Chapter 9: Resupplying
While they were still talking, he watched as the car reversed two meters, executed a sharp drift, and sped away.
“Damn it! You can’t be too kind!”
Qin Xiao cursed as he drove.
From the rearview mirror, he had seen the man with the bushy beard pull out an axe from his waistband.
It was a clear-cut robbery.
Qin Xiao’s drowsiness vanished completely. He drove quickly and steadily; in the rearview mirror, he could see the grey sedan chasing after them.
Ji Nian leaned against the seat, his narrow eyes fixed on the rearview mirror, his whole demeanor cold and aloof.
The closer to death, the more it stimulated one’s potential.
The two big men, who had been hungry for over a day, drove as fast as they could, determined to catch up or die trying.
The distance between the two cars remained almost unchanged from the beginning, neither too far nor too close, always the same.
Qin Xiao remained relaxed, casually glancing at the grey sedan behind him, scoffing and unleashing his true driving skills, completely widening the gap between the two cars.
“It seems there are still some survivors.”
After more than ten minutes, the chasing car was nowhere to be seen. Qin Xiao said, “Get me the chewing gum. No, I need to chew one.”
The chewing gum was found earlier in the residential area.
“Where is it?”
Ji Nian asked.
“Here, in my pocket.”
Qin Xiao glanced at his own pocket, next to Ji Nian.
Ji Nian reached in.
The pocket was deep; it contained a lighter, a pen, and some crumpled papers.
Ji Nian rummaged around for a long time without finding the chewing gum. Just as he was about to tell him to forget it, Qin Xiao leaned closer, a smirk playing on his lips, his voice low and husky. “Big or small?”
Ji Nian sensed something was wrong. Hearing this, he immediately withdrew his hand from his pocket.
Qin Xiao grinned mischievously. “Still shy? To be honest, it’s impressive.”
“Get lost!”
“It’s a normal reaction,” Qin Xiao clicked his tongue. “Surely you’ve had that experience. I’ve seen it several times in the mornings; yours is quite big, I estimate about…”
“Say it again?”
“I estimate…”
Qin Xiao pretended not to hear. To be honest, he particularly loved seeing Ji Nian getting angry; his face would turn red, and he would feel a sense of victory.
After all, the little guy wasn’t easy to mess with, so it was difficult to get the upper hand.
“Say it one more time, and you’re dead!”
But this time, Qin Xiao never expected Ji Nian to be so bold. He directly pinched him, making him pale, unable to speak properly. “Ugh—ouch, ouch, ouch!! I won’t say it… I won’t say it anymore…”
After Ji Nian released him, it took him a long time to recover.
Once he recovered, he looked for trouble again. “The aftereffects are pretty good, too. When you feel uncomfortable, you can help me out.”
“Do you want me to tear you apart?”
Ji Nian gave him a sinister look, and forgave him only because he was driving. Otherwise, he would have kicked him away.
After driving for another two hours, they came across a gas station.
Next to the gas station was a convenience store with its windows tightly shut.
The car was running low on gas, and they needed to refuel and resupply food and drinks.
The gas station doors were wide open, and nothing was visible from outside.
The surrounding area was deserted; no zombies were seen.
Qin Xiao drove over, glanced inside the gas station through the car window. The floor was in disarray; there were dried bloodstains on the light-colored tiles; something had obviously happened before.
“It seems… there’s no danger?”
Qin Xiao parked the car next to the gas pump, and they worked together; he refueled, and Ji Nian went to the store to get food.
The store door was locked, but that kind of lock wouldn’t stop anyone determined to get in.
Ji Nian quickly opened the door.
There were plenty of things in the convenience store; three rows of shelves were stocked with enough food and drinks to fill two large backpacks.
Ji Nian had already emptied his backpack, and he also took Qin Xiao’s.
He opened the zippers and grabbed whatever he could, stuffing it into the bags.
Soon, one backpack was full, and he had just put a can of food into the second backpack when he suddenly heard Qin Xiao yelling urgently, “Ji Nian! Hurry!”
Hearing this, Ji Nian didn’t have time to zip up the backpacks. He grabbed his spiked club, slung the two backpacks over his shoulder, and ran out.
From the nearby woods, more than a dozen zombies rushed out, already close to the gas station.
Qin Xiao had just finished refueling when he saw them, immediately getting into the car, starting the engine, and wildly swerving towards Ji Nian.
The gas station was thirty meters from the store; under normal circumstances, one could easily get there with a single press of the gas pedal.
But now, at this moment, Qin Xiao had never felt the car so slow.
“Drop the backpacks!”
“Drop them, Ji Nian!”
He shouted, his heart pounding as he watched Ji Nian take huge strides toward the car.
The zombies had first spotted Qin Xiao, but because Ji Nian came out, they immediately switched targets, locking onto Ji Nian.
Even worse, they were very close to him!
“Heh heh heh…”
Each one had a rattling sound in its throat, waving its arms in front of it, emitting a foul odor. They were filled with a thirst for human blood.
“Damn it!”
Seeing those ugly and disgusting things getting closer and closer to Ji Nian, Qin Xiao turned the steering wheel, gripped the steering wheel tightly, and slammed into the zombies!
It was really just a hair’s breadth away, just a hair’s breadth, the zombie that was knocked away was about to fall on Ji Nian.
Ji Nian dropped his backpacks, swung his spiked club, knocking down a zombie. Seeing the car stop in front of him, he reached for the door handle, and suddenly felt something grab his foot.
He looked down, and saw a dirty, thin hand, its fingernails full of dirt, and its wrist showing decaying flesh.
The zombie grabbed him and opened its mouth to bite.
A fierce look appeared in the boy’s eyes. He instantly raised his hand and swung his spiked club with all his might, smashing a deep hole into the disgusting creature’s head before its teeth could touch his flesh.
Black blood mixed with brains splattered, temporarily taking the zombie out of the picture, but another one attacked from the side, rushing towards Ji Nian.
Ji Nian swung his club, but another one attacked from behind; its sharp teeth pressed against Ji Nian’s carotid artery. For a moment, Ji Nian seemed to feel his heart stop.
“Damn it!”
Qin Xiao, his eyes red with rage, recklessly pushed the door open and got out of the car, swinging his knife.
A loud “Bang!” echoed.
It was a gunshot, and then the zombie on Ji Nian’s back fell to the ground, a bullet hole in its temple.
Black blood smeared Ji Nian’s fair side face. He had clearly heard the sound of the bullet tearing through the air and embedding itself in the flesh.
His ears were buzzing.
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
A series of rapid gunshots followed. A middle-aged man at the entrance to the convenience store, holding a revolver, stood there calmly and authoritatively, each shot hitting a walking corpse.