“Big brother, don’t be fooled by my slim figure; I’m all muscle,” Guo Xiaobei chuckled. “Besides, I’ve got food with me. If you take me along, I can hold my own and won’t hold you back. In situations like this, the more people, the safer it is. If I do end up being a burden, you can just ditch me.”

The man’s attention shifted to the food part of what Guo Xiaobei said, and he didn’t pay much attention to the rest. “What food do you have?” the man signaled to the others.

Guo Xiaobei’s heart skipped a beat, but he forced a calm smile. “I came out late, and all the good food was taken. I only managed to grab some raw rice and flour, but I can cook it. If you take me along, I can put these to good use.” He revealed part of his stash, hoping to pique their interest. However, since food is a necessity, having too much might make them think about turning on him, especially given his weak demeanor. If these people turned out to be lacking in humanity, he’d just fight his way out; he had already killed countless zombies, so killing a person shouldn't be a problem.

“Hei Zi, Er Hu, go check it out,” the man yelled back.

“Slow down... Big brother, we’re all just trying to survive. I may not have much, but…” Guo Xiaobei put on a worried expression. While his food stash wasn’t huge, it was still substantial, mainly consisting of rice and flour, which few would bother to take unless they had large transport or a team; lone survivors wouldn’t carry too much.

Guo Xiaobei looked seriously at the man, “Big brother, if you take me along, I’ll contribute half of what I have.”

The man stared at him intently, and after a moment, he slowly replied, “We’re all here to survive; it’s not easy for any of us. I’ll agree, but you better not be a burden as you said.”

“Don’t worry,” Guo Xiaobei sighed in relief. It was best to go together; even with his system, he wasn’t confident about surviving alone.

Guo Xiaobei quickly walked to the vehicle, using the backrest as cover, and pulled out a bag of flour and half a bag of rice. He then dragged the bag of flour down from the car.

The two young men who had just been called over approached him, took a look inside his vehicle, and accepted the flour from him.

The bag of flour weighed about fifty pounds, which the two young men easily carried back. Guo Xiaobei followed behind, watching the man talk to the two young men and then glance at the bag of flour.

“Bro, let’s put everything together. I have a few people here too; let’s load it onto your vehicle, fill up on gas, and we’ll head out soon.” The man patted Guo Xiaobei on the shoulder, “From now on, just call me Xu Ge. What should I call you?”

“Just call me Xiao Guo, Xu Ge, um…”

“Don’t worry, Xiao Guo, it won’t harm you. In this day and age, those with food and skills can survive.” In other words, without food and the ability to protect oneself, one will still be abandoned.

Guo Xiaobei gritted his teeth and watched as Xu Ge called someone to take the remaining bags of rice from his car. Fortunately, that was just a small portion of his collection.

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Guo Xiaobei claimed he hadn’t eaten all day and managed to get some cold steamed buns and half a bag of pickled vegetables from Xu Ge, and also filled up his car with gasoline.

When Guo Xiaobei returned to the driver’s seat, he saw a young man who had just come to move things bringing a few people over.

“Xiao Guo, you take these people. The other car is full of stuff and can’t fit anyone else.” The young man brought the three people over and then left. Guo Xiaobei quickly assessed the three of them.

One girl, about fifteen or sixteen, looked quite ordinary and wasn’t particularly pretty. Following her was a woman in her early twenties, also plain-looking but with a decent presence. Both of them appeared rather frail, and Guo Xiaobei understood Xu Ge’s intention—everyone was weak, and if a horde of zombies came rushing in, it would be just right to get rid of them, plus all the food would be taken away, leaving no concerns at all.

As Guo Xiaobei pondered, he realized Xu Ge’s meaning, and he couldn’t help but feel his teeth itch with anger. This was too blatant; they really had no shame.

However, when Guo Xiaobei turned to look at the third person, his previous thoughts were instantly overturned. This third person not only wasn’t old or weak but looked quite strong. He was tall, at least around one meter eighty, and appeared robust, with broad shoulders and a solid build.

Guo Xiaobei proactively opened the car door and called out to the three of them, “Hurry up and get in the car.”

Two girls timidly got into the back seat. The man glanced at them and sat down beside Guo Xiaobei.

“Bro, where did you escape from?” Although they hadn't left the city yet, this city was so large, with more than a dozen districts and counties.

“I’m not from here; I came from Shanshi to look for work.” The man nodded at Guo Xiaobei. “What about you, bro?”

“I’m a local. A few days ago, I was getting food and water sent to me, but then it suddenly stopped. When I came out to check, good grief… sigh!” Guo Xiaobei shook his head and sighed. He pressed the gas pedal to catch up with the car ahead and started moving forward. What he said was mostly true, just with some parts hidden. The man saw that Guo Xiaobei didn’t seem too cunning, so he began to share his own story.

After driving for a while, Guo Xiaobei finally understood why these people had been sent to his car. The two girls were obviously weak and unattractive, so they couldn’t catch the attention of that group at all. The man, named Xing Pang, was seen as a thorn in the side because he had gotten into a fight with Xu Ge’s brother-in-law a few days ago.

However, despite that, through their struggles, it was clear that he was a strong and capable person, and Xu Ge wouldn’t easily give him up. He just pulled him in, saying that they were short-handed and needed help with the vehicle. Although Xing Pang came along, he knew very well what the others were really thinking. But since they hadn’t yet torn their faces, he pretended not to know; if things turned ugly, he would be the one to suffer.

Once they got into Guo Xiaobei's car and chatted for a bit, he discovered that although this young man was not very old and looked frail, he was quite decent. He didn't play any tricks and, having just seen Xu move bags of rice off his truck, Guo Xiaobei felt a bit of sympathy. This prompted the young man to share the details about the group.

It turned out that this group of people were not good folks at all. They were a bunch of local thugs from the county who spent their days idling around. Xu Ge, whose full name was Xu Chunshan, owned an internet café and often hung out with a few so-called subordinates, not engaging in any honest work.

However, these people were somewhat street-smart. Seeing the worsening situation outside, and hearing their younger brothers chatter about the apocalypse and zombies, they started to believe it to some extent. Taking advantage of the chaos, they raided several nearby supermarkets and stole two SUVs and a small truck, loading it up with goods before heading north with their crew. Along the way, they heard that armies in various regions were establishing protection bases, so they decided to head for the nearest refuge in L City. They didn’t care much about the conditions there; what mattered to them was that it had a regular army, which was far better than waiting to die in their small city.

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