NOVEL NEXT Chapter 494: Conditions
The rain kept falling, without ever stopping.
The people atop the Water Tower continually fended off the Zombies climbing up. It was their third shift, and it was now past four in the afternoon. It seemed certain that the rain would not stop today.
Inside the small room, there was a chorus of snores. Everyone was very exhausted, especially knowing that they were surrounded by Zombies.
Third Uncle found Qin and told him to take a short rest. In the previous shift, Qin had gone without a replacement twice in a row, without giving any reasons. Qin simply wanted to hold out here.
Persuaded by Third Uncle, Qin did not insist and stepped down from his defensive position.
Below the Water Tower lay the bodies of over a thousand Zombies, chaotically strewn on the hard concrete ground.
At the very center, the bodies of Zombies had already accumulated around the base of the tower's pillar, piling up to a height of three to four meters.
Day and night were indistinguishable; anyway, it was always dark, and nothing could be seen clearly.
It was now five in the afternoon.
The bodies of the original prisoners from the jail had long vanished without a trace, a fact that those atop the Water Tower found fortunate.
The rain continued to fall, and Third Uncle and the others still resisted the Zombies.
Over and over again, working in five shifts, everyone managed to get enough sleep.
Their morale was good, and even after waking up twice, Li Tie played chess with Lao Lü, using a set they had brought from the base.
The two played chess surrounded by a circle of people.
Actually, Li Tie had brought the chess set himself, tucked into his sleeping bag. It was small and light, making it easy to bring along.
Third Uncle didn't mind. Although they hadn't completely escaped danger, letting dozens of people stay in such a confined space, staring at each other, would be terribly boring.
So those who were resting, besides sleeping and eating, tried to find ways to pass the time.
"Checkmate, heh, Lao Lü, let's see how you can escape this..." Li Tie had a chariot piece across the river and then positioned a horse piece near the enemy's general.
A dead game!
Lao Lü looked up helplessly at Li Tie, then seeing Lao Xie behind him, he said to Li Tie: "A true gentleman doesn't speak while watching a game of chess; your Lao Xie back there definitely isn't a true gentleman."
Lao Xie chuckled innocently, saying nothing.
They all spoke in quiet voices, keeping their volume low so not to disturb the others who were resting.
Even some people, tired of being in the room, went outside in their boxers and lay on the open ground, letting the raindrops fall on their bodies.
This feeling was unrestrained, very free.
Consequently, more people joined him, and seeing these younger ones act out, Third Uncle and Qin watched in a daze, their eyes seemingly reminiscing about the past.
Their activities were severely limited in this place, just repeating the cycle of fighting Zombies, resting, eating, and sleeping.
....
Before they knew it, five days had passed.
These days, although they weren't as bad as the years of hardships, staying in such a cramped space without much activity to do was very uncomfortable.
Sometimes, they would directly run out onto the exterior platform, where it was raining, but at least there was a comparatively larger space for them to relax.
They had already consumed a third of the provisions they carried, but the water supply was not an issue. The torrential rain that kept coming down was their best source of water.
Beneath the Water Tower, Zombies had piled into a mound over eight meters tall.
Accompanied by the continuing torrential rain, more Zombies came from the provincial capital, reaching a tide of two hundred thousand Zombies—equivalent to the entire population of a small county before the apocalypse.
So many Zombies circled the Water Tower, in such a confined space, but the human presence of some forty people was mesmerizing to them.
Each Zombie that was pushed down had one thing in common: either its mouth or its eye socket had a hole, all pierced by the spears wielded by Third Uncle and the others.
Due to prolonged use, every time they rotated shifts, they would sharpen the spearheads against the concrete pillars of the platform, hoping to make them even sharper.
The numbers of Zombies that had fallen were uncountable.
Every time Third Uncle looked at the mound of Zombies beneath the Water Tower, he would sigh at the strength and terror of the Zombies.
Countless and boundless, being in such an environment made them feel their own insignificance even more.
The land was vast, and the Zombies on the ground seemed like beans scattered everywhere, seemingly endless.
If seen from a distance, this scene appeared like a mound, with a straight stick poking through the center, and a flag was placed at the top of the stick.
That flag was the top platform.
The edge of the sky was dark, and through the rain, the mountains in the distance appeared like a landscape painting.
Such a scene, very much like the landscape paintings of ancient artists, made one marvel that ancient paintings were not imaginative but realistic, and so lovely.
It gave off a desolate feeling, inducing a sense of despair.
The wind howled, whipping through the iron railings on the edge of the platform, emitting a sharp noise, harsh to the ear but deepening the sense of terror in the atmosphere.