The students watched breathlessly as Zhang Xiaowen appeared at the barracks' second-floor window. "Boys! Move your asses here for hauling!" Her voice carried across the compound.
Nineteen male students scrambled down the embankment, still clutching their makeshift pipes. Their jaws dropped at the armory's contents - racks of QBZ-95 rifles gleaming under emergency lights.
"Guns stay unloaded. Ammo crates require two carriers." Zhang distributed weapons with military precision. The Cube transformed silently behind her, observing the six delinquents eyeing the arsenal greedily.
*Phut-phut-phut!*
Zhang's suppressed PDW coughed. The delinquents froze as hot brass pattered against concrete. A zombie clawing over the embankment collapsed behind them, two neat holes in its temple.
"Next warning comes faster," she said, smoke curling from her weapon's barrel.
——
Two hours later, the convoy reached Long Mountain's golf resort. Rolling hills stretched beneath watchtower pines, their tranquility broken by zombies in designer sportswear pounding against tempered glass.
"Fifty-seven hostiles," the Cube calculated through Zhang's earpiece. "Conserve ammunition."
Zhang stepped out like a runway model entering battle. Three quick headshots dropped approaching caddie zombies. Empty magazines clicked out with mechanical precision as she advanced toward the clubhouse.
Inside the truck container, Fatty Wang narrated through a bullet hole: "She's reloading! Oh! That CEO zombie just lost his Rolex along with his brains!"
The Cube extended its roof-mounted gun, shredding a pack emerging from the pro shop. Rotating barrels glowed cherry-red as synthetic voice announced: "Green cleared on hole nine. Proceed to clubhouse for afternoon tea."
By dusk, fifty-seven bodies littered the manicured lawns. Zhang stood atop a maintenance vehicle, surveying their new domain. Solar panels glinted on the clubhouse roof while irrigation canals promised fresh water. The Cube's sensors already mapped underground wine cellars perfect for armories.
"Home sweet hell," she muttered, watching students unload seed bags from the truck. The delinquents worked extra hard under her sidelong gaze.
Moonrise revealed the resort's true prize – an abandoned military communication tower atop Long Mountain's peak. The Cube's optics zoomed in. "Signal booster intact. Tonight, we contact the world."
But first, zombies still lurked in the spa center's steam rooms. Zhang checked her PDW's magazine. The war for civilization's restart had just begun.