Chapter 35 Instinct

"As long as there are a lot of people, the roads are bound to be a mess, with broken-down cars essentially blocking the way, making it unrealistic to try driving a tricycle straight through."

"Also, driving the tricycle through the villages will attract all the zombies. They won't catch up immediately, but they will keep following. Although they'll get slower and slower, zombies never give up, and our tricycle could break down at any moment if the diesel freezes. If that happens, we're definitely dead. So when we come across a village, we have to go around it. Don't count on luck."

As they walked, Xiang Weiguo explained his experiences and insights to Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu. Without the tricycle, their pace had significantly slowed, but for the sake of safety, it was necessary.

By circumnavigating the village from afar, Gao Yuan couldn't even assess the current state of the village.

To circumvent a village took at least an hour, and Gao Yuan and his companions were gradually moving out of the mountains and into the hills, where the villages would be even denser.

Their journey was delayed on the road, and by nightfall, Gao Yuan and his party had completed just over half of the planned distance.

They camped in the wild at night, not expecting a comfortable sleep, just hoping not to freeze to death.

The next day, they resumed their journey and by around noon, Gao Yuan and his group could finally see a camp in the distance.

The campsite was quite extensive, surrounded by white walls on the outside, with brick and tile houses inside, all single-story, with not a single multi-story building.

The eastern side of the camp was next to a hill, with forests to the west and south, and the main gate faced north, with a cement road leading to the main road outside, a distance of about two or three kilometers. They stopped about a few hundred meters from the camp, and Xiang Weiguo, raising his binoculars, said, "It doesn't look like there are people."

"Shall we go over now?"

"No rush. Let's have something to eat and rest a bit before we go."

While Gao Yuan was anxious, Xiang Weiguo was not in a hurry. While eating, he confidently said, "I don't even need to go inside. The armory is in the northeast corner, and the barracks are on the western edge. There's a playground and a canteen in the middle. We'll head straight for the northeast corner of the barracks later. Just going up the slope there to take a look will do."

"Are you sure?"

"I've lived in military camps longer in my life than I have at home. With the terrain here, I don't need to see inside to know what it's like."

After speaking, Xiang Weiguo said gravely, "Later, let's see if the front gate is locked. If it isn't, it might mean there are people inside. If it's locked and from the outside, probably there's no one, but if it's locked from the inside, then it's hard to say."

"Let's not wait. Let's go!"

Gao Yuan was burning with impatience, to which Xiang Weiguo smiled and said, "Alright then, let's not wait. Let's go and check it out first."

They slowly walked past the main gate, carefully observing that it was indeed locked — from the outside.

"Good sign. There should be no one inside."

Xiang Weiguo glanced and smiled, "Let's go. We'll go up for a better look, and if there's no one, we'll go in and find the guns."

The trio ascended to the top of the hill. The military camp also included a small hill within its perimeter, so the wall was built directly on the slope.

Of course, the wall was no obstacle to Gao Yuan and his group, who easily scaled it and thus entered the interior of the military camp.

They walked carefully on the hilltop, and as they neared the barracks compound, part of the slope had been leveled off, leaving a sheer cliff about seven or eight meters high.

"With this natural feature, they would certainly have utilized it. The armory must be inside the mountain. Hmm, there's someone!"

Xiang Weiguo was surprised. He waved his hand to signal the others to get down, then lifted the binoculars.

After a careful look, Xiang Weiguo put down the binoculars.

Gao Yuan had already seen it — there was no one in the barracks, just one zombie, a zombie in military uniform.

To the north side were a row of houses, under the corner of a wall where the sunlight reached, a military-uniformed zombie lay curled up.

Why say it's a zombie and not a corpse? Because when the magpies in the trees inside the camp chattered, the zombie looked up at them.

Xiang Weiguo's face was stern, and Gao Yuan whispered, "Let me have a look."

After passing over the binoculars, Gao Yuan took a look and then realized that the zombie curled in the corner was as skinny as a skeleton, but it was definitely alive.

The zombie's face had several small blood marks, with bloodstains around its mouth and on its clothes, and there were black feathers visible on its body.

Gao Yuan exhaled and whispered, "Survived by eating magpies and crows until now, huh..."

"No, dead. The moment he turned into a zombie, he was already dead."

Xiang Weiguo gripped his stick tightly and whispered angrily, "What's going on here? What did they do to leave him like this!"

"Was there a mission?"

Xiang Weiguo said gravely, "Bullshit mission. What's there to watch over now? He must have gotten sick first. His comrades couldn't bring themselves to deal with him, so they just left him here!"

Luo Xingyu said softly, "If it were me, I... I wouldn't be able to do it either."

Xiang Weiguo sighed and whispered, "I'll lure him out, end his misery, and then you can go in."

Because of the hill's steep parts and gentle slopes, all Xiang Weiguo had to do was go to a less steep area and make some noise to attract the zombie. With his capability, dealing with the zombie would just be a matter of seconds.

Having seen too many zombies, Gao Yuan no longer felt anything. But this time, Xiang Weiguo seemed very somber.

Xiang Weiguo walked to the side, setting up a tripwire with a rope, before picking up a stone and throwing it out. The stone hit the concrete ground, making a loud noise.

Hearing the sound, the zombie that had been curled up on the ground suddenly sprang to its feet and dashed towards the source of the noise like the wind.

Looking as thin as a skeleton, it ran swiftly. In just a dozen seconds, the zombie arrived at the place where the sound had originated.

Xiang Weiguo had already picked up a stick, ready to reveal himself and lure the zombie through the tripwire he had set.

Using a tripwire to trip a zombie was a simple and effective method, but this time, the tried-and-true strategy failed.

Not detecting any moving objects, the zombie stopped, slowly scanned the surroundings, and then gradually walked back.

Zombies usually chase after living creatures relentlessly, and even if there are no creatures around, a zombie that hears a sound will stay at the source of the noise. Then, it's very likely to remain in that place and not move anymore.

But this zombie slowly walked back, and although it didn't lie down in the exact same spot as before, it laid down again in a sunny area.

"What's going on!"

Luo Xingyu was extremely surprised, but Gao Yuan was looking towards Xiang Weiguo in the distance.

Xiang Weiguo picked up another stone and threw it into the yard, the zombie leapt up again and ran quickly to the place where the noise came from.

Zombies lack intelligence, it would not realize that there were two more stones, nor would it question why there were two more stones.

Zombies only act when they see living creatures or hear sounds, but this zombie walked back slowly to the place it had been lying down for the second time.

Gao Yuan didn't understand why, but he saw Xiang Weiguo stand up.

The angle where Xiang Weiguo stood would not be directly seen by the zombie, as there was still a row of houses in between.

Luo Xingyu couldn't help but whisper, "What is Uncle Xiang going to do!"

Xiang Weiguo began to walk downwards, Gao Yuan panicked and whispered into the walkie-talkie, "Uncle Xiang, what are you doing!"

To abandon the tripwire and confront the zombie directly was too dangerous and irrational.

Xiang Weiguo said in a deep voice, "Stay put."

Xiang Weiguo walked down the slope, skirted around a row of houses, and stood in the middle of the yard.

Xiang Weiguo's footsteps were very light, so the zombie didn't detect him, but after Xiang Weiguo came to a stop, he suddenly saluted and loudly pronounced, "Comrade sentry! It's time to change guard..."

As Xiang Weiguo said the word 'sentry,' the zombie had already stood up, then dashed towards Xiang Weiguo at high speed.

Xiang Weiguo couldn't finish his sentence.

But the stick was still in his left hand, he just sidestepped, and the zombie swept past him, tumbling to the ground.

A great opportunity, yet Xiang Weiguo didn't strike.

"I'm here to take over the guard!"

Xiang Weiguo bellowed the rest of his words, and the zombie climbed up from the ground again, lunging at Xiang Weiguo for a second time.

Xiang Weiguo turned and tripped it with a foot, and as the zombie fell forward to the ground once more, Xiang Weiguo switched the stick to his right hand and struck down hard with it.

Gao Yuan felt weak in his body, shocked by the scene.

The zombie couldn't get up again, this time, its suffering had ended for good.

Xiang Weiguo stood at attention, his stick in his left hand, as he saluted the zombie lying on the ground, never to rise again.

"I have taken over the guard, please stand down!"

Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu hurried down the hill.

Xiang Weiguo's hand remained raised for a long time, it was only when Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu reached him that Xiang Weiguo finally lowered his saluting hand.

After glancing at the zombie lying face down, and then at Xiang Weiguo, statue-like, Gao Yuan whispered, "Uncle Xiang, this zombie..."

"Shut up! What zombie! He's a soldier! Even in death, he is a soldier!"

Xiang Weiguo, who had never lost his temper before, was uncontrollably furious. After roaring at Gao Yuan, he immediately turned and pointed to the side, saying, "He died, but even in death, he didn't forget he was the sentry guarding the arsenal!"

Gao Yuan looked in the direction Xiang Weiguo pointed, where there was an iron gate. Behind it was the arsenal they were looking for.

A soldier turned zombie, he might have forgotten his duties or even forgotten that he was a human being, but he retained the instinct of a soldier. The power of that instinct was so strong that it could suppress the zombie's own nature.

No wonder the zombie was unwilling to leave this place; it turned out he was guarding what he was assigned to guard. Gao Yuan felt weak again, a sensation caused by the power of shock.

Luo Xingyu grabbed Xiang Weiguo's arm and whispered, "Uncle Xiang, don't be angry, let's send this...soldier on his last journey."

Xiang Weiguo lowered his hand that had been raised all along, lifted his head and said, "I'm not angry, I am full of hatred! Hatred for those damn aliens!"