#49 - Chapter 49 Daily Search for Supplies

Morning.

The sunlight around 7 or 8 AM spilled onto the earth,

Dispelling the chill of early autumn.

Outside, everything was quiet.

Scattered debris was visible everywhere on the streets.

Flying newspapers, plastic bags, damaged vehicles.

Doors and windows either tightly shut or wide open, with occasional traces of burning.

Only the thick smoke was gone, leaving behind a blackened scene.

This was the common state of human buildings now.

After the chaos subsided, everything looked like the end of the world.

After the sun came out, the zombies had hidden themselves somewhere.

Two modified vehicles drove in from afar, an SUV and a large truck, slowing down as they entered this area.

They seemed to be observing something.

It was Li Bowen's team from the Green Source Base, out searching for supplies.

"Captain, we've reached a small town fifteen kilometers outside the base. According to the map, there's a relatively large supermarket ahead, which is our primary target."

Sitting in the driver's seat of the SUV was Gao Qiang, who had recently joined. After being allowed to join the combat team, he was assigned to Li Bowen's team and was now driving out to find supplies.

"Okay, after reaching the destination, first confirm the escape route, then go down and look for usable vans or trucks. There should be some vehicles in the parking lot around the supermarket. Find the vehicles first, fill them with gas, and then we'll have the transportation for today."

Yes, they only drove about two vehicles each time they came out now.

In the early days of the apocalypse, there were vehicles everywhere that no one wanted, and most of them had plenty of fuel. There was no need to waste it, so they simply took it for their own use.

Even if there was no fuel, they could find abandoned vehicles everywhere and siphon it out.

Soon, they found their target on a certain road in the town.

As expected of the largest supermarket in the area, it stood prominently in a conspicuous location.

The external parking lot also had many cars parked, but they were all sedans. There were no large trucks.

"It's normal for there to be no trucks in the parking lot. Generally, loading and unloading will go through the back door. Let's go around and take a look."

Li Bowen observed the area around the supermarket, briefly told all the team members, and then the two vehicles continued to wander around the town.

Sure enough.

They found several trucks at a construction site, and then found a large truck parked on the side of the road somewhere. The combat team members unceremoniously unlocked them and took them for themselves.

They quickly gathered six vehicles.

Except for the SUV, which had a weaker cargo capacity, the others could carry a lot.

After checking that the vehicles were fine and filling them with gas, the team returned to the supermarket and parked.

Li Bowen looked at the supermarket's open door and said to one of the team members, "Xiao Zhang, take out the drone and start luring away the zombies."

"Roger that! Captain."

This team member named Xiao Zhang took out a drone from the SUV, also hanging a sound-emitting ball underneath. They had all learned some of the key points of drone operation from Xiao Liu's experience.

The drone took off.

It slowly flew to the supermarket door and began playing pop music at the entrance.

The silence was broken, and some noisy sounds quickly came from inside the supermarket. In just a dozen seconds, several zombies rushed out.

They roared and reached out to grab the drone hovering in the air.

After a few minutes.

Confirming that no new zombies were coming out, Xiao Zhang manipulated the drone to move, leading a small horde of thirty or so zombies away from the supermarket.

During the movement, new zombies in the surrounding buildings were gradually attracted by the sound and joined the horde.

But soon nearly a hundred zombies were taken a kilometer away by the drone.

The drone continued to fly away. The drones Qin Jin bought were all high-end quadcopter models with good battery life and remote control distance, reaching three to five kilometers, allowing for long-distance monitoring of the horde.

The other members of the team skillfully drove the cars to the supermarket entrance.

After arranging the formation for easy defense and escape, Li Bowen left Xiao Zhang to continue monitoring the horde and guarding the surroundings, and led the other five into the supermarket.

As soon as they stepped in.

A wave of darkness washed over them.

A strange stench came, like the smell of various rotten and fermented foods.

This supermarket was of a certain scale, at least a thousand square meters.

But at this time the power inside had long been cut off.

The combat team members turned on the oversized flashlights they carried with them, and in an instant the light pierced through the blackness inside, revealing the situation inside.

Various sundries were scattered at the cashier at the entrance, some of the shelves in the distance had collapsed, some still maintained order, and dirt and blood stains were visible everywhere on the ground, all indicating that chaos had occurred here.

Without wasting time.

Li Bowen took the lead, carefully holding his rifle, with a short bayonet welded to the front of the barrel for attacking at any time.

Other team members also spread out in formation and followed carefully, each holding shields, machetes, and crossbows, ready to assist at any time.

The combat team's combat mode was very simple. When encountering small groups of zombies, they would first use bayonets, machetes, or crossbows to solve them, and shields for defense.

When encountering larger groups of zombies, they would shoot directly without considering so much.

In the case of being attracted by the drone once, there were generally very few large groups of zombies, often not even one, and occasionally some that were blocked or not attracted for various reasons could be solved without shooting.

Under the illumination of the flashlights, the scene inside the supermarket was revealed.

In the silence, there was a feeling of terror and depth.

Li Bowen had already overcome this fear, quickly observed and thought for a while, found no source of danger, and said to the team members behind him without looking back:

"Preliminary visual is safe, we six will divide into three teams, two people per team, start searching the entire supermarket, and we will start moving things after confirming that there are no problems!"

The team members responded.

The six quickly separated and walked, one person in front and one person behind in each group to assist.

Five minutes later, the team confirmed that there were no zombies in the entire supermarket.

Only two skeletons full of teeth marks and incomplete were found, obviously having suffered the ravages of zombies before.

Li Bowen came to the bones, found two sheets, covered the bones, as a comfort to them after death not to be exposed.

He said to the team members: "Okay, block the back door, don't let zombies sneak in from behind, Xiao Zhang is guarding the front door, everyone starts moving things."

The team members dispersed and began to skillfully look for things.

Rice, flour, and various grains began to be purchased at zero cost without hesitation. They also found trolleys used for moving goods in the supermarket, and bags of food were quickly transported.

Instant noodles, canned food and other sealed packaged foods were not spared. These are good things that can be stored for a long time in the future. Unlike vegetables and meat, which can only be eaten in the short term if not refrigerated.

Several team members came to the vegetable and meat area and showed regretful expressions when they saw the meat and vegetables that had begun to rot and stink.

Except for some that are not yet broken and have value for use, there is no need to waste physical strength and car space for those that are broken.

It took more than an hour to move.

Only then were several vehicles filled. Even so, there were still many things in the supermarket that could not be taken away. Relative to their vehicles, the supplies in the entire supermarket were too rich.

Li Bowen thought for a while and decided to transport the things back to the base first, and then come back to move them again.

He told the team members, and everyone agreed.

They used the found car to block the supermarket door again, and Xiao Zhang also drove back the drone with the battery about to run out.

The team took the newly found supplies and began to return to the base.

It only took some time, about thirty minutes, to return to the base.

After entering the base, after waiting enough time in the isolation area, the car drove into the interior of the base.

Qin Jin, who came after hearing the news, returned so quickly, simply understood the situation, and gave full affirmation to their approach.

He asked the base manager to arrange for other people to come and help move things and unload the goods.

The combat team members took this opportunity to rest for a while. They had just done physical work to move things, and they were a little tired.

They sat in the car or in the buildings next to the base to rest.

Qin Jin said to them: "Thank you for your hard work. The base can't spare manpower to assist for the time being. You will have to continue to work hard. It is estimated that it will be easier after the wall is repaired in a few days."

This is indeed the case.

The walls in the base are still being built, and Qin Jin has already prepared for other work before the acid rain comes, and indeed cannot spare much manpower to go out with the combat team members to transport supplies.

"Boss, we know, don't say these, we are all for this collective, for survival." Li Bowen replied with a smile.

Qin Jin patted him on the shoulder and nodded at him with a smile.

Then he turned around and went to work on other things.

It wasn't long before they came back, and all the items were unloaded in just half an hour.

After all, it is easier to take it down than to put it up.

At this time, it was only about ten o'clock. If you hurry up, you can still go to the supermarket for another trip.

Li Bowen's team reorganized the vehicles, started all the cars just now, and set off again to the supermarket.

This is just a microcosm of the combat team.

Other teams are doing similar things.

As the scope of searching for supplies expands, they will go further and further.

(End of this chapter)