Women in the post-apocalyptic world were miserable. They had to constantly avoid zombies and hunger, and they had to face the pressure of the post-apocalyptic world. Zhang Xiaoqiang had found many women, and most of them had been tortured by men to the point of numbness. Sometimes, even they themselves did not know the meaning of their lives.
On the other hand, the women in front of him were not empty and numb. They were afraid. They tried their best to cover up the parts of their bodies that were exposed and hid behind their female companions. When they saw the combat team members with guns on their backs sizing them up unscrupulously, they were so scared that their bodies trembled.
These men in ragged clothes, sallow and emaciated, came in front of Zhang Xiaoqiang. They were like quails in a rainstorm. Other than shrinking their heads, they did not dare to do anything. They were waiting for the person in front of them to decide their fate.
Before Zhang Xiaoqiang could speak, Wang Le, who was behind him, spoke first. He looked at the slim bald man in his fifties.
"Haha … Isn't this Director Ma?
Aiyo!
Where's your so-called size 43 belly? "
No one knew what this Director Ma looked like in the past. The clothes he was wearing were obviously ill-fitting. His jacket and pants were obviously a lot bigger. Other people used belts to tie their waists, but he used a faded nylon rope that he found somewhere to tie his pants to his waist. However, the waist of the pants was too big, and a large part of it was exposed. The white lining on the inside of the waist of the pants was dyed black by a layer of black oil.
Director Ma squinted his eyes and looked for a long time. Before the apocalypse, Wang Le was careful and cautious. He had a family and children. For the sake of his job, he pretended to be a grandson in front of others. When the apocalypse came, he lost everything. But he relied on his skills to live a better life than those men who ate chicken feed.
After he met Zhang Xiaoqiang, his luck took a turn. With the credit of being a lookout, he was promoted by Zhang Xiaoqiang to be the director of the repair factory. With Zhang Xiaoqiang's attention, he lived a better life than before the apocalypse. After he gained a little bit of power, he gained confidence. Now he was in high spirits. It was hard for people who knew him to associate him with the humble person he used to be.
"Le Zi … You are Le Zi?"
Director Ma finally remembered. He used to call Wang Le by his nickname in the workshop. At that time, everyone used to make fun of Wang Le. His name had the word Le in it, so everyone called him Le Zi. But no one remembered his real name. Now Director Ma naturally called him by his nickname.
"No, no, no … I am not Le Zi.
Not in the past, and not in the future. My name is Wang Le, the director of the Hot Spring Base Machinery Factory. Wang Le, remember it … "
Hearing Director Ma call him by his nickname, Wang Le couldn't take it anymore. No matter what, he was now one of the top ten out of more than seven hundred people. How could he let others call him the nickname that everyone trampled on before the apocalypse?
A layer of sweat immediately seeped out from Director Ma's oily forehead. He didn't become the director purely by bootlicking. He had a way of judging people. They were all sly old foxes.
Wang Le's attire was different from the other soldiers. The others were all wearing yellow military uniforms and an M1 helmet. However, Wang Le was fully armed. He wore a dark gray piercing vest with the words "SWAT" on the outside. On his head, he wore a polymer helmet with a police emblem on it. On his waist, there was a Type 92 pistol in a shiny holster. The others all had a Type 56 submachine gun, but Wang Le carried a strange-looking sniper crossbow on his back.
All of these made Director Ma realize that Wang Le was not simple.
"Wang … Factory Manager Wang … Haha, welcome Factory Manager Wang to inspect the work …"
Director Ma was anxious and used the way he used to greet his superiors. Wang Le's bones softened when he was addressed as Factory Manager Wang. Fortunately, his brain was not muddled. He interrupted Director Ma's flattery and explained the situation to Zhang Xiaoqiang.
Director Ma in front of him was Wang Le's previous workshop director. At that time, he was a super fat man. It was obvious that he did not have a good life after the apocalypse. Wang Le was not familiar with the other men. His social circle was not big and he was very low-key. Naturally, he did not know many people. However, with his foresight as the workshop's technical head, he could tell that there were more than 30 men who were workers in the workshop. The calluses on their hands and fingers could not fool him.
He knew a few of the dozen women. They were all office clerks. Generally, they had to go through their hands when it came to deducting wages and issuing fines. The other women should be similar to them. However, there was a woman in her forties who left a deep impression on Wang Le. Every time he ate at the cafeteria, that woman would give him less streaky pork than the others. Thinking of this, Wang Le was so angry that his teeth itched. After so many years, how much meat did he eat compared to others?
After listening to Wang Le's story, Zhang Xiaoqiang understood that Wang Le's luck was not bad. During that period of time, the factory was busy and needed to arrange for people to work the night shift. There was no night shift fee here, so no one was willing to work the night shift. Therefore, the workshop director, Director Ma, arranged for those who were usually very honest and did not dare to cause trouble to work the night shift.
Because of his decades of honesty, Wang Le was naturally the first to be chosen. Although Wang Le had good skills and was a solid worker, he was used to being bullied. He did not get a share of the factory's pooled housing. Every day, he had to ride a bicycle for two hours to return to his home in the suburbs. When he was on the way, the virus broke out.
Looking at Wang Le, who did not know whether he was lucky or unlucky, Zhang Xiaoqiang looked at the former factory workers who were panicking.
"Look carefully, this is our boss. You don't deserve to know who he is. You only need to know that our boss has nearly a thousand subordinates, and he has no shortage of machine guns and cannons. Our boss has killed tens of thousands of those monsters who scared you to death. Our boss has a rule, if you obey, you live, if you don't obey, you die …"
Now that he had the chance to show his face in front of his former colleagues, Wang Le began to use his connections to intimidate others. Zhang Xiaoqiang could not be bothered with him anymore. He led a few people to the other warehouses. Director Ma was a perceptive person. When he saw that his boss was about to leave, he ignored his colleagues and followed behind.
Zhang Xiaoqiang did not say anything, and his team members did not stop him. They just let him follow. Wang Le wanted to follow, but when he saw the remaining eight anti-aircraft machine guns in the warehouse, he stayed. He was a person who put work first.
This factory was very profitable, so the warehouse was well-stocked with materials. Looking at the warehouse full of steel cables, Zhang Xiaoqiang was not interested in these things. He did not build machines, so what was the use of these things?
The unhappiness on Zhang Xiaoqiang's face was seen by Director Ma. He took a few steps forward, wanting to get closer to Zhang Xiaoqiang. A few black muzzles were pointed at his head, and Director Ma's bald head began to sweat again.
Zhang Xiaoqiang glanced at him and waved his hand. The team members moved the muzzles away from his head. Director Ma endured the urge to pee when the muzzles were pointed at him, and he once again leaned toward Zhang Xiaoqiang.
"Big Boss, are you disappointed to see these things?" Director Ma approached while trying to curry favor.
Zhang Xiaoqiang frowned and looked at the submissive Director Ma. He nodded. These things could be used by the base, but they were dispensable. Today's harvest was already very good. Nine 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns, a few well-equipped machining workshops, and more than 30 men who knew about machines. The base's machinery factory could be said to have increased a few levels.
But looking at the rows of materials in the warehouse, Zhang Xiaoqiang felt that it was a waste to throw them away.
"Boss, I know there are good things there. Clothes, food, cooking oil, everything …"
This was an independent small building. This small building was from the same era as the one Zhang Xiaoqiang saw before. The small building's door had a copper plate with black words, "XXX Cable Machinery Factory Union." The union's door was locked. Looking at the dust on the door, it seemed that no one had been here for a long time.
On the side of the small building, there was a driveway leading to the back of the small building. Behind the small building, there were a few small warehouse like buildings. Zhang Xiaoqiang started to walk towards the back of the small building. While walking, Director Ma talked.
When the profit of the factory was good, the welfare of the workers was good. Usually, they would be given some toilet water, shampoo, toothpaste, towels, and other small welfare. When it came to festivals, it would be even more amazing. Rice and cooking oil were the basic welfare. Wine and fruits were the basic welfare. There were also specially packaged dried goods, biscuits, candies, peanuts, melon seeds, and so on. These were just ordinary workers. If it was a leader, it would be even more amazing. Famous cigarettes and wine were carried home one by one. The worst dried goods were 16 dried abalones, not to mention shark fins.
As Zhang Xiaoqiang listened to Director Ma's extravagant explanation, he slowly walked forward. He had already discovered that something was wrong. In some corners, there were some dried zombie corpses. There were no traces of animal bite marks on the corpses. There was only one possibility. These zombies were dragged there after being killed.
Thinking that there were living people here, Zhang Xiaoqiang gave a look to the team members beside him. The four team members pulled the bolt of their guns. The action of the team members pulling the bolt of their guns made Director Ma nervous again. Until he realized that none of the guns were aimed at him, he was so scared that he peed his pants.
Zhang Xiaoqiang found more traces. The road under his feet was covered in dust because no one had cleaned it for a long time. There were a lot of footprints on it. The footprints were not big. They didn't look like the footprints of a man. One of the footprints was so shallow that it couldn't be seen. It formed a sharp contrast with the other footprints.