Little Red Riding Hood Aiming Tutorial

Han Bo said I was in charge, Gao Chen said I was in charge, and Yu Zhongjian also said I was in charge. Did they secretly hold an election without my knowledge?

I sat down opposite the skinny young man with my plate in hand: "Do you know who's the boss and who's the leader here?"

The young man looked at me strangely: "Isn't it you, Sister Qi?"

"Who told you that? And is it appropriate for you to call me 'sister'? You look much older than I am!"

“That’s what everyone says,” the young man said, bewildered. “You’re the leader, I can’t just call you Xiao Qi, can I? Even Old Wang next door has to call you Sister Qi.”

"Next door, Old Wang?" I turned my head and saw that the middle-aged man with a tragic expression sitting at the next table. He nodded to me and greeted me, "Sister Qi is eating."

I went back to Liu Meili's table and asked her, "Meili, who is the person in charge of our team?"

Liu Meili probably remembered the threat of severing Achilles tendons and shook her head vigorously: "There is no person in charge."

"Then why do you come to me every time something happens?"

"Who else can I turn to if not you?"

"Uh..." I was speechless for a moment. How could they be so self-righteous? Whether I owe them something or not, they all come to me. Who am I supposed to turn to when I need something?

The water supply was cut off. Fortunately, Yu Zhongjian had the foresight to always believe that the clean water supply would eventually be cut off, so he would grab any water he could find when he went out to search for resources. As a result, our warehouse has a large amount of bottled mineral water and about a hundred barrels of purified water. However, in the long run, it is only a drop in the ocean.

After moving to a large hospital, the pressure of saving lives lessened, and people were being led in in droves. There were still twenty mouths locked up upstairs, needing food and water. Just then, the virus mutated, making the zombies even more difficult to deal with. The situation wasn't just not optimistic; it was downright dire!

Although we're already in the apocalypse, this is the first time I've felt the pressure of survival. I want to get rid of this pressure, and there's only one way—to acknowledge a boss, become a happy little henchman.

After much deliberation, I decided to choose the best among the worst, selecting someone somewhat decent from a group of people who were unfit to be my leader, to take on this important responsibility.

Yu Zhongjian was the first one I eliminated. Although he was excellent in every way, he was ultimately a mental patient and liked to cause trouble. I couldn't entrust my life to him.

My dad is old; Zhou Yi has delusions; and Blackie is a former prisoner of war and lacks prestige.

After going through all the selections, only one person remained. This person was tolerant, quick-witted, had no history of mental illness, was physically capable, and had a very good relationship with my parents and myself.

I excitedly jumped up to Han Bo: "Mr. Han, the water's out. What should we do next?"

Han Bo looked dazed: "How should I know? Why are you asking me?"

"You're the leader of our team."

"Nonsense, how could it be me? It's clearly you."

I immediately changed my expression and flew into a rage, slamming my hand on the table and yelling, "Why me? Who decided that! You can just say whatever you want? You come to me with all this nonsense, I won't stand for it! I'm telling you it's you, so what?"

"Are you crazy? Coming to cause trouble again so early in the morning!"

"If you try to pin this on me, I'm going to make trouble for you!"

Han Bo and I had a fight in the cafeteria, and we almost came to blows. Of course, I was so angry that I was planning to beat Han Bo up, but my dad pulled us apart and gave us both a good scolding.

The entire staff gathered once again in the administration building's reception room; veterans, newcomers, even Gao Chen came downstairs. Surprisingly, the convener of the meeting was Yu Zhongjian.

He didn't waste any words, getting straight to the point: "There are too many people and too much work. We need to choose someone to be in charge and arrange the work. I suggest Qi Aifeng. Raise your hand if you agree."

Everyone except my family of three and Liu Meili raised their hands.

"Thirty-six votes, more than half..."

I interrupted him expressionlessly: "I propose Han Bo. Raise your hand if you agree."

Liu Meili raised her hand under my threatening gaze, two votes. Han Bo looked at me with disdain and sneered.

I frowned at my parents: "What are you doing? Raise your hands. You two are elders, one vote is worth a hundred votes."

My dad, who had been frowning, perked up when he heard me speak: "Really? Then I'll suggest myself." He then raised his hand.

I quickly pulled his hand down: "You can't do that, we're going out to kill zombies, don't make things worse."

My dad's face hardened, so I quickly added, "Think about Mom and me. We're worried about you. Let the younger people do the dirty and tiring work." Only then did his expression soften.

My mom was writing something down in a small notebook the whole time, muttering to herself, "120 jin of rice, 70 jin of wheat flour..." She wasn't listening to us at all.

"Alright, my dad voted for Han Bo. I have 36 votes and Han Bo has 102 votes. Han Bo is elected! Everyone, give him a round of applause!"

The older members didn't clap, and the newcomers looked left and right, unsure of who to listen to, and gave a few scattered claps. Han Bo looked at me with a wry smile: "Dafeng, don't cause trouble. Everyone agrees that you should be in charge, so don't refuse. The capable should do more."

"No, why is that?" I didn't understand, and I frankly criticized myself: "There are people here who know me and people who don't. I'll be honest with you. I have a bad temper, I can be harsh, I sometimes have a brain fart, and I'm impatient with trivial matters. I'm not suitable to be a manager at all. If you really like me so much, then seriously select the person in charge. I can only be a deputy at most."

"Alright then," Yu Zhongjian said immediately. "You'll be the deputy for now, temporarily taking over the leadership's work. The person in charge is very important. Everyone go back and think it over carefully, and we'll choose another day. Meeting adjourned!"

"Hey! Hey, don't go! I didn't mean it that way..."

The meeting started suddenly and ended just as suddenly. I guess many people were as confused as I was, because I heard two women walking away saying, "What were we choosing just now? I didn't hear clearly before I raised my hand."

Another answer: "Who cares, just go with the flow."

I sat by my second uncle's hospital bed, gazing sadly at his sleeping face: "Second Uncle, please get well soon. Get well and take care of my parents for me. Your niece is no longer just the granddaughter of the Qi family, but the granddaughter of dozens of survivors."

Ignoring my melancholy, Liu Meili removed the catheter from my second uncle, utterly perplexed: "He doesn't even urinate, so where does all that liquid food we feed him every day go?"

"Nurse Liu, I've come to get the key to the rehabilitation room." Gao Chen's voice came from the outer room. Liu Meili responded and he came in.

"Oh, Miss Song, you're here too."

I turned around irritably and said, "My surname is Qi."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Qi, I..." Gao Chen tapped his head, "I'm having memory problems."

Arguing with someone suffering from amnesia would seem petty, so I pretended not to care and said, "It's alright, I wish you a speedy recovery."

He took the keys but didn't leave. He stood by my second uncle's bedside as if visiting him in his illness. It took a while, and the atmosphere became a bit awkward. It wasn't until I looked up at him that he spoke up: "I still haven't given you an answer about the matter I asked you about. I feel much better now. Can I participate in any operations?"

"Beautiful, is he up to the task?" I consulted a professional.

"The external injury is fine, but the ribs are still healing, so it's best to rest for another week."

I nodded: "Fighting zombies sometimes involves hand-to-hand combat. Your body isn't fully recovered, so you should wait a little longer."

Gao Chen grinned, revealing his teeth: "I've troubled you all for so long, I can't lie down anymore, please join the battle."

He was about the same height as Han Bo, but a little thinner because he was in a coma. His facial injuries had mostly healed, and he had some bluish stubble on his chin. When he smiled, a small dimple appeared at the corner of his mouth. His eyes were bright and black, making him both heroic and somewhat cute.

When I saw his dimples, I immediately forgot my frustration at him always forgetting my surname, and readily agreed, "Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I'll take you with me next time we go out. You stay with me for now, and I'll protect you."

Liu Meili stopped what she was doing, turned her head and gave me a strange look.

After Gao Chen left, she slowly asked me a question: "Is Company Commander Gao alright-looking?"

"Not just okay, it's awesome!" I blurted out.

I scoffed at Liu Meili's winking and eyebrow-raising. Does being pretty mean I can't be criticized? Everyone loves beauty, and I especially do. As a child, I always liked fair-skinned, handsome little boys. During my years as the school bully, they always received more protection from me. As for ugly girls and pretty girls, they could just go to hell.

The main reason I get along well with Han Bo is because he's decent-looking and pleasing to the eye; Yu Zhongjian is also not bad, if he doesn't get sick, he should be quite attractive to young girls if he dresses up and enters society; as for Zhou Yi... who is Zhou Yi?

Having been bogged down in various trivial matters for two days without leaving the house, the outside environment suddenly deteriorated. Zombies, who rarely roamed during the day, were now moving around in groups of three or five in the middle of the streets. When they had no prey, their movements remained slow and stiff, but once they sensed the presence of living people, their two legs, which resembled prosthetics, would immediately begin to move, covering a distance of about 100 meters in about 30 or 40 seconds.

It doesn't sound fast, but the key problem is the sheer number of zombies. While one zombie is chasing you from behind, others will appear from the front and left to try and intercept you. Living people need to dodge and find their way, which slows down their escape speed.

I crouched on one knee atop the ram cart, aimed my gun at the skull of a jogging zombie, and fired. With a "bang," it fell backward, face up, then slowly sat up a few seconds later. Even with its throat pierced, it bared its teeth, giving us a mocking look.

"Grandma, I missed again." I shook my arm in frustration; my shoulder was bruised. My marksmanship hadn't improved at all.

Another gunshot rang out, and the zombie that had been mocking me died before it could even get up. I looked to the side and saw Yu Zhongjian leaning against an abandoned car, lowering his gun and pulling the bolt.

He noticed my gaze, looked up at me, and snorted: "A straight line between three points."

"All you do is talk about is 'three points in a line,' but how exactly do you aim? I clearly aligned the three points before firing."

Yu Zhongjian ignored me and continued to shoot and kill the zombies in his line of sight.

The veterans' hospital had a reservoir and an artificial lake, but the water looked greenish-blue and murky, making it undrinkable. So Han Bo and Zhou Yi led a group to find water purification equipment—a pointless, aimless endeavor, not my cup of tea. I, on the other hand, loved fighting and killing, so I formed a zombie-killing squad as acting leader to clear the streets, appointing myself captain, with a deputy captain surnamed Yu, and the team consisting of Xiao Li and Zhang Yanhuang.

The squad also had an unofficial observer, namely Company Commander Gao Chen, who claimed he couldn't lie down anymore. Because his internal injuries hadn't fully healed, I only agreed to let him stay in the pickup truck bed to experience the atmosphere of the zombie world—he didn't even remember the zombie outbreak, so naturally he couldn't remember his past bravery.

But this very person, when Yu Zhongjian was unwilling to answer my questions, suddenly popped his head out of the truck bed: "Miss Wang, I know how to use a gun, I'll teach you."

"...My surname is Qi."

“Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Qi,” he apologized perfunctorily, his eyes shining as he stared at the gun in my hand. “The three points refer to the notch on the front sight and the bullseye. When they are aligned in a straight line, you can fire. But there’s a little trick to it. When you look at the front sight, don’t look at the solid part. Look at the dotted line on top of the front sight. In other words, the front sight should be slightly lower than the bullseye. This will greatly improve your hit rate.”

Following his instruction, I raised my gun and aimed: "I don't see the dotted line, where is the dotted line?"

"There's a halo around the crosshair." He climbed up and corrected my gun-holding posture, then said, "Using both eyes isn't suitable for beginners. Use your right eye."

I tried to close my left eye and found it very difficult to keep my face twitching. I could barely open my right eye either. "No, I... I just realized I can't close my left eye."

A warm hand suddenly covered my left eyelid: "Aim, fire!"

"Bang!"

Aiming, firing—my mind went completely blank. After his command, I instinctively pulled the trigger, and the zombie twenty meters away was blown to the head and killed instantly.

He removed his hand and said with a smile, "Yes, that's it. Because of the recoil, the muzzle rises when firing, so you need to aim at the dotted star line."

My heart was pounding. I turned to look at the man standing in the sunlight, smiling brightly. My ears felt hot, and I started babbling incoherently: "I can't do that. Do I have to bring someone to cover my eyes every day when I'm out fighting zombies? Sigh, most people wouldn't want to do that."

"Just find a piece of cloth and tie your eyes up."

Me: "Oh."

Still unwilling to give up, I said again, "What should we do today? I still need to get it done, and we don't have any cloth."

Before Gao Chen could speak, Yu Zhongjian shouted from a short distance away, "That's enough, stop firing and get the knives!"

I nearly rolled my eyes into my temples, but Yu Zhongjian didn't even bother to look at me. He pulled out a machete from behind his back and rushed out.

Xiao Li and Zhang Yanhuang also put away their guns and switched to other weapons. Gao Chen agreed: "There are too many abandoned vehicles on this road. We shouldn't lure any more zombies, otherwise we'll have a hard time escaping."

I handed him the gun: "It seems you haven't forgotten anything you should remember. Don't go down. I'll give you the gun. If you see me in danger, please help me out, okay?"

Gao Chen took it from him, his expression clearly delighted. He ran his fingers over the barrel a few times and nodded cautiously: "Okay, don't worry, I'm here. I won't let the zombies hurt you."

Wow! That sounds so good! I felt incredibly pleased with myself, but secretly I was also cursing myself for being like the Big Bad Wolf who tricked Little Red Riding Hood. Here, take my gun, and say something nice to me... Sigh, being a sucker for good looks is really deadly.

Because of the obstruction of abandoned vehicles, the zombies couldn't engage in a large-scale battle where numbers trumped them. We weaved, dodged, jumped, and kicked between the vehicles, while simultaneously using knives, axes, cones, and shovels to slay the scurrying, ghostly creatures that tried to pounce on us.

Although Zhang Yanhuang was young, he was physically very strong. He and Gao Chen had fought their way from another city into Huaicheng, and had accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with zombies. He gripped the blade in reverse, jumped from one vehicle to another, and using his height advantage, plunged the tip of the blade deep into the skull of each zombie.

Yu Zhongjian swung his two machetes with wide, sweeping movements. The zombie's biting parts simply fell off, leaving only its neck as a stump. The body swayed a couple of times before crashing to the ground.

Little Li had no strategy, relying only on instinct and strength, using knives, shovels, fists and feet all at once. Whenever a zombie fell but was not dead, he would rush up and stomp its head into a pancake with a thunderous kick.

I won't praise myself; I'm sure my graceful and dashing figure has already been seen by the person behind me.

Before, killing zombies was out of necessity; now, it's an active attack. After the battle ended, I was actually a little reluctant to stop.

"Sixty-one, and I can't tell the difference between the mutated and non-mutated ones," Zhang Yanhuang reported after counting the corpses.

"It's alright, it's alright," I felt I still had some energy left, so I spoke confidently: "Although there are many buildings on this street, it's not a densely populated area, and there are no forks in the road, so not many zombies have come in. How about we go to Xinhua Street next door and have another round? There are several alleys there, as well as a school, so there should be more zombies."

“No, let’s go back.” Yu Zhongjian rejected my suggestion. “A city with a million people, and it seems that zombies make up at least 95 percent of the population. We can’t kill them all with knives and guns. It would be unwise to rush into the disaster area.”

This troublemaker is worried about casualties? I sneered inwardly, when I heard Yu Zhongjian say again, "Ammunition is limited and cannot be wasted. Large groups can be dealt with using fire grenades, while small groups still need to be eliminated manually. Next time we go out, bring the prisoners and the new men with us. At this time, we don't support freeloaders."

That's right, in his mind, human life is less precious than bullets. Think of that skinny young man, as thin as a praying mantis, and Old Wang next door, who almost starved to death but dared not go out. It's tragic that they have to go to the front lines before they've even settled in. I can only wish them good luck.

After defeating the zombies, Little Li looked up at the sky as usual. We were calling him to get in the car when we suddenly heard him say to the sky, "What did you say?"

Is he having another episode? I quickly went over to pull him away: "Come on, let's go home and eat some chocolate."

He kept looking up in one direction and said again, "Speak louder, I can't hear you."

He wasn't embarrassed, but I felt embarrassed for him. I said to Zhang Yanhuang, "Your brother Li often talks to the gods to cleanse his soul of impurities."

Zhang Yanhuang had no idea that he was mentally ill, so she was able to treat his actions with the same thinking as a normal person—involuntarily looking up at the sky with him.

Then Zhang Yanhuang exclaimed in surprise, "Look, there's a child over there!"