A Prince Motorbike was pushed out from the back door of the building. Under the cover fire of 20 rifles from the roof, Three brought a few men and used explosives on the perimeter wall.
“BANG….” A cloud of dust soared to the sky, countless brick pieces struck the metal doors and made ‘clank’ sounds. Two robust men rushed from the doors to the collapsed wall and cleared the debris all over. Upon returning back to the building, a red shadow charged out towards the opening.
The journey to and from the base and the coalfield was three hours. When the informer returned to the base after one and a half hours later, Zhang Xiao Qiang brought 160 combat team members and stood on a small sand dune 2 km away from the coalfield.
Gunshots from rifles and machine guns could be heard from the coalfields as the sea of zombies that extended over the horizon like an ocean but had yet to enter into the coalfield. Seeing the endless horde, Zhang Xiao Qiang hesitated.
The horde was half an hour away from the coalfields, but how was Zhang Xiao Qiang going to clear over 10 S2s in the same time and bring the survivors out? The answer was impossible. Zhang Xiao Qiang knew how powerful the S2s were, ordinary members did not even have the power to retaliate against them, and the coalfield was filled with over a hundred vehicles that distorted and complicated the terrain, narrowing their field of fire. Additionally, the S2s enjoyed sneaking about.
Thinking about the 60 veterans and 100 odd new members behind him, the complicated terrain in the coalfield, and the scene whereby the S2s appeared from above and the side to slaughter his combat team, Zhang Xiao Qiang dispelled the silly and absurd idea.
“Order, Type-92 mortar team will bombard the zombies 2km away, stop them from approaching the coalfield.”
Zhang Xiao Qiang then shouted, “Zhang Huai An!”
“Yes!” The usually mischievous Zhang Huai An stood out solemnly and looked at Zhang Xiao Qiang with a never-before-seen seriousness. Facing the zombie horde, Zhang Huai An was impatient once again, eager to get on with his new mission.
“Take 50 members and protect the infantry mortars, I’ll give you another three machine gun teams and two mortar groups, you don’t have to kill zombies, just ensure that the two mortar teams are safe. Remember, always maintain a 2km distance from the horde.”
“Yes. Even if I have to die, I will not let the mortar team die or lose any mortars.” With that said, Zhang Huai An chose his members and infantry mortar teams and moved towards their designated location.
Seeing the large truck holding ammunition for the Type-92 Mortars drive towards the right of the zombie horde, Zhang Huai An led his subordinates and sat in the off-road vehicle and drove off. Zhang Xiao Qiang then turned to the fully armed He Wen Bin.
After breaking his arm, the cheerful and easy He Wen Bin changed. He became much calmer, unlike his proud and loud past and became more reserved. Unlike his unsophisticated self in the past, he became impossible to predict, became a perfectionist that completed all kinds of taskings given to him down to the smallest detail. That was how Zhang Xiao Qiang was able to become free, as He Wen Bin assisted him 80% of the time.
Aside from the people from the chicken farm, those that joined later did not know of He Wen Bin’s past personality. In their eyes, he was a swift and decisive man with a horror second only to Zhang Xiao Qiang. He held the authority to punish others and was never softhearted towards those who erred, regardless of them being robust men or frail women. He viewed them all as equals.
In other people’s eyes, he was emotionless and stuck to the book. Even when the people from the chicken farm made a mistake, he would punish them equally. If Zhang Xiao Qiang did not have the habit of throwing people to the zombies, who knows? Others might even feel that Zhang Xiao Qiang was much kinder than He Wen Bin.
On this day, He Wen Bin was different from his usual solemn and calculative look. Completely dressed in military uniform, glossy weapons hung around his waist, and a black Type-92 pistol holstered on the pistol belt emitted killing intent.
He Wen Bin raised his head and looked at Zhang Xiao Qiang. He was excited, excited about the fact that he was able to fight the zombies. He was born to be restless, if not for his old man’s deathbed advice, he would have never appeared on the highway. After sustaining his injury, he felt that he owed Zhang Xiao Qiang his life, and was willing to do all sorts of taskings to repay the debt.
Now, finally, it was his day of battle. He looked towards Zhang Xiao Qiang with fervent in his eyes.
“Take the remaining men and clear out the zombies on the circumference, do your best to deal the most severe wounds and if possible, kill as many as you can. Pay attention to communicate with Zhang Huai An,
Zhang Xiao Qiang stopped and thought for a moment, “Don’t think of sniping them. You guys cannot stand on the same spot and wait for the zombies to come, take initiative to engage and move, constantly maintaining a distance with the zombies and at the same time gaining time for me. Don’t put too much risk on yourself. If we can’t get out, don’t keep holding ground and just retreat.”
With that said, Zhang Xiao Qiang turned towards the moving sea of zombies with a frustrated look.
He Wen Bin nodded then looked at him, “Brother Cockroach, are you prepping to personally enter the coalfield?”
After asking, he looked at Yang Ke’er, Shangguan Qiao Yun, and Guo Fei, who were standing beside Zhang Xiao Qiang. On this day, Yang Ke’er had abandoned her loved mace and changed it to the large scimitar that was used previously by Yuan Yi, along with a composite steel shield. The shield was covered with a black skin that belonged to the porcupine rat. It was tanned by Wang Le and riveted onto the shield.
Yang Ke’er was unwilling to hold a new weapon, but under Zhang Xiao Qiang’s threat, she finally relented. She knew it for herself, even before she could swing her mace, the rat-like zombies would sneak up on her and prevent her from hitting them.
Shangguan Qiao Yun had tied her Lara Croft braid at the back of her head and left a neat fringe at the front. She exuded a natural grace and maturity even though her long sideburns were slightly messy. She gave off a sweet sense and adding the sniper rifle on her back and the M1911A1 on her waist, she was a mix of being wild and seductive.
As for Guo Fei? He was still the same, squatted and having the anxious look as though he was looking to die. When he saw the endless sea of zombies, his eyes lit up with a strange light. The knife that he used to poke the ground in impatience started to tremble along with him as more and more small holes appeared on the ground.
Looking at the few people by Zhang Xiao Qiang’s side, He Wen Bin did not dare believe it. Three had over 20 members with Type-56 AR and four HMGs but was still surrounded and trapped by the 10 odd S2s. Where did Zhang Xiao Qiang’s confidence come from?