Chapter 54: Chapter 51: Explosion This shout instantly attracted the zombie’s attention away from Zhong Xiaoshan, creating a brief opportunity. Zhong Xiaoshan thought she was done for. Upon hearing Zhang Su’s shout, she snapped back to reality, fiercely swung a wrench at the zombie in front of her, and jumped downstairs without caring if she’d break a leg. Zhang Su dared to let Zhong Xiaoshan jump; of course, he had a way to handle it. He reached out his arm to shorten the distance between them as much as possible. Upon contact, instead of using brute force to resist the impact, he smoothly guided it downwards, dispersing the impact while adjusting the direction. Wham. Zhong Xiaoshan landed butt-first on a fallen zombie’s back. She couldn’t care about anything else, kicked her feet to stand, and raised a metal wrench high, ready to fend off the zombies closely following behind. "Run, hide first!" Zhang Su pulled the two women to the staircase’s corner leading to the eleventh floor. Thud thud thud. After the three of them dodged, a series of thudding sounds echoed, as the zombies chasing them down fell like tumbling gourds at the stairway corner, stacking onto the three dead bodies from before, forming a pile. "Take action!" Zhang Su shouted in a low voice and swung the axe in his hand at the zombie head facing him. Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan weren’t slow to react either, as they also swung their weapons at the horde of zombies in front of them. In an instant, dense thudding sounds echoed in the stairway, interspersed with women’s soft gasps and the thudding noise of hard objects hitting the ground. The zombies felt quite frustrated, piled on one another, lacking intelligence and cooperation, unable to get up at all. Their sharp teeth lost their utility, stretching their long necks to bite fresh flesh, only to be met with a hammer. The battle didn’t last long. After about two minutes, Zhang Su was the first to stop, panting heavily, seriously taking in the blood-stained scene. "They’re all dead, stop now." After saying this, he slowly backed away, collapsing against the wall and sliding to sit on the ground. He wanted to wipe the blood off his face with his sleeve but found it even worse, ignored the cold, took off his clothes, and wiped his face and hands with the lining, then threw the clothes onto the pile of zombies. Thud thud. Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan both collapsed nearby, their weapons sliding down, their fingers, arms, and whole upper bodies trembling. The stairway corner turned into a hellish scene... The dead zombies were battered into disarray, while the three survivors appeared like hell’s demons! "Seriously, why did you directly start fighting zombies at the door?" Zhang Su flexed his palm to relax, and kicked Zhong Xiaoshan with his foot, annoyance in his tone. "I... waited for a long time, and when I saw the zombies, I just reflexively started fighting." Zhong Xiaoshan was still scared at the moment. Her courage might have grown, but she still made mistakes. "You just got nervous. If you had coordinated with me, it would’ve been better." Zheng Xinyu said with a lazy posture: "Then you wouldn’t be afraid of zombies, and I wouldn’t dry heave from the disgusting sight..." "Our well-practiced training got messed up... come on, let’s talk about the mistakes earlier and see if we discovered any tricks." Zhang Su didn’t dwell on past mistakes; summarizing improvements was key. "I’ll start..." Zheng Xinyu said: "I was too hyped up, couldn’t clearly see the target when attacking, and missed many hits, wasting a lot of energy..." The three gradually calmed down, each discussing mistakes and experiences during the process earlier. Post-battle summarization can effectively improve emergency handling ability and combat techniques. As the summarization nearly concluded, Zhang Su said: "Before, I mentioned that if things go wrong, there will be punishment. Xiaoshan, remember?" "I remember, I remember, it’s fair, I’ll accept any punishment..." Zhong Xiaoshan felt her heart pounding heavily, realizing that being alive was the happiest thing. Punishment was nothing. "Even though things went wrong, you’ve still made progress, not shouting randomly like before. But the psychological obstacle still needs overcoming. Sit here to practice courage for half an hour, then jump the stairs for ten minutes, be careful not to get hurt, and then, hmm..." Zhang Su frowned, pondering. Zheng Xinyu grinned and said: "Hey, should the reward and punishment system be clear and transparent beforehand? Why are you making it up temporarily? Dammit, is this dictatorship... Xiaoshan, we’re protesting!" "No, it’s nothing, these punishments are good for me..." Zhong Xiaoshan waved her hand at Zheng Xinyu. Zhang Su looked at Zheng Xinyu inexplicably. He initially thought that after last night, there’d be some discord between the two, and had prepared to mediate, but unexpectedly they became even more harmonious, even helping each other? "Add those two tasks, and later fetch thick clothes from the few households upstairs, that’ll be it!" The eighth floor and above were completely safe, not a single zombie, allowing Zhang Su to confidently let Zhong Xiaoshan act alone. "Alright, Brother Su, I’ll start right away..." Zhong Xiaoshan accepted her punishment with pleasure, not even rushing to eat, immediately finding a spot to sit, staring seriously at the bloody pile of zombies, like she’d returned to her favorite class in student days. ... ... Breakfast and lunch combined into one meal. After eating at noon, the three, led by Zhang Su, organized the clothes Zhong Xiaoshan collected again, picking out those they could wear. "Brother Su, you look really odd in that outfit..." Zheng Xinyu couldn’t help but laugh as Zhang Su donned a stand-collared jacket like a newly appointed official. Zhang Su stretched his sleeve to look, then pressed down the stand collar, grinning: "At a time like this, just make do. Genuine Yaar, at least two or three thousand a piece, it’s warm!" Except for the style being a bit awkward, everything else was great, not only warm but also fitting well, not hindering joint movement. Zhong Xiaoshan couldn’t help but cover her mouth: "Brother Su, wearing that jacket makes you look like a leader inspecting at the unit, your physique screams integrity." "Really?" Zhang Su willingly posed like a bureaucrat, gesturing at the two: "Little girl looks charming, display your good looks, and this young lady has a nice figure, tonight I’ll guide you..." Boom boom boom... Unexpectedly, at that moment, a giant explosion occurred, followed by intense shaking. Zhang Su and the others almost couldn’t stand steady, quickly falling onto the bed to avoid falling. "The building exploded!?" Zhang Su broke out in a cold sweat, dashed out of the bedroom to the window sill. Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan followed, faces showing fear. Fighting zombies were a battle they could win, but if the building collapsed... The survival odds are undoubtedly lower than a zombie onslaught! "Holy crap!" Zheng Xinyu quickly rushed to Zhang Su’s side to look outside, couldn’t help but raise her hand to cover her mouth. A violent explosion occurred in the adjacent unit, but due to the view, the specific situation couldn’t be seen, only billowing black smoke rising from below, and visible flames flickering through the glass. Zhang Su didn’t speak, but heard someone shouting. "Hahaha! Burn, wife, son, I’m coming to join you, burn, ah!!!" The insane screams didn’t last long before they halted in a scream full of resentment and anger. "Dammit, lunatic!" Zhang Su cursed, his face pale, unsure of what that person triggered, the intense explosion in the adjacent unit and the raging fire would certainly affect his side. "Zhang Su, what’re you saying?" Zheng Xinyu didn’t yet understand the severity, dazedly asked Zhang Su. Zhang Su shook his head, not answering Zheng Xinyu’s question, suddenly sensing something, looked up at the opposite side, indeed finding someone! Qin Ya leaned out of the window, waving clothes, seeing the youth across finally noticing him, shouted: "Run, leave the unit!"