Around two in the afternoon, Yi Yi started driving through Funan City's streets in a methodical search pattern, with Chen Wan in the front passenger seat helping scan the surroundings. The RV now had three mechanical arms, which made dealing with zombies considerably more manageable.
Yi Yi also took the opportunity to drive to the river running through the center of Funan City and fill the RV's eleven-thousand-two-hundred-liter water tank.
Once that was done, she got back on the main road. Nearly forty minutes of searching later, they found what they were looking for on the city's outskirts — a scrapyard and recycling facility of considerable size.
"That one." Chen Wan pointed. "It looks like a real operation, not just a small collection point."
"Large compound, warehouse structures — definitely not just an ordinary scrap collection." Yi Yi smiled. It had taken long enough, but they'd found it. She pulled the RV directly into the facility's yard and parked near the warehouse.
Chen Wan assessed the area. Being on the outskirts, the zombie density was low. She called the four-person team off the RV — Jiang Wanning, as before, stayed with Ye Lan and Jiang Zhao Yuan to look after Yang Yang.
They armed up — sidearms and machetes — and stepped down.
Five or six zombies in the yard locked onto the group the moment they emerged and came charging. Five or six wasn't even worth calling a fight. Chen Wan and Yi Yi moved forward together.
Chen Wan's four ability modifiers were all active. Her close-combat performance had improved significantly — she kicked one zombie away and, in the same motion, swept her machete through two more in rapid succession, fast enough that the others watching caught an afterimage.
Yi Yi, now at the RV's Level 4 and matching it, put down three zombies in front of her in the time it took most people to draw a weapon. They swept the perimeter, confirmed no reinforcements were coming, and moved toward the warehouse.
Chen Wan waved the others forward. "Clear. Let's go see what's in there."
"Everyone, stay alert." Jiang Yanxin fell in beside her.
As Yi Yi passed the main building of the facility, she glanced up at the sixth floor. Her detection radius had expanded with the upgrade to eighty meters, and what she picked up gave her pause. "Careful — there are people in that building. More than a few. Around a dozen or so."
Chen Wan looked up briefly. "Warehouse first. What's in there matters more. As long as whoever's up there doesn't interfere, they're not our problem."
Yi Yi nodded and followed her inside.
On the sixth floor, a young man pressed close to the window and spoke in a low, tense voice to the person beside him.
"Brother Qiang — that RV. It looks exactly like the one Chen Wan was driving in Weibei City. And those people — two of them look like Chen Wan and Jiang Yanxin."
The man called Zhang Qiang's face had gone dark. "I don't care who it is. Anyone walking into my territory doesn't walk back out."
Zhang Qiang and his people had been in Weibei City when they picked up the emergency broadcast about the Funan City survivor base. They had made the journey south, arriving a day or two ahead of Chen Wan's group — their numbers and weapons giving them the advantage. They had barely submitted their weapons at the base when the zombie attack came, forcing them to grab vehicles and flee. This recycling facility had become their stronghold.
The location had been deliberate — suburban enough that zombies were sparse, close enough to the main road that any survivors seeking shelter would pass nearby and could be taken in. The facility itself was stocked with everything from expired food and liquor to steel and bladed tools. And a large compound with a main-road frontage was, for someone like Zhang Qiang, a very convenient hunting ground.
The room they currently occupied held both expired biscuits and expired wine.
"Brother Qiang, we need to move fast and block them," the man with glasses said urgently. "If that really is Chen Wan's vehicle, it's not normal. We can't let them get back on board."
"What do you know?" the one called Dongzi shot back with contempt.
Zhang Qiang's jaw was tight, his voice cold. "Go lock the front gate first. We'll deal with them inside the yard. Everyone arms up and comes down."
Their weapons had all been surrendered at the base. What remained were salvaged machetes from the facility's own inventory. But Zhang Qiang had seen that Chen Wan's group also appeared to be using machetes, which settled some of his concerns. And he had one card left to play.
"Move. We're taking them." Dongzi grabbed a machete eagerly.
Zhang Qiang's voice dropped lower as they filed out. "If that really is Chen Wan, once we've subdued them, the men can take turns. No restraint. Play until they're used up."
The man with the explosion of permed hair laughed. "Brother Qiang always looks after us. Haven't had any entertainment since leaving the base."
"Exactly. Brother Qiang is like the emperor of the apocalypse — takes care of his people, better than any base commander," the one with the dyed red hair chimed in with a grin.
Zhang Qiang heard this, couldn't quite suppress a smile, and pulled the woman beside him — Sun Yuejie — closer by the waist. "If that day comes, you're all my most important people."