Jack silently surveyed the buildings in the yard. The yard was not large, occupying at most one or two acres. However, on the way here, he had heard the two girls mention that this used to be a small food processing factory, and there was a sizable basement. Therefore, with food available and a place to hide from the living corpses, this small factory naturally became the preferred refuge for survivors, allowing them to survive safely until today.
"Do you usually live in the basement?" Jack asked Old Ma, who was leading the way. Although there were two factory buildings and a dormitory in the yard, the shattered glass windows suggested that it didn't look like anyone lived inside.
"Yeah!" Old Ma nodded, turning to Jack while dragging his rusty iron spear. "No one dares to live on the ground, after all, the smell from these hundreds of people gathered together is too strong. Plus, the women have to deal with that thing every month. Aside from going out to look for food and having an hour of fresh air each day, everyone basically stays down below and doesn't dare to come out!"
"What? Is there not enough food here?" Jack frowned and asked.
"It has never been enough, has it?" Old Ma shook his head in frustration. Seeing that the stranger was talking a bit too much, he continued, "When this damn day came, it was just in summer, so no one stored food in large quantities. This factory is the same, damn it. Fortunately, there's a batch of processed spicy chicken feet that hasn't been shipped out, but in less than half a year, it will be all gone. Sigh~ At first, everyone thought the government would come to rescue us, and there was no restraint in eating and drinking. Who knew it would drag on for more than a year? I guess even the rescuers have all died by now!"
As the two exchanged questions and answers, the four people and one dog quickly arrived at a factory building in the north. The cement floor of the factory was relatively clean, but there were no mechanical equipment in sight, only a few rusty black iron cages in the corner, faintly exuding a smell of blood.
Old Ma led the way inside and lifted a metal cover on the ground, revealing a not-too-deep cement staircase. It seemed that this was the entrance to the basement.
Jack looked around and bent down to follow Old Ma down the stairs. Immediately, a strong musty smell mixed with the unique body odor of humans hit him in the face. Jack frowned deeply, and Michaela, following behind, sneezed several times, showing a look of disgust on its ugly dog face. Perhaps even it thought that even the smell of corpses would be much better than this.
"Lin Man, you can take a look around first. I'll go inside to notify our boss!"
After saying that, Old Ma hurriedly ran forward. At the back, there was a room separated by red bricks and cement, with dim light faintly shining through the windows. It was clear that there were several figures moving inside, and some unrestrained laughter and flirtatious voices from women could also be heard.
Jack frowned as he surveyed the environment in the basement. One could imagine what a hellish scene it would be to have over three hundred adults crammed into this basement of only five to six hundred square feet. The area was indeed not small for a basement, but there were simply too many people inside, with colorful bedding spread out haphazardly, mostly separated by one or two pieces of cloth. The ceiling had quite a few vents, and several beams of light shone down from above, providing some illumination and fresh air to the dark basement.
Following the dim light, there were a few places hanging small braziers. In the hot summer, they were certainly not for warmth but just for some bored men to gather around and play cards. The stakes for those men were mostly small items like white rice or Marcus beans, with the biggest bet probably being a pack of instant noodles. But even while engaging in their favorite gambling activity, they looked utterly dispirited, staring blankly at the cards in their hands!
As for the women, who made up more than half of the population here, they mostly leaned against the walls with blank expressions. The usual noise that women would make during normal times was gone, their eyes hollow and lifeless, their clothes tattered, and many were lying directly on the ground without even wearing clothes. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of their chests, Jack would have almost mistaken them for dead bodies.
The entire basement had no decent place to stand. Jack was awkwardly positioned in a small gap, his expression flat as he looked around. Yet, despite being a stranger standing there, very few people raised their heads to glance at him from start to finish.
Old Ma quickly led a few neatly dressed men out from the innermost room. It was clear they were the prominent figures here, with a middle-aged man in a black shirt leading the way, his face full of menace as he strode ahead of the others.
This man was about forty years old, with a shallow knife scar at the corner of his mouth that made him appear somewhat fierce and menacing. His slicked-back hair was meticulously styled, and beneath his deliberately unbuttoned black shirt, the grip of a dark handgun was clearly visible.
The middle-aged man began to scrutinize Jack, who was looking around, following the direction pointed out by Old Ma. When he saw Jack turn to look at him, the middle-aged man suddenly let out a loud laugh and boisterously exclaimed, "Brother Lin, it's an honor to have you here! I, Hu, have failed to welcome you properly!"
Jack was puzzled about how these people could move so quickly without stepping on the legs of the many people sprawled on the ground. Just then, he saw the middle-aged man approaching him with a familiar expression, wanting to shake hands. Jack glanced at the grimy hand that looked like it hadn't been washed in a long time and clearly had no intention of shaking it. He simply nodded at the man and said, "Hello, just call me Jack!"
"Ah... Hahaha..." The man showed no signs of embarrassment as he tucked his hand back into his pocket, deliberately adjusted his shirt to make the black handgun more conspicuous, and then smiled at Jack, saying, "My surname is Hu. Thanks to the men here, they call me Boss Hu, I guess I'm their big brother! Come, come, Brother Lin, let's go inside and sit. It's been a while since we've seen outsiders, so we should get to know each other better today!"
Jack maintained a faint smile on his face, following Boss Hu inside without being overly humble or arrogant. The few people following behind looked at Jack with curiosity, silently walking beside him, subtly surrounding him.