Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 26

Tang Yu’s mind spun, and she decided to wait until nightfall.

For now, they planned to hide the supplies they had stolen. Leaving them piled up outside North Camp wasn’t a solution, and they wouldn’t be returning to their own camp for a while anyway, as they still had a trip to the city to make.

They climbed back over the wall, calculated the distance and direction, and dug a pit a hundred meters from North Camp to bury the supplies. Finally, they tamped down the earth and covered it with some cut grass and shrubs for camouflage. From a distance, the spot looked no different from any other part of the woods.

By the time the three of them climbed back into North Camp, the square was filled with noise. It seemed the leaders of the two factions had finished their negotiations and were preparing to make an important announcement in the square.

Jin Ye and Xiao Li took advantage of the chaos to hide in the power room, observing the situation outside through a crack in the door. Tang Yu, on the other hand, brazenly stood in the square, even making her way to the very front row.

As long as she didn’t attack, no one could see her.

The man known as Teacher Gu was clearly the more eloquent one. He pushed up his glasses and, as the spokesperson, summarized the results of the negotiation.

It was more or less just as Tang Yu had guessed: the two factions had decided to manage North Camp in turns, with a one-year cycle.

Tang Yu heard faint sighs from the crowd. It seemed everyone understood that this was merely a stopgap measure agreed upon because neither side could defeat the other. It also meant that North Camp would remain in a state of continuous turmoil in the future.

But Teacher Gu’s speech was very well-delivered. Not only did he make many grand promises, but he also presented them in a logical and convincing manner.

Tang Yu listened attentively from below the stage. She had her own camp now, so she could learn from others’ mistakes and prevent her own camp from repeating them. Besides, she needed to learn some of Teacher Gu’s speaking techniques; they might come in handy later.

Jin Ye was surprised. Tang Yu wasn’t just stealing things here; she was also stealing skills.

Twenty minutes had passed by the time Teacher Gu finished his speech. Tang Yu noticed that Zhou Zhou wasn’t in the audience but had been standing by Teacher Gu and Eighth Master’s side the entire time, her status clearly not low.

It made sense. She seemed to be the only researcher in the entire camp, so she must be treasured and protected.

But a person like that could also become a victim of factional strife at a moment’s notice.

Zhou Zhou didn’t show much emotion, so Tang Yu still couldn’t tell if she was willing or forced. But a new idea had formed in Tang Yu’s mind.

She wanted to steal Zhou Zhou back to her own camp too.

Ever since Jin Ye’s last injury, Tang Yu had been mulling over this issue. They had no team members with medical knowledge. When injured, they could only endure it. If it weren’t for her special zombie constitution, Jin Ye would have died from the pain long ago.

Tang Yu didn’t yet know what kind of research Zhou Zhou was conducting, but from the practiced way she applied medicine to the wounded, this professor knew medicine.

She was a talent, and Tang Yu was determined to recruit her!

After Teacher Gu’s speech ended, the crowd in the square dispersed in twos and threes, but they still separated into two clearly defined factions.

Tang Yu scurried back to the power room and hid behind a generator with Jin Ye and Xiao Li.

Aside from some large gasoline and diesel generators, the power room also contained a chair and a cot. It was clear someone was assigned to guard it, but the person on duty had just been called to the square, which was why the room had been locked from the outside.

At that moment, the person on duty was about to return.

The door was pushed open a crack, and a portly man walked in, closing the door behind him. It was nearing dusk, and the man switched on the lights in the power room.

He had good work habits. The first thing he did upon entering was to check the electrical equipment.

The red light for the electric fence was glaring among the sea of green lights. The man was visibly startled and hurried toward the control panel. But before he could touch the switch, he felt a scratch on the back of his neck.

Jin Ye retracted her claws. Watching the portly body fall to the ground, she felt like she had scratched up a handful of grease.

“Now I know why you passed up the points and had me do the scratching,” Jin Ye grumbled toward an empty corner.

Tang Yu giggled. “Sis, I was just trying to help you get more points.”

“I doubt it.” Jin Ye rolled her eyes and reached out to check the man’s breath. It was obvious he had no vital signs; he had not chosen to remain in the game.

The three of them worked together to push the man out the door. By now, he had already turned into a zombie.

The zombified man banged against the door twice, then spotted living people moving in the square. He quickly changed direction and, with a roar, lunged at the people in the square.

“There’s a zombie!” someone shouted.

That wasn’t the worst of it. The people in the camp soon discovered that the hordes of wandering zombies that appeared at dusk were now swarming the outer wire fence.

But the wire fence wasn’t electrified as it usually was. Soon, zombies were climbing over the fence and scaling the walls.

Everyone in North Camp with any fighting ability rushed out, raising their weapons to shoot the zombies that had already reached the top of the walls.

The low-level wounded, who had no effective weapons, hid behind them, their eyes constantly darting toward the camp’s main gate.

“They want to take the chance to leave the camp,” Tang Yu commented from her perch on the eaves above the power room, watching the scene as if it were a play.

Jin Ye and Xiao Li were lying on the rooftop, their two heads peeking out to observe the situation.

“Should we stop them?” Jin Ye asked.

“No,” Tang Yu said. “They can distract the ones with guns.”

In reality, these injured people with little combat power were unlikely to escape the surrounding zombie horde outside.

Soon, the first brave soul made a run for it. He screamed and charged toward the camp gate, rushing out recklessly.

“Damn it! Instead of fighting the zombies, you’re just causing trouble.” Eighth Master, who was holding a gun, was the first to notice. He shot the deserter dead with a single bullet.

Unfortunately, this deserter was from Teacher Gu’s faction.

Someone pointed a finger at Eighth Master’s nose and cursed, “What right do you have to kill our people?”

Xiao Li poked her head out and shouted, “He did it on purpose! He’s just trying to use this as an excuse to kill our people.”

The shout was suspicious. Some people looked toward the power room, but there was no one on the ground, and no suspicious figures could be seen on the roof.

The less quick-witted brutes, however, were enraged by her words. “What kind of bullshit is that? Does our Eighth Master need to kill someone personally? So what if he did!”

The resentment that had been building between the two sides for days was instantly ignited. While shooting at the zombies, they also turned their guns on their own kind.

Xiao Li lay on the concrete slab, her shoulders shaking with laughter. Jin Ye shot her a helpless glance. This girl, after spending so much time with Tang Yu, had also started to enjoy watching chaos unfold.

Tang Yu gave Xiao Li a thumbs-up, only remembering after she did it that the other girl couldn’t see her.

She nonchalantly retracted her hand, marveling at how convenient it was for Xiao Li to maintain her human identity. She could infiltrate human player factions to stir up trouble and communicate with humans without any barriers, acting as their interpreter.

The Resurrection ability prevented Xiao Li from becoming a zombie and forming alliances, which should have been a major inconvenience. Yet, they had managed to turn it into an advantage.

Thinking of Resurrection, Tang Yu turned to look at Xiao Li. She could copy Xiao Li’s ability, but she could only copy an ability that was currently active.

To complete the copy, Xiao Li would have to die first.

That was out of the question. Jin Ye would kill her first.

Death wasn’t as simple as eating or sleeping. Someone who had experienced death, even if they were revived, had a chance of suffering some degree of mental damage. Tang Yu would not easily risk her teammate like that.

Besides, Tang Yu didn’t want to stay in the game forever. Based on the information she had, her physical body was still imprisoned in some interstellar prison, like a fish on a chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered.

She had to survive and, one day in the future, regain control of her body. As for how to do that, she could only take it one step at a time.

In short, unless it was absolutely necessary, she would not easily copy Xiao Li’s Resurrection ability.

The clamor from the square interrupted Tang Yu’s thoughts. Zombies had already breached the wall’s defenses and jumped into the camp.

The remaining players in North Camp were originally the less powerful brutes left to guard the camp. Now, with their ranks in disarray, the scene became increasingly chaotic.

Seeing that they couldn’t win, more and more people joined the ranks of those fleeing. And as they fled, a few actually managed to escape.

Xiao Li and Jin Ye took advantage of the chaos to open fire, killing several players from a distance and earning some points. By now, no one was paying attention to where the bullets were coming from. The people with guns had their eyes red with killing intent.

When the number of people in the camp had dwindled to just ten, Tang Yu jumped down from the rooftop.

“Let’s go, sisters. Time to check out the research lab.”

The research lab door was closed. Jin Ye, too lazy to pick the lock, shot the lock cylinder out. The gunshot blended in with the noise outside and didn’t attract any attention.

The three of them pushed the door open and peered inside.

At that one glance, Xiao Li and Jin Ye froze on the spot.

Zhou Zhou was in the research lab.

While all hell was breaking loose outside, Zhou Zhou was in the lab, polishing a scalpel.

For a moment, everyone stared at each other, wide-eyed, not expecting to meet like this.

The invisible Tang Yu quickly moved behind Zhou Zhou, ready to scratch her. At this point, it didn’t matter if she revealed herself.

But just then, Zhou Zhou gave a dry laugh. “What a coincidence, haha.” She didn’t call for help or show any hostility. She even saw through Jin Ye’s zombie identity without screaming.

Tang Yu’s raised hand lowered again. She couldn’t scratch her now. What if she did, and Zhou Zhou chose not to remain in the game? Wouldn’t that be a painful loss of a great general?!

No, she had to let Xiao Li talk to her first.

Seeing that Jin Ye and Xiao Li had no intention of attacking, Zhou Zhou lowered her head and continued with her task, as if nothing had happened.

“I know you two,” Zhou Zhou said, her hands never stopping as she tried to strike up a conversation. “One was a captive we caught before, and the other was a zombie we caught.”

She placed a row of precision knives into a tool roll, carefully rolled it up, and put it into a nearby box. Aside from her initial shock, her movements were methodical, and her tone was not panicked. The gunfire outside seemed to have nothing to do with her; she was just tidying up her things as usual.

Tang Yu’s eyes gleamed. “This woman’s composure is so steady.” Not only that, but Tang Yu had already scanned the lab. It had all the medical supplies she had hoped for.

There was even an ECG machine, a defibrillator, a scanner, and other experimental equipment you would only see in a hospital.

The only unpleasant sight was the corpse of a zombie lying on the operating table, its head split halfway open, a bloody mess that was hard for Tang Yu, a fellow zombie, to look at.

Tang Yu spoke, relaying her intentions to Xiao Li through the camp channel: “We need a doctor. Negotiate to recruit her. Don’t let her get away.”

Jin Ye chimed in with a reminder, “Are you recruiting her or kidnapping her?”

Tang Yu’s voice made Zhou Zhou look up. She pointed at the empty air and asked Xiao Li, “Is there someone else?”

“Yes, another zombie.” Xiao Li took a step forward, a sweet smile on her face.

“Professor… Zhou, right? North Camp is about to fall apart. We happen to be short a doctor. Would you like to join us? We provide food and shelter, the work is light, and the colleagues are very friendly. If you don’t want to go on field missions, you can stay in our camp all the time. The benefits at our camp are great. The only requirement is that you have to become a zombie, but you can still stay in the game and continue the experience. Would you like to consider it?”

Tang Yu commented, “You’re sounding more and more like a zombie salesman.”

Zhou Zhou took a step back and asked, “What’s your camp’s name? Are they all zombies?”

“A Close and Loving Family. Except for me, they’re all zombies. A family of corpses.”

“Never heard of it.”

“You have now.”

Zhou Zhou took another step back. “No need, thank you.”

In a matter of seconds, the recruitment had failed.

“Why? What’s your reason for refusing?” Xiao Li pressed on.

“The position doesn’t match. I’m not a doctor. I don’t save people,” Zhou Zhou said, then added, “And I don’t save zombies either.”