Rotting Land: Survive

The outdoor investigation was proceeding "full steam ahead," and the indoor interrogation had not ceased.

Tang Xiaoquan and Old Zhao sat sternly, while the eyes of the other survivors bulged with anger as they glared at Derek.

"Little Derek! Now’s your chance to confess. If you tell the truth, perhaps I can plead for you later. You’ve seen Old Xu’s temper before. If he gets angry..." Old Zhao’s eyes instinctively darted towards the steel blade on the table, shaking his head with a pointed implication.

"Guys, I’m really not lying to you! I just came to get some supplies. I never intended to hurt you!"

"You think we’re fools? You didn’t come here in the middle of the night to harm us? Have you ever met a good person who goes out in the dead of night?" Wen Quanxin pursed his lips; if it weren’t for Old Zhao holding the fort, Wen Quanxin and the other young ones would have likely already gotten rough.

It’s understandable; they had faced too many hardships along the way, so whenever encountering someone with ill intent, the survivors had an almost primal urge to strip them of their skin and pull their tendons.

Feeling the predatory gazes from Wen Quanxin and the others, Derek swallowed involuntarily.

"Speak! Why are you silent now? Aren’t you usually good at arguing? Old Zhao, I think there’s no need to interrogate him any further. Tomorrow, let’s find a place and throw him into the zombie pit to deal with him."

"No!" Hearing the suggestion to throw him into a zombie pit, Derek jumped up as if his rear end was on fire. He quickly spoke in rapid succession: "I, I’ll speak, I’ll speak the truth. I admit I noticed you since the moment you arrived, but I swear, I really have no other intentions. I’m just trying to get some food, I’m just trying to save people!!"

After finishing with a hoarse roar, Derek’s breath was heavy with powerful Qi, somewhat exhausted.

But of course, Wen Quanxin was not going to believe Derek’s words easily. Their team had suffered too much from "honest people," so...

"Hmph! Who are you fooling! Do you even understand that louder voices don’t equate to truth? Do you think yelling louder makes us believe you? I’ll be honest with you, I’ve seen plenty of your kind! As if you could gather supplies to save people? I bet you’re better suited for murder!!"

Wen Quanxin’s voice was no less forceful than Derek’s, with past grievances seemingly flooding back into his mind.

Seeing the signs of loss of control in Wen Quanxin’s emotions, Tang Xiaoquan quickly intervened to divert the topic: "You said you’ve been watching us for a while, so why attempt something tonight?"

It must be said, Tang Xiaoquan’s question went straight to the heart of the matter. He was probably the only one present not swayed by emotion.

"I didn’t make a move because I didn’t know where you came from. Like I said, I’m gathering supplies to save people. Looking at me, do you think I’m a threat to you? The reason I delayed action was primarily to observe your character. After a week’s confirmation, I saw you were very harmonious, not like those utterly heinous bad people, so I finally dared to try my luck tonight. Because I knew, even if caught, you wouldn’t trouble me."

"Oh really? You sure know how to gauge people’s hearts!" Originally inflamed, Wen Quanxin’s rage was further fueled by Derek’s words.

What a joke! What does this guy take their team for?

Derek’s countless "I think" and "I believe" stabbed into Wen Quanxin’s heart like sharp knives.

At times, they were too "kind-hearted," leading miscreants to see them as easy marks.

At times, their blind belief in being good made others see them as prey for slaughter.

And now, this foreign overseas Huaxia, whose mixed heritage was unclear, dared to act presumptuously in front of him.

This stirred Wen Quanxin with an urge to open up and fight him directly.

Fortunately, Tang Xiaoquan timely intervened to break the tension: "OK, you say you’re gathering supplies to save people, so why don’t you tell me who you are trying to save."

"Well, that... that’s a long story!"

"It’s fine, the night is long. As things stand now, we have time, so consider it us listening to your story. Go on, let’s hear it." Tang Xiaoquan displayed a slight gentle smile, but the cool edge in his voice left no room for refusal.

With no choice left, Derek steadied his emotions, pondered briefly, and then began: "This matter has to start from before the apocalypse. That day I had just returned to the country and arranged to visit Demmi at her school, oh, Demmi is my girlfriend. We’ve been together for 4 years, planning to go to M Country once she graduated."

"Cut the crap! Who cares about your relationship! Stick to the point!!" Wen Quanxin snapped, slapping the table in annoyance. Clearly, he was quite displeased with Derek.

"Oh, yes, yes, my apologies!" Derek nodded apologetically, then reorganized his thoughts and continued: "After meeting up, we planned to go to the karting track to race, where we had first met. To commemorate our relationship, I had prepared a little surprise for her, planning to register a racing team called ’Four Leaf Clover’ using her favorite plant. But unexpectedly, just as we were about to set off, the apocalypse hit."

"At that time, the school was in chaos, with human-eating monsters attacking everywhere. Given the widespread zombie culture abroad, my first thought was a biochemical crisis had erupted."

"Haha, your judgment saved you!" Reflecting on his own plight at the start of the apocalypse, Tang Xiaoquan couldn’t help but admire the young man’s decisiveness.

Slightly stunned, Tang Xiaoquan’s unexpected praise gave Derek a glimmer of hope, bringing newfound vigor to his narration: "Later, I led Demmi to the school’s storage room, a place rarely visited, where we avoided the initial chaos after the outbreak. Perhaps the rest of the place was occupied by zombies, because gradually more survivor students fled to the storage room. Initially, everyone got along, but as time passed without rescue teams arriving, pessimism began spreading within the group. Then, at this critical juncture, a group of Japanese students from a ’Judo’ team arrived in the storage room. My girlfriend said they were from the judo team, covered in blood upon arrival. Immediately, they demanded resources from us. You know, the school was swarming with zombies, and our limited supplies were won with our lives from dorms and classes. Naturally, when they demanded, the students wouldn’t comply. At the time, a few strong-willed Huaxia students directly argued with them. But... but..."

After the two "buts," Derek, who had been stable and composed, suddenly grew agitated, his eyes revealing signs of terror and anger. (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)