A fully armed zombie pedaled a tricycle, carrying a human as they approached the outskirts of Chico.
Fighting off the old zombies along the way left Alex White with a mixture of emotions. Time hadn't fully erased them, but it had certainly lessened their threat.
"It's eerily quiet," Alex White observed, cautiously steering the tricycle into the city. In his mind, the city should be teeming with zombies, far more than in the remote villages they'd passed.
"We're still on the outskirts. It's quieter now than it used to be," Dora Lin replied, pulling out a gun. "Scavengers who come to the city tend to clear out the zombies. Sometimes, they end up as zombies themselves. But over time, zombies have become easier to kill, so the outskirts get cleared repeatedly, making them relatively safe."
In the past, clearing zombies was a necessity. The city was so overrun that you couldn't go far without encountering one. If you wanted to scavenge, you had to clear a safe path as you went, a process that consumed a lot of time.
"Is your helmet's visor secured?" Dora asked, hopping off the tricycle and circling around to check. Only after confirming that it was in place did she relax. "Always conceal your infected traits, no matter the situation. If we run into other scavengers, they might not give you a chance to explain before deciding to kill you."
Alex White adjusted his helmet anxiously. "It's on right, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
Dora didn't climb back into the cargo box. As they neared the city's edge, she got off and walked alongside the tricycle, keeping a close watch on their surroundings.
Apart from the day he was bitten, Alex White had never experienced such a quiet street. Even when he worked late into the night, the streets were always alive with neon lights, traffic, and the lively buzz of night markets.
The silence of the city streets now carried a haunting chill.
"Where to first?" Alex White asked.
Dora pulled a piece of paper from her back pocket. Alex White leaned over to glance at it and saw that it was an address.
"Let's start with Aunt Jones's place. I've got the key. If her old place is still intact, we might not need to go anywhere else."
"How much could she have?" Alex White asked, curious.
"It's not just her place," Dora Lin said, jingling the keys. "In those old buildings, you can often climb from one balcony to the next. With this key, we might have access to the whole floor, maybe even the floors below."
Alex White paused, once again appreciating the resourcefulness—or rather, the scavenging expertise—of this human.
"Lower floors are easy targets, but the upper floors are safer."
Most scavenging teams wouldn't bother with the upper levels; the city was too vast to cover thoroughly. Scavenging truly was a skill.
"Are you sure you know that address?" Alex White asked, a trace of skepticism in his voice.
"Yeah… It's near the city center, next to Civic Square," Dora confirmed.
As Alex White suspected, people who grew up in remote mountain villages after the apocalypse wouldn't know the city well.
"We should find a place to rest."
Dora glanced at the sun, now nearly set. Night was coming fast.
"Do you have a shelter in the city?" Alex White asked.
"This way."
Dora led Alex White deeper into the city. The further they went, the taller the buildings became, and the squeaking of the tricycle echoed eerily through the silent streets.
The zombies here were far from the harmless ones in the countryside.
Unlike the open roads, where zombies could be seen from afar, here they might lurk in small groups or jump out from behind shop doors, catching you off guard.
The traffic lights at intersections were long dead, hanging crookedly. The once-bright blue signs had faded, their symbols barely discernible, leaving only faint arrows.
Alex White noticed a change in Dora now that they were outside. She wore a baseball cap, her gaze sharp and vigilant as she scanned their surroundings.
"Why don't you put a blade or spike on your stick?" Alex White asked.
"If it gets stuck in a zombie's bones, you're in trouble," Dora replied without looking back. "Plus, their fluids would splatter everywhere. When zombies aren't much of a threat, a stick works better. You can easily snap their necks."
As the darkness deepened, and after Alex White had snapped the necks of two more zombies, rendering them unable to follow, Dora finally came to a stop.
This used to be a furniture store, its sign long battered by the elements and now hanging limply. The area where the glass doors once stood was now vacant, the doors having disappeared.
"I don't think this is a good spot," Alex White suggested cautiously, noticing some movement in the distant shadows. Several zombies, attracted by the noise of the tricycle, were staggering in their direction.
Even though the zombies might be old, getting surrounded by them could still be a problem.
In the quiet street, the tricycle's sound was alarmingly loud.
"Let's leave the vehicle here," Dora Lin said calmly. As long as visibility was good, she picked up a short stick from the ground with one hand and held a gun in the other. She knocked on the long-abandoned escalator, listened intently, and then made her way slowly and cautiously upstairs.
They didn't encounter any zombies in the seven-story mall. Dora had been here before and had done some clearing. Except in rare cases, old zombies rarely ventured upstairs. Nonetheless, she remained vigilant until they reached the rooftop door on the seventh floor. Observing the wire-bound door, she felt considerably more at ease, unlocked it, and stepped onto the roof.
"This is actually a good place," Alex White said, his opinion shifting quickly. He walked to the edge of the rooftop and glanced down at the street below. The view was expansive, with no nearby tall buildings. As long as the iron door remained intact, it should be safe.
Old zombies climbing up to the seventh floor... Fresh zombies might manage it, but the ones they encountered on the way? Unlikely.
The rooftop was cluttered with an assortment of items: bottles, cans, iron rods, and steel bars. Dora picked up a crowbar and wedged it into the iron door, then kicked a nearby cabinet and gestured to Alex White .
Understanding her intention, Alex White joined her in moving the cabinet to block the iron door.
"This should keep us safe even if fresher zombies come by tonight," Dora said, joining him at the edge of the roof. The rooftop was spacious, and she walked around the edge, scanning the pitch-black street below. "If any other scavengers come nearby, we'll spot them easily."
Alex White felt as though she had transformed into a sniper, ready to deploy a large rifle, rest it on her shoulder, and take aim at the street below.
He suddenly remembered a saying: "With two machine guns here, I could control the entire street."
It was evident that this location was deliberately chosen. Alex White suspected there were more such places; whenever Dora needed a break during her scavenging, she would seek out these secure spots.
Was this the mark of a professional scavenger?
Alex White felt a profound respect for her, recognizing the skills of someone who had grown up in the apocalypse.
In one corner of the rooftop were various discarded items: empty beer bottles, cans, tires, and even a bicycle.
"You really do collect junk?" Alex White had assumed scavenging was about finding useful resources.
He didn't grasp the purpose of some of these items, like the empty glass bottles Dora was now arranging.
Dora carefully set up the bottles in a circle around him. "As long as you maintain your sanity, it's best not to step outside this circle."
Alex White understood their function now. "If the bottles are disturbed, it means I've lost control and am becoming infected."
It was a straightforward yet highly effective early warning system.