Stock Up For Natural Disasters And Cubs Survive – CH84

Chapter 84

Dark clouds blanketed the sky until heaven and earth seemed the same color.

A few zombies wandered aimlessly along the desolate highway.

Suddenly, they tilted their maggot-ridden heads—heads that looked as though they were covered in barnacles—and let out shrill, urgent feeding cries, all turning in unison to stare behind them.

The hum of a fast-moving car grew clearer and clearer.

Soon, an unremarkable black Lavida appeared on the road. The zombies flung out their rotting arms and charged toward it with hideous howls.

Before they could even get close, several gunshots rang out, startling the birds in the woods into flight. They circled overhead before scattering away.

Bullets punched through the zombies’ brains, knocking them heavily backward onto the ground.

“They’re all rotten to this extent already.” The man in the passenger seat wiped the barrel of his gun, looking a little sick.

“It’s been over a year since the apocalypse began.” Shen Zheng pressed down on the accelerator. “If they’d been buried, they’d already be skeletons by now. These things have been left out in the wind and sun every day—of course they’d rot.”

Yi Qi put his gun away. “We haven’t been outside in a long time. Seeing zombies all of a sudden feels kind of unfamiliar.”

“Hopefully Linshui City is a little better.”

Shen Zheng glanced into the rearview mirror. A small blanket covered the back seat, and on top of it lay a little child sleeping flat like a pressed duck.

The baby’s outstretched arms were short, his chubby little legs were short too, and the side of his face showing looked like half a peach.

Beside him sat a boy staring into empty space, as if checking something only he could see.

“Chengcheng, how’s the farm?” Shen Zheng asked softly.

Wei Cheng closed the two farm maps and said, “No abnormalities.”

Yi Qi also turned around. “If there’s nothing unusual, that’s good. Chengcheng, you should get some sleep too.”

Wei Cheng touched Guanguan’s head lightly and said in a low voice, “Then later Shen Uncle can rest, Yi Uncle can drive, and I’ll sit in the passenger seat and keep watch.”

It took eight hours to drive from Wuqing Mountain to downtown Linshui City.

Yi Qi smiled. “You really are a kid who worries too much. Just get some sleep. Shen Uncle and I weren’t on watch last night—we’re both in good shape. We’ll take turns driving, and we’ll be there before you know it.”

Wei Cheng smiled too. “All right.”

But before going to sleep, he still bought a city map of Linshui.

Maps like this had to be purchased from the Cloud Mall’s Education Section. One cost 50 Twisty Coins. It was a highly detailed map marking all the buildings and locations in Linshui City, though it had no function for warning about zombie or human numbers.

Taking the Twisty Car on the most efficient route would only take five hours, but Linshui was much more urbanized, with less forest cover and a longer route. Using the Twisty Car there would make them very easy to expose. Besides, the invisibility function was a life-saving skill they couldn’t afford to use lightly.

Before setting out, Wei Cheng had entered the destination into the Twisty Car.

The current human and zombie counts in Linshui City were unknown, but the danger level was shown in crimson: Extreme S.

He had even comforted himself by thinking, At least it’s not S+.

The two men kept their voices down, afraid of waking the children.

Yi Qi opened a can of Red Bull, stuck in a straw, and held it out to Shen Zheng. “Want a sip?”

Shen Zheng lowered his head and drank some, then raised his eyes and sighed, “Fine liquor from a state banquet.”

Yi Qi laughed so hard he nearly choked. “Look what the apocalypse has done to people.”

A bottle of Red Bull that cost only a few yuan had become “state banquet liquor.”

Shen Zheng laughed. “I heard Chengcheng say that if we can find supplies, we’ll make more money. And once we have more money, Guanguan’s little tank can level up faster.”

Yi Qi nodded around the straw. “Yeah. Linshui is a famous tourist city, with loads of scenic spots. There should definitely be more supplies there than in Wuqing.”

Shen Zheng glanced at him as Yi Qi brought the drink over again. “Change the straw!”

Yi Qi’s little scheme failed, and he muttered, “Fine.”

He was just about to rummage in his bag when Shen Zheng turned his head, bit down on the straw in Yi Qi’s hand, drank from it with a straight face, then sat back. Only his ears were red.

Yi Qi tipped his head back and laughed softly.

—

At 1:15 in the afternoon, they finally arrived in Hanfeng District, Linshui City, and stopped the car in a deserted city park.

A thin, colorful map was spread open, with several locations circled in marker.

Brother and the uncles were discussing where to stay tonight. Guanguan sat obediently in his brother’s arms, clutching a crayon in his chubby paw and drawing on a sketchpad.

He drew a crooked green line and strung a bunch of oddly shaped little steamed buns across it.

The bun family had gained more members.

“Excuse me.” Guanguan raised his hand, now smeared green.

Wei Cheng looked down and smiled. “What is it?”

Guanguan hugged his stained little hand and grinned. “Baby wants to draw a red sun!”

“Here.” Shen Uncle handed him a red crayon.

Guanguan accepted it happily and drew a crooked little sun above the bun people.

“Baby and brother and the uncles all get sunshine every day!” Guanguan cupped his plump face in both hands, his eyes shining as he giggled. “We’re so happy.”

Wei Cheng smiled. “Guanguan drew really well. The sun you drew back at the orphanage—brother still kept it. Do you want to see it?”

Guanguan waved his hand grandly, with all the authority of a big boss. “A good cub doesn’t talk about old drawings. That was when Guanguan was little!”

Yi Qi couldn’t help rubbing Guanguan’s little face. “How are you this cute? You even know a hero doesn’t brag about past glory now.”

Wei Cheng smiled. “He learned it from cartoons.”

A lot of Guanguan’s little old-man phrases came from Little Soldier Fink and Ultraman.

After joking around a bit more, they finally settled on where to stay for the night.

Wei Cheng said, “Right now, the three closest places with the highest chance of yielding supplies are these. The nearest is Shiguang Amusement Park. The second is the commercial street centered around Dehui Grand Mall and the Yujin Chain Hotel.”

“During the early phase of the zombie virus outbreak—when there was heavy rain and prolonged high-temperature black fog—all large amusement parks across the country were closed. But the malls and hotels stayed open right up until the outbreak. Those two places had the highest concentration of people.”

Guanguan caught the important keyword, and his little ears perked up.

Yi Qi said, “What if there are a lot of survivors in the amusement park? What if they drive us away?”

Wei Cheng opened the map. “Survivors there would be normal. My guess is that’s the place in Hanfeng District where the zombie count is lowest compared with the number of living people. Shiguang Amusement Park was built by the sea, covering 27.51 square kilometers, with lots of nearby themed zones and hotels. If a conflict breaks out, there’s also plenty of room to retreat.”

“And if we drive west from the park’s west gate, it only takes twenty minutes on the abandoned coastal road to get here—Mouse Colorful Children’s Theme Hotel.”

His black pen dropped near Dehui Mall. “This is our real main target for collecting supplies.”

Shen Zheng glanced at Guanguan and said, “Then we’re going to the amusement park.”

Yi Qi thought for a moment, then nodded as well.

The moment he heard they had decided on the amusement park, Guanguan could no longer hold it in. He suddenly hugged his brother’s arm. “Is it the kind of amusement park where dads and moms take little kids?”

Wei Cheng smiled lightly. “Yes. That exact kind.”

Guanguan started bouncing on the little blanket in his seat, cheering, “That’s great! Brother is taking Guanguan to the amusement park!”

Seeing how excited Guanguan was, Wei Cheng pulled out his little yellow duck backpack. “Things in amusement parks are expensive and there isn’t much. Go home and grab some of your favorite snacks, all right?”

Guanguan hugged his little backpack and nodded. “Okay!”

In the blink of an eye, the child vanished from the car.

Shen Zheng and Yi Qi both smiled at how thrilled he was. “Has Guanguan seriously never been to an amusement park before?”

“No, never.”

Wei Cheng looked at the two uncles. “It’s true that choosing the amusement park first is partly because I want Guanguan to have a chance to play there. But more importantly, the place has the large silent generators we need.”

The generators sold in the Cloud Mall had low output and guzzled fuel. They weren’t enough to support the whole farm’s electricity needs. But amusement parks, to ensure visitor safety and emergency preparedness, equipped every major attraction with large backup generators. Most of them were silent models or mobile trailer-type generators, with much higher output than the small generators sold in the Cloud Mall’s hardware section.

Yi Qi slapped his thigh. “That’s right—I forgot! There definitely have to be large generators at an amusement park!”

Shen Zheng shook his head and smiled. “Fresh young brains really are useful.”

Wei Cheng smiled. “Some of the medium-sized generators or generator trucks may already have been taken. But there may still be heavy fixed generators left behind—ones too heavy to move, maybe several tons.”

The safety house’s thousand-twisty-coin shelving had no weight limit. No matter how heavy something was, they could still take it!

“Guanguan’s back!”

Guanguan came back wearing the stuffed yellow duck backpack, and when he opened it, cream pudding and crispy beef cake nearly spilled out. “There are so many yummy things!”

The baby was very generous. “Shen Uncle, Yi Uncle, baby packed some for you too!”

Yi Qi was driving, and Shen Zheng turned around and smiled. “Thank you, Guanguan!”

Guanguan swung his plump little legs and giggled behind his hand. “I’m so happy!”

Wei Cheng rubbed the child’s face. “Then sit tight—we’re going to the amusement park!”

The car left the park and sped along the endless seaside road toward the amusement park.

At the same time, back at Eating-Full-Full Farm on Wuqing Mountain—

Sun Dali returned from the mountain with Lin Xiangfeng and Zhao Bin.

Everyone crowded around. “How was it? Did you see anyone?”

Sun Dali looked grim. He pulled a recorder from his pocket and pressed play. That sharp, distorted voice sounded once again.

“A recorder!”

Lin Xiangfeng said, “We walked all around the mountaintop and only found this recorder. The figure Uncle Sun saw this morning must’ve been the person who left it behind and then ran off.”

“It has to be those foreigners!” Ying Hui said angrily. “That so-called Son of God nonsense—give me a break. I think someone leaked the fact that our farm has children. They want to steal our kids!”

At those words, Mingming, Xiaotiao, and Xiaoyue were immediately gathered into Director Wang’s and Su Min’s arms.

“Don’t panic.” Sun Dali said in a low voice, “Mr. Yi and Mr. Shen aren’t here, but they left us plenty of weapons, including the heavy machine gun. All the more reason for us to stay steady!”

Zhao Bin said, “Uncle Sun, we’re not panicking! If they dare come, we’ll feed them bullets!”

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