Chapter 35 — A Supermarket with Rich Flavors
Everyone froze. Right. That was a problem.
Luo Xun’s face turned slightly red. He could sort of sew—he had a sewing machine at home—but his cutting skills were terrible. The clothes he’d made in his past life had always fit weirdly, too tight here or bunched up there.
“I can design and cut,” Yan Fei suddenly said, breaking his silence—and earning a look of mixed awe and disbelief from the others.
What kind of look was that supposed to be? Were they doubting him?
A vein throbbed visibly on his forehead.
“Uh… how do you even know how to do that?” Han Li asked nervously. Even with that white mask covering half his face, Yan Fei’s narrow eyes still carried a dangerous allure—and right now, they gleamed coldly.
“I majored in fashion design abroad,” Yan Fei said flatly, glancing at Luo Xun. He remembered seeing a sewing machine at Luo Xun’s house. “I only did design, not the actual sewing,” he added. The manual work had always been done by others.
Caught staring, Luo Xun coughed lightly and nodded. “I can use the sewing machine. The results are… uh, wearable. Barely.”
Well, if someone could handle design and cutting, and another could handle sewing, they’d manage just fine.
The five-man group collectively let out a sigh of relief. Their eyes shone brightly with mock admiration as they looked at the two men, their expressions full of exaggerated affection.
“Brother Luo, Brother Yan, whether we’ll have clothes to wear or be running around naked from now on all depends on you two…”
The sight of five grown men twisting their bodies and acting coy was… simply too much. Luo Xun couldn’t even bring himself to look.
The warehouse’s front doors, which led to the shopping mall, were tightly shut, so despite all the noise they’d made earlier, no zombies had come rushing in. It seemed their luck was good today — once they hit the supermarket and gathered a few more supplies, this trip would be a complete success!
Feeling a surge of excitement, the group quickly piled into the vehicles and prepared to circle around to the supermarket’s back entrance, planning to sneak in through the loading bay just as they had before. The route was relatively clear, and there weren’t many zombies near the back entrance — but there were quite a few abandoned cars parked there.
Luo Xun thought for a moment, then quickly gestured for the other two vehicles to pull up closer.
“What’s wrong?” someone asked.
“The supermarket’s back entrance was definitely a target when everything first went to hell,” Luo Xun said. “We should park the cars a bit farther away, somewhere less obvious. Cover the stuff inside and lock them up tight before we go in.” He spoke quickly, already imagining the consequences if someone spotted their loaded vehicles while they were inside.
Li Tie and the others quickly understood and nodded in agreement.
Wang Duo, however, frowned. “But if we go in empty-handed, won’t we be able to carry less stuff out?”
“After the chaos, the supermarket was everyone’s first target,” Luo Xun explained. “Most of the food will have spoiled by now. We’re mainly looking for grain or beans — anything that can still be used. If we don’t find any, then fine, but it’s better to come back empty-handed than to risk getting our car looted.”
He finished locking his vehicle — thankfully, his minivan had tinted windows, so no one could see what was inside. The cargo truck they’d “found” earlier was completely sealed, with not even a single window.
Li Tie’s pickup was more of a problem, but they quickly solved it by wrapping the bed with some gray waterproof tarp they’d taken from the curtain warehouse earlier. Once tied down, it looked perfectly inconspicuous.
Each of the seven men armed themselves. Yan Fei also carried a newly crafted crossbow and a backpack filled with small metal pieces. Despite carrying the heaviest load, he still moved the most effortlessly, which made Luo Xun grit his teeth — that strength difference was just unfair. He didn’t even want some fancy combat ability; just a power-up to his stamina and strength would be enough! Unfortunately, reality was cruel — not even a shred of hope for that.
Quietly, they crept toward the supermarket’s back door. A few zombies caught their scent and turned around, staggering excitedly toward them like they’d just found a feast.
Luo Xun raised his crossbow and shot down two of them, but just as he turned, a first-tier evolved zombie suddenly leapt at them!
He swiftly put away his crossbow, grabbed the spiked club hanging from his belt, and swung it hard at the zombie’s legs. One leg snapped with a crack. As the creature toppled, he spun his body and brought the nail-studded head of the club crashing down on its skull.
Splurt!
A foul, greenish liquid sprayed out. The others froze, startled and slightly horrified.
When the zombie’s head burst open, Luo Xun spotted a crystal core inside. He bent down and picked it up.
“Ugh—” He Qiankun covered his mouth and ran to the wall to vomit.
“You still haven’t gotten used to it after all this time?” Luo Xun asked, looking surprised.
He Qiankun waved weakly, signaling he couldn’t talk right now.
“It’s not that we’re not used to it,” Wang Duo muttered, trembling slightly. “It’s that you’re too violent.” They usually used iron bars to bash zombie heads — enough to crack the skull, stop it from moving, and that was that. But Luo Xun’s weapon was a spiked mace! The kind with the large head and the nails sticking out. After hitting a zombie, the nail tips would come out… with “things” stuck to them.
Seeing that Luo Xun seemed completely unaware of how gruesome that was, the others didn’t even bother explaining. Yan Fei simply walked up, draped an arm around Luo Xun’s shoulders, and casually started walking toward the supermarket’s back door. “Come on,” he said. “Who knows how long we’ll be in there.”
Luo Xun stiffened slightly at the sudden touch, then nodded and followed.
The back door wasn’t locked, but since it opened outward, the zombies outside hadn’t been able to pull it open — they could only push. So they’d been trapped outside all along.
They quietly opened the door, revealing a mostly empty warehouse with a few zombies wandering aimlessly inside. When some of them turned at the sound, the group quickly and efficiently took them down.
After clearing the space, they looked around the warehouse at the wreckage and exchanged silent glances.
“Is there anything even worth taking?” Wu Xin kicked at a fallen box of preserved plums, half its contents spilled out.
There were still some things left, but most were just seasonings, broken packaging, or items splattered with strange, unidentifiable fluids. None of them dared eat anything from here.
“Should we go inside?” Li Tie asked, nodding toward the door leading into the main supermarket. “There’s another floor upstairs too — maybe we should check it?”
“Let’s take a look first,” Luo Xun said. He glanced at some fallen boxes nearby — rotten vegetables and fruit oozing a sickly stench. Their goal had been to find beans or seeds they could plant, but everything here looked contaminated. Maybe there’d still be something usable on the shelves inside.
No one wanted to go back empty-handed. They exchanged looks, then quietly pushed open the inner door.
The first floor was crawling with zombies, all wandering aimlessly. A foul, indescribable odor filled the air, so thick it made their eyes sting.
In unison, every gaze turned toward the only person wearing a mask — Yan Fei. What foresight! They all silently vowed to grab masks if they saw any.
Holding their noses, they slipped in carefully. Zombies hunted by scent, but as long as they didn’t make loud noises — or, uh, no one “passed gas” — and since it was winter so their body odor wasn’t too strong, the low-level zombies wouldn’t notice them right away.
Luo Xun pointed toward a certain direction. “That way — that’s where the rice and grain section should be.” It was probably picked clean long ago, but they had to check.
The seven of them crept over, silently dispatching any zombies they couldn’t avoid.
The grain shelves were completely bare, the bulk bins for beans and grains emptied out.
The five college students stared at the empty racks, their faces twisted in despair. Nothing. Not a single thing left.
Even the snack aisle was mostly trashed, with only torn wrappers and crumbs remaining.
“Ah! There’s still some here!” Li Tie suddenly exclaimed, pointing excitedly at a few mung beans and red beans that had fallen between the shelves.
“Hey, even a little’s worth something!” Luo Xun thought. Seeds could be sprouted and planted — priceless for survival.
Encouraged, the five men dropped all pretense and started crawling around, searching every crack and corner for anything seed-like. Luo Xun’s lips twitched at the sight, but he turned to Yan Fei. “Let’s help too?” Even if they weren’t short on supplies, it wouldn’t do to act dismissive about something that might one day be worth more than gold.
Yan Fei gave a small shake of his head as he watched Luo Xun crouch down and join in, then turned his gaze elsewhere. There were zombies — and perhaps other humans — still in the area.
“Peanuts! These are raw, right? We can plant them!” He Qiankun shouted, holding up a peanut.
Li Tie blinked, not quite processing, but Luo Xun quickly confirmed, “Yeah, they’ll grow if they sprout.”
“Right! Keep them safe!” Li Tie echoed hurriedly.
Meanwhile, Wu Xin was lying almost flat on the floor, stretching his arm under a shelf to grab a round object. When he finally pulled it out, he froze. “A… lemon?”
Luo Xun stood up, putting a few uncrushed beans and peanuts into a small plastic bag. “Take it back and open it later. If the seeds inside are intact, we can plant them too.” Lemons were great — long shelf life and packed with vitamins. He’d actually forgotten to buy any lemon seeds before.
They were just finishing sweeping the area when two heavy thuds sounded nearby. Everyone immediately raised their weapons, only to see Yan Fei stroll back casually, hands in his pockets, with two freshly killed zombies behind him.
“Yan—” He Qiankun started, but before he could finish, they all heard a rush of footsteps and angry voices from another aisle.
“Who the hell parked their damn car there?! Blocked the whole front entrance!”
A group rounded the corner — and froze when they saw Luo Xun’s team. Both sides stared in shock.
The newcomers carried large bags, clearly having scored far better loot. They outnumbered Luo Xun’s group, but seemed wary — a fight could attract more zombies.
After a tense moment, one of them signaled the others to bypass them and head toward the back exit.
They all let out a silent breath of relief once the strangers left.
“Should we check the fresh produce section?” Wang Duo whispered. “Maybe we can still find some fruit. Even if they’re rotten — the seeds might still be good!”
“Go!” the others agreed immediately. They were all thinking the same thing.
When they reached the produce section, the stench was overwhelming — thick, rotting, suffocating. The meat counter was a nightmare, the air so foul it could kill flies. The vegetable section was mostly useless too, but the fruit area—
They stared at the empty fruit racks, dumbfounded once again. Clearly, they weren’t the only ones who’d realized fruit seeds were valuable. The vegetable section still had scraps left, but this? Almost completely stripped bare.
Taking two steps forward, Luo Xun immediately noticed some rotting watermelon pieces on the ground. He quickly called the others over to check.
Discarding the immature white seeds, they picked up a total of seven intact watermelon seeds. After dividing them, Luo Xun took two and carefully stored them in a small plastic bag he carried with him. How could he have overlooked fruit seeds before? He must’ve been too worn down in his previous life after the apocalypse—he’d almost forgotten that fruits even existed. Other than a few apple and orange saplings, he’d prepared nothing. Even the handful of wild berry seedlings he had were gifts from a seller when he’d bought some chickens and ducks!
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