Losses were mounting with each encounter, and I felt utterly dejected. Our vehicle followed Sixth Brother's closely—not for any other reason but fear that if Paolo turned, Sixth Brother might hesitate to act and get hurt.
The convoy finally passed through the deadly tunnel, leaving the rotting, stinking zombie corpses far behind.
"A small village ahead! But there's a detour—do we enter or bypass it?" Yan Quan, leading the convoy, reported via walkie-talkie.
"Bypass it!" Sixth Brother decided without hesitation.
It was just past noon—still early. No need to settle down yet; we'd push past the village first.
So the convoy filed onto a side road. The bus and freight truck were wide, and branches constantly scraped against roofs and windows.
Though narrower than the main road, it was still asphalt-paved and relatively smooth.
But twenty minutes later, we found it was a dead end!
Helpless, we turned around and returned to the main road. Now we had no choice but to enter the village.
The village entrance had no zombies! We were almost disappointed—a few zombies would've felt normal. None felt suspicious.
After all that had happened, everyone realized someone was targeting our group!
Every step now required extreme caution.
The village was small, but the road through it was winding and narrow—some sections were mere alleys! The bus nearly scraped against courtyard walls on both sides.
Jianan frowned. I sat beside him, pressed against the window, observing the empty single-story houses. This village was poor—only some homes were brick; others were mere yellow mud huts!
"Honey, can people live in those mud houses?" I pointed at a low hut we'd just passed.
"Most don't. Villagers use them for pigs. But some families are too poor to afford brick houses—they have to survive in mud huts." Jianan kept his eyes on the road as he answered.
"How sad! Those must be freezing in winter!" I sighed, unable to imagine the elderly enduring harsh winters in such conditions.
"Humans can endure any hardship. But now, they no longer need to." Jianan's tone was flat—having grown up rural, he'd seen more poverty than city-raised me.
I gazed wistfully at the passing homes—empty and lonely without human presence.
"Honey! Someone's in that window!" I exclaimed, spotting movement behind a window in a walled compound.
"Everyone, stop!" Jianan immediately announced over the walkie-talkie.
If the people inside were the ones sabotaging us, we'd catch them red-handed!
Drawing my blade, I joined several men gathering at the compound gate. Pushing it, we found it locked!
Yan Quan, impatient, kicked the dilapidated gate open. We swiftly entered the courtyard.
At the main door, fearing armed enemies inside, I signaled caution. Instead of breaking in, I called out, "We see you! Whoever you are, come out! We mean no harm!"
After a brief pause, the door creaked open. A large-eyed woman stood there, holding a sickle, watching us warily.
Her skin was fair, eyes round and bright—around 24–25 years old. She didn't look like a local, yet here she was in a remote village, which felt strange.
"Anyone else inside? Just you?" Seeing a woman, I stepped forward, softening my tone.
"Are you government rescuers?" she countered, ignoring my question. Her voice was crisp.
"We're survivors too, not professionals—but we help ourselves, like you." Her alertness impressed me; I already liked her.
"I'm Zhang Qilin. When it happened, I was leading my team exploring Black Mountain nearby. Returning, we found the village… changed." She sheathed her sickle, stepping into sunlight. I saw her clearly now—handsome, with a striking presence! But Qilin? A girl named after a mythical beast?
"Chaos everywhere—cannibalism, horrific scenes! We hid outside until one day, a faint flute sound lured the zombies away. We scavenged for food here since—oddly, they never returned. We've been hiding here since." Zhang Qilin briefed us succinctly—clearly not a local.
"Your team inside?" I pointed at the house.
"No, they're at the village chief's house. I was scavenging nearby when I saw you pass. Didn't know who you were, so I hid. You know—in chaotic times, scum thrives." Her speech was concise and forceful, almost masculine.
"I'm Duo. Call me Sis Duo. This is my husband Jianan, Qin Goodluck, Yan Quan, A-Ze… We're partners, family—depending on each other! Take us to your team! Join us heading north? We're aiming for a farm to restart our lives." I invited her on the spot, knowing the group wouldn't object. Our motto was "save who we can." Against zombies, unity was key.
Zhang Qilin led us through winding paths to a sturdier single-story house with a larger courtyard and iron gates—clearly the village chief's, better off than others.
"The chief's home. Compared to others, he was practically the local tycoon." Zhang Qilin quipped.
I had the others wait outside, entering alone with her.
Inside, I understood her caution—her team was all women, twelve including Captain Zhang Qilin.
"What kind of team is this? An all-women army?" I was curious.
"Sis Duo, I run a women's adventure club. Of course, it's all women—I don't accept men." Zhang Qilin said proudly.
"They're usually homebodies, shop owners, office workers, housewives… dull lives. Only my outdoor adventures unleash their potential! Ask them." These women were wild! I instantly liked this band of iron ladies!
"Sis Duo, this is Aile'er, a full-time mom. After dropping her kid at kindergarten, she joined us! Agile as hell!" Zhang Qilin pointed to a slender, elegant woman around 28–29. Aile'er waved smilingly, a long blade on her lap—different from my katana, broader, unfamiliar but deadly-looking.
"That's Yao Yao, a trendy clothing shop owner—a little rich girl! But she loves roughing it in the wild with us!" She indicated a cute, big-eyed girl under 20, who stuck her tongue out playfully.
"She's Angel, our health guardian angel!" Zhang Qilin pointed to a delicate woman around 25–26. "A nurse! Hence 'Angel.' Real name Li Shuang. She patches us up on adventures. We tried recruiting a female doctor—Angel's colleague—but she couldn't handle the hardship. Too pampered!"
I chuckled. "Our team has an unpampered female doctor—tougher than most men."
I meant Dr. Ke'er, of course.
"Have you contacted your families since this happened?" I broached the sensitive topic.
The women's expressions darkened, especially Aile'er, who lost her composure, tears streaming…
"No contact. Aile'er's husband and child are in the city—no idea if they're safe. She breaks down thinking of it… we avoid the topic." Zhang Qilin explained softly.
"So, you avoided disaster by being outdoors when it happened, hid here since, never fought zombies head-on?" I changed the subject, my heart aching for Aile'er.
"Yeah, but if pushed, our blades aren't decorative!" Zhang Qilin patted her sickle.
"You explore mountains with a sickle?" The combo seemed odd.
"Of course not! I have an imported blade—short, fits in my boot. This sickle's from a villager's home—sharp, can lop off zombie heads! I've been practicing! Hard to avoid self-injury initially!" She grinned proudly.
These twelve adventure-loving women had escaped doom by hobby—incredibly lucky!
But why hadn't the zombies returned after being lured away? Had they gone to the city?
And what about the flute?
"The ambushes lately—were they villagers-turned-zombies? But how were they organized?" I pondered, growing increasingly uneasy.
A vast shadow silently loomed over us all.