Lin Qingqing's deliberate evasion made Lei Min, who was already torn, even more reluctant to bring up the topic.
Forget it, there will be plenty of time in the future. I'll mention it when I get the chance, Lei Min thought to herself. What she didn't know was that at this moment, Lin Qingqing had already made up her mind to quickly find a base and get rid of her, seeing her as a "hindrance".
After the apocalypse, with ferocious zombies and scarce supplies, the surviving humans had started to huddle together for warmth. Only those like Lin Qingqing, who were highly capable and didn't rely on ability - user potions, would insist on living freely on their own.
So, apart from the Rongcheng Base established by the authorities, which was the largest, there were also many small - scale bases around cities, big and small. These bases were usually led by one or several of the most powerful teams. Although their scales varied, the principle of "might makes right" was an unchanging truth everywhere.
With Lei Min's innate abilities, she wouldn't be a weakling anywhere. Besides, this girl was smart, agile, and had a sense of justice. Lin Qingqing wasn't worried that she couldn't survive.
Having decided to send Lei Min away first, after leaving the wetland park, she had been scouring the areas around Rongcheng for signs of a base.
They didn't take the highway, choosing small paths instead to avoid the areas that had been densely populated before. Unfortunately, they had been searching for most of the day without coming across a single living person.
Seeing that they were about to reach Rongcheng Airport, Lin Qingqing quickly made a U - turn and changed direction.
"Sister Lin, what are you looking for?" Lei Min noticed that Lin Qingqing kept changing directions without showing any intention of stopping, so she guessed that she must be looking for something.
"Looking for living people!" Lin Qingqing was a bit frustrated. She had met Chu Wei and Lei Min's groups yesterday, which made her think that there were survivors everywhere near Rongcheng.
But to her surprise, after almost a whole day of searching, not a single living soul was in sight. If she couldn't find any more, she would have to give up for today.
Lei Min thought that Lin Qingqing was looking for people to get some information, so she tactfully kept quiet. Lin Qingqing had no intention of explaining either. She compared the city map and carefully considered the possible locations for a base in the vicinity.
Schools, factories, and shopping malls were all excellent places to set up a base. They had large spaces, and the surrounding walls could enhance safety to a great extent. Also, the living quarters and kitchens were already available.
If someone intended to develop a base, these three types of places would surely be the top choices. Even Lin Qingqing had initially chosen a kindergarten as her base.
Following this line of thought, Lin Qingqing searched several more places, but unfortunately, apart from zombies, she didn't find any signs of human gathering.
"Could it be because this place is too remote?" Lin Qingqing was uncertain. By taking this route, they did come across an old urban area of Rongcheng first.After the outbreak of the apocalypse, the most dangerous areas were undoubtedly the densely populated cities. Although all the surrounding bases were gradually exploring towards Rongcheng every day, searching for supplies and hoping to rescue more surviving citizens, the closer they got to the city center, the more zombies there were, and the more dangerous it became.
Up until now, the search - and - rescue teams were still lingering on the outskirts of the city. So, in fact, there were still many people trapped in the city, their fates unknown.
This old urban area had dense streets, but the buildings were quite old. Due to slow development, many young people had moved away previously. With a smaller population, there would relatively be far fewer zombies. That was why Lin Qingqing dared to approach Rongcheng from here.
They drove around the low - rise six - story residential buildings for quite a while, but still didn't find any signs of living people. Even the roadside shops seemed to have had no customers.
They couldn't help but feel strange: "Could all the residents in this community have turned into zombies?" Lin Qingqing thought it was unlikely. She had specifically paid attention to the road signs. This place should have been the family housing area of a state - owned enterprise a long time ago. It had some history. After the enterprise disintegrated, most of the young people moved to the city for work convenience, leaving only the retired old employees and some poor families still living here.
After the outbreak of the apocalypse, perhaps most of the elderly people couldn't escape their doom. Even if there were survivors, they were probably too scared to come out with their doors tightly shut.
"It seems today is a bust." Lin Qingqing parked the car in front of a convenience store, planning to replenish some supplies and then find a safe place to rest.
Probably the store was still open for business when the apocalypse broke out, so there were more than a dozen zombies gathered at the entrance. When these zombies heard the sound of the car braking, they all converged towards this side.
Lin Qingqing and Lei Min got out of the car. The two of them tacitly circled around the car, herding the zombies like ducks and cleaning them all up.
After killing the zombies, they entered the store together. As expected, the two clerks had both turned into zombies. One was trapped behind the checkout counter, and the other had half of its body pinned under a collapsed shelf.
There was a thick layer of dust in the store. Although it wasn't large in size, the shelves were full. Lin Qingqing made quick work of the two zombies with a few strikes of her knife, and then she and Lei Min started rummaging for useful supplies.
Excluding the inedible and spoiled food, they packed up all the items that were easy to carry and store.
The two of them walked out of the store carrying things and were about to load them into the car. At this moment, five trembling men emerged from the corner. They all looked quite old, hunched over, and two of them had completely white hair.
They held broomsticks and wooden sticks in their hands, and their eyes were full of vigilance as they looked at Lin Qingqing and Lei Min.
"Put down the food," an old man who seemed to be the leader shouted at the two of them. Lin Qingqing glanced at them, ignored the men, and directly walked to the car and put the things in the trunk."Did you hear me? Put down the things. All these belong to us. Who gave you the right to take them? Put them down right now!" The old man who had spoken before grew anxious when he saw them loading the things into the car.
"Yours? Are you all the owners of this store? Then why didn't you take them before?" Lei Min asked, puzzled.
"There were those man - eating monsters before," someone blurted out an explanation, but was immediately glared at fiercely by a companion beside him.
"Oh? So after we cleared away the zombies, you want to come up and rob us of the spoils?" Lei Min snorted.
"Pah! What robbing? All the things on this street belong to us neighbors. You two shameless thieves are not allowed to take our things!" The old man spat a thick wad of phlegm on the ground, speaking as if it were a matter of course.
"Hey! Old man, how can you talk like this? You..." Lei Min was indignant and was about to step forward to argue, but was stopped by Lin Qingqing with a wave of her hand.
"Don't bother reasoning with them. It's useless!" Lin Qingqing said indifferently to these old men without looking back as she sorted out the supplies. "We're only taking these. There's still a lot inside. The zombies have been killed by us. There's no danger. You can go in and get the rest yourselves."
Since it was a convenience store at the entrance of the community, the daily goods inside were, of course, quite complete. Lin Qingqing, who was alone and had no conditions for cooking, only took some convenience foods. With limited space in the car, she didn't take any of the rice, flour, cooking oil, etc. that needed further processing.
And these were exactly the most suitable supplies for the residents living nearby. She thought this distribution was just right, a case of each getting what they needed. Moreover, they had even helped kill the zombies these people dared not touch.
However, the old men were not so understanding.
"No way. You have to leave all these for us. Not a single thing is allowed to be taken. And you two, bring out the rest from inside. These foods are the rations for us neighbors. What are we going to do if you take them away?" The old man who had spoken before stared wide - eyed, one hand on his hip and the other pointing at Lin Qingqing and Lei Min, his tone quite self - righteous.