Stockpiling Supplies&Raising a Child in a Post-Apocalyptic World by DrawingCards

Chapter 12

"This is what you brought upon yourselves." Lin Ran lightly tapped the wall with the hilt of her knife, immediately attracting the attention of several zombies at the stairway entrance. However, due to the overwhelming scent of zombie blood on Lin Ran, the zombies hesitated, unsure whether to attack her.

Seeing that the six zombies didn't pursue her immediately, Lin Ran knocked on the wall again. This time, the six zombies confirmed the sound and charged towards her eagerly.

The narrow fire escape worked to Lin Ran's advantage as the zombies crowded in. She kicked the leading zombie, causing the ones behind it to stumble. The two zombies at the back nearly fell over from the commotion.

Lin Ran knew such attacks wouldn't harm the zombies but would slow them down. She then launched a fierce attack on the leading zombie, severing its head with her katana. The fallen male zombie tripped two others behind it, while the remaining three continued their assault.

Prepared, Lin Ran positioned herself on the second-floor landing. She threw a pickling jar she found at the approaching zombies. The leading zombie was hit hard, falling back and causing the two behind it to tumble as well.

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Ran stepped on one zombie's head and slashed it. As the middle zombie struggled to get up, she swiftly turned her blade and slashed again, kicking it in the chest and slicing the left-side zombie in one fluid motion.

With the left-side zombie dealt with, the right-side zombie stood up and lunged at her. Lin Ran kneed it in the stomach and slashed its neck, spraying her with foul-smelling blood. She kicked it down the stairs, taking the middle zombie with it.

The middle zombie appeared to be in its seventies, with white hair and brittle bones. The right-side zombie seemed to be a young woman, under 1.6 meters tall.

As the zombies attempted to rise, Lin Ran quickly approached and finished off the elderly zombie, then the younger female zombie without pausing.

The two male zombies that had fallen earlier were now up, but Lin Ran's scent confused them into thinking she might be one of them, so they hesitated to attack.

Lin Ran, covered in blood, struggled to maintain her composure and not vomit. Her current appearance would terrify any human.

Though the zombies hesitated, Lin Ran didn't. Seeing them as valuable crystal cores, she put away her B
blade and took out a compound crossbow to test if a blunt force injury to the head could kill them.

She quickly loaded an arrow and shot the nearest zombie in the forehead, killing it instantly. Without delay, she loaded another arrow and shot another zombie in the temple, killing it as well.

Having dealt with the six zombies blocking the building entrance, Lin Ran assessed her crossbow. It was effective but slow to reload. Against larger numbers of zombies, it would be impractical. She needed a gun.

"Congratulations on successfully killing 6 zombies. You have now accumulated 13 Level 1 zombie crystal cores. Keep up the good work," the system's mechanical voice echoed in her mind.

With some time before 4 PM, Lin Ran decided to stay in the neighborhood and hunt more zombies. Though exhausting, it was manageable. As she stepped outside, her zombie-blood-soaked appearance masked her human scent. She encountered two zombies in maintenance uniforms, likely former landscapers.

The zombies scanned her, deciding she wasn't human, and turned to leave.

Lin Ran smirked. Zombies might ignore her, but she wouldn't let them go. She charged at the two male zombies, slashing the head of the one on the left and kicking it down. She pulled her blade from its spine.

The other zombie, wearing black-framed glasses, stared blankly at her, as if confused why a fellow zombie would attack.

Seeing no attack from the bespectacled zombie, Lin Ran quickly dealt with the first one, stomping on its back and severing its spine. More blood splattered onto her face.

Upstairs, people heard the commotion and many peered through windows to watch.

Zhang Ming from 2001 appartment door is one of them. He was born into a wealthy family, and Guanghua Community is just one of his several residences. Recently, he had been staying here with his young girlfriend, never imagining that the whole Jiangbei City would turn out like this.

At this moment, he stood by the window, his hand trembling as he pointed downstairs. "Aren't they all zombies? Why are they fighting among themselves?"

Xu Xiaoying had been frightened to tears. She had just witnessed a zombie wielding a knife kill two other zombies, with blood splattering everywhere.

"Zhang Ming, what should we do? Can you reach your father? Can he send bodyguards to protect us? I'm really scared, the whole world has gone mad," Xu Xiaoying cried as she shook Zhang Ming's arm.

"I know, I've already tried calling several times, but no one is answering. Do you think I don't want to? These damned monsters, what's going on? Why aren't the police taking care of this? They should wipe out these things," Zhang Ming said angrily.

He hugged Xu Xiaoying tightly and said, trembling, "Don't worry, our building should still be safe. As long as we don't go out, the zombies won't come after us. We're on the 20th floor; if anyone's going to die, it will be the people downstairs first. Don't be afraid."

Meanwhile, Lin Ran, who others mistook for a zombie, had blood running down her cheek, looking like a demon straight out of hell. She smiled at the bewildered, bespectacled zombie, gripped her long knife with both hands, and charged forward. With a swift slash, she struck the zombie's spine. The stench of blood splattered everywhere as the two zombies collapsed on the ground, motionless.

Lin Ran wanted to wipe the blood off her face but realized her hands were also covered in blood. She thought she could check the convenience store downstairs. It would have a bathroom where she could clean off the stench after killing the zombies.

With this in mind, Lin Ran started wandering around the community, covered in blood. Aside from the nauseating smell, the zombies showed little interest in her, treating her as one of their own. Using the advantage of being covered in zombie blood, she roamed the area, killing zombies as she went. By the time she reached the small supermarket, she had killed 45 zombies. The downside was that the smell on her had become unbearable even for herself.

She pulled out a tissue to wipe her face and headed into the supermarket.

However, Lin Ran was not so lucky. Inside the supermarket, she quickly spotted five zombies. Due to the same reason, they seemed uninterested in her.

The five zombies varied in appearance, but all shared the same putrid, rotting stench.

Lin Ran sighed, raised her sword, and charged at the nearest shelf, where a short male zombie was wandering. Hearing the commotion, the zombie got excited, but upon detecting the stench from Lin Ran, even stronger than his own, he lost interest in her immediately.