Chapter 81: This Will Be a Long Battle

“Du Yun, you're up!” the leader ordered. Du Yun was nimble and possessed strong mental fortitude. With the others standing near the small building, they only needed to block the zombies coming from three directions—things were a little better than before, making it possible to spare someone to take the building.

“Alright. Qinguo, Taozi, come with me.” Du Yun responded crisply. This was a life-or-death race against time; there was no space for fussing. Swiftly swapping out the energy cell in her weapon, she strode into the small building.

Earlier, there hadn’t been many zombies inside, and the doors and windows were intact. As a defensive position, this building was better than the others.

Du Yun rushed inside—not to take refuge, but to find enough suitable points for attacking outward without being easily targeted, forming a sufficient field of suppressive fire so those below could ascend.

If there was no fire support from above, the moment those below stopped shooting, the swarming zombies would tear them apart in an instant.

“Douzhi, where can we set up a firing point?” Du Yun expanded her mental senses to survey her surroundings, her mind swiftly calculating the best places to use, while also querying Douzhi.

“Go to the rooftop. There should be cover up there,” Douzhi replied, scanning the building’s structure alongside Du Yun. In a split second, it had found the building’s blueprints and identified the optimal location for suppressive fire.

“You’re amazing, Douzhi!” Following Douzhi’s directions, Du Yun rushed to the roof and indeed found a raised turret-like structure. Scrambling up, she discovered a pre-set firing point, with two machine guns inside.

Du Yun had grown up in peaceful times. Though she had been thrust into the zombie-infested world and learned to use several energy weapons under the leader’s guidance, she was still unfamiliar with machine guns and wasn’t sure what to do next.

“These machine guns are loaded. Just release the safety and you can fire,” Douzhi explained, showing off its core AI capabilities. After scanning the guns and reaching a conclusion, Douzhi even demonstrated in Du Yun’s mind how to disengage the safety.

Following Douzhi’s instructions, Du Yun quickly readied a machine gun and unleashed a barrage on the oncoming zombies. They fell like wheat before a scythe.

“Qinguo, over here! Take this machine gun and cover us!” Du Yun had called Qinguo and Taozi upstairs with her earlier—Taozi was too young to be of much use outside, while Qinguo was clever and capable, surpassing even many of the adults.

“Got it!” Though Qinguo was a quiet teenager, he knew who treated them well. Du Yun’s kindness to his little sister Taozi meant she was good to him as well. Eager to help, he set up a machine gun and, under Du Yun’s guidance, began firing at the ground below.

Together, Du Yun and Qinguo, each manning a machine gun, swept the oncoming zombie horde. The effect was immediate. Those below couldn’t see exactly what was happening, but the rattle of the machine guns and the slowing tide of zombies made it clear that Du Yun had made a difference.

With support from above, the pressure below lessened. The leader directed Shouhou and the others to bring people into the building in waves, each group finding a firing position. Together they forced the zombies to a standstill fifty meters from the building. Only then did the leader finally enter as well.

When the leader found Du Yun, her hands were numb from the machine gun’s recoil. Seeing the leader come up safely, Du Yun felt a wave of relief wash over her, her vision darkening for a moment before gradually recovering after several minutes.

“You’ve worked hard,” the leader said, gently patting her back with concern as he took in her pale face.

It had to be said: Du Yun’s ability to locate the firing point and use the machine gun to sweep the zombies had been crucial. The firing point was well hidden, and if Du Yun hadn’t marked the way, it would have taken the leader quite an effort to find it.

“As long as everyone’s safe,” Du Yun replied. She was utterly spent, her whole body aching and her mind dull—a sign her mental energy was depleted. She desperately needed rest.

“Go get some sleep. I’ll hold the line here,” the leader offered. On his way up, he’d already assessed the building. As long as they controlled this firing point above and set up another by the main entrance below, they could defend the place as long as no tier-three zombies appeared.

“Alright.” Du Yun found a room near the second-floor landing, checked the windows for sturdiness, pulled bedding and supplies from her storage compartment, and settled in with Taozi to rest. Naturally, Douzhi, as the core AI, didn’t need rest and took on the role of sentry.

When Du Yun woke from her deep sleep, several hours had passed. Night had fallen. Peering out the window, she saw more zombies gathering, their blood-red eyes moving eerily through the darkness.

As Du Yun stirred, Taozi woke as well. Clutching a small energy pistol in her hand, she blinked in confusion at her surroundings. Upon seeing Du Yun, she broke into a sweet smile. Du Yun’s heart ached—a disaster like this had forced the little girl to grow up far too soon, learning to survive in a world of the undead.

“Did you sleep well? Let’s go take a look outside.” The thunderous sound of machine gun fire was gone, replaced only by the occasional flash of light that quickly faded into silence. The atmosphere was unnervingly strange, and Du Yun decided to go out and investigate.

“How’s it looking?” she asked quietly when she found the leader.

“Not great,” he replied softly, his handsome brows furrowing, “The zombies keep coming. There’s no opening for us to escape.”

“We’re trapped here by the zombies?” Du Yun frowned as she listened.

“Yes.” The leader nodded, troubled. When they left that morning, it was only to scout the harbor area—so the leader hadn’t thought much about food, simply bringing the usual supplies as a matter of habit.

But others were different. Most people hadn’t brought much due to the weight, and if they were trapped here, weapon and food consumption would become critical issues. If they ran out of ammo and rations, disaster would follow.

“This is going to be a siege,” Du Yun sighed, her mind already racing to tally up the supplies in her storage compartment.