Chapter 13 (1/2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhao Ze’s speech continued. “I think this disaster is temporary… Think about how our nation controlled previous outbreaks. During SARS, our government exhibited great organizational abilities during the process of controlling the disease. Thus, if we stay here and wait for rescue, we will definitely survive. After that, we’ll try our hardest to save other people. And then we can do even more. For example… Of course, the prerequisite for all this is…”
“We must select a captain!” Zhao Ze was extremely eloquent. Watching a bunch of young men who were not even twenty cluster around him, their faces showing expressions of conviction and admiration, he couldn’t help smiling.
Zhao Ze’s goal for saying this was very simple: he wanted to become the captain of the survivor squad. He was an intelligent man. He could imagine how, after he became captain, he would rescue a few more members. Once society became stable again, he would become a hero. He would go on TV, become famous, do interviews, become an ambassador for peace… If everything went the way he hoped, and this was just a temporary disaster, you could say that his plans were very perfect.
But he was just imagining things! That was why Shen Chen felt that he needed to tell him what reality was like. “F**k!”
Shen Chen’s indifference made Zhao Ze’s words catch in his throat. He was infuriated. He turned toward Shen Chen. “Little Shen… What do you mean?”
“Shen Chen! Captain Zhao Ze is speaking here. You shouldn’t be cursing like that,” said Li Jing. Lin Qianqian also pouted her lips unhappily.
Pan Di and Guo Yuan were a little surprised. They stared at Shen Chen without knowing what to do.
Zhao Ze looked toward the other two people. Li Qi looked like he didn’t care who was in charge. Zhang Xiaoya looked obedient, not saying anything.
Perhaps because he hadn’t received unanimous support, Zhao Ze relaxed the tight expression on the lower half of his face and said earnestly, with a hint of a threat, “Little Shen, do you think I’m unfit to be captain? Or perhaps you want to be the captain. It’s true. I admit that you occupied this room first, but after all, you’re just a student. Do you have any experience with management? Do you know how to run a team? Do you know how to encourage your employees…”
Perhaps it was Shen Chen’s expression, which grew colder and colder, that made him afraid. Zhao Ze gulped, and his expression relaxed a bit. “You don’t understand what I’m talking about. You just think that because you occupied a room first, you can be the leader of a team. But this position must be held by someone who is able. It’s not enough for a leader to be aggressive. They can’t just act recklessly. Look at how you acted yesterday. You didn’t even let everyone eat. Can you be a good leader if you’re so stingy?”
“Exactly! You wouldn’t even let us eat!” Lin Qianqian was the first to stand up. Pan Di yanked her, but she escaped his grasp. “Selfish people are not welcome in our squad!”
“Lin Qianqian is right! A squad must be collaborative!” Zhao Ze’s tone became forceful again, a malicious glimmer in his eyes. He reprimanded Shen Chen righteously. “Little Shen, I must say, if you continue to be so uncooperative, I think I might make you leave this squad and leave this refuge!”
The room suddenly became silent. Guo Yuan and Pan Di were confused, especially Guo Yuan. He stared at Zhao Ze. Had he heard correctly? Zhao Ze wanted to kick Shen Chen out?
Even Pan Di felt like something was off. ‘This is wrong!’ He recalled that they had all come here to follow Shen Chen.
Shen Chen suddenly smiled. He smiled very happily, so happily that Zhao Ze also went blank for a moment, then smiled as well. Then everyone in the room started smiling without knowing what was going on.
“It looks like Shen Chen understands what I said. That’s great! From now on, hand over all your resources. I will manage them! All decisions will be made based on democratic votes…” Zhao Ze babbled on, thinking his threats had taken effect.
Only Pan Di sensed something was off. He had killed zombies with Shen Chen yesterday. He knew the bloodthirst in Shen Chen’s eyes.
Shen Chen’s gaze suddenly grew cold. He stood up from the chair and grabbed Zhao Ze’s neck, then dragged him all the way to the window. He opened the window and pointed Zhao Ze’s face at the restaurant on the seventeenth floor.
Zhao Ze made a sound like a pig to the slaughter. He flailed in Shen Chen’s hands. He suddenly realized that his body was depleted by wine and sex, because he couldn’t escape Shen Chen’s control at all. “What… what are you trying to do?”
Shen Chen’s voice was very calm. “Look at the seventeenth floor.”
“What?”
“I said, look at the seventeenth floor!”
He forcibly turned Zhao Ze’s face straight so he could look at what was going on in the seventeenth floor.
Thanks to the restaurant’s large floor-to-ceiling windows, Zhao Ze could clearly see the zombies casually strolling on the seventeenth floor. Not far away, a few zombies were quietly savoring a dead person’s intestines.
A few zombies only had bones beneath their stomachs, but with full upper torsos, they were still trying their best to chew on human meat. He could see the eaten human flesh fall out from their bodies, then the zombies picking it up… and eating it again…
“Barf…” The revolting sight made everyone who had eaten breakfast vomit uncontrollably.
“Did you get a good look?” asked Shen Chen.
“I… I got a good look!” Zhao Ze’s face was pale. Cold sweat had drenched his clothes, and his legs were shaking uncontrollably.