to talking to an artificial intelligence he couldn’t see or touch, so he always spoke to it as if there were a boss behind the camera.
[Received.]
[Good work, Master Zhao. Next target is the B-7 backup line in the electrical distribution room. The blueprint has been sent to your tablet.]
The synthesized electronic voice carried no emotion, but felt it was a hundred times friendlier than and his bunch.
There were no pleasant words, but at least there were no harsh threats either!
Here, at least, he was no longer that “old thing” who could be kicked aside at any moment.
He was “Master Zhao,” a useful electrician—and that was good news.
wiped his sweat, picked up his toolbox, and headed for the electrical distribution room.
Passing through the first-floor lobby, he saw a crowd gathered there, the atmosphere tense.
A young man named , holding a steel pipe with a sharp notched tip, was shouting impatiently at a man trembling all over.
“ ! Where the hell are you looking?! The is in front of you, not under your feet! Raise the spear tip! Aim at its head!”
, a former factory worker in his thirties with a burly build, was shaking like a leaf.
The two-meter-long makeshift spear in his hands kept drawing circles with its tip, completely unable to hold steady.
Twenty meters ahead of them was a lone deliberately brought in, charging crazily at the group.
stood to one side, expression serious, a gun in his hand to make sure nothing went wrong.
“Breathe, ,” said in a steady, powerful voice. “Remember what I told you. Treat it as a lifeless thing, a target. All you need to do is one move—thrust.”
“I... I don’t dare...” ’s voice was tearful, his face deathly pale.
“Don’t dare?” gave a cold laugh and stepped aside. “Then go die. Brother Lin, let’s not bother with him. He deserves it.”
When he finished, actually nodded as well. “Makes sense.”
Ah—!
With his last hope gone, finally went for broke.
He let out a beast-like roar, gripped the spear with both hands, shut his eyes, and charged madly at the .
The spear tip wobbled, completely missing the head.
Squelch!
With a dull sound, the spear drove straight through the ’s chest.
The ’s movement stalled. Its rotting face showed no pain; instead, it opened its stinking mouth wide, grabbed the spear shaft, and kept walking forward.
was scared witless, his mind blank, and he even forgot to pull the spear back.
“Fall back! Now!” barked.
At the same moment, dashed in from the side and, with his steel pipe, precisely drove it upward from below into the ’s lower jaw.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the steel pipe pierced through the skull and jutted out from the crown of its head.
The ’s body crashed to the ground.
The whole world went quiet.
’s legs gave out. He collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, then let out a “waa” and vomited.
The other newcomers watching—the former accountant Ma Wei and the young couple Chen Feng and Liu Qian—all turned pale with fright and backed away.
pulled out the steel pipe, flicked off the filthy blood, walked over to , and looked down at him with icy eyes.
Worthless!
With that, he stopped looking at anyone and turned to the next trainee—a tall, thin man named .
“Next. Don’t make me repeat myself, damn it!”
walked over to and handed him a bottle of water.
“Everyone’s like this the first time. You’ll get used to it.”
“Remember, fear won’t kill a , but hesitation will get you killed.”
watched this scene from a distance and silently tightened his grip on his wire strippers. Good thing he was an electrician.
This shelter wasn’t soft-hearted enough to keep idlers around.
He quickened his pace. He had to get those circuits back to normal as soon as possible—he couldn’t be seen slacking off.
***
Meanwhile, under the outer wall of .
was directing the crowd as they carried cement and steel rebar.
She wore work clothes, her hair tied into a neat ponytail. A few specks of dust clung to her fair face, but her eyes remained sharp.
“Sun Biao, you and Gao Qiang are in charge of mixing the cement! Move faster!”
“ , take a few people to the warehouse and bring the cement over!”
“Li Ming, you can go help too.”
The young mother named , who had once trembled in the supermarket, was now carrying cement together with another woman named Liu Ling.
Since the newcomers had arrived, did feel much more relaxed.
But there were also many extra things to worry about—including people who were always looking for faults and stirring up trouble.
“Why should we?” The young woman Sun Mei shot a cutting look and said sarcastically, “We’re the ones who have to take weapons and fight zombies to the death, while you just stay in the base and order people around?”
Her words drew agreement from several women. The looks they gave were full of defiance and envy.
said nothing. She simply turned around and grabbed her fire axe.
Under everyone’s startled, uncertain gaze, she walked straight to the gate.
Outside the gate, two zombies that had caught the scent of living humans were staggering toward her.
stepped out, her figure casting a sharp, decisive silhouette in the morning light.
Squelch!