But before Jiang Zhu could make another move, the scowling guy slapped Yan Chen on the shoulder again.
The guy suddenly turned serious. “Yan Chen, everything you said makes sense. But don’t forget, those two big bags of food and drinks on this table were all bought by her.”
The scowling guy extended his other hand, pointing at the two large bags still sitting on the table.
“I can imagine what it’s like out there right now, and I know how dangerous it is. But you’re asking me to do something like ‘kill and rob’ right now, I can’t do that.”
“You…”
Yan Chen furrowed his brows, seeming about to argue with him.
But then the simple-looking guy spoke up too.
“I think Qin Zhang is right. Weren’t we just talking about unity? Why are we suddenly turning on each other?”
With opinions split, silence fell over the room again.
Tang Tang had no idea what to do either. If what they were worried about was food, then she…
No way!
The hidden space absolutely could not be exposed, or her situation would become even more dangerous.
So the only option now was for her to be considerate and voluntarily leave the dorm?
And then what?
Fight her way out through a horde of zombies?
That could work too, she’d bought quite a few knives earlier, plus extra-thick, extra-long raincoats just in case, and helmets made of sturdy material…
“Let’s talk about the four of us first.”
Just as Tang Tang was about to decide to just charge out, Jiang Zhu, who had remained silent the whole time, finally spoke.
He straightened up and subtly shifted half a step toward Tang Tang, silently positioning himself behind her.
His hand rested on the table, tapping lightly.
“Are the four of us certain that we won’t betray each other?”
The other three exchanged glances, then nodded firmly. “Absolutely no betrayal!”
“Then that’s settled.” Jiang Zhu gave a nod.
“What about her…” Yan Chen said.
“We’ll discuss an escape route later. We can all guess how dangerous it is out there. Even the four of us aren’t guaranteed to make it out safely. Whether we bring her along or not doesn’t really matter, does it?”
That was what he said, but anyone could tell that Jiang Zhu intended to keep Tang Tang.
Yan Chen’s expression immediately turned interesting.
“You’re not still—”
“What we’re discussing now is survival and escape. Please don’t bring up irrelevant topics.”
Jiang Zhu seemed annoyed by the subject, his gaze turning cold in an instant.
“Alright, alright. We’re all in the same boat now—we’re teammates. Stop holding a grudge against her, yeah? Jiang Zhu already said his piece, didn’t he?” Qin Zhang patted Yan Chen’s shoulder again.
“Yeah, yeah! The five of us need to stick together now!” the simple-looking guy added.
Yan Chen struggled for a moment, then sighed. “Fine, fine. I know I was wrong.”
Even though he’d seemed so firm in his stance earlier, he actually felt relieved now.
Tang Tang, on the other hand, was a beat behind.
She’d already prepared herself to throw on a raincoat and helmet, grab a big knife, and carve a path through the chaos the moment she stepped out, and now she was staying?
…This felt a bit awkward.
“Don’t take any of that crap Yan Chen said seriously. That guy’s just got a screw loose upstairs. Don’t worry, since you’re our teammate now, he’s not getting away with bullying you! Even if Jiang Zhu agreed, I wouldn’t as your teammate!”
Qin Zhang gave Tang Tang a hearty grin and punched Yan Chen in the arm to lighten the mood.
He actually had a pretty good impression of this girl. She was quiet, and she didn’t even flinch at something like this. Staying so calm was rare, guess rumors really couldn’t always be trusted.
He didn’t know how far this five-person team would make it, but they’d take it one step at a time.
After that, the real discussion began.
First, they determined the escape direction.
“Our dorm building is in the corner, and the closest thing is the school wall. But it’s too tall, there’s no way we’re getting over it. So we have to pick a location inside the school as our next shelter.”
As Jiang Zhu spoke, he crossed out the mark representing the wall on his rough sketch.
“Then there’s the teaching building, cafeteria, supermarket, library, gymnasium, sports field… Among these, the cafeteria and supermarket have the food we need right now. But if we can think of that, so can others. So those two places will be highly contested.”
“Mm-hm!”
“Next is the library. It’s the most structurally solid of all these options, but since the power’s out, it’ll be pitch black. Plus, the bookshelves inside are arranged tightly, so if a zombie gets in, we’d be in serious danger.”
“Mm-hm!”
The library was crossed out too.
The teaching building, with its open ventilation on all sides and numerous entrances, was also crossed out. The sports field was too open to hide in, so it was crossed out as well…
In the end, only the gymnasium, cafeteria, and supermarket remained on the sketch.
“So our escape destination is one of these three?” Qin Zhang asked, looking at the sketch.
“Mm, but not right away,” Jiang Zhu replied.
“Then when do we go out? We don’t have much to eat, our sixty packs of instant noodles, plus the thirty Tang Tang bought, come to ninety packs total. Split among five people for three meals a day, that only lasts six days,” Qin Zhang said worriedly.
“Then we go out after six days,” Jiang Zhu said.
“Huh??” Everyone was stunned.
“Going out that late? By then, the cafeteria and supermarket will probably be cleaned out, right??”
“We only have one chance, once we go out, there’s basically no coming back. Are we supposed to carry all this food with us and run?” Jiang Zhu shook his head. “That won’t work. We’ll have to avoid zombies on the road, and carrying all this will just be dead weight.”
He had a point, but if they followed his plan, it would be all or nothing, a desperate gamble.
It felt grim.
“Besides, going out a few days later means we’ll avoid overlapping with others who have no supplies, which also reduces the risk of turning on each other,” Jiang Zhu added.
“Ugh, I guess that’s the only way. But if that’s the case, do we still hit the cafeteria and supermarket? They’ll be stripped bare by then,” Yan Chen asked.
“We go. The supermarket has a warehouse,” Jiang Zhu said.
Tang Tang froze.
Then she spoke grimly: “The warehouse lock’s been changed, to a smart one that needs charging. Now even the first door won’t open. I saw it tonight when I went to buy stuff.”
Everyone: …
What are the odds?!
Despair hung in the air for a moment.
Then Jiang Zhu made the call: “Then we’ll head straight to the gymnasium in six days.”
“I’ve checked the gym doors, they’re not smart locks.”
“Then what do we eat for those six days?”
“There are vending machines in the gym,” Jiang Zhu paused, “and if those have been cleaned out too, we’ll go out during the day to scavenge for food, then hide back inside at night.”
***
T/N: Jiang Zhu & Yan Chen roommate name’s: Thing1[Qin Zhang], thing2…
***
Translated by NightOwll
***