Chapter 13

The three of them each pushed a shopping cart, carefully selecting the items they needed among the shelves.

Electric blankets, towels, toothpaste, soap... Soon, the shopping carts were filled with all sorts of goods, including hand cream and anti-cracking ointments.

In the old era, which was the era of civilization, many disaster films often associated survivors with the word "hunger." But the reality was not like that, at least not at the beginning of the chaos. Due to inertia and blind conformity, panicked people left the city as quickly as possible, leaving behind a vast amount of resources, which could be considered a treasure trove.

At the beginning of the virus outbreak, people only wanted to stay away from zombies and did not consider the issue of food. Therefore, it was actually quite easy to find food in the city. Su Hao had once read a military investigation report from the future world—until 2027, seven years after the virus outbreak, there were still people living in the city, relying on canned food left over from the era of civilization. Although the shelf life of these items was only one to two years, they were still edible, and the taste was passable. Especially when extremely hungry, no one would consider the deadly preservatives or the health issues caused by spoiled canned food.

The survivors in the small building were not lacking in food; their food reserves were very sufficient. Various foods obtained from nearby stores almost filled the entire basement. As a result, Su Hao had to find several hidden cellars in the suburbs to serve as the second and third food warehouses in case of emergencies.

Of course, this "sufficiency" was only relative to the current team members.

Xin Yan stood in front of the daily necessities counter, secretly glanced at Su Hao, who was standing in the middle of the aisle on guard, and quickly grabbed a dozen packs of sanitary napkins into the shopping cart. Han Ying walked into the adjacent lingerie counter, carefully selecting bras that fit her size. Due to their shared interests and needs, the two girls soon gathered together and scavenged many items they considered essential.

Su Hao watched the elevator leading to the supermarket exit, his mind spreading out to search for potential dangers.

As Xin Yan stuffed a pair of stockings into her backpack, she was just seen by Su Hao. Both of their faces turned slightly red, and their eyes quickly averted.

At the baby products counter, two boxes of formula milk and several rubber nipples were added to the shopping cart—Tao Yuan's son needed these.

"Let's go! Check downstairs."

Su Hao slung his assault rifle, pushed the cart full of goods, and walked through the corridor into the food section on the lower level of the supermarket.

Many shelves had already been cleared, indicating that someone had already visited here. The searchers were not concerned; their eyes directly passed over the heavy bags of rice and flour, landing on the more attractive fruits further away.

The pineapples were large, with thick, dark green skin that was slightly yellow. Su Hao drew his hunting knife and forcefully cut off the tough, spiral-shaped leaves at the top, using these vitamin and citric acid-rich items to fill the remaining space in the shopping cart.

The Red Fuji apples were clearly last year's refrigerated items. The price tag of "64 yuan per kilogram" was quite shocking. They were small in size and few in number, so Su Hao could only try to pick the ones that looked intact.

On the other end of the counter, there were also Korla pears and bananas. Su Hao wanted to take a few more, but found that the shopping cart was already full. He shook his head in frustration and was about to call Xin Yan, who was standing by the dairy products shelf, to leave. At that moment, he suddenly noticed—clear footsteps and the sound of heavy objects being dragged came from the direction of the second-floor elevator.

The two girls immediately turned their eyes to him, but saw Su Hao raise his left hand and make a gesture to hide on both sides. At the same time, he took off his assault rifle and quickly moved behind a three-legged stand filled with dog food, aiming at the elevator exit.

Xin Yan and Han Ying held their pistols and crouched behind a nearby counter. The three of them leaned against the wall, forming a mutually supportive firing position.

Enhanced humans possessed abilities that ordinary humans could hardly understand. For example, now, Su Hao could sense two moving figures in the elevator corridor behind the wall. As a third-stage enhanced human, his detection radius was about fifty meters. Although it was not as good as direct observation with the naked eye, he could perceive hidden creatures that were out of sight and blocked by objects.

Xin Yan knelt half, her eyelashes trembling slightly, and her beautiful face showed a bit of panic and tension. She subconsciously turned her head and found that Su Hao was looking at her.

"Those... outside... what are they?"

The girl tried to use short words to express her intention. She was a bit flustered, both from fear and shyness.

Su Hao shook his head and lowered his voice, "I'm not sure. But they're probably not zombies."

Xin Yan's eyes showed a hint of surprise, "How do you know?"

Su Hao raised his right hand and pointed to his head from the side, "Pay attention to the rhythm of the sounds. Zombies don't move that fast. If I'm not mistaken, they are other survivors."

A moment later, a cart filled with various items appeared at the exit of the passage. Two men walked out in sequence. One was tall, wearing a tight-fitting sports shirt, with broad shoulders and a thick, muscular body that looked like a sand wall. He appeared to be at least thirty years old, with a short haircut, and held a thick iron-clad wooden club, scanning the surroundings with eagle-like eyes.

The other was much younger, around twenty or even younger, with a slim build and a fashionable denim jacket. He seemed very active and sharp.

They kept searching the shelves, taking out unspoiled ham and bacon from the refrigerated cabinets and putting them into the shopping cart. The young, slim man did most of the work, while the muscular middle-aged man stood by to keep watch.

They did not have the zombie spots on their faces or the characteristic decay odor. Su Hao was right—they were survivors.

After confirming that they did not carry weapons like guns, Su Hao leveled his gun and slowly stood up from behind the shelves. This ghostly appearance startled the two men, who were focused on collecting food, causing them to take a few steps back. Only after seeing that the other party was also human did they breathe a sigh of relief and gradually relax their tense nerves.

"Hey! You... I... Hello... You... Good."

The young man in the denim jacket steadied himself, raised his hands, and forced a relaxed smile. He nervously glanced at the guns in Su Hao and the others' hands, then quickly turned around to make sure the middle-aged man beside him had no intention of attacking. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, took a tentative half-step forward, and stammered to Su Hao, "We... We are not zombies, and we haven't been bitten."

Su Hao showed no intention of lowering his gun. He stared at the two men and slowly nodded.

Even in the era of civilization, strangers rarely initiated communication. Now, things were even more chaotic. In the future world, killing each other over food was a common occurrence.

The muscular middle-aged man did not let go of the wooden club in his hand. He looked at the gun in Su Hao's hand, then at Xin Yan and Han Ying in bulletproof vests, his eyes burning with a mixture of joy and intense heat.

He came out from behind the shelves, stood in the middle of the corridor, licked his lips, and asked urgently, "Are you... Are you police?"

Han Jing shook her head, and Xin Yan remained silent.

"Then why are you wearing these clothes? Where did you get the weapons?"

The middle-aged man spoke quickly, his expression anxious. He took a few steps forward, patted his chest hard, and said sincerely, "I'm not a bad person. My name is Du Tianhao, and we need help..."

"Stand there and don't move—"

Su Hao sharply interrupted him. He raised his gun, aiming at Du Tianhao's forehead, and said coldly, "I don't like killing, but that doesn't mean I won't—"

"Hey! Hey! Don't shoot! Don't shoot—This is a misunderstanding, there must be some misunderstanding."

The young man in the jacket quickly rushed over, spreading his hands to shield Du Tianhao. He was full of fear, his voice dry, "We have no grudges. I... Hello, my name is Liao Qiu. We've never met, and we'll listen to you! Listen to you! Just stand here, and everything here is yours... We are not bad people, really not."

As he spoke, he leaned back against Du Tianhao, pushing him several meters away.

Su Hao's expression remained cold. He watched the opposite side vigilantly, slowly retreating to the shopping cart, and pointed to the supermarket exit not far away, ordering Xin Yan and Han Ying, who were guarding on both sides, "Load the things onto the cart, quickly."

Du Tianhao's eyes burned with anger. He clenched his left fist and waved it fiercely in the air, growling, "We are really not bad people. You should believe me. I'm not lying, I'm not!"

"Brother Du, don't be impulsive—"

Liao Qiu hugged Du Tianhao's thick arm, holding it tightly. The middle-aged man was clearly much stronger, but Liao Qiu pushed him back several steps. The intense physical exertion made Liao Qiu's face pale, and sweat dripped from his forehead. He occasionally looked back at Su Hao, his eyes filled with fear, obvious disappointment, and a hint of pleading.

Xin Yan and Han Ying pushed the shopping cart past Su Hao. They might have been moved by the other party's attitude, hesitating and unconsciously slowing down.

"Move faster, you go start the car—"

Su Hao took out the keys from his pocket and handed them over, his right hand steady, not shaking at all.

In the future world, the relationship between people was only characterized by naked deceit, exploitation, betrayal, and betrayal. For the sake of food and survival, family ties and love became worthless. Everywhere, the real-life version of "The Farmer and the Snake" was played out, and characters like Lei Feng could only be found in history books and legends.

Su Hao's way of thinking was still stuck in the future.

He instinctively did not trust others and subconsciously considered anything not said by himself as a lie. After all, in the era he had lived in, "friend" was indeed a very rare word, used infrequently, and almost impossible to become a reality.

Liao Qiu's actions surprised him—a person with a gun pointed at them was still trying to protect another person. Su Hao had never heard of such a thing.

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

Maybe, I should listen to what they have to say?

This kind-hearted thought had just sprouted when it was immediately crushed by his cold, habitual thinking—they were not part of his team. Tao Yuan and the others were grateful to him for being rescued, but these two were different... He couldn't take the risk.

An enhanced body did not mean invincibility. Ordinary people had many ways to take down someone stronger than themselves. Bullets, daggers, striking nerve nodes like the temple... In the future world, it was common for a fifth-stage enhanced person to be taken down by a cup of poisoned wine. Ordinary people would loot the dead strong, turn the body into preserved meat, and save it for later consumption.

Even children knew the story of ants eating an elephant. How much more so for Su Hao.

The sound of a car engine starting came from outside the supermarket. Su Hao began to retreat steadily and calmly. He casually knocked over a stack of toilet paper placed next to the passage, and the white bagged toilet paper collapsed like a small mountain, blocking the passage. Su Hao took the opportunity to turn and run, quickly disappearing from the supermarket.

Liao Qiu's expression relaxed, as if his spine had been suddenly removed, and he immediately became limp, collapsing to the ground.

Du Tianhao remained standing, staring at the direction where Su Hao had disappeared. He clenched his teeth, his broad, muscular chest heaving violently, and the corners of his eyes twitched with anger. In the center of his rugged, hard face, a hint of pain gradually appeared.

He lifted his foot and walked to the wall with a sense of loss, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and put one in his mouth. He then took out a lighter and clicked it several times. Looking at the slightly flickering flame, he suddenly lost the desire to smoke, turned his hand, and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, breaking it in his hand and crushing it.

"They looked like good people."

Du Tianhao's expression was melancholy, and his voice deep and lonely, "The two girls had guns and didn't seem to be coerced. I... I really had no other intentions. I just wanted to change the environment and live like a normal person."

Liao Qiu supported himself with his hands on the ground, wobbled to his feet, and picked up a box of purified water from the shelf, placing it in the shopping cart. He forced a smile, seemingly wanting to say something to comfort his companion but couldn't bring himself to speak.

Neither of them spoke, and both men could hear each other's heavy breathing.

After a few minutes of silence, Du Tianhao slowly rubbed the tobacco residue from his palm, gripped the handle of the shopping cart, and sighed deeply.

"Let's go! We should head back."

...

"Super Power" gym was located on the west side of the street, a two-story building covering several hundred square meters, part of the city stadium's many ancillary buildings.

Two-meter-tall vertical alloy cabinets, along with heavy barbells, completely sealed the gym's main entrance on the first floor. In the yard behind the building, several cars were parked. Du Tianhao and Liao Qiu, each carrying a backpack full of food and water, carefully avoided the zombies wandering nearby and approached the tightly closed side door on the north side of the venue, knocking lightly three times and heavily once. Soon, the sound of heavy objects moving came from inside, and the door opened a crack, revealing a pair of nervous and alert eyes.

This was a passage connecting the second floor and the hall. As they just entered, a fat man wearing floral shorts, flip-flops, glasses, and holding a dumbbell as a weapon, came forward and took the backpack full of food from Liao Qiu.

"How come you're back so late? I thought you were going to spend the night outside!"

This statement was clearly a tease, but Du Tianhao and Liao Qiu did not find it funny. They silently glanced at the fat man, said nothing, and walked directly into the hall.

The smooth wooden floor was scattered with several soft mats. Near the walls, there were javelins, shot put, discus, and steel pipes removed from treadmills and abdominal pressure machines. A dozen or so men and women were gathered together, either whispering, lying on the soft mats sleeping, or sitting silently in the corner, lost in thought.

The hall was luxuriously decorated, with two-meter-tall mirrors embedded on all four sides. Due to the angle and lighting, the reflections in the mirrors were somewhat distorted, looking like ghosts, which was quite amusing.

Du Tianhao walked to a soft mat by the wall and sat down. Two muscular men guarding the entrance to the second floor immediately surrounded him. They were strong, with bulging muscles under their tight vests, and did not speak, only looking at Du Tianhao and the backpack he had just put down with cold eyes.

Liao Qiu quickly took