Unlock all of REX NOVELS novels through 12$ membership!
Chapter 119
by REX-NOVELISTSLin Qianhuan’s pupils contracted sharply. She hastily pulled the woman into the courtyard. The metal gate slammed shut, muffling the patter of rain that washed over the apocalyptic wasteland’s sins and bloodshed.
“You can’t just say something like that! Why come to me instead of reporting it to the Base Leader?”
Lin Qianhuan scrutinized Huang Cuiliu, confusion swirling inside her.
Huang Cuiliu trembled, her lips quivering as she gripped Lin Qianhuan’s hands. Whether from fear or cold, her entire body shook.
“It’s no use! Even if I told the Base Leader, no one would believe me—he wouldn’t believe me!”
Lin Qianhuan raised a brow. “He’s the leader of Silver Bay Gardens. If he won’t listen, what makes you think I can help?”
Panic flashed in Huang Cuiliu’s eyes. “You’re different! You’re powerful. The Base Leader will take your word seriously. That man… he’s cunning. He’s already killed so many. We can’t let him keep feeding zombies!”
Lin Qianhuan sighed. “Tell me everything. If someone’s truly raising zombies inside the base, they can’t be allowed to live.”
Huang Cuiliu relaxed slightly, though her fingers still twitched. “It started the night you left Silver Bay Gardens…”
After Lin Qianhuan’s departure, survivors from Bihai Huafu who sought refuge were all arrested. Regardless of age or gender, Lu Shouzheng spared no one.
But it was late, the rain relentless. Transporting corpses for disposal in the dark was impossible, so the bodies were piled in the northeast corner of the villa district. The next day, Huang Cuiliu and a man named Wang Haiyang were tasked with moving them.
They used a tricycle to haul the corpses to a nearby warehouse for cremation. The vehicle could only carry six bodies at a time. Wang Haiyang volunteered to stay behind and burn them, insisting Huang Cuiliu take a larger share of the payment.
Needing extra supplies for her young daughter, Huang Cuiliu agreed. She made trip after trip through the storm, but on her third run, she noticed something wrong: four bodies were missing.
Feigning ignorance, she dumped the latest load near the fire and lingered, pretending to warm her hands. “It’s freezing out there,” she said casually, counting the corpses in the flames. There should be 23… but only 19 are here.
Where had the others gone? The warehouse was too close for them to burn completely in minutes. Suspicion gnawed at her.
Is Wang Haiyang… eating them? The thought repulsed her, but in this apocalyptic world, cannibalism wasn’t unheard of. She resolved to stay silent—if he wanted to scavenge from the dead, so be it. She’d avoid him afterward.
Yet doubts lingered. Even a starving man couldn’t devour four corpses so quickly.
On her next trip, she hid the tricycle in bushes and crept toward the warehouse. Peering through a crack in the door, her blood turned to ice.
A sodden, long-haired woman stood inside, skin tinged gray, water dripping from her hair. Wang Haiyan dragged a corpse from a pile of tires and laid it at her feet, kneeling submissively.
“Huang Cuiliu won’t be back for a while. You… you can eat more,” he stammered. “But this time, I want two boxes of instant noodles, five packs of anti-inflammatories, and a bag of rice.”
The zombie’s body contorted grotesquely, bones cracking as it swelled to twice its size. It swallowed the corpse whole.
Huang Cuiliu clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. Wang Haiyang is trading corpses with a zombie!
This explained his recent windfall of clean water while others drank filthy rain. But zombies only craved living flesh—why did this one barter? It’s intelligent. It understands him.
Inside, the zombie tilted its distorted neck, emitting guttural clicks. It reached out and tapped Wang Haiyang’s shoulder.
He paled. “N-no… You only eat bodies less than 24 hours old! I move corpses—I can’t lure live people!”
The zombie seized his throat, hoisting him into the air. Wang Haiyang flailed, face purpling as he choked. “I-I’ll do it!” he rasped.
The creature dropped him. Gasping, he clutched the dark bruises on his neck.
Huang Cuiliu retreated, heart pounding. She’d stayed too long already. If Wang Haiyang noticed her spying…
0 Comments