Chapter 55 Supermarket Survivors
As the sun set, the convoy chose a detour to return to their camp outside the city. According to reconnaissance by speed-enhancing and vision-enhancing individuals, the main road they had come from was blocked by a massive horde of corpses that had gathered after hearing the commotion, making it impassable.
The convoy drove through abandoned streets, trying to remain as quiet as possible. As they passed a medium-sized neighborhood supermarket, a window on the third floor was suddenly banged on, and several anxious faces pressed against the glass, waving faded strips of cloth.
"Stop! There are survivors!" The officer in the lead vehicle gave the decisive order, and the convoy stopped in an open area outside the supermarket.
The officer made a swift decision and issued instructions via radio: "Trucks No. 3 and No. 4, escorted by the Second Platoon and the superhuman squad, will return to camp first along the original route to ensure the safety of supplies and equipment! The First Platoon, along with Ruan Ning's squad and Lei Bao's squad, will follow me into the supermarket to carry out the rescue! Be quick!"
The important military trucks departed first under escort. The officer then personally led more than twenty soldiers, along with Ruan Ning and two others, Lei Bao and his four core team members, and rushed towards the supermarket entrance.
The supermarket's main entrance was blocked from the inside by heavy shelves and furniture, so people could only enter through the fire escape on the side. The passageway was dark and damp, filled with dust, musty smells, and a faint, distinctive odor from the many people who had lived there for a long time.
"Stay alert, clear each floor one by one, and prioritize checking the condition of survivors!" the officer ordered in a low voice, and the soldiers, guns in hand, were the first to enter the building.
Lei Bao and his men followed closely behind, seemingly trying to take the initiative in the rescue. Ruan Ning's team brought up the rear, her mental energy subtly extending to sense the situation inside the building.
The first-floor fresh produce section reeked of decay, with only a few sluggish zombies remaining, which were quickly eliminated by the soldiers. The second-floor daily necessities section was relatively clean, but also deserted.
When the group stepped onto the third floor, the scene before them made everyone pause for a moment.
The spacious third-floor living area was transformed by the survivors into a temporary settlement.
At a glance, there were about seventy or eighty people gathered here. Most of them were ragged and emaciated, but what was noteworthy was that the vast majority of them were young and middle-aged men, numbering more than fifty.
There were also more than ten women and several teenagers. No elderly people or children were seen in the crowd.
The cruel survival rules of the apocalypse are laid bare here. The weak and those who require large amounts of resources to sustain, such as the elderly and children, are often the first to be eliminated or abandoned.
Upon seeing the fully armed soldiers and the extraordinary superhumans, the survivors stirred, their faces displaying a complex mix of hope and wariness. Several men, who appeared to be their leaders and were likely superhumans, stepped forward. As their eyes swept over Ruan Ning, Zhou Min, and the other women, a subtle, unsettling glint flashed in their eyes.
"Are you... from the military?" one of the power-type ability users, who seemed to be the leader, asked in a hoarse voice, his gaze mainly fixed on the officer and Lei Bao.
"Yes, Dawn Base, ordered to search for survivors." The officer replied in a deep voice, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly. "What's the situation here? How many people are injured? Are there any urgent dangers?"
"There are about seventy or eighty of us. Most of us are uninjured, but we lack supplies, and most of us are starving..."
After a brief exchange with the survivor leader, the officer confirmed that there was no immediate danger inside the supermarket and began organizing preparations for the evacuation, mainly to check the status of personnel and collect remaining usable supplies.
At this moment, a young girl stepped out from the crowd, accompanied by a large, grey-black German Shepherd with exceptionally bright eyes. The girl was about eighteen or nineteen years old. Although she looked haggard, compared to the other survivors, her clothes were relatively neat, and her hair was combed, indicating that she was not severely restricted in terms of water availability.
She is Lin Xi.
“Sir,” Lin Xi’s voice carried a deliberate attempt to maintain composure. She first glanced at the officer, her gaze brightening slightly as it swept over the imposing Lei Bao. However, when it landed on the equally aloof and strikingly beautiful Ruan Ning, her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly before she quickly looked away. “My dog and I can help everyone. Xiao Bai… my dog, it has a special ability—it can interfere with zombies’ senses. Our supermarket is relatively safe thanks to it.”
Her words carried a subtle sense of superiority, especially when she glanced at the few women in the crowd whose faces were sallow and whose eyes were numb; the contrast was even more pronounced then.
Because she is a water-type ability user, she can ensure basic cleanliness. She also has a mutated dog that can protect everyone. In addition, with the protection of her boyfriend Yang Fan (a calm earth-type ability user standing beside her), she does live a relatively "comfortable" life in this small group, and naturally develops a "superior" mentality.
She would never allow other women to get close to Yang Fan. Once, a woman tried to seduce Yang Fan, but after she found out, the woman was no longer allowed to get any clean water the next day.
Upon hearing this, the officer looked at the German Shepherd with greater attention. The ability to shield itself from zombies' senses was practically a divine skill in the apocalypse. "Very good, Comrade Lin Xi, your dog has done a great job. It will be needed for the evacuation later."
Lin Xi nodded, then subconsciously glanced at Ruan Ning again.
As a fellow woman, Ruan Ning's calm and powerful aura made her feel a strange sense of threat and unease. She quietly tugged at Yang Fan's arm, seemingly seeking validation and a sense of security.
Yang Fan patted the back of her hand, but his gaze cautiously swept over the superhumans in the rescue team, especially Lei Bao and Ruan Ning.
Ruan Ning naturally felt Lin Xi's unfriendly gaze, but she didn't care.
Her mental focus lingered primarily on the mutated German Shepherd. She could sense that the dog's mental energy field was indeed peculiar, forming a gentle yet effective barrier.
Strangely, when her mental energy inadvertently swept over it, the German Shepherd seemed to sense something. Its ears twitched, and it looked in Ruan Ning's direction with a puzzled expression, making a low growl in its throat, but it did not show any hostility.
"This dog... is not simple," Ruan Ning thought to herself. At the same time, she also noticed that the other female survivors in the supermarket were looking at Lin Xi with very mixed feelings, including envy, jealousy, and a hint of deep-seated resentment.
It seems that this seemingly stable group of survivors is not a monolithic entity.
The officers quickly completed their deployment and decided to organize an immediate evacuation before it got completely dark.
"Everyone, take whatever you can carry and prepare to leave with the convoy! Comrade Lin Xi, you and your dog are responsible for covering the rear and maintaining the shield! Move quickly!"
The survivors began to stir; some were eager to go, while others hesitated, after all, the supermarket was their familiar "safe zone."
"Sir, it's like this, my dog is still only at level one, it can't shield a very large area or a very long time, I'm afraid it can't cover the rear..." Lin Xi said hesitantly.
So that's how it is. No wonder they didn't go to the base even though they could have blocked the zombies.
At the start of the apocalypse, Lin Xi and her boyfriend brought their dog to a supermarket to collect supplies, only to be surrounded by zombies. Trapped in the supermarket along with others, Lin Xi's dog awakened a psychic ability that allowed it to evade the zombies.
They had initially planned to use the dogs to break out of the supermarket, but there were too many zombies, and the dogs couldn't cover a large area or provide enough cover for long enough, resulting in heavy losses for them. They had no choice but to retreat back into the supermarket.
When the dogs ran out of power and needed to rest, they hid in the supermarket warehouse. Because the supermarket doors were very sturdy, they remained unconquered. They also dealt with any zombies that occasionally entered through other doors.
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