"The first time, huh? It's normal to be nervous and miss the target... At worst, I'll just practice more!"
Zheng Xinyu pouted and walked to the living room, swinging the baseball bat as Zhang Su had instructed before.
A gentle knock on the door occasionally sounded, and a woman's voice sometimes drifted into the room.
Zheng Xinyu swung the bat vigorously in the living room.
The person outside persisted for about four or five minutes before finally stopping.
"Finally, they're gone."
Zheng Xinyu breathed a sigh of relief and continued her practice.
She's not the kind of person who's fond of helping others, but she softens when someone pleads. However, she knew that softening at this moment was pointless because she didn't have the ability to help others!
Even protecting herself was a problem. For example, now, after practicing for just over ten minutes, her arms were already starting to feel sore...
Zhang Su walked from the bedroom to the living room, pondering, "A few vehicles are heading to the suburbs, and I think the zombies might have some kind of thoughts!"
"What? What do you mean? Are you saying zombies are intelligent too?"
Zheng Xinyu was startled. From her interactions with them so far, she wasn't significantly better than the zombies. Intelligence being one aspect of thinking, if zombies had that too, why even bother with survival? Might as well just join them, right?
Zhang Su shook his head, "Not intelligence, more like instinctual habits. I just noticed that when zombies don't have a target, their movements are very mechanical. Actually, that kind of movement is very energy-efficient, which means low energy consumption!"
"I speculate that in this state, they transfer more energy to their sensory organs to enhance their ability to search for prey. When they spot a target, their movement speed suddenly increases. Doesn't this resemble the habits of many wild carnivores?"
Zheng Xinyu nodded in confusion, and before she could think through how studying these things could help them at the present, a tremendous explosion erupted from the ground!
Boom... Rumble!
The massive sound couldn't be blocked even by the excellent soundproofing glass. Zhang Su's head buzzed, the house shook slightly, and the commemorative basketball on the bookshelf fell to the ground...
Zheng Xinyu, terrified, covered her ears and squatted on the ground, her eyes fearfully looking towards the direction from where the sound came.
"Over there!"
Zhang Su pointed to Zheng Xinyu's room and quickly ran over to pull open the curtains.
The community's wall was knocked down like Mahjong tiles by the shockwave, and burning cars lay scattered across the road. The explosion happened at a shop across the street, but the reason for the explosion was unknown!
More than a dozen shops were engulfed in roaring flames, black smoke billowing into the sky. The street was devastated, debris flying everywhere, with some remnants even flying into the community!
What made one's scalp tingle was that there were zombies engulfed in flames moving between the cars. Others were trapped inside burning cars, unable to get out, but still frantically waving their arms in a struggle, creating a living hell scene!
"Oh my God..."
Zheng Xinyu leaned her head next to Zhang Su, seeing the cement road torn open with a big gap, unable to close her jaw. If zombies instilled fear in her soul, this explosion plunged her into deep terror.
"Thank goodness we're on a high floor. The glass on the lower floors is probably shattered!"
Zhang Su glanced down uneasily, unable to see much due to the angle.
"Brother Su, I... I suddenly feel that being in the building doesn't necessarily mean we're safe. Look, half of Building 8 is burned down; what if an explosion happens downstairs too? Oh no, what would we do if the building caught fire?"
Zheng Xinyu asked miserably.
Zhang Su's heart skipped a beat, and he slapped Zheng Xinyu on the butt, saying sternly, "Say something positive!"
The tag showed Zheng Xinyu [Good Fortune]. If everything becomes true, whether good or bad, wouldn't that be a nightmare.
"Hey, what's with the hands-on approach?"
Perhaps having participated in hacking zombies, Zheng Xinyu's outlook had strengthened. Zhang Su's antics quickly eased the explosion-induced panic.
Bang bang bang, bang bang bang.
At this moment, a series of urgent knocks sounded, much louder than before, the voice transmitting through the door.
"I'm from 802, hello! What was that explosion earlier? I'm so scared. Could you open the door and tell me what's going on? Please..."
Due to the layout of the building, 802 could only see a portion of the collapsed wall and couldn't directly see the explosion site. The more it was like this, the more unsettling it was.
Zhang Su frowned and quickly went to the door.
Perhaps frightened by the explosion, the woman did not wear a mask or sunglasses this time, and her lovely face was distorted by fear, her eyes full of panic.
"Good-hearted person, please, I mean no harm. I'm just a woman, please, help me with a small favor. I'll give you money, all the cash I have on me, and also my jewelry, I'll give it all to you."
She probably felt that the cash she had wasn't enough, so she offered additional items.
She wasn't just saying it; she immediately began taking off her earrings and necklace. But just then, the door suddenly opened, and just when she thought she was about to be slammed into, it stopped, and a large hand forcibly pulled her in.
Thud.
Her head banged against the doorframe.
"Ah... mmm!"
The hoarse cry of pain was abruptly muffled.
Zheng Xinyu, who quickly followed, curiously looked at the woman Zhang Su dragged in and swiftly closed the door.
"Are you a born megaphone? Why do you like to scream so much?"
Zhang Su pressed the woman against the wall, covering her mouth tightly, his eyes fierce, showing no compassion for the opposite gender.
The woman was deeply aggrieved, wanting to rub the painful spot, but the fierce gaze intimidated her, causing her to tremble and tears to stream down her face.
"Umm... miss, you can't just scream like that. The noise might attract zombies. He, he means no harm, don't be afraid!"
Zheng Xinyu felt sorry seeing the woman looking so lost in fear and explained to her.
Because of her fear, the woman hadn't noticed Zheng Xinyu until she spoke and saw her gentle gaze, which reassured her, prompting her to nod in understanding.
"Are you still going to scream?"
Zhang Su asked aggressively.
The woman nodded initially and then quickly switched to shaking her head, glancing at Zheng Xinyu, perhaps too afraid to meet Zhang Su's gaze.
Zhang Su released his hand, displeased, and wiped his hand on the woman's chest, saying, "You got your snot all over me, that's disgusting!"
"This..."
The woman felt the man roughly wiping his hand on her and didn't dare resist, as she was indeed covered in snot and tears.
"Alright, taking advantage of her so much..."
Zheng Xinyu saw Zhang Su continuously rubbing his hand on the woman's clothes, even though it was already clean, and leaned closer to his ear, whispering without moving her lips.