"Damn, finding a usable car is a real hassle!"
Stel checked several cars.
Some were flipped over and too heavy for him to right on his own,
Others had completely ruined engines that wouldn't start.
Reluctantly, Stel walked further away,
Reaching another street.
This area was also overrun with zombies.
In fact, nearly the entire city seemed to be under zombie control.
This street was even more desolate.
The surrounding buildings were sparse, mostly old houses slated for demolition.
Stel couldn't help but smirk.
Before the zombie crisis, this area was marked for demolition.
All the residents had dreams of becoming millionaires.
But now?
They got no money, their houses weren't demolished,
And the world ended!
He continued his futile search for a working vehicle.
"Damn, in such a big city, I can't find a single usable car!"
Stel kicked the side of a car with a dead engine.
One kick wasn't enough to satisfy his frustration.
So he kicked it a few more times.
"Looks like this place has no usable cars..."
"I need to try somewhere else."
Suddenly, Stel remembered the large truck.
After the zombie outbreak,
That truck had blocked the entire street.
It blocked not only humans,
But zombies as well.
While that road wasn't the only way to reach the other side,
"If people had tried to escape in their cars only to find the road blocked by the truck,
They might have been killed by zombies,
But their cars could still be intact!"
Recalling Bobby and his group's failed escape attempt,
Stel felt this was very likely.
"If there were survivors who drove there but couldn't get through,
They might have been killed by zombies, but their cars might still be in working condition!"
So Stel quickened his pace and returned to the truck.
The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.
When he got back to the overturned truck, he found only broken-down cars around.
Not a single one was usable.
Some cars even had zombies trapped inside.
These were likely people who had driven here, only to have their windows broken and be bitten by zombies.
The drivers had turned into zombies right where they were.
Clearly, zombies lacked human intelligence.
They acted purely on instinct, unable to unbuckle seatbelts or open car doors.
"Hissss..."
Just as Stel was feeling frustrated,
"Crunch!"
A sharp sound came from beneath his foot.
Strange?
What did I step on?
Hearing the noise, Stel looked down.
To his surprise, he found chips on the ground!
Some chips were crushed under his foot, the crumbs sticking to his shoe.
Then Stel noticed that there were chips scattered all around!
He had been so focused on finding a car that he hadn't noticed the ground.
But why were there so many chips on the street?
Stel was puzzled.
He picked up a chip and smelled it.
It still had a faint aroma.
He then licked it with his tongue.
"Hmm... there's still some flavor left. These were probably spilled about four or five days ago."
Stel looked around and saw that there was only one bag of scattered chips.
There were also other scattered snacks nearby.
"Could someone really be eating snacks during the apocalypse?"
Stel crushed all the scattered chips on the ground under his feet.
Following the trail of snacks, he changed direction and walked toward the area with the most zombies.
He pushed aside a few obstructive zombies,
And reached the center of the zombie horde.
The deeper he went, the more zombies there were.
Stel was a bit puzzled.
It wasn't unusual for zombies to gather in the streets,
But why were they all clustered in these dark corners?
Could there be survivors here?
With this thought, Stel quickened his pace.
When he reached the front, he was surprised to find a hole the size of a sewer pipe.
Stel looked up at the two surrounding buildings.
They were very old, likely with poor construction quality and years of neglect,
Resulting in such a large crack.
But why were all these zombies gathered around this hole?
Stel kicked away the zombies blocking the entrance.
He crouched down and peered into the hole.
"…!"
As soon as he looked inside, he saw two faintly glowing eyes staring back at him.
Undoubtedly,
They were human eyes!
There was a survivor inside!
And given the small size of the hole, an adult wouldn't fit.
It had to be a child hiding in there.
A child surviving in this hole for almost a month?
This was beyond Stel's expectations.
"Are you a survivor?"
Stel tried speaking to the child inside the hole.
His voice echoed in the narrow space.
"…!"
The child curled up in a ball, hearing a human voice suddenly,
Was initially stunned.
"Are you… are you a survivor too?"
The child's voice came from within the hole.
But as he spoke, he shrank back even more.
"I am a survivor."
"Are there still a lot of zombies outside?"
The child asked immediately.
Stel looked around and couldn't help but laugh.
More than a lot. If these zombies got hold of you, there wouldn't be enough of you to go around.
"There are still many zombies outside. You shouldn't come out yet."
Many zombies?
Then why can you crouch at the entrance and talk to me?
"Oh... I understand."
The boy didn't think much of it and remained curled up in the hole.
Stel then asked,
"How long have you been hiding here?"
"Half a month..."
"Half a month? What have you been eating all this time?"
Given the boy's situation, there was no food inside the hole.
Outside, he was surrounded by zombies.
Even a few days would be tough to survive, let alone half a month!
"Kid, don't lie."
"I'm not lying! I've really been here for half a month!"
The boy's tone suddenly became agitated.
He seemed upset that Stel didn't believe him.
"Then what have you been eating for the past half month? Surely not the surrounding concrete?"
"There's a couple who bring me food..."
The boy replied without hesitation.
This was quite intriguing.
A couple bringing you food in this situation?
That's practically a death wish!
"Kid, where is that couple now?"