Zhao Yuan had come up with an idea at the time—he called Wang Tao and then had Ding Yuqin listen for any noise coming from Wang Tao's apartment.
Zombies are very sensitive to sounds, and if there were zombies in Wang Tao's room, they would definitely make a lot of noise! Even if Wang Tao's phone was on vibrate, at such a close distance, it wouldn't escape the hearing of the zombies.
At that time, the zombie in apartment 602 had not left yet, and Ding Yuqin did not know there was a zombie just outside in the corridor. She didn't dare to go out, only stealthily cracking open the door to listen, and heard indeed that there was no noise coming from Wang Tao's place.
This indirectly proved Zhao Yuan's guess—Wang Tao did not want to help her.
Ding Yuqin's previous impression of Wang Tao wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. They didn't interact much, at most exchanging polite greetings when they saw each other.
But under these "real circumstances" and Zhao Yuan's exaggeration, her view of Wang Tao had turned quite negative…
Thus, she decided then and there to drop the idea of asking Wang Tao for help.
However, it was uncertain whether it should be said that Ding Yuqin was lucky or that Zhao Yuan had saved her life. If she had actually gone to find Wang Tao at that time, and Wang Tao was unconscious and unable to open the door, Ding Yuqin would likely have attracted the zombies from upstairs. With her frail arms and legs, the outcome would likely have been very grim…
And then, a few days later, when she could no longer endure her hunger, and coincidentally witnessed Wang Tao leaving his apartment and killing zombies… she decided to try and see if she could borrow some food from him.
It turned out that Wang Tao wasn't as bad as her husband had described…
…
After waiting for a while and nearly filling up her water supply, Ding Yuqin came out of the bathroom.
"Wang Tao, I've finished collecting water at my place. Oh, and take a look here to see if there's anything you can use. If it's useful to you, just take it…"
Help should be mutual; one can't always expect others to give.
Ding Yuqin knew she couldn't be of much help to Wang Tao, so she just let him see if there was anything in her home that he could use.
Wang Tao didn't stand on ceremony. Zhao Yuan had quite a few gadgets, and a careful look might reveal something useful.
"Huh?"
After rummaging a bit, he actually found something good.
"Binoculars!"
It was a pair of binoculars, marked with 10*50, indicating a 50 mm diameter lens and a magnification of 10 times.
Ten times magnification binoculars—what a great find! They might not be needed immediately, but could be very useful later.
"I hadn't noticed his binoculars were here. You can take them if you need them, as I won't be using them anyway…"
Ding Yuqin's face showed a trace of happiness as she watched Wang Tao hold the binoculars with great affection.
She wasn't afraid of Wang Tao taking her things, she was afraid that Wang Tao wouldn't find anything of interest!
"Alright, then I won't be polite."
Wang Tao accepted them right away.
They didn't find anything else useful after that, so they both returned to Wang Tao's apartment. Ding Yuqin started cooking, while Wang Tao lifted the curtains, took out the newly acquired binoculars, and observed the scene outside the window.
This was an old community with a maximum of six floors. Fortunately, there weren't many tall buildings nearby, so the binoculars could still see quite far.
After looking around, Wang Tao's expression was very serious.
He suddenly realized that his Happy Community seemed to be relatively lucky?
In other communities, either a group of zombies surrounded the buildings, with zombies entering and exiting freely, or there were small-scale explosions, leaving behind a scene of ruins…
But Wang Tao also noticed some patterns—places that seemed to be hit harder were areas with more people, especially a plaza in the distance. The dense crowd was enough to make one's scalp tingle…
The situation in their Happy Community was not as severe as in other communities, perhaps because there were fewer residents, and many people had gone out to work at the time.
In the apocalypse, luck is also very important.
The scenes outside also intensified the urgency in Wang Tao's heart.
Considering the zombies he had killed in room 201 earlier, zombies could become stronger too! The female zombie that had eaten people had its HP increase by 10!
On top of that, if he could become stronger through training, it was not impossible that zombies might have other ways to strengthen themselves as well…
"I need to hurry up and clear out the zombies in this building!"
Wang Tao planned to head to apartment 601 that afternoon to take care of those two zombies.
If he could also clear the zombies in apartments 101 and 102 tomorrow, the whole building would be thoroughly secure, and he could then figure out how to look for diesel outside the community at the small restaurant!
Today's lunch was not as lavish as yesterday's, but the portion was still substantial.
After dinner, he rested for a while. When Ding Yuqin finished washing the dishes and had cleaned up the house, Wang Tao asked her to help him put on his gear.
"Wang Tao, what are you..."
"I'm going up for a bit. Lock the door after you go back."
"Are you going to 601?"
A hint of worry showed on Ding Yuqin's face—after all, there were two zombies in 601!
"Yeah, I'm going to clear out 601. Don't come out."
Wang Tao felt that there was a high probability he could handle the two zombies upstairs, but he didn't dismiss the possibility of a zombie running out. After all, accidents happen.
"I understand! Be, be careful!"
Ding Yuqin was genuinely worried for Wang Tao; after all, he was the only one she could rely on now.
"I will."
Wang Tao nodded.
With Ding Yuqin's help, he quickly got dressed in his equipment.
He picked up his homemade steel pipe long-handled sheep's horn hammer and left the room with Ding Yuqin.
Ding Yuqin returned to her room, and after seeing that she had locked the door, Wang Tao strode towards room 601.
The room belonged to a middle-aged couple, who had surely turned. Wang Tao had even heard two roars coming from inside the room when he went upstairs before.
Although there were two zombies inside, Wang Tao was not the same as he had been before. The increase in strength was secondary; it was mainly the experience that counted. Having killed several zombies face-to-face, he already had some experience.
Wang Tao fiddled with his lock-picking tools for a while, and with a click, he opened the security door. He then took a deep breath, raised his horned hammer slightly with his right hand, and with a swift pull with his left hand—
Clatter—
The security door opened.
At the doorway, there stood a contorted figure.
Wang Tao didn't expect a zombie to be right at the door, and perhaps the zombie didn't anticipate someone suddenly coming in either.
Both were momentarily stunned.
But Wang Tao reacted faster.
With one hand gripping the long-handled sheep's horn hammer, he put the strength of his arm, waist, and thighs into action, swinging fiercely at the zombie's head!
Bang!
A crisp sound.
The zombie's head reeled back from Wang Tao's blow, stumbling two steps back, with a number [-136] popping up.
[364/500]
Wang Tao pressed his attack, stepping forward and swinging the hammer once more.
Bang!
[-127]
[237/500]
This hammer strike twisted its face completely, causing it to stagger another step back.
Then Wang Tao gripped the hammer with both hands, raised it high, and smashed the "sheep's horn" down on the zombie's crown.
Splurt!
Black blood splashed.
Wang Tao felt like he had just smashed a jar filled with soft mud.
[-237]
[0/500]
Three hammer strikes—zombie killed instantly!