Chapter 76: Please Don’t Give Up On Me!
Yuan Yi reached out for it involuntarily, and when she took it she looked at Zhang Xiao Qiang helplessly. Her hands trembled uncontrollably, unsure if she should hold it or put it down.
Zhang Xiao Qiang didn’t wait for her to respond, and grabbed her hands to aim at his own head, looking into her eyes and barked: “Shoot!”
Yuan Yi was frightened, extremely so. She suddenly felt that what she was holding wasn’t a gun, but a red hot charcoal. Her entire body shook, and she wanted to let go of it, but her hands were gripped tightly by Zhang Xiao Qiang, and she couldn’t get out of his grip no matter what.
Su Qian felt uneasy, as she looked at the rear mirror from time to time. Yang Ke’er shot a glance behind, before continuing to observe Su Qian nonchalantly.
“Shoot! Haven’t you always wanted this?!” Zhang Xiao Qiang ignored Yuan Yi’s pale face, her fear, and her anxiety, as he barked out continuously.
Tears welled up in Yuan Yi’s eyes and flowed down. She wrenched her hands away forcefully, and the gun dropped on the seat.
“Pa!!” Zhang Xiao Qiang finally went against his father’s teachings and slapped Yuan Yi harshly. She immediately brought her hand to her face, not daring to move and continued to sob quietly.
Zhang Xiao Qiang felt extremely disappointed. He had seen the hope in her eyes when she looked at the gun and understood her way of thinking. Hence, he decided to give her a chance, by allowing her to open fire. It was to prove whether she had the courage to resist or fight back. If she really dared to do so, it meant that she had the courage in her still. If there was the courage to resist his command, she would have to courage to survive in this apocalypse.
Just like how Zhang Xiao Qiang had given Yang Ke’er a hammer to kill a zombie in the past. Killing a zombie was not so easy, it required the courage to face one’s fears. Yang Ke’er had done it, yet Yuan Yi had shrunk away from it.
Zhang Xiao Qiang picked up the gun, looking at Yuan Yi with contempt. She could not be compared with a 15-year-old girl, and dared to dream of grasping her own destiny? She just assumed the aura of a strong woman, yet her cowardice was deep in her bones. Other than using her capabilities as a bargaining chip, what else could she do?
Zhang Xiao Qiang had been exasperated when he hit her. After slapping her, he instantly felt regret, was his reputation tarnished just like that?
“You’re a weakling!” Zhang Xiao Qiang eyed Yuan Yi and spoke.
“You’ve always thought that you were strong and that others could not compare to you. That is why you have a sickening pride in your bones.” Zhang Xiao Qiang continued to rub salt into her wounds, as Yuan Yi sobbed silently. Her voice became softer, and she listened to Zhang Xiao Qiang’s words.
“In your false pride, there lies your cowardice. You can’t even compare to a 14-year-old girl. She had managed to use a hammer when she was facing her fears to kill a zombie! Ask yourselves, can you do that?”
Yang Ke’er was slightly dissatisfied with Zhang Xiao Qiang using her as an example.
“You might be a woman, you can lack the strength. You can even lack the skills, but no matter what, you cannot lack your courage. Without it, you don’t have the qualifications to live in this apocalyptic world!”
After he spoke his piece, Yuan Yi began wailing. This was the first time she actually bawled since the apocalypse began because she knew Zhang Xiao Qiang was right. She had no courage, every time she thought of killing Brother Long, she would hesitate. When she saw him feed the twins to the zombies, she began to find excuses for herself. Suicide? Each time, she had lacked the courage to do so. It was all laid out bare by Zhang Xiao Qiang, and she finally came to terms with it.
“Master, please don’t give up on me, I’ll listen to you. Really. Even if you want to treat me like a dog. Don’t abandon me, wuwuwuwu…..” She began to beg earnestly while crying, afraid of her fate in this cruel world.
Zhang Xiao Qiang felt frustrated, he really wanted to give up on her. Someone without courage would only serve to drag him down. There would be countless obstacles in the roads and journeys to come, how could he bring this coward along?
Seeing Zhang Xiao Qiang’s face as though he couldn’t make a decision, Yuan Yi’s fear grew deeper. She immediately grabbed him and muttered constantly: “Master, please, don’t abandon me, I will do anything, anything!”
“Pa!” Zhang Xiao Qiang sent another slap. If he could hit once, there would be twice, especially since he disliked her.
Yuan Yi tolerated the slap and was happy: “Master, go ahead and hit me, you can hit me however you like!”
Zhang Xiao Qiang suddenly felt that Yuan Yi’s current behavior was a joke, and extremely pitiful.
“Sit properly!” He barked, and she immediately sat straight with an obedient look.
“I’ll give you one more chance! This is a hammer, if you see a single zombie, you have to kill it! Otherwise, you can let it eat you. Or you can choose to get out now!”
Zhang Xiao Qiang gave her the choice, and she hesitated again. She knew that she could not regret her decision. Right now, she was fearful of Zhang Xiao Qiang, even more so than Brother Long. Brother Long was ok as long as she was obedient, but Zhang Xiao Qiang wanted her to go face those monsters.
Her heart was thrown in turmoil, as she looked out and saw the scattered zombies all over the fields. She turned her gaze to the hammer again and looked towards Zhang Xiao Qiang with a pleading look. However, he ignored her begging look.
His hand became lighter, as the hammer was taken from him. He took up the gun, unlocked the safety, and said: “I will kill you before they eat you.”
Yuan Yi heaved a sigh of relief, her face full resolute. She gritted her teeth as she looked at the zombies outside.
The car came to a stop, and Zhang Xiao Qiang stepped out with binoculars in his hands. He saw a split in the road, and there was a large grassy plain on the right. There were a few buildings and a carpark, which contained a few smaller cars, 2 buses, and 2 huge vehicles.
One of the buildings was a 4-storey building, with 2 rows of shophouses painted blue. There were also 2 bungalows that were half-finished. Zombies were roaming about the construction site.
The zombies around the building weren’t many, maybe 3 or 5 of them. There was a dozen at the carpark. It seemed that they were attracted when Yuan Yi had escaped. From the outside, there didn’t seem to be any D-Types or S-Types. However, Zhang Xiao Qiang would not be careless, after all, it used to be a work location, and there might be over 100 of them hidden somewhere.
Zhang Xiao Qiang pulled Yuan Yi down from the car, and Yang Ke’er also jumped out with her Beast Horn Spear, followed by Su Qian.
“Go settle those in the carpark, leave only one. Be careful.” Hearing Zhang Xiao Qiang’s instructions, Yang Ke’er started to saunter towards the carpark with her spear on her shoulders. She looked confident of her victory.
Seeing Yang Ke’er saunter slowly towards the zombies, Yuan Yi and Su Qian both felt astonished and fearful at the same time. They knew those tough burly men back at base were not a match for these zombies, and yet this little girl of less than 15 dared to face them alone? And Zhang Xiao Qiang himself seemed unworried as he told her to go.
“Do you feel ashamed? That you aren’t even comparable to a young girl?” Zhang Xiao Qiang eyed the 2 women casually, who were trembling in their shoes.
Su Qian saw Yang Ke’er’s back and she clenched her fists tightly, seemingly mustering the courage. Yuan Yi held that hammer, but her heart felt heavier, as her previous false bravado was laid bare by Zhang Xiao Qiang. Her pride and arrogance were also stripped away.
Seeing how Yang Ke’er walked up the zombies, Yuan Yi was not afraid, only feeling a sense of cold that seeped through her bones. She didn’t even dare face a single zombie, not to mention a crowd of them. Zhang Xiao Qiang was right, he didn’t need useless women beside him, was she truly not even comparable to a young lass? Not even by a mile? Why did it seem that whatever she studied abroad was for naught?
“Ha!” Yang Ke’er placed all her frustration over Zhang Xiao Qiang finding other women into her strikes, as she quickly came up to a zombie and smashed outwards. She swung as though she was a baseball player, and the Beast Horn Spear was her bat. As for the ball, it was the ugly mug of the zombie.
‘Kacha’…’peng’….The sounds of bones snapping and a watermelon squashing sounded off together, as the head of the zombie was split in two from Yang Ke’er’s swing. Its top half separated at the lips rolled to the floor. The lower jaw was still on the neck, showing its row of teeth.
All sorts of blood and matter flew outwards, and Yang Ke’er ducked and twisted. Not a single drop landed on her.
The headless corpse slumped to the floor, as Yuan Yi’s hammer dropped to the floor with a ‘thud’. Su Qian’s face was entirely white, her body shivering from the fright.