Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 573: Story of A Refugee (9)

The two of us immediately ran down the stairs, only to see all eight of our coworkers ahead of us going in the same direction.

By the time we all made it to the senior officer’s fancy barracks, we all froze as we heard a weird sound coming from inside.

More specifically, a woman’s moan followed by a man’s groan.

We looked at each other for a second, standing still as no one wanted to be the one who interrupted someone’s business.

"Zhaoxun, you’re the youngest here. You go in." The oldest soldier suggested.

"Hell no."

Despite my attempt to argue back, everyone kept staring at me as if they had all reached a unanimous decision for me to go in already.

"Fine."

As soon as I gently knocked on the door, the sound inside instantly disappeared. The footstep gets closer and closer as my heart keeps pounding.

Finally, the door opened, revealing a middle-aged man with only pants on. His head was full of sweat as if he had done some intense exercise inside.

"What’s the issue?" The senior officer asked.

"There are zombies chasing a car that’s driving right towards us. We wanted to ask what we should do." I answered.

"Shit. You all go back to your barracks. I’ll go deal with it."

I quickly nodded, bringing the news back to the rest of my coworkers as we all headed back to our own barracks.

For the rest of the night, none of us could sleep at all. Even the ten people for the morning duty were woken up by the gunshots outside.

Most people in the barracks’ faces were scared. I was the only one who was a little bumped out to be sidelined like this.

We were forced to sit it out, almost as if we were never a part of the army at all. No action, nothing.

Just like a retired security guard sitting in front of a school, doing nothing all day and collecting a paycheck after another.

---

Soon, the year came to an end as more and more months flew by.

As the New Year approached, I was stuck patrolling the wall while everyone else in the army was off to celebrate with their family.

All twenty of us were assigned not just one section of the wall, but two. Our unit was stretched thin.

Fortunately, the only relief we had was the fact that we no longer had to do night duty. Another unit had taken the job for us.

We were also granted permission to leave the barracks between days. No longer do we have to stay at the barracks during off-duty time.

Despite the few and far between due to work, my relationship with Jieqiong was only getting better and better.

We finally had our first kiss together.

I know it sounds crazy and slow as hell, considering we had slept on the same mattress together for an entire week.

But the two of us were too shy at the time, and we didn’t know what to do next since neither of us had ever had a relationship.

It really sounds absurd, but the only thing we ever did was hold hands together. Even back in the village, we never crossed any boundaries and slept in separate rooms.

Ahem, anyway.

Both of my parent were more than happy to see the two of us together, moving closer and closer towards an actual engagement.

The only one who seemed to be a little annoyed by it was my younger sister, who kept bugging me every chance she got when she saw us together.

By the time the first Chinese New Year came since the outbreak, we had finally saved enough money to move into a house that wasn’t just made of metal sheets.

A house that had one bedroom, one living room, and an actual bathroom. We no longer needed to go to the public bathhouses.

On top of that, my mom could retire and take care of my younger sister full time, as Jieqiong’s and my salaries were enough.

Still, Dad wanted to keep working. More money was better than having less money, and he just didn’t want to stay home and do nothing.

Everything was going fantastically, almost as if the zombie outbreak was just a small note on our lives that we would quickly move past.

Nothing could possibly go wrong... until it all fell apart.

---

It was a cloudy, dark day as the sun set on the horizon. My partner and I were patrolling the wall as usual.

All the roads were cleared as a convoy of army units alongside a few of the salvage group rolled out for their routine looting.

"Hey Zhaoxun, have you heard the rumor that the food prices are going to rise?" My partner suddenly asked.

"What you get that rumor from?" I curiously asked.

"My cousin. He works as an accountant in the government... He told me that I should better stock up on food soon."

"And for what?"

"Come on, we both know. Those salvage groups are starting to pay less and less share of the loot to the army."

I fell into silence. I didn’t know how to respond. But I knew he was right. The two of us had witnessed a large share going away into the savage groups’ own hands.

The food prices at the government store were slowly increasing, even though people’s wages were dropping, or straight up fired.

"That’s not our concern. I’m sure the government will figure out a way." I answered back with barely any confidence in my voice.

"Mhm. As if their growing attempt on a hilltop and overfishing will work. Those greedy pigs probably already made an inside deal for themselves."

"Let’s not talk about that."

As we both walked down the patrol path, my parent spoke up once again, bringing me a shock that stunned me.

"I’m going to be real with you for a second, I’m going to leave this job."

"Leave this job?"

I couldn’t believe what my partner was telling me. A man I had known for almost half a year was now leaving.

"Yeah. I’m just going to leave Pingdingshan... It’s only a matter of time before this settlement collapses under its own weight."

I remained silent. But my mind was starting agree with him. I had already witnessed a weird uptick of newer recruits with senior soldiers disappearing.

"Anyway, you want to come with me? I have a few extra spots for you and your family." My partner offered.

"I think I’m good. I’m just going to stay for now." I answered as a flashback to the house I just bought appeared in my head.

"Very well. Good luck to you... Here, you can have the rest of my money. This was going to be my last day."

As he handed me an entire stack of money, I was stunned. It was more than three times my salary right in my palm.

"You sure you’re giving this to me?" I nervously asked.

"I don’t have any other use for it, better for you to have it, my friend... Anyway, hope the next time we see each other isn’t on the battlefield."

He paused for a second, hesitating before giving me a hug.

"Goodbye."

Separated, he turned around and began heading towards the staircase. I stood all alone at the wall, with no one near me.

"Wait! Where are you going?" I asked out loud.

"To Changsha first. And maybe to Luoping later."

He didn’t say anything further as he disappeared from my sight. It was the last time I ever saw him in my life.

I don’t know how well he was doing now, but all I remember is what we all called him in the unit.

Brother Qinren.

---

As Xiaoyun put down the newspaper onto the table, he couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.

It was clear Zhaoxun’s friend was a spy for Renqin, or at least had a connection to him, considering how unique the two characters’ names are.

No one would ever coincidentally use the same two uncommon letters as their name and then switch the order.

Not to mention, the destination is Luoping. That name had no reason to be that far up north in Henan.

At least based on the timeline of the story. Guangzhou would have been more of a random, normal big city destination.

The weirdly suspicision money influx that Zhaoxun’s partner had despite having the same job as him just added to the fuel of the possible outside connection.

Of course, it could all just be a trader that had gone up north, and all of this was just a pure concident.

"Excuse me, Mr.Governor. Sorry to interrupt you, but can I have my computer space back?"

As a voice appeared behind Xiaoyun, it instantly snapped him back to the moment. He quickly closed the newspaper before restarting the computer.

"Sorry. I’ll move out now."

After walking out of the cubicle, he sat back down onto the resting area as he resumed reading the newspaper once again.

"It’s only been ten minutes. I can finish the four more pages..."

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