Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Phantom at the Alley Entrance (Part 2)
Due to the limited field of vision, the Survivors couldn’t see the situation inside the alley through their car shelter.
However, whatever was hiding in the alley, it undoubtedly posed a huge threat to the physically and mentally exhausted Survivors.
Tang Xiaoquan bowed his head in thought. In his view, the most likely things to appear in the alley right now were either people or Zombies.
If they were Zombies, the six of them could rush out together, believing that in such a narrow alley, the number advantage of the horde would be greatly reduced.
And at worst, if they couldn’t win, they could still run away.
But if it was people, then the problem became much more complicated.
First, there’s the moral aspect; how should they deal with these Survivors?
Without a doubt, since the other party appeared here, they must have discovered the existence of the base.
So the other party would inevitably make some requests, such as asking to join or demanding supplies.
However, in the apocalypse, more people mean more mouths to feed, and Tang Xiaoquan remembered clearly seeing a survival expert in a documentary say this:
"In the apocalypse, the only people you’re responsible for are you and your team, and try to ignore everyone else."
So from the start of the apocalypse, Tang Xiaoquan was always following this idea, although many times it clashed with the moral concepts of the original society. But for the sake of survival, Tang Xiaoquan felt this method was the most secure.
And after experiencing several life-and-death moments and the feeling of hunger, he was even more determined to uphold this belief.
He had no reason or justification to share the resources he and his team risked their lives to obtain with others, especially not with strangers.
Unfortunately, these were just his own beliefs, which couldn’t represent the views of others in the team, so he anticipated inevitable disagreements in the future. He only hoped that Hu Xiaodong could play his role as a leader when the time came.
Secondly, the aspect of integration.
If everyone eventually agreed to let this team join, then the issue of how to get along would be unavoidable.
After all, in the apocalypse, Survivors would subconsciously have the idea of banding together, thinking that the more people there are, the safer it is.
Indeed, this thought is reasonable, but the laws of the world always have two sides; benefits must have downsides.
Given the current situation, the new team would nine times out of ten have a leader. If this leader was reluctantly doing so, like himself, it was still manageable.
But if this person was someone with a great thirst for power, then who should lead the integrated team?
Him or Hu Xiaodong?
No matter who is chosen, it’s hard to ensure that there won’t be grievances from the other side’s supporters.
So this is definitely not a simple numbers game where the minority is subordinate to the majority. If not handled properly, it could evolve into a political struggle.
Law of Survival Article 21: Choose your teammates carefully, don’t let them become your potential threat.
Lastly, and most importantly: safety!
In 2005, the United States experienced Hurricane Katrina, the most destructive Category 5 hurricane in history, and in the face of this indiscriminate, large-scale natural disaster, the hidden dark and ugly nature of humanity was thoroughly exposed.
Killing, looting, **, for the sake of the limited food and fuel, even those who were usually kind and honest were forced to commit acts against their moral bottom lines.
Tang Xiaoquan still remembers seeing aerial footage on the international news channel, with flames soaring into the sky and villains wielding sticks, looting others’ resources on the ruined streets.
Overnight, the entire New Orleans became a living Purgatory.
So Tang Xiaoquan believed that in an apocalypse without government intervention, humans were even more terrifying than Zombies.
Hu Xiaodong was finding it hard to contain his anxiety, and it was no wonder, as no one would like a group of unknown creatures wandering and occupying downstairs of their home.
So he picked up his Compound Bow and wanted to step forward, but as soon as he stood up, someone held him down.
"Don’t be hasty, Brother Hu!" Tang Xiaoquan instinctively pulled back the half-out Hu Xiaodong. After a brief consideration, he came up with a plan of action:
"Just to be safe, Brother Hu, let’s do this: you, Wang Qiang, and Wu Chao will go into the alley to probe; Little Wen, Ah Cheng, and I will cover you. If anything happens up front, we will support you in time."
Hu Xiaodong, after all, was the team leader. He immediately understood Tang Xiaoquan’s intent and internally blamed himself for his previous impulsiveness.
There’s no doubt that Wang Qiang, Hu Xiaodong, and Wu Chao were physically the best in the entire Survivor Team, and the reason Tang Xiaoquan only sent the three of them out was mainly based on two considerations.
First, when dealing with malicious human Survivors, it was undoubtedly better to appropriately hide some backup forces than to rush all out.
Second, given the massive physical exertion, the physically weaker Wen Tang Du trio could have been a burden on the team even if they went out.
Therefore, based on the overall analysis, Hu Xiaodong agreed to Tang Xiaoquan’s proposal without hesitation.
The three of them moved quickly, bending low against the wall at the entrance of the alley, causing the flies feasting on a nearby rotting corpse to scatter in all directions, the magnitude of which was astonishing.
Hu Xiaodong held his breath, quickly peeking into the alley and then...
With a leap, he raised his bow, notched an arrow, and released the string. Hu Xiaodong’s sudden action left Wang and Wu behind him in shock. By the time they reacted and followed, he had already taken down two Zombies.
"Qiang, Brother Qiang, inside, inside there are Zombies!" Hearing the sounds of slashing coming from the alley, Ah Cheng tightened his grip on his Long Spear, a trace of panic appearing on his youthful face.
Tang Xiaoquan nodded silently. Since it was confirmed that there were no humans in the alley, staying here lost its essential purpose, and besides, Tang Xiaoquan didn’t want the delay from their side to slow down the team’s speed in escaping back to their base.
Inside the alley, Hu Xiaodong fought with a knife, sparse slime dripping down the sharp blade.
Under him lay several head-exploded corpses of the walking dead, at least seven by a rough count.
But everyone’s focus was not on these lifeless Hell Messengers. Instead, their attention was drawn to a wooden ladder several meters long.
"Brother Hu!" Wu Chao became a bit nervous, knowing that normally a long ladder could not and should not be here, unless...
An ominous premonition loomed over everyone’s heart as Hu Xiaodong nonchalantly picked up the ladder and propped it against the wall.
Just as he was about to climb up, the observant Tang Xiaoquan noticed a few bright red stains at the top of the ladder.
Is it?... Bloodstains!