Director, Hurry and Put On the Socks!

"Hahaha, not bad, eh?" Fu Hu planted his hands on his hips and laughed heartily. "How about my ability? Man, I'm no ordinary guy anymore either." "All right, all right, it's really something!" Su Jin cleared his throat, immensely pleased. "With this ability, our safety margin just went way up! I'll give you a day to practice and test it out. Tomorrow, we set out!" The next morning at dawn, down in the residential complex. The three men checked one another's gear. Crude armor, helmets, firearms, arrows, and other essentials were all accounted for. The back seat of the car was also piled with over twenty bolas. A bola, simply put, was a crude trip cord made by tying stones to both ends of a rope. Thrown properly, it could wrap around an enemy's legs. The materials were easy to find, easy to craft, and highly effective. For unintelligent creatures like zombies, once their legs were tangled and tripped, their threat level plummeted. Of course, this was strictly for single targets; against a horde, it clearly would not do much good. Halfway through the check, Su Jin looked up. Several women were leaning against an upper window, looking down. Su Jin waved and called out, "Get back inside! Don't distract us down here. Take care of whatever you need to do. We'll be back in an hour or two." "Be careful!" Fu Qingdai cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, yelled down, and then shut the window. Once he confirmed no one else was watching, Su Jin walked to the side of the building, retrieved the propane-tank bombs, and began loading them into the trunk. With everything ready, Su Jin turned to Sun Ya and Wei De, who were standing nearby helping inspect things. "You two head back upstairs. Until we return, no one is allowed to leave the apartment." "Don't worry, the two of us will watch the place... Don't waste any time, and get back as soon as you can." Sun Ya finished, then pointed at Su Jin's chest. "You used to carry that handbag around every day, and now you've sewn it inside your clothes. It looks terribly cumbersome. What kind of treasure is in there, anyway?" "A family heirloom. The only thing I have left to remember them by." "Fair... enough, then." One after the other, the two elders patted Su Jin's shoulder and turned to head upstairs. Only the three men remained, exchanging glances. After a moment, Fu Hu asked, "Who's driving?" "You asked, so you drive." "Heh, fine." The three climbed into the car, Fu Hu behind the wheel and Su Jin in the passenger seat. Cheng Du sat alone in the back. While Fu Hu was starting the engine, Cheng Du cast a glance toward Su Jin. After hesitating for a moment, he pulled something from his chest and slowly held it out toward Su Jin. Feeling something brush past his ear, Su Jin flinched and whipped his head around. "What are you doing?" "Director..." Cheng Du gave an awkward smile, his eyes darting around. "Well... the Cold Canopy missile went off over there, and the ice probably hasn't fully melted yet, right? I figured it'd be cold over there, so I brought you a couple pairs of socks. How about... you put them on first?" Su Jin took the socks and unfolded them. They were white crew socks. He gave Cheng Du a suspicious look and let out a scoffing laugh. "Cheng Du, you're really something else. Worried I'd freeze, so instead of giving me a coat or pants, you bloody give me socks? What were you thinking?" "You're not short on clothes, but these socks are warm... and they protect against twisted ankles." Cheng Du kept waggling his eyebrows with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Director, just try them on." "You're out of your mind." Su Jin tossed the socks onto the back seat and patted Fu Hu beside him with a scoff. "Hey, Lao Fu, don't you think he's lost his mind? Huh? Giving me socks!" The engine was already running. Fu Hu rested both hands on the steering wheel, his expression somewhat grave. After a quiet moment, he pondered aloud, "Director... is this trip not as simple as it seems? I know there's danger, of course, but the way Elder Sun and Elder Wei have been acting these past few days hasn't been normal at all. It's like they're hiding something big from us. Since we're going out there to risk our lives together, what is there that can't be said?" "How come I didn't notice anything?" Cheng Du muttered, dumbfounded. Su Jin stared ahead in contemplation, finally giving a helpless, bitter smile. "All right. Since you brought it up, I'll be straight with you. Zombies aren't the only type of infected. There's another kind that looks just like normal people, and they can blend right into crowds. If we want to survive and grow our team, this is our biggest obstacle. "I didn't tell you before because I was worried about mutual suspicion. We'd end up tearing our own little group apart before we even had the chance to recruit anyone and build a team. "Don't worry, though. Elder Sun and Elder Wei have already devised an experimental method to screen for the infected hiding among survivors. Our mission this time is to help retrieve the equipment for their experiments. "We're heading out to risk our necks together, and the Medical University is bound to be crawling with zombies indoors. We're definitely going to see combat. I don't want any friction between us. When we get back, don't mention this to the women at home yet—at least not until we've gotten a proper team off the ground." "As long as there's a solution... I understand." Fu Hu looked relieved. "I don't understand!" Cheng Du suddenly put a hand on Su Jin's shoulder, agitation creeping into his voice. "Hey, why bother recruiting a team? For what? It's not like we're out to save the world! "We already have the means to protect ourselves now. We could easily find some deserted place and live in safety. The gray rain's effects are already gone, so we could even farm! Why take this kind of risk?!" "Hiding away in a shell is just the difference between dying early and dying late!" Su Jin reached back and grabbed Cheng Du, his gaze stern. "There are no safe places left in this world—don't you get that? Fine, even if you could find a place to hide for the rest of your life, do you really want to live in fear forever, like a pig? Like a dog?! "We have no choice! We can only fight back—we have to fight back! The heavier the burden, the more people are needed to share it! We have to rely on the majority, even if it means risking betrayal. "In times like these, helping others is helping ourselves. Nobody is an idiot. Anyone looking out only for themselves will either wait around to die or get sacrificed by someone else. "Elder Sun and Elder Wei—two old men whose families are all dead and who were ready to commit suicide! What are they bustling around for every day? For us! Do you really think we can back down now?" Cheng Du's throat bobbed. He pulled his hand back and nodded. Fu Hu said bitterly, "That's right. The director is right. I still have a wife and a kid. Qingdai is still young... I don't want her to have no future. I don't want to see her trapped living in a world like this." With that, Fu Hu took off his helmet and pulled out a photograph from inside it. His right hand gently brushed across the photographic paper. It was a picture of the three of them—a family portrait. Su Jin's face darkened instantly. After looking at the photo, Fu Hu turned his head toward Su Jin. "Director, this trip is dangerous. If anything happens to me, I hope you can take care of Zhang Wan and Qingdai for me... Qingdai is very dependent on you, I can tell. Honestly, I'm fully behind you. At her age, it's about time she—" "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Cheng Du reached out from the back and slapped at Fu Hu repeatedly. "Lao Fu! What kind of forced matchmaking is this?! Aren't you guilt-tripping the director with moral blackmail? I can't stand people like you!" "What the hell is wrong with you?! What does this have to do with you?!" Fu Hu snapped back, cursing. "What does it have to do with me? You're ruining team harmony, you hear me?! Shoving your daughter onto him like that, putting the director in an awkward spot—despicable!" Cheng Du retorted mockingly as he took off his helmet and fished a photo out from inside it. "Hilarious. Think you're the only one? It's just a photo, right? Let me tell you, I've got one too! I brought mine along as well!" Su Jin's face went completely black! "Director, this is my younger brother—" "What the fuck are you two doing?! Are you both trying to fucking kill me?!" Su Jin roared, throwing two solid punches and rewarding each of them with one. The engine revved, and the vehicle slowly rolled out of the residential complex.