Chapter 61 - 58: No Debts Between Us

Qin Ya noticed the silence and sighed inwardly, raising his hand: "Since everyone seems so experienced, let me talk about my plan first!"

"It’s about seven kilometers from here to the Olympic Sports Center. From what I know, West Mountain Road isn’t very busy during the morning rush hour. As long as we can get onto West Mountain Road and speed up, the zombies won’t catch up, so it shouldn’t be a big problem!"

West Mountain Road is west of Sheng Qin Home, about four or five hundred meters away, closer to the city’s outskirts. As Qin Ya said, most of the time, West Mountain Road isn’t busy.

After listening to Qin Ya, Duan Wuhu looked at Zhang Su as if to say, do you want to go next?

But Zhang Su was proactive, raising his hand, indicating for Duan Wuhu to speak first...

"Ahem..." Duan Wuhu didn’t hesitate, saying: "Since the authorities have established a safe zone at the Olympic Sports Center, Xiaohai and I naturally want to go, but... Officer Qin, the situation on West Mountain Road might not be as good as you say!"

Zhang Su felt puzzled. When did the broadcast say it was official?

Qin Ya had mentioned that the authorities intended to establish a safe zone at the Olympic Sports Center, but the broadcast just now didn’t mention the authorities, only the safe zone. This subtle difference almost went unnoticed.

Even Qin Ya overlooked this issue, looking at Duan Wuhu with a questioning gaze: "Why is the situation on West Mountain Road bad?"

Duan Wuhu said: "Before September, West Mountain Road was indeed quiet, but recently two schools have started operating there, one middle school and one elementary school. The elementary school only enrolls the first grade, not many people, but the middle school was moved from Old Seven Middle, with over three thousand students!"

Qin Ya frowned: "How do you know?"

"I’m a PE teacher at that New Seven Middle, so of course I know..."

Duan Wuhu covered his face with a bitter smile: "If I weren’t a PE teacher, I would’ve already gone to school when the incident happened. The school uses staggered start times, first-year students are slightly delayed by twenty minutes, but the second and third-year students are definitely out the door!"

"I don’t know about other sections, but the few hundred meters around New Seven Middle are sure to be severely congested!"

Duan Wuhu stated confidently.

Qin Ya sighed, suddenly noticing how quiet Zhang Su and his group were, so he looked at them and asked, "Xiaozhang, what’s your plan? Any more mature ideas to discuss together?"

Zhang Su might not look friendly, but he gave Qin Ya a natural sense of goodwill, considering Zhang Su a lifesaver and speaking with extra politeness.

"Get a car first."

Zhang Su concisely said those three words.

The others were waiting seriously for more, but surprisingly, Zhang Su had finished speaking.

"Get a car first... Hmm, that’s correct, since mobility is much stronger than walking. What’s next, brother?"

Duan Wuhu, being a teacher, asked approvingly and encouragingly.

Zhang Su shook his head, pursing his lips: "Outside there are explosions, car crashes, and zombies everywhere. How can there be a plan? We can only take it one step at a time."

"Xiaozhang, judging by what you said, you don’t plan to go to the Olympic Sports Center?" Qin Ya caught the implication in Zhang Su’s words and asked.

Zhang Su slowly shook his head, saying: "It’s too far; I don’t dare consider something that remote right now. If we get near there, of course we’ll go."

After hearing Zhang Su’s words, everyone silently nodded. Although too pessimistic, isn’t this the reality?

We’re not even talking about seven kilometers; running seventy meters out of the apartment unit could mean several battles.

"Everyone’s tired, why not rest first? This problem won’t be solved in one day. We can slowly come up with solutions and talk again tomorrow!"

Qin Ya gently clapped his hands, realizing continuing the plan was pointless, only weighing heavily on people’s minds. Then he glanced at Zhang Su’s group’s bulging bags, smiling awkwardly.

"Xiaozhang, Teacher Duan, I see you’re well prepared. I wonder if you have much food. I’d like to exchange some water for food."

After Qin Ya spoke, Tian Fan and Yu Nuo looked at Zhang Su’s group and the Duan Brothers with hopeful faces.

Their resource distribution was extremely uneven, with more water than they could even carry; even allocating a bucket each would more than suffice, yet food was extremely scarce, instant food nearly gone, leaving only uncooked rice and flour.

In a stable environment, processing rice and flour isn’t difficult, cooking white rice porridge or dumpling soup isn’t hard. But once outside the apartments, the situation would be completely different.

Outside, encountering unexpected situations would make setting up a pot to cook porridge nearly impossible.

Zhang Su smiled and sighed, putting his backpack down on the ground with a muffled thud, making Qin Ya’s group beam with happiness, but as he opened the zipper, their faces gradually fell.

"Officer Qin, we don’t have much food either, and... we don’t lack water, can’t even carry it. There’s still much at home."

Qin Ya glanced at the backpack full of mineral water, discreetly checking out Zhang Su’s group’s other bags when someone spoke.

"That lady’s backpack is deformed from the contents; there should be some packaged food inside?"

Yu Nuo pointed at Zheng Xinyu’s backpack.

With a swish, Zhang Su zipped up his bag: "The three of us also need food; the amount is calculated, only enough for two or three days, can’t exchange it."

"You’re... really inconsiderate. We’re not asking for it for free; Officer Qin offered water in exchange, but you’re being so unkind?"

Yu Nuo said angrily.

"Sorry, I only exchange for necessary supplies!" Zhang Su disliked Yu Nuo’s tone.

"You..."

"Everyone, let’s keep the peace. Officer Qin, I’ll exchange with you. I’ll swap a five-pack of instant noodles for a bucket of water; how does that sound?"

Duan Wuhu quickly mediated, pulling out a large pack of instant noodles from his bag.

The situation at his home was opposite Zhang Su and Qin Ya’s. They usually drank water from the community’s purification system, so they had little water stocked, but Duan Sihai was somewhat a homebody, and they stored plenty of instant food.

"Alright, no problem!"

Qin Ya happily agreed to the exchange with Duan Wuhu. They had too much leftover water to carry.

"Teachers surely possess high morals, unlike some who don’t know gratitude despite being saved."

Yu Nuo saw Qin Ya and Duan Wuhu reach an agreement, temporarily aligning, and sarcastically targeted Zhang Su.

"Yu Nuo!"

Qin Ya glared at Yu Nuo.

Yu Nuo suddenly realized her words implicated Qin Ya, as he escaped with Zhang Su’s help. She pursed her lips and didn’t speak again.

Sigh.

Zhang Su stood up, speaking clearly: "I saved Officer Qin once; Officer Qin helped me once. We owe each other nothing, goodbye!"

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan immediately stood up upon hearing Zhang Su, glaring at Yu Nuo.

Since entering the house until now, neither of them had put down their backpacks nor weapons, ready to leave at any moment!