The people upstairs had heard the gunshots from below as well.
At first, everyone was surprised.
After all, in their past understanding, on this land of Shen Zhou, it was mostly one kind of person who would have guns.
Soldiers.
Or those belonging to the military’s security units.
But very quickly, the team leader realized that something was amiss.
The sounds from below had a strange muffled quality to them, to these professional soldiers’ ears, like phlegm stuck in one’s throat that just wouldn’t come out.
This was a characteristic of homemade guns made by civilians.
After all, the craftsmanship was obvious.
Could it be that the people who had come were not the reinforcements from the outpost?
The captain immediately ordered his subordinates to open one of the windows in the room to check on the situation outside.
To prevent those wild-monkey-like strange zombies from climbing in, he had already ordered his men to close all the windows of this less-than-four-story building.
Now listening to the gunshots and shouts from below, he knew that those wild monkeys must have been too occupied to care about the inside.
As expected, the team member sent to observe the situation below soon returned.
"Captain!"
"There are people outside!"
"Looks like they’re about to break through the horde’s blockade and rush in!"
The person speaking displayed an obviously excited expression on his face, as having anyone come to support them at such a time, no matter what, wasn’t a bad thing.
Maybe these people were the remnants of the local government?
Better than just waiting to die inside.
But no sooner had he finished speaking than he saw his captain looking at him sternly, and he immediately understood something.
Who could be sure that these people outside were there to support them?
It had been almost half a year since they came off the highway.
In that time, the various inconceivable events that had occurred had completely shattered the former notions of these military survivors.
The citizens, who in their eyes were as docile as sheep, were sometimes far more brutal than the zombies.
In one village, they even encountered the horror of cannibalism.
Two men and three women, trapped in a house.
When they were discovered by the army passing by, there were only two men and one woman left, half of her body missing, and many retched at the sight of the remains.
The other incidents went without saying.
This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
There were also those who tried to steal their weapons.
Taking advantage of the night watchman catching a nap, a few people suddenly sneaked into the yard where the army was resting, only to be discovered by a soldier who happened to get up to pee.
The soldiers, who had initially harbored some goodwill, quickly became indifferent.
Their goal also shifted from rescue to self-rescue.
As for the others?
Sorry.
Therefore, while these people outside seemed to be fighting the horde below to rescue them, who knew what they were really thinking?
It was possible they didn’t even know there were people in the building.
Or perhaps, they had heard the commotion and planned to swoop in on this small five-man squad?
After all, although they didn’t have much in the way of supplies, the few standard-issue rifles they had were still very precious, even now, and not something those people’s homemade guns could compare with.
"Captain, what do we do?"
"How about—"
One of the team members tentatively made a breakout gesture.
He clearly suggested that the captain take the opportunity to charge out while the group below was busy fighting the horde.
"No,"
the captain said, shaking his head.
His companions looked at him with a mixture of amusement and disbelief, "Liu Zi, have you gone mad?"
"There’s only one exit below."
"If we go down, won’t we run right into them?"
Before Liu Zi could respond, the person who had been sent to observe the situation below also said with a sense of resignation, "If we really did run into them, we probably wouldn’t stand a chance."
He then described all the equipment those people he had just seen were carrying.
"After firing a few shots, those with guns just drove off."
"The rest were all using knives and shields."
"Knives and shields?"
Someone immediately looked at him with a surprised face and said.
"No way?"
"Are you saying they had guns but chose to engage in close combat with the zombies?"
As soon as these words were spoken, several companions all looked at him with disdain, wasn’t that obvious?
The other party was clearly using gunshots to attract the main force of the zombie horde.
Then they would make a concentrated breakthrough.
The reason they chose not to break through directly with guns was either to conserve ammunition or out of fear that firing guns in the city would attract more and more zombies.
Since they had shields, choosing to fight hand-to-hand was actually the most appropriate way to break through.
Continue reading stories on freewebnovel
After all, the teeth and claws of the zombies were ultimately unable to destroy a metal shield.
As long as the command was proper and everyone remained calm,
there was not an absence of a chance of success.
And as a few team members discussed, they gradually understood something.
Regardless of the identity of those outside and why they had chosen to break into the building, it was not up to them inside the building to decide.
All they could do was wait.
Wait for the battle to end.
Wait for the others to come in.
The sounds of blades slicing through skin and the crack of bones as bodies fell and were trampled continued.
After more than ten minutes, it finally began to subside.
Downstairs fell into a brief calm.
A deep and steady voice suddenly called out from below, "Those inside, listen up, we’ve cleared out the zombies outside!"
"If you want to live, come out now!"
"And be quick about it!"
The team members who were intently listening to the noises below suddenly all turned to look at the captain.
Cleary, they were waiting for him to make a decision.
"Captain..."
As if afraid he hadn’t heard the man outside, someone even reminded him softly, staring intently at the man who had led them out of danger time and again.
To the surprise of the other four, the captain didn’t hesitate as they had expected.
Instead, he frowned and said:
"What are you looking at me for?"
"Pack up, we’re going down."
The team members exchanged glances, each seeing a hint of surprise in the other’s eyes, but they immediately started packing up the meager supplies they had found in the building, following the captain’s orders.
Even a mosquito leg is meat; maybe it could save their lives when brought along.
The obstacles blocking the staircase were quickly moved aside.
The light from outside shone in again.
The captain took the lead out of the stairwell, but his gaze immediately locked onto the middle-aged man standing in the center of the crowd, his face covered with stubble and tinged with weariness.
"Thank you," he said directly to Xu Lin.
However, Xu Lin just nodded, his gaze seemingly always hovering over the other team members.
To be exact, he was assessing their demeanor and the equipment they carried.
Especially the guns on their backs.
AZ-95 rifles.
Domestically produced.
A flicker of amusement appeared in Xu Lin’s eyes, returning to the face of the man in front of him who was clearly the leader.
"My name is Xu Lin."
"Which unit are you from?"