New Concord, Ohio.

The survivor, nicknamed Jesus, with a blood-dripping dagger in his hand, hid on the roof of a bungalow, staring at the large building surrounded by corpses in front of him, indifferent.

In order to get enough food for the hilltop village, he had been wandering silently around the city of New Concord all day.

However, as he expected, although there are many resources in the city, there are very few that can be looted by the survivors.

The places where supplies could be easily found have been looted by other survivors in the past few years.

And the remaining places that have not been looted are either because there are too many zombies and are too dangerous, or because their locations are too hidden for ordinary people to find.

Nowadays, the only food that can be found in the city that can be eaten is the longest-lasting liquor, canned food, and candy, and only those that are provided to the army or survival enthusiasts are vacuum compressed food.

And this food may not be available anywhere else, but Jesus knew in his heart that there was a place where he could find it.

That's a large department store with a very dense zombie population.

The disaster happened so suddenly, and although there was a period of crazy looting, the resources in the large department stores in the city center were too abundant to be cleaned up by the survivors.

Time was pressing, and the Salvation Army only had three days to spare, and if they couldn't collect enough food for them, the residents of the hilltop village would surely suffer another brutal injury.

It's something that makes him feel bad.

Jesus took a light breath, put the coat of zombie flesh that he had prepared in advance, put it on himself, covered his mouth and nose with a red scarf, and then shrank back and dived into the department store in front of him.

The location where he was hiding was less than a hundred meters from the department store, and hundreds of zombies were also gathered outside the building's gates.

The zombies were scattered all over the entrance of the building, and in the face of the slow-moving Jesus, they only stepped forward to smell the smell for a moment, and then ignored him.

He didn't discover this method himself, but secretly learned it after discovering that other survivors were using it during an unexpected encounter.

It is this method that can make zombies ignore themselves that has saved Jesus' life several times.

Along the way, holding his breath and contemplating, Jesus carefully and slowly entered the department store through a hole in the glass on the first floor.

What caught his eye was collapsed shelves, filthy environments, discarded goods, damaged utensils, a large number of zombies, and dust and cobwebs everywhere.

Seeing this scene, Jesus felt a little lost in his heart, but he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although most of the supplies here have been damaged, at least in the short term, no other survivors have come here to loot, and there are certainly many good things to be found.

At least some of the fish that slipped through the net can be found in the rags.

After a few words of self-comfort, Jesus continued to rein in his voice, as if playing acrobatics, dodging any props on the ground that might make a sound, and cautiously moving towards the area where the food was sold.

The zombies locked up in the department store, perhaps not seen alive in years, seemed a little silly, and most of them would not have cared if Jesus made a little noise.

Unlike the zombies outside, their clothes are generally intact except for the dust.

It is precisely because of the protection of these clothes that the bodies of these indoor zombies are still complete, and their abilities in all aspects are stronger than those zombies that are rotten and only have skin and bones left.

Fortunately, it is different from those who always hide in survivor camps, always avoid fighting, and always fear zombies.

Jesus has been fighting on the front line since the beginning of the disaster, and even in the top of the mountain, he is the most elite warrior and the most capable raider.

The most important thing is that he has long overcome his fear of these ordinary zombies, and in his eyes, as long as the number of zombies does not exceed a certain limit, these slow-moving monsters are not even comparable to the gangsters who have fought with him.

It took ten minutes for Jesus to avoid the attention of all the zombies and quietly arrived at the food section located on the first floor of the department store.

He didn't care about the other food that had gone all bad, but went straight to the canning and candy sections in the food section.

Although he was a little anxious in his heart, the movements under his feet were still not slow or unhurried, and without disturbing any zombies, he slowly moved to the cabinet in the canning area.

Canned beef, sardines, lamb and vegetables, there are literally two rows of canned goods, as well as many brightly colored canned fruits.

Although more than half of it has been emptied, the remaining part is enough to complete the mission to the Salvation Army, and there is even a considerable part left.

But Jesus didn't feel any relief when he found the food.

Finding supplies is only the easiest part of this mission, and the real difficulty is how to move the food in this department store occupied by thousands of zombies.

Here, any big movement or moving too fast may be chased and attacked by those zombies.

Jesus didn't think of any good way to do this, even if he wanted to use his voice to lure away the zombies here, but it was basically impossible.

You know, this is close to the center of New Concord, and if you make a big move, it is likely to attract tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of zombies to surround you, and when the time comes, it will be really difficult to fly.

So, after thinking about it, Jesus finally decided to use the old way.

That's like an ant moving, relying on him to move to the outside of a department store little by little, and then find a place where he can use a car to store it.

Time was short, just do it, and he really didn't have much time to think about other methods now.

Taking out a pre-prepared canvas bag from his fanny pack, Jesus crouched down next to the cabinet in the canning area and began to fill the cans into his pocket little by little.

In case of an accident, he didn't overfill the pocket, but kept the weight at a comfortable level to ensure that he could escape at any time.

A few minutes later, just as he was about to pick up his pockets and head out of the department store.

Suddenly, I keenly heard the sound of the glass door on the first floor of the department store being slowly pushed open.

Although the voice was small, Jesus was born with a sensitive sense and noticed this very special sound.

For a moment, all sorts of scenarios came to his mind, and he even wondered if someone was following him.

He didn't want to think about it, so for the sake of safety, he immediately hid sideways next to the cabinet in the canning area, quietly stuck out his head, and looked in the direction of the door.

I saw two tall people wearing special black armor with a sense of science and technology walking in.

The other party didn't seem to know that there were other survivors in the building, and the two just randomly held two cold weapons, maintained a protective formation with each other, and walked into the building.

To Jesus' surprise, there was neither the blood of the zombies nor the rotten flesh of the zombies, but the zombies scattered around them did not seem to be interested in them at all.

When I walked past the two of them, it was as if I had only seen my own kind.

This made Jesus, who was already stained with a smell worse than, feel very helpless.

However, both of them wore opaque black helmets on their heads, making it impossible for him to see what the people inside looked like.

And the brand-new firearms on the two of them also made him dare not make any rash moves

As Jesus pondered how he should deal with these two strange men, he was shocked by what happened next.

Two strange men in black armor first took out an iron chain from behind them, directly locked the door on the first floor of the department store, and then leisurely took out a dagger from their belts and began to clean up the zombies wandering in the hall one by one.

Their movements were unusually skillful, quietly walked behind the zombie, held the dagger in their left hand, stabbed directly into the zombie's eye socket, stirred vigorously, and held the zombie's back with their right hand, and at the moment when the zombie lost movement, the zombie's corpse was flattened to the ground.

The whole process adds up to less than ten seconds, and it doesn't make any loud noise, so it won't come in and the attention of other zombies won't come in.

Soon, with the cooperation of the two, it only took them less than five minutes to put all the more than forty zombies at the gate to the ground.

Even in the end, a few zombies noticed their difference and wanted to attack them with their teeth, but they were killed by the two of them like trampling on an ant, one by one, without any waves.

This line of slaughter directly shocked Jesus who was hiding on the side.

For more than three years in the last days, Jesus has been fighting these monsters on the front line, although the zombies killed by him are not a thousand, but there are at least seven or eight hundred, even so, he can't kill these monsters as lightly as the two.

Seeing the strength of the two of them, Jesus' worries deepened.

But no matter what he thought, the two people in armor did not stop at all, and cooperated with each other to do other work.

They seem to have a way of communicating without having to make a sound, or that their voices cannot be heard by the outside world.

With their cooperation, it only took more than an hour to empty the zombies in the furniture area, and a large number of high-end quilts, goose plush quilts and various wooden furniture were piled together.

A lot of combustible materials were obtained from the tool area, and finally formed a flammable pyre with an area of dozens of square meters.

Finally, under Jesus' unexplained gaze, one of the armored monsters took out a cylindrical glass bottle containing an unknown green solution from his fanny pack and smashed it into the center of the flammable material.

With a bang, the pale green solution quickly flowed from the position of the glass jar to the ground, volatile a faint smoke, and then dissipated into the air.

The other armored monster opened his black mask to reveal the face of a handsome middle-aged man, and he took a cigar from his pocket, lit it with a lighter, and took a long puff in it.

And in the short time when he was smoking a cigar, the zombies on the first floor of the entire department store, as if they were strongly attracted, moved towards the location where the glass bottle was smashed as fast as they could.

Jesus watched with some bewilderment, as many zombies passed by him, seemingly losing interest in anything along the way, and only thinking about where the green slime was.

Even zombies that have lost their ability to move due to an accident are no exception.

By this time, Jesus had also guessed what the two armored monsters were going to do next.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, when nearly eight or nine hundred zombies were all crowded into the large pile of flammables, the handsome middle-aged man who was smoking a cigar directly threw the cigar with only the butt of his cigarette left on the flammable.

Boom!

The items contaminated with various flammable fuel fuels immediately ignited a fire, and it only took a dozen seconds for the fire to spread into a huge flame covering dozens of square meters.

However, the zombies wrapped in flames are monsters who don't know what fear and pain are, and they still stay in the flames stupidly, and are even attracted by the sound of the flames burning, crowded and slowly moving in the flames.

Dozens of minutes later, when the flames gradually extinguished, the zombies who stayed in the flames had already burned out their brains and turned into immovable charred corpses.

And at this time, the handsome middle-aged man who had turned off his helmet again opened his mouth and said:

"Hey, Rick, this thing is really powerful, that guy from the research department didn't get paid for nothing."

"But, don't you think that our Stinger Squad is about to become nannies?"

"For most of the past six months, I have been either working as a coolie or a porter, and I have to serve the survivors who came from outside every day, giving them food, giving them drink, and building them big houses."

"It doesn't feel as happy as it was when we were in Atlanta as a marksmanship instructor."

The other armored monster also opened his helmet mask, revealing a handsome face that looked upright.

There was a wry smile on the corner of his mouth, but there was a firm look in his eyes that he said:

"Can't say that, Sean, our actions are very meaningful."

"In the past six months, we have saved hundreds of survivors, all of which are fresh lives, which is more worthy of pride than when we became county police officers."

"At least one day when we die tragically, our child will be able to hold his chest up and say to others that his father is a good man who deserves to be respected."

Sean's expression froze slightly when he heard this, and he couldn't help but think of Judith, and his original disdainful expression was a little more restrained, and he said:

"These high-sounding words are all used by Leon to deceive people, just to make those ignorant fools work hard, let's just listen to them, don't really believe them."

"Don't blame me for not reminding you of something stupid when the time comes."

Rick, who has not yet experienced any blows, is obviously more noble than ordinary people.

However, his relationship with Sean is extraordinary, and even if he disagrees with Sean's views, he will not be too obsessed with arguing with him.

Rick looked at the tool area, saw the goal of his trip, and said to Sean:

"It's getting late, Sean, we'd better take our things away as soon as possible, lock this place up by the way, and come back to get other supplies when we need them later."

Sean spat on the ground, nodded helplessly, and said as he walked towards the tool area:

"Damn, I've been a porter for a day today, and I must take a good shower and drink two more glasses when I go back."

"By the way, I also brought a bottle of good wine from the main base, do you want to drink it together?"

Rick laughed and said cheerfully:

"It's cost you a lot of contributions!"

"Of course, but I don't drink it for nothing, I also brought some beef jerky and fruits from the general collective, let's make some main dishes and have a good meal."

Listening to the conversation between the two armored men, Jesus, who was hiding in the shadows, guessed that if neither of them was lying, the organization they existed should be a good organization willing to help other survivors.

And judging by their equipment and combat skills, the strength of this organization should certainly not be underestimated.

The opportunity to meet an organization that might help them in the last days is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if you miss this time, you won't have the opportunity again.

Thinking of this, Jesus no longer hesitated and decided to take a gamble.

He stood up and stepped out of the food section, and though he didn't make a sound, he somehow immediately caught the attention of the two men.

In just an instant, the two men in armor pulled out their pistols from their belts, and the muzzles of the guns were immediately aimed at his head.

"Who are you?"

"Why are they all eavesdropping there?"

The man named Rick, with his eyes like lightning, stared at him deadly, and the position of the muzzle of the gun did not move away from his head in the slightest.

Jesus himself had no ill will, he raised his hands and walked slowly in front of the two of them, and then he spoke:

"Rick and Sean, right, it's nice to meet you, my friends call me Jesus."

"Don't worry, I have no ill will."

"Instead, I want to ask you for help."

Rick frowned when he heard this, and before he answered, Sean didn't care so much, and directly put a gun to Jesus' head and searched his whole body.

He snatched a found dagger from his waist and threw it to the ground before shaking his head at Rick, signaling that the man had no other weapons.

Rick stared at Jesus for a moment, then finally put down his pistol and asked:

"Is Jesus? That's a pretty arrogant nickname of yours. ”

"Tell me, what do you mean by asking for help?"

"Are you having any difficulties?"

Jesus was silent for a few seconds, and then he organized his words in his mind before he spoke:

"I lived in a survivors' camp called Peak Village, which was supposed to be a place of unity and peace, and we lived there for three years."

"But a year ago, a group called the Salvation Army found us, and they defeated us by force, killed some of our people, and threatened us to obey with our lives."

"They're powerful, they're numerous, and they're acting more like bandits, or warlords."

"Since then, our camp has been forced to deliver large quantities of food and supplies to them every once in a while, which has made our lives very difficult, and this year we have even gone hungry."

"We don't want to be oppressed by them anymore, and we don't want to be enslaved by them anymore."

"We want to live!"

"Can you help us?"

………………

On the second day of his seaside vacation, Leon was sunbathing on the beach and enjoying Amy's massage, but before he could finish enjoying his wife's services, he received another communication from Rick.

After listening to Rick's story, Leon asked in an interesting voice:

"The Salvation Army?"

He pretended not to know.

"How dare you call such an arrogant name, what kind of organization is this?"

"Do you already know the information?"

Rick's voice was a little tired, and in the afternoon, together with Sean and the willing Jesus, the three of them carried a whole truckload of goods, both physically and mentally, a little tired.

"No, Leon, we just met the man who asked us for help today."

"All the information came out of his mouth, and it is impossible to determine whether it is true or false."

"However, the survivor, named Jesus, invited us to visit their camp tomorrow and go on a field trip."

"I don't think it's a lie if he dares to do this."

Leon smiled, thought for more than ten seconds, and said:

"You go and verify the information first, I will be ready to support you at any time."

"However, the number of survivors is too small now, and it is better not to have a full-scale bloodshed than a last resort."

"We're few humans enough, it's better not to kill each other anymore."

With the support of the big boss, Rick's mood was noticeably more determined, and he opened his mouth to reassure:

"I know, Leon, that any life is worthy of respect, and I will give them the opportunity to choose."

After finishing his communication with Rick, Leon leaned back on a soft beach chair and looked at the blue sky, unable to help but feel a little dazed.

The Salvation Army, the hilltop village, to this day, those familiar organizations in memory have appeared one after another.

Because of the butterfly effect he caused, the situation of these communities changed accordingly, but no matter what, they still existed.

In addition to these more familiar organizations, there seemed to be several other organizations in A.D. in addition to those he was more familiar with.

For example, the garbage dumps, the seaside camps, the reapers, the corpse whisperers, and the tens of thousands of federal organizations that appeared later.

Since the Salvation Army, Alexandria, Hilltop Village, these communities all exist, then these communities and organizations should not be able to escape.

It's a pity that the stronghold network plan is still being implemented, and the intelligence organization he expects to spread throughout the Amy River is still in the process of being established and will not play a role.

Finding other organizations is a matter of trying your luck with a needle in a haystack.

(End of chapter)