Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 13

Tang Yu pulled her teammates along, found a two-story building across from the mall, and climbed up to the balcony.

This area was on the border of the city and countryside, and the mall wasn’t very large. Their current position wasn’t far from the mall, separated only by a two-lane road.

With a higher vantage point, they could see farther. The three of them peeked out from the balcony and quickly grasped the current situation.

A team of people was besieged inside the mall. Through the glass doors, they could see that there were still some zombies inside. At this point, they could neither retreat nor advance.

“They look like newbies,” Jin Ye concluded. “Zombies don’t close doors, so they must have closed it themselves. Locking yourself in an enclosed space is undoubtedly suicide. These people are most likely new players who just joined the game.”

Before she had even finished speaking, a man inside the mall suddenly began waving his hands frantically in their direction.

Tang Yu crouched down. “He saw us. Is he asking for our help?”

“It seems so.”

“But we’re zombies,” Tang Yu said, somewhat amused. The people across the way had probably mistaken them for humans.

“Even if I weren’t a zombie, I wouldn’t go down there,” Jin Ye said with cold detachment. “Look at the zombies below. They’re not quite like the ones we’ve encountered before. With so few of us, going down there would be suicide.”

After Jin Ye pointed it out, Tang Yu also noticed that the zombies surrounding the mall entrance weren’t in a state of chaotic pushing and shoving. Although they were crowded together, a closer look revealed that they were all very polite, or rather, very orderly.

Each zombie maintained a small distance from the others, unlike zombies elsewhere whose elbows seemed desperate to jab into their kind’s mouths, limbs flailing about chaotically.

Such well-behaved zombies with a sense of personal space.

This subtle difference surprised Tang Yu. “They have consciousness now?” She hissed, then immediately dismissed the idea.

They weren’t using tools to strike the glass door, and there was no communication among them. Although they maintained a sense of order, they still only pounded on the door and roared unconsciously.

This was completely different from Tang Yu and her group.

Tang Yu recalled Jian Wu mentioning that a mutated Zombie King could control its kind to fight. Could it be that all these zombies were being controlled?

Well, they don’t seem that impressive then, she thought. Their brains are still slow.

Just as she was thinking this, a burst of gunfire suddenly echoed from the empty street.

The three on the balcony quickly ducked back into the room, then peeked out to look at the road below.

A large truck drove closer and closer, the people on it firing toward the mall entrance. Hearing the gunshots, the zombies besieging the door immediately changed their target and swarmed toward the truck.

The people on the truck jumped off unhurriedly. Tang Yu did a rough count and saw there were over twenty of them, all able-bodied men.

These men seemed to have extensive combat experience. Their weapons were gleaming, and someone even threw a grenade. In less than ten minutes, the fifty unarmed zombies were eliminated.

The people trapped in the mall, as if seeing their saviors, broke the glass door and rushed out. They cried out, “Thank you for saving us.”

Tang Yu had an inappropriate thought: Shouldn’t my fellow zombies be the ones getting saved? How pitiful. They can’t use weapons or think; they can only be beaten.

Tang Yu could see clearly now. The team of newbies consisted of five people—three men and two women. The one who had just thanked them was a man with a braid.

“Newbies?” The man with the gun by the truck said, smiling as he sized up the five of them. His gaze was not friendly.

The man with the braid noticed this as well, but he chose to ignore it and replied, “Yes, we are.”

The man with the gun said, “In that case, why not join us? We’re fighters from the Tiger Leopard Camp. Stick with us, and I guarantee you won’t be scared enough to piss your pants like you were this time.” He laughed loudly and patted the tiger-leopard tattoo on his shoulder.

How rude, Tang Yu complained to herself. This Tiger Leopard Camp didn’t seem like a good place at all.

Clearly, the rescued people had noticed this as well.

But the man with the braid took it upon himself to agree. “Okay, we’re really lucky that you’re willing to take us in, big brother.”

His friends all looked at him in disbelief, especially one of the long-haired girls. Seeming to sense the danger, she said firmly, “I’m not going. I can manage on my own…”

But before she could finish speaking, the tattooed man suddenly fired his gun and shot her dead.

It wasn’t just the people standing nearby; even Tang Yu and her two companions were badly frightened.

“This is bad. Let’s go, quickly,” Tang Yu whispered. “Neither of these groups is any good. That guy with the braid saw us; he might give us away.”

The three of them crept downstairs, planning to climb out a first-floor window and escape in the opposite direction.

This unexpected interlude made Tang Yu realize that some players in this game had gone mad, and that those who saved others weren’t necessarily good people.

After that display of “killing the chicken to warn the monkey,” the braided man’s group was certain to join the so-called Tiger Leopard Camp. They wouldn’t have the courage to refuse even if they wanted to.

It was a pity for his three surviving teammates; the man with the braid had practically led them into a wolf’s den. The weak would not have an easy life in such an authoritarian camp.

Tang Yu guessed this group was also after the Zombie King and would probably stay in Y-City for a few days.

She schemed internally, thinking she had to find an opportunity to turn the other girl into a zombie and recruit her. It would be a way of saving a life, which was a great merit, even if the method was a bit strange.

However, while Tang Yu had anticipated the treachery of the human heart, she hadn’t expected the man with the braid to expose them so quickly. Just as she climbed out the window, she heard the front door being kicked open. Several muscular men holding guns rushed in, spotting Xiao Li, who was lagging behind, in the middle of climbing out the window.

Xiao Li was quick-witted. She knew it would be difficult to escape now, so she grinned and said, “Brothers, don’t kill us. I’m just passing by.”

Tang Yu and Jin Ye had no choice but to stop as well, pulling down the brims of their hats with their backs to the men.

The tattooed man walked in, paused when he saw Xiao Li, and asked, “All of them are dames?”

This disrespectful term infuriated Tang Yu. If not for their overwhelming firepower, she would have charged in and torn Brother Hu’s mouth to shreds.

“Brother Hu, they’re all women. Probably players from some small team,” his underling replied.

Brother Hu pushed his underling aside and said with a smirk, “In that case, little sisters, how about joining our camp? Your points aren’t too high, are they? I’ll protect you.”

“No need to trouble you, haha.” Xiao Li forced a smile, though in her heart she was already cursing his entire family tree.

“It’s no trouble. How could serving beautiful ladies be a bother?”

Now it wasn’t just Tang Yu; Jin Ye also wanted to charge in and rip Brother Hu’s mouth apart.

Brother Hu walked closer, asking with some curiosity, “Why aren’t your friends showing their faces?”

“They’re too ugly to be seen in public,” Xiao Li said without batting an eye.

In a way, what Xiao Li said was indeed true.

Brother Hu, however, was skeptical. “And they haven’t made a sound?”

“They’re both mute,” Xiao Li continued.

“You don’t have very good taste in teammates,” Brother Hu said with great disdain. Perhaps because he was so powerful, he felt a strong sense of superiority over the weak and couldn’t be bothered to verify whether Xiao Li was telling the truth.

His underling, on the other hand, stared at Tang Yu and Jin Ye’s backs with a degree of alertness.

Brother Hu waved his hand magnanimously. “Stop refusing. Get on the truck with us. I’ll take you to kill the Zombie King, and you can have whatever points are left over.”

Xiao Li hesitated, glancing back at Tang Yu and Jin Ye. Tang Yu gave a slight nod, signaling her to agree for the time being.

Since no one in the other group had raised any objections, it meant their team didn’t have any espers with a keen sense of smell. Tang Yu decided to play along and pretend to be human for a while.

And so, through a strange twist of fate, the three of them ended up on the proverbial pirate ship.

They were assigned to a corner of the truck. Tang Yu and Jin Ye kept the brims of their hats pulled down the entire time, with their jacket collars pulled up to cover their chins, leaving only their eyes to survey their surroundings.

The truck had no roof, and the guardrails on the sides were very low, consisting of just a few iron bars to prevent zombies from lunging at them.

The closer they got to the city center, the more zombies they saw. Since it was noon, most of the zombies seemed somewhat sluggish. In the distance, hordes of them stood in the shadows, swaying from side to side. Peeking through the bars, Tang Yu shivered.

Those zombies swayed rhythmically, like a field of grass in the wind, occasionally shifting their positions. They were as orderly as a military phalanx.

How bizarre.

Zombies that got close clung to the back of the truck, only to be shot dead one by one by the other muscular men.

But the zombies in the city were different from those in the suburbs. Their stamina seemed to have been raised a level, as they relentlessly pursued the truck. Some of the more agile ones even climbed directly onto the iron bars on the sides.

The corner where Tang Yu was located was very close to the iron bars, so she and Jin Ye had no choice but to fight off the zombies.

The underling who had been keeping an eye on her withdrew his probing gaze. By a strange coincidence, Tang Yu’s actions had dispelled his suspicions.

At least they were helping, and their skills weren’t half bad. In contrast, the braided man’s team of newbies was cowering in a corner, too scared to move.

Tang Yu pulled the brim of her hat down a little further. Just then, the truck suddenly made a U-turn.

Brother Hu shouted from the passenger seat, “Let’s find a place to regroup and rest first! We’ll press on tonight!”

The vehicle turned, leaving the bustling city area, and stopped at a dilapidated gas station. The group got out and, guns in hand, made short work of the few wandering zombies.

Tang Yu looked up at the sky. The midday sun was glaring, precisely when the zombies’ abilities were at their weakest. Yet, Brother Hu had suddenly stopped advancing, choosing to act at night instead. It didn’t quite add up.

Perhaps he wasn’t afraid of the zombies at all; rather, he wanted to hunt them.

Tang Yu recalled what Jin Ye had said about innate abilities. For Brother Hu to act so arrogantly, he must have a powerful ability to back it up.

Moreover, that pile of high-level-looking weapons was also quite conspicuous.

Tang Yu and Jin Ye exchanged a glance, deciding to take things as they came. Besides, following Brother Hu was a good way to find the Zombie King, and they might even be able to snag some useful weapons along the way.

The gas station had a dilapidated convenience store, though its merchandise had long since been looted. Everyone was now crowded inside to rest. There was also an employee break room.

Brother Hu smiled and said, “We’ll leave this room for the ladies.” He gestured with his hand, inviting them in.

In his eyes, bestowing this small favor would make the women feel deeply indebted to him. Besides, everyone present was perfectly clear about the ulterior motives he was harboring.

Tang Yu glanced at the crowd and was the first to head toward the room. Jin Ye and Xiao Li followed her. Only the female newbie remained standing where she was, wary.

Xiao Li grabbed her and pulled her into the room as well.

Brother Hu was very satisfied with Tang Yu’s perceptiveness.

Tang Yu was also very satisfied with Brother Hu’s arrangement. As it happened, she needed a private space to discuss something with Jin Ye.