Chapter 59: Never Give Up
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Hongtao didn’t know where his strength to fight suddenly came from. Although he almost fainted, he tried his best to reach the mouth of the zombie and close it. However, the big mouth of the zombie was getting closer and closer to his neck.
Zhang Hongtao felt desperate. Suddenly, he felt that he shouldn’t be playing the hero just because Shen Chen needed him to be one. He had his son Duoduo, who was waiting for him to come back. If he died, how could Duoduo survive?
Duoduo had lost his mother, and Zhang Hongtao was now the only family Duoduo had in the world. Even in heaven, Zhang Hongtao wouldn’t be able to bear seeing Duoduo live as a parentless orphan.
Zhang Hongtao let out a loud shout. Strength suddenly came into his hands, and he pushed the zombie’s head away. The zombie immediately gave a roar. The food that had been easy to get to before was now suddenly difficult to reach. The zombie screamed and threw itself on Zhang Hongtao again.
It was a hard battle. Zhang Hongtao was clearly already failing in his fight against this monster. After all, he was no longer in the prime of his life, and compared to this kind of zombie, which never tired, he had no chance of winning.
Feeling that he was gradually losing his strength, Zhang Hongtao felt hopeless. However, just when he was about to give up, he suddenly heard something whip through the wind and come toward him! Zhang Hongtao’s eyes shone!
Immediately afterward, the body of the zombie jerked violently a few times. After only a few jerks, its body felt like it was running out of strength. It fell on Zhang Hongtao and stopped moving.
The zombie’s head hung on Zhang Hongtao’s chest. Then, it slowly separated from its body and rolled down onto the ground. Zhang Hongtao felt his strength come back. He cried out, stretched his leg, and kicked the zombie away. He then turned on the flashlight and found a machete stuck straight into the zombie’s head. He looked up and saw Shen Chen in the distance, looking at him urgently. Judging by how he stood, Zhao Hongtao knew that it was Shen Chen who had just saved him.
The feeling of life returning came over Zhao Hongtao like a flood. He was so excited that he couldn’t control his emotions. The feeling of not being abandoned was overwhelming. He wanted to run to Shen Chen and give him a hug!
“Can you walk?” Shen Chen asked in the distance.
“Yes! Absolutely!” Zhang Hongtao said excitedly, then crawled to the head of the zombie. He was surprised to find that the machete Shen Chen used to kill the zombie had completely cut through its head.
Zhang Hongtao couldn’t believe that Shen Chen was able to hit the target so precisely and from such a far distance. He was astonished. If the tip of the machete had missed by even a fraction, Zhang Hongtao’s chest might have been split open.
Even from such a long distance away, Shen Chen could strike precisely. Zhang Hongtao used to think that this kind of superpower only existed in TV dramas or movies.
After Zhang Hongtao pulled out the machete from the zombie’s head, he was surprised to find that the machete was much heavier than the fire axe. “Shen Chen, what else are you capable of that I don’t know about?” Zhang Hongtao thought.
Zhang Hongtao ran to Shen Chen and handed him the machete. The flashlight helped him see the approval in Shen Chen’s eyes. “You did a good job!” he said.
Zhang Hongtao wiped away the cold sweat that broke out on his forehead. “Don’t joke with me,” he said. “If it hadn’t been for you, I would have been killed by the zombie.”
Shen Chen slowly turned around and said, “No, you should thank yourself. If it wasn’t for your strong will to survive, you wouldn’t have been able to hold out a little bit longer. If you gave up, I wouldn’t have been able to save you, even if I wanted to. So remember how you felt when you got that burst of strength, because it will save your life in the future.”
Zhang Hongtao nodded after hearing Shen Chen’s explanation, and he really began to trust and respect this man, who was more than ten years younger than him.
With the help of the flashlight, Zhang Hongtao now saw what was in the parking lot. The ground was covered with blood and broken skeletons and skulls. Zhang Hongtao knew that these people must have been killed and eaten by zombies. Zombies ate everything.
Zhang Hongtao’s stomach churned violently, and he felt like he were going to vomit. But, because the zombies locked in the cars repeatedly banged on the car doors and windows, he didn’t dare to slow down, and carefully followed Shen Chen instead.
Currently, there weren’t many zombies wandering in the parking lot, and the dead ones were obviously a result of Shen Chen’s good work.
Zhang Hongtao looked at Shen Chen, who walked as if the place were empty. To Shen Chen, the parking lot wasn’t the same one from earlier, when it had been swarming with zombies. His calm filled Zhang Hongtao with respect.
“Don’t be afraid of these zombies,” Shen Chen said to Zhang Hongtao. “Their movements are still relatively slow, and their hearing and sense of smell are only slightly better than a human’s. In a way, the difference between a human being and one of these zombies is that the zombie is fearless and the human lacks courage!”
“Yes, people do lack courage!” Zhang Hongtao thought. “No one living in a civilized society would ever expect that they would live in a world full of zombies one day. Everyone who sees a zombie becomes scared. I’m not a brave man. When I first saw zombies, I was frightened out of my wits! In fact, humans are no better than zombies!”
Zhang Hongtao felt himself blush. Shen Chen’s words gave him new insight and courage. For a moment, he was lost in thought.
After a while, Shen Chen asked, “Where’s the spare generator?”
Zhang Hongtao was aroused from his thoughts. He led Shen Chen to a passage, pushed open the explosion-proof door, and walked through the corridor. In front of him, a door marked “Staff Only” blocked the way.
“Here it is!” Zhang Hongtao said. He pushed on the door, and suddenly looked worried. “It’s like a steel door. Well, we have to find the key first.”
Shen Chen’s eyes fell on the lock, but instead of looking for the key, he relaxed and leaned against the wall. He asked thoughtfully, “As for the shelter for survivors, what do you think?”
Zhang Hongtao hadn’t expected him to ask this. He looked at Shen Chen, who looked very serious, as if this weren’t just a casual chat.
Zhang Hongtao also became serious, and his expression gradually changed. After a few minutes, Zhang Hongtao looked up at Shen Chen and said, “I’ll say what I believe first. Maybe it’s not the same as what you think, but it’s what I think.”
Shen Chen asked Zhang Hongtao to continue and didn’t say a word or interrupt him. Zhang Hongtao couldn’t understand what was on Sheng Ning’s mind. He only felt under great pressure. He wasn’t half as nervous when making an annual report in front of hundreds of people.
He cleared his throat and said slowly, “At the beginning, I thought it would be a good idea to go to the survivors’ shelter, since it’s protected by the military. But now, I don’t think so.”
Shen Chen nodded and showed interest in what he had to say. “Go on,” he urged.
“S city has a population of twenty million people, but there are only four shelters. Even if only ten percent of the people survive and go to the shelters, it means that a shelter must accommodate five hundred thousand people! What does this mean? Five hundred thousand people is equivalent to the total population of a county-level city. Food, beds, management—these are big problems!” Zhang Hongtao frowned tightly. “And when so many people live together, I’m afraid they will easily cause riots and commotions, especially since Doomsday has already come. When rules are broken, it’s obviously impossible to preserve order with just the army.”