Chapter 36

The zombies gathered around the building were quickly exterminated. Stepping on the uneven, soft ground, and the slippery, bloody remains, Su Hao strode into the ground floor of the building.

At the bottom of the stairs leading to the rooftop, two zombies were viciously tearing at a middle-aged man who was barely alive. They were so engrossed in their meal that they didn't notice Su Hao and the others approaching.

Zhou Chen directly blew the head off one of the zombies. Chen Kun pulled a rebar from a nearby sand pile, roared, and rushed over, impaling the zombie that had a piece of flesh in its mouth, and forcefully pinned it to the opposite wall.

The man's chest was torn open, the wound extending to his shoulder, revealing his pink lungs and, through the gaps in his ribs, his pulsating heart.

A hint of pity flashed in Su Hao's eyes as he silently observed the man for a few seconds. From the man's still-living eyes, he saw a look of hope and excitement.

The zombies were all dead. They were saved... weren't they?

Su Hao looked like a calm statue, his face expressionless, his breathing so shallow it barely moved his chest.

"Sorry! Your injuries are too severe. No one can save you."

Shaking his head, Su Hao held a hunting knife in his right hand and plunged it into the man's throat, slicing horizontally with force, severing the head from the neck. The man's face was full of shock.

If it were just an external bite, perhaps he could have been saved. However, even if the man bled out, Su Hao couldn't restore his severely damaged bodily functions. The only thing he could do was to make his death quick and minimize his suffering.

...

The iron gate leading to the rooftop was locked. The moment Su Hao stepped onto the stairs, several black figures appeared on the other side of the gate. Two of them held guns, while the others wielded rebar and iron pipes. Their faces were filled with a mix of joy and shock, their lips and bodies trembling slightly.

"Stop! Who are you?"

Chen Erzhu felt his face burning, indicating that a lot of blood had rushed to his head. Even he couldn't explain why he was shouting at Su Hao, who was standing on the stairs. It was clear—these people had killed the zombies downstairs and saved everyone who had fled to the rooftop.

But why...

This was an instinct born from fear. People who had been in dangerous situations for a long time found it hard to trust strangers quickly.

"Don't shoot—"

Su Hao wiped the sweat from his forehead, put away his hunting knife, and said seriously to the people on the other side of the gate, "I saw that flag and came over. I hope it's not too late."

As a穿越者 (穿越者: time traveler), Su Hao understood the survivors' thoughts. His enhanced agility and physical abilities allowed him to dodge attacks at close range. As long as he was fully focused, the guns in their hands posed no threat to him. He just needed to keep an eye on the fingers on the triggers to avoid the bullets.

After about three minutes of silence, the locked gate was pushed open from the inside.

Chen Erzhu rushed over, tightly hugging Su Hao's shoulders, and cried like a child—after the brief hostility, intense gratitude and relief flooded his mind, overwhelming all thoughts.

"Let's go! Get out of here quickly."

Su Hao urged the nearly collapsed people, while Chen Kun and Zhou Chen supported the weak survivors as they walked down the stairs. The place was dangerous, and a large group of zombies could appear at any time. Prolonged hunger had left the survivors malnourished, pale, and even some were swollen.

Zhang Jilin sat by the solar water storage tank, staring at them with a blank expression.

Su Hao walked over, looked at the wound on his leg, and without a word, grabbed his right hand to help him up. Zhang Jilin clearly resisted this action. He clenched his teeth, writhed, and tried to pull his arm back, shouting frantically, "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go—"

Su Hao was taken aback. He let go and stood to the side, looking curiously at the man, who was pale and full of sorrow.

Chen Erzhu walked over to Su Hao, gave Zhang Jilin a complex look, and said softly, "He's our boss, a good man."

Without further explanation, he turned and walked down the stairs.

The wind on the rooftop was strong.

At such close range, Su Hao clearly saw that Zhang Jilin's face, looking up at the sky, was covered in tears, as if he were praying or confessing.

"Go on! Let me be alone for a while."

He didn't look at Su Hao, speaking to himself.

Su Hao frowned, his gaze sweeping over Zhang Jilin's swollen, injured leg. "Don't worry about your leg. We can treat it, and you won't turn into a zombie."

Zhang Jilin turned his head. His expression was calm, but Su Hao could sense the deep-seated despair and sorrow within him. He looked at Su Hao and managed a weak smile, "Go on! Let me be alone here."

At that moment, Su Hao seemed to see the friends who had died in the future. Their expressions before death were the same as this man's, shrouded in an unknown shadow.

He took a deep breath, cleared his thoughts, and pulled out a gun from his holster.

Seeing this action, the numb-faced Zhang Jilin smiled again. He wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, cleared his throat, but his voice was hoarse due to his weak condition, "Thank you! No need to go to such trouble, don't waste bullets on me, I can do it myself."

Su Hao was silent for a moment, then said, "We can go together. We have plenty of food, water, and a safe base. Everything will be fine."

Zhang Jilin continued to smile, "Thank you."

His voice was firm, more serious than any Su Hao had ever heard.

Su Hao sighed, no longer insisting. He silently observed the man for a few seconds, then turned and left.

Apart from Zhang Jilin, the rooftop was empty.

He listened carefully to the footsteps on the stairs, growing more distant, and struggled to crawl to the edge of the rooftop. He leaned over the railing, looking down as people entered the SUV, started it, and drove away, becoming smaller and smaller...

At that moment, the world was unprecedentedly calm.

He climbed down from the railing, retrieved a leather suitcase from under the solar water heater panel. He skillfully opened the combination lock and lifted the lid, revealing neatly stacked red bills inside.

The amount was substantial, several hundred thousand.

Zhang Jilin touched the bills with his trembling hands, his eyes full of emotion.

When the virus outbreak happened, he had just withdrawn this money from the bank, intending to distribute it as a benefit to the workers and company employees. The following month was the beginning of June, Children's Day.

Chen Erzhu was right—Zhang Jilin was indeed a good boss, a good man.

Zhang Jilin's mind replayed past scenes—his son, wife, relatives, and family... moments of joy, arguments, and both cold and warm memories.

"How foolish I am! What's the use of earning so much money? Why didn't I spend more time with them?"

He spoke to himself, tears streaming down his face, but his expression and eyes were smiling.

He reached into the suitcase, took out the bills, removed the binding paper, and threw them high into the air, scattering them far and wide. The unfinished rooftop was instantly filled with a red curtain of bills, fluttering in the wind.

The SUV was no longer in sight.

Zhang Jilin's expression was content and full of anticipation. He felt as if he had finally shed the heaviest burden, feeling so light and free that he could almost fly like a bird.

He climbed back to the edge of the rooftop, supported himself with both hands, and leaned out to look down at the bottom of the building, which seemed like an abyss. He turned his head, took one last look at the world he had once cherished, and with tears and a smile, jumped.

...

The SUV slowly drove into the underground garage through a familiar passage. The留守人员 (留守人员:留守 personnel) who had received the message via the car radio were already waiting at the stairs. They helped the weak survivors out of the car and slowly led them into the rooms on the first floor.

Old Song had once mentioned that they should set up a temporary camp nearby to accommodate new team members. No one could read the thoughts of others, and everyone had their own interests and demands. As the team expanded and the number of people increased, various conflicts and difficulties would arise. With the camp outside the city not yet completed, they could only find empty houses to accommodate the new arrivals.

Su Hao had already chosen a building across the street, a hotel with over ten floors. They just needed to clear out the zombies inside to create enough space for hundreds of people.

Li Xiaomei had prepared a large pot of porridge. She was very experienced in such matters, knowing what to do and what the rescued people needed.

Six beds had IV drips hanging from them, and Zhou Chen administered injections to each person in turn. The bottles contained glucose, and the IV sets were obtained from nearby pharmacies or medical supply companies.

Zhou Chen was a very professional doctor. His emergency treatment plan was more in line with human physiology and was recognized by all core team members, even being required by Su Hao to be implemented as a standard procedure.

"These people are physically strong, but they lack nutrition. Four people fainted on the way, and two were bitten by zombies, not fatally, but their body temperatures are rising. They need to be injected with the immune serum as soon as possible."

Standing in front of Su Hao, Zhou Chen was a bit nervous, not out of fear of Su Hao's powerful strength, but out of concern that he might not get the serum, and the two injured people would eventually become infected and mutate.

Su Hao walked into his exclusive room on the second floor, retrieved ten pre-prepared immune serums from a hidden compartment in the corner, left the room, and handed them to Zhou Chen downstairs.

"From now on, you will be in charge of these. If you need more, come to me."

Zhou Chen was surprised and felt the trust and importance Su Hao placed on him. He nodded seriously and left.

...

By nightfall, the busy atmosphere in the small building had returned to calm.

The glucose IV drips were indeed effective. The six people rescued from the construction site quickly regained consciousness. They sat on their beds, silently drinking the porridge, their faces showing no joy, only numbness and fatigue.

Almost everyone gathered at the door, looking at the rescued people with pity and silence. Especially those rescued from the bathhouse, their eyes full of sympathy, and a hint of relief and reflection.

A middle-aged man in his thirties was the first to put down his empty bowl. He was tall and slender, his bones prominent under his skin, which was dark and his features gentle but gaunt.

"Thank you!"

He looked around the people standing nearby, his gaze settling on Su Hao, who was clearly the leader. He smiled weakly and said, "Thank you for the porridge, it was very good."

Su Hao nodded slightly and asked, "What's your name?"

"Scott Dong."

His voice was hoarse, possibly due to exhaustion.

Su Hao continued, "Are there any other survivors at the construction site?"

Dong Guoping shook his head wearily, his pale face showing a look of sorrow, "No... Initially, there were about eighty of us. Some died, some scattered, and people kept leaving. We didn't know how long we could hold on. If you had come a few hours later, we might have all jumped off that building... rather than be eaten by those monsters, we would have chosen suicide."

The room fell silent, and even the breathing became slow.

At that moment, Su Hao couldn't help but think of the refugees in the future, struggling for food and water in the wilderness. He sighed inwardly, his gaze returning to the man, and said calmly, "What are your plans now?"

He didn't want to repeat the mistake of the bathhouse survivors—rather than let the team split due to differing opinions, it was better to nip the dangerous seed in the bud and give them a choice.

Dong Guoping exchanged glances with the others lying in bed, then looked up, his expression serious and hopeful, "If we can, we want to join you."

Xin Yan stepped out from the crowd at the door, walked behind Su Hao, and said seriously, "There's something we need to clarify—we are all refugees in this city. There are no rescuers, and no one will come to save us. Food, shelter, safety... everything must be done by ourselves."

"We already know that."

Beside him, Chen Erzhu, who had been injected with the immune serum and had his shoulder wound bandaged, chimed in, "On the first day of the chaos, a convoy passed by the construction site. I was buying cigarettes at a roadside store. The traffic police maintaining order said it was a commercial delegation heading to the Thai consulate in Kunming. There was even a vice mayor in the group. The convoy was huge, with police cars leading the way, all Audis and BMWs... Those people died horribly, many cars crashed... How can I put it? They were all high-ranking officials, and their lives were definitely more valuable than ours. I may not be well-educated, but I understand some things—since even they died, their bodies left to rot on the streets, no one will care about us."

Rough words, but they made sense.

Another worker with a rough voice nodded, "We haven't heard from anyone who left the construction site. The situation in other places is probably similar."

Dong Guoping stood up from the bed, his hands clenched into fists, his weak condition making his stance unsteady. He took a deep breath, looked at Su Hao seriously, bit his lip, and growled sincerely and fiercely, "We won't make excessive demands. We just want to kill those damned monsters... kill them all!"

Looking at the man's face, fierce and full of hatred, Su Hao nodded, stepped forward, and firmly shook his hand.

...

The survivors' lives continued.

The six new members brought unexpected benefits to the team—they were skilled in construction, and Dong Guoping was an experienced senior engineer.

After visiting the construction site of the new camp, they proposed a lot of suggestions and opinions.

"The foundation is dug too deep. For safety, we only need to strengthen the outer walls. The material waste is too much, and it's unnecessary."

"The house is too impractical, and the warehouse design is unreasonable. It needs to be redesigned."

"The water pipes and sewage pipes should be connected from two directions. The terrain here is high, so the septic tank should be far from the residential area. The originally reserved passage is too narrow and should be expanded to twice its size."

After everyone's agreement, Su Hao announced that Dong Guoping would be in charge of all work at the new camp. While delegating authority, he emphasized that the new camp must prioritize "sturdiness," especially the walls surrounding the camp, which must be tall and strong enough to withstand significant force.

...

Collecting supplies was the most important part of daily life.

The nearby "Carrefour" supermarket had been mostly emptied. The supplies obtained were mostly food and clothing, which were loaded onto trucks and directly transported to the new camp. Once the warehouse and living quarters were completed, these essential supplies would last for over two years.

Chen Erzhu and Tao Yuan brought in two excavators. They spent two weeks digging a massive pit on the south side of the new camp. Then, other team members drove four heavy trucks to the suburban train freight station to load coal, which they transported to the pit. As Old Song put it, "We must be prepared and stockpile fuel for the winter."

All team members received the immune serum. Except for Old Song, no one knew that the serum was actually Su Hao's blood. Many people were inspired, and Su Hao chose an appropriate time to publicly reveal the strengthening effects of the silver bone on immune recipients. As a result, everyone, regardless of when they joined, was enhanced. Among them, Su Hao remained the strongest.

(Weekly essence has been added.)

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