Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 39

Tang Yu was completely unaware of the events on the game forums. At that moment, they were stopped in a small supermarket. There wasn’t much of use left inside; the shelves held only unwanted rags and expired food.

Tang Yu felt a bit discouraged. There was nothing useful here.

But the newly joined aunties didn’t stay idle. Someone found a screwdriver and a pair of steel pliers from somewhere and dismantled a shelf in a flash.

Tang Yu: ?

Seeing someone dismantling a shelf, the other aunties seemed to have a switch flipped. Glass counters, cash registers, broken security cameras, and hanging electrical wires—they dismantled them all.

Tang Yu: ??

Aunty Pang, who had led the charge on the shelf, saw Xiao Li and the others standing there stunned and explained, “Didn’t you just say the camp has nothing? This iron, these wires, this glass—it can all be useful. There are so many of us, we might as well take it all apart and bring it back.”

Tang Yu silently gave a thumbs-up. The wisdom of the working people was truly great.

With this new direction, their minds were completely opened. When gathering supplies, they no longer focused only on supermarkets. Hardware stores, bakeries, furniture and appliance stalls, agricultural supply points, and even construction sites were all thoroughly scavenged.

Zhou Zhou even took a few aunties to a nearby hospital and moved some unknown equipment.

Truth be told, the supplies in A-City had been picked over by players dozens of times, leaving little of use. But the players, who came from an interstellar background, mostly collected ready-made items. The majority of them had no experience with survival or construction, so things like equipment, wires, and raw materials were rarely touched.

However, the villagers from Huang Village, who had always lived in A-City, were different. Furthermore, some of these women were rural folk who had come to the city for work, while others were housewives familiar with back kitchens. They knew all too well how to turn waste into treasure.

While collecting things, someone remarked with emotion, “Back when the men were still around, we always thought we had to go back to Huang Village. Hiding and scurrying around outside, how could we dare build a camp elsewhere? If we had just abandoned the past and started over sooner, we might be harvesting our own vegetables in some remote mountain hollow by now.”

They were all capable people, but their hands and feet had been bound by their mindset. You have to break from the old to build the new. Now, they had completely cast aside their past, filled with anticipation and ready to build their new lives with their own hands.

Inspired by the aunties, Tang Yu, Jin Ye, and Xiao Li’s spirits soared. They managed to get a large truck from somewhere and, under the aunties’ guidance, gathered some ropes.

The group of over twenty people spent a whole day collecting supplies while avoiding zombies. It wasn’t until noon the next day, when the truck was more than half full, that they decided to head back to the camp.

During this time, two women, due to difficult personalities and a lingering attachment to their past lives, voluntarily left Tang Yu’s group. The remaining people didn’t try to force them to stay. They proactively divided the labor, helping to move the collected supplies.

Clothes, fabric, knives, seeds, and even wooden planks from a construction site, ten bags of cement, trowels for bricklaying and mixing mortar, and cement buckets—they brought it all.

Jin Ye and Zhou Zhou had to find two vans to transport all the people.

On the way back, Mrs. Li even went home and brought out the bedsheets and quilts from her cabinets. Aunty Pang suggested, “Why don’t you take your bed too? We’re not coming back to this godforsaken place.”

No sooner said than done. The two beds from Qianqian’s house were lifted onto the truck, stuffing it to the brim.

If Tang Yu hadn’t quickly waved her hands to stop them, the other aunties would have gone back to the village to get their own beds.

It was a good thing they didn’t run into any other players on the road. With such a commotion, they would have been in trouble sooner or later.

Because Xiao Li was so well-spoken, she quickly hit it off with the aunties. Once they were familiar with each other, they confirmed that those who remained were genuinely joining the camp and tried adding them as members on the game panel. To their surprise, NPCs could be invited. They only needed to agree verbally, and the camp founder could add their names.

However, the NPCs didn’t have a game panel and couldn’t see the camp group chat.

Only then did the aunties remember to ask Xiao Li, “What’s our camp’s name?”

Being asked by so many people, Xiao Li seemed a little embarrassed. “A… A Close and Loving Family.”

“Good name!” Granny Mei was the first to offer her praise. “I like this name. It’s so nice, so friendly.”

Xiao Li and Jin Ye exchanged a look and couldn’t help but laugh. They hadn’t expected this name to be so popular among the middle-aged and elderly.

Zhou Zhou put a hand to her forehead and sighed, teasing Tang Yu, “You came up with the name? Just how old are you on the inside?”

Tang Yu huffed and turned her head away from Zhou Zhou.

Next, the aunties stated their names one by one, and Tang Yu added them. The talkative Aunty Pang’s name was Chen Cui, an outsider who had married into Huang Village, but she said with a smile, “Everyone calls me Aunty Pang, so you can just call me that.”

Granny Mei’s original name was Mei Gengyu, and Mrs. Li’s full name was Li Xishi. Tang Yu couldn’t help but marvel. Looking at their weathered faces, it was hard to imagine that these ordinary women had such beautiful names, which likely held the wonderful wishes of their parents.

When it was Huang Qianqian’s turn, Li Xishi said, “Just write her name as Li Qianqian. From now on, Qianqian will take my surname.” She stroked the little girl’s head, seeking her consent. “Is that okay?”

The little girl nodded, then beamed at the black cat and said, “Then your name will be Li Xiao Hei from now on.”

Everyone burst into laughter. Aunty Pang teased, “That’s so plain. Let’s just call it Xiao Hei.”

Xiao Li also introduced Tang Yu and Jin Ye to the aunties. After exchanging names, everyone truly seemed to have become one family.

The group got into the vehicles, which were driven by players like Tang Yu and Jin Ye. With operational prompts, driving wasn’t difficult. Jin Ye pulled up their travel history, and the group followed the map toward North Stream Camp.

North Stream Camp was accessible by a dirt road. Everyone worked together to load the things Tang Yu’s group had hidden earlier onto the truck. Then they went into the deserted North Stream Camp and moved some remaining items, even taking the iron cages from the basement.

The goods were piled high on the truck, wrapped repeatedly with several layers of rope. But the next part of the journey presented a challenge.

The “A Close and Loving Family” camp was located deep in the mountains. It was a village in the truest sense, with no road access. When Tang Yu’s group had left the village, they had hiked over the mountains on foot, following small trails made by animals.

How were they going to move this huge truckload of things back?

The group discussed it for a long time but couldn’t come up with a good solution. It seemed that building a road had to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

Finally, Jin Ye decided she would set a direction on the map, and they would drive as far as they could, taking any road they found to get as close as possible.

So, the vehicles returned to the highway and headed north according to Jin Ye’s directions. They wound their way through the mountains on mountain roads for several laps before finally stopping beside a reservoir.

The asphalt road ended at the reservoir. Next to it was a row of abandoned single-story buildings, which seemed to be former maintenance rooms.

Jin Ye checked the direction. The village was just north of the reservoir. They worked together to unload the items from the truck, temporarily storing them in the maintenance rooms. Then they took some of the lighter items and began hiking around the reservoir, heading north.

Tang Yu had originally thought it would be a long walk to the village, but they soon discovered that the village was just above the reservoir. They had only walked for less than an hour on the mountain path.

That made things much easier. With so many people, they could make multiple trips to transport the supplies back. As for building the road, that could begin once the aunties were settled in.

Someone in the crowd muttered, “This reservoir isn’t too deep. We could put some fish fry in and raise them.”

Hearing this, Tang Yu and Jin Ye’s eyes lit up.

Someone asked, “You know how to raise fish?”

That person replied, “I did it for two years. Didn’t make any money, so I went to the city to work.”

Xiao Li said happily, “That’s okay! We don’t need to make money, just enough to feed our own people.”

Aunty Pang tilted her chin and asked Xiao Li, “Do they eat fish too? They don’t eat people, do they?”

Xiao Li laughed. “They don’t eat people. Oh, I forgot to mention, there’s a zombie guarding the village named Lu Lu. She might eat people.”

Aunty Pang took a step back. “Really?”

Xiao Li laughed heartily. “Just kidding.”

The group returned to the village, talking and laughing along the way.

Lu Lu stood in front of a house holding a potato, looking dumbfounded. She whispered to Tang Yu, “Is this… a middle-aged auntie tour group? Is there anything worth seeing here?”

Tang Yu laughed. “Your train of thought is very strange. They are our new members. From now on, we’re all one family.”

“Huh?” Lu Lu didn’t quite get it. “But we only have one potato left. I was about to starve to death if you didn’t come back. How are we going to feed so many people?”

Jin Ye came over and pointed to the hoes the aunties had brought back. “Don’t underestimate them. They’re much better at getting food than we are.”

The three zombies huddled together, whispering. They followed the aunties on a tour of the village. Aunty Pang looked up and asked Tang Yu, “How will we arrange the housing? Can we pick our own rooms?”

Xiao Li answered for her, “Yes, feel free.”

There were only five or six houses in the entire village, certainly not enough for one person per room. The aunties formed groups of three to five and each chose a dilapidated house. Lu Lu had tidied them all up in her spare time, so while they were still shabby, they didn’t look as dirty.

Someone suggested, “If we’re going to live here long-term, why don’t we build a few more houses?”

Everyone looked at Tang Yu, seeking her approval.

From Xiao Li’s introduction, they knew that Tang Yu was the founder of this camp.

Tang Yu was happy to see this. These aunties seemed unable to sit still and were highly motivated. She nodded happily in agreement.

With the decision made, the group made several more trips between the reservoir and the village, finally moving the remaining supplies bit by bit back to their camp.

By the end of the day, everyone’s back was aching, but they were all exceptionally excited.

This joy of everyone contributing to build the camp together was a new experience not only for Tang Yu, Jin Ye, and the others, but even the aunties couldn’t help but exclaim, “After living in the urban village for so long, I rarely worked together with neighbors like this. Back in my home village, people all helped each other, but you rarely see that in the city. Before the apocalypse, I didn’t even know the last name of the young person living across the hall from me.”

Aunty Pang said, “It’s not all good in the countryside either. There’s plenty of scheming and people who get into big fights over a piece of land.”

Aunty Pang’s comment served as a reminder for Tang Yu. She whispered to Jin Ye, “Our camp has more people now. Shouldn’t we establish some rules and regulations? Letting everyone develop freely could lead to trouble.”

Jin Ye strongly agreed with Tang Yu’s view. “How about this: tomorrow, we’ll gather everyone to discuss it. We’ll set the rules first, assign tasks, and then everyone can take on their respective duties.”

Tang Yu clapped her hands. “Good sister, we’re on the same page.”

Jin Ye’s thinking was meticulous and extremely organized. She quickly discussed a feasible plan with Tang Yu. Tang Yu said with a smile, “You’re so good at this. Why don’t we appoint you as the military strategist?”

Jin Ye laughed. “We’re not an army, why would we need a military strategist? How about this: you’re the village chief, and I’m the deputy village chief, responsible for planning and strategy.”

“Then Zhou Zhou is the barefoot doctor,” Tang Yu teased.

“And Xiao Li is the village belle,” Jin Ye joked back.

Tang Yu immediately chimed in, “Then Lu Lu is the village girl, hahahaha.”

The two of them doubled over with laughter. Lu Lu, who had overheard their conversation from the side, chased after them to give them a beating.

That evening, everyone heated water to wash themselves. They cooked a simple meal with the grain they had stolen from North Stream Camp. The entire village of people gathered in the courtyard, eating and excitedly discussing what they would do next.