Chapter 170: Have You Seen Her?
Chapter 170: Have You Seen Her?
The Green Dragon tattooed man stands at the door, wearing a kind smile as he greets the pirate headscarf man.
"A guest is a guest, brother," he says warmly. "I’m sorry about the earlier misunderstanding. Take whatever you need. It’s yours."
However, the pirate headscarf man’s expression remains cold and unmoved by the Green Dragon tattooed man’s forced politeness. He stands still, chewing gum, with his massive backpack strapped to his shoulders. After a long pause, he pulls a photo from his pocket. Holding it in front of the Green Dragon tattooed man, he points to the image of a woman in a wedding dress and asks in a low, deliberate voice:
"Have you seen her?"
The photo is clearly precious, a small wallet-sized picture of the woman in a wedding gown. It’s been well cared for, despite the harshness of the apocalypse.
The Green Dragon tattooed man’s eyes flicker, but his expression remains sincere. His thoughts, however, are racing. Isn’t this bride… the mobile granary?
For a moment, his pupils dart in their sockets before he puts on his most earnest look and shakes his head.
"I haven’t seen her," he replies with conviction. "Really, I haven’t seen her."
Inside, Green Dragon curses the timing of this encounter. In a world as chaotic as this, life and death are commonplace. People disappear all the time—how can anyone expect to find someone specific? But this pirate headscarf man… he’s looking for her, the mobile granary, his mobile granary. No way Green Dragon is giving her up. As long as she stays under his control, she represents an endless supply of gold, rice, and silver. To hand her over would be sheer stupidity.
The man in the pirate headscarf—Zhan Lian—slowly raises his hand and removes his sunglasses. He hooks them onto the collar of his T-shirt and turns to lean against a bulletproof car decorated with pink snow mountain flowers. His head tilts slightly as he regards the Green Dragon tattooed man.
Patting the roof of the car, Zhan Lian squints at the man in front of him. The air around him seems to grow colder, heavy with menace.
"Let me ask you again," he says, his voice calm but dripping with latent danger. "Is she here with you?"
In the dormitory behind the gas station’s supermarket, Anran sits near the window with her baby in her arms. Through the glass, she can see several men rushing past her room toward the front of the gas station.
She turns quickly and whispers to Yun Tao, who’s resting on the bed.
"Something’s happening out front," she says anxiously.
Yun Tao’s eyes snap open in the moonlight. Without hesitation, he pushes himself up to sit.
"This is it," he says with urgency. "Let’s go. Now!"
Yun Tao knows this might be their only chance to escape. If they miss it, they might never get away from Green Dragon’s control. Despite his injuries, he struggles to stand. Liu Yuan quickly reaches out to steady him with one hand, while holding Heng Heng in her other arm.
But Yun Tao shakes her off. "I’m not that weak!" he says through gritted teeth.
He limps to the door, kicks it open with surprising force, and crouches to retrieve the dagger hidden in his boot. Without hesitation, he stabs the two men guarding the doorway, taking them out in quick succession.
"Go!" Yun Tao shouts, clutching his bleeding side as he turns back to look at Liu Yuan and Anran.
The two women nod without hesitation, holding the children tightly as they follow Yun Tao out of the dormitory.
The gas station descends into chaos. The sounds of wailing and shouting grow louder, piercing the stillness of the night. Yun Tao leads Anran and Liu Yuan toward the restaurant opposite the gas station. Pickup trucks are parked in a semicircle around the restaurant, forming a makeshift barricade that serves as the station’s perimeter defense.
Beyond the restaurant, a greenbelt offers a possible escape route. The street behind the greenbelt has relatively few zombies, and only a few stragglers wander toward the gas station dormitory. These are typically dealt with by Green Dragon’s subordinates, most of whom are power users capable of handling the slightly evolved zombies with ease.
However, the increasing noise from the gas station is drawing more and more zombies to the area. Their groans and shuffling footsteps echo eerily in the dark. The undead call out to each other, gathering into a swelling horde that begins to choke the station’s defenses.
Some of Green Dragon’s men have rushed to the front lines to deal with the escalating situation. But in the chaos, a few of them notice what’s happening in the dormitory.
"The granary’s escaping!" someone shouts.
Distracted by the pursuit of Anran—the so-called mobile granary—the defenders falter. This lapse allows several zombies to slip through the gaps between the pickup trucks, spilling into the gas station and attacking anything they can sink their teeth into.