The night passed without incident. By late night, Xu An and Zhou Haimei had followed the original plan and detonated the tower in the small building.
Of course, despite their precautions, the explosion still caused quite a stir.
It was precisely because of this commotion that almost all the zombies in the area were attracted.
Unbeknownst to Xu An, her current location was separated by only one street from Xu Yan's.
The movement caused by Xu An's explosion had indirectly aided Xu Yan.
This was because Xu An's actions had drawn all the zombies away.
The number of wandering zombies around Xu Yan had significantly decreased.
"Where did that sound come from?" a young girl scrambled to her feet.
She tiptoed over and pulled open a small gap in the blackout curtain.
Peeking out, she saw the zombies staggering towards the direction of the sound.
A flicker of joy appeared on the girl's face.
"The zombies outside the door seem to have been lured away by that sound."
Hearing this, the girl's companion rushed over, and the two discussed in hushed tones.
"Does that mean we can go out?"
Seeing the girl's excited expression, Xu Yan was about to say something but ultimately remained silent.
With zombies roaming outside, choosing to leave at this time was a risky move, but it wasn't without merit.
After all, they couldn't stay in this convenience store forever.
Although official rescue had not yet arrived, humans were always thinking of ways to save themselves.
Many of the people here shared this sentiment.
It was better to take action than to wait passively.
At this moment, they were unaware of the true situation outside, naively believing that if they could reach the border and remained uninfected, they would surely survive.
Clearly, the two girls peeking through the window shared this very thought.
"Liu Liu, do we really have to go?"
After the initial excitement subsided, the girl who followed behind, seeing the scattered corpses outside, became scared again.
Courage might be a fleeting emotion, but the fear of death lingered in everyone's hearts.
The girl called Liu Liu looked out the window again, then glanced at everyone in the room.
Two elderly people had already succumbed to exhaustion and fallen asleep.
But more people were subtly, or not so subtly, shifting their attention to her.
Liu Liu knew that too many people were waiting for her answer.
In human herd mentality, someone always had to be the "leader."
She pulled the girl beside her and whispered in her ear.
"If you're scared, you can stay, but make sure you stay far away from that man with the dagger."
The girl heard Liu Liu's instructions and knew her mind was made up, yet she was also somewhat puzzled.
"But didn't that big brother stop that old woman from being unreasonable just now? I think he's quite nice."
Liu Liu looked at the girl she had met along the way and felt she was far too naive.
"You can't judge a book by its cover. It's better to deal with a rogue than to associate with a desperate criminal."
This was because the former might just want to take advantage of you, while the latter, though they might not harm you for now, could kill you at any moment.
However, there was no time to explain all this to the girl in front of her.
Liu Liu didn't say more, only giving her a meaningful glance: "Are you really not coming with me?"
The girl, however, had lost all the excitement she had felt upon discovering the reduced zombie presence. After much hesitation, she shook her head.
Liu Liu didn't say anything more; they were strangers after all.
Liu Liu was not originally from District B; she had come to visit her mentor, only to encounter the outbreak of the zombie virus.
During her escape, she had met the girl in front of her. As it turned out, they were fellow disciples, so Liu Liu had taken extra care of the girl along the way.
On several occasions when they encountered zombies, it was Liu Liu who saved the girl. Liu Liu did not force the girl to leave with her.
After all, in the apocalypse, one had to be responsible for their own choices.
Liu Liu could actually understand the girl's thoughts.
She probably felt that no matter what, this small supermarket, with so many people, would be safer than following her and constantly dodging zombies outside.
But this small convenience store was not as easy to stay in. Let alone others, just the lean monkey of a man with the dagger – his aura was that of someone who would kill without hesitation.
He might have even killed before.
This was precisely why Liu Liu decided she had to leave.
Having said what she needed to say, Liu Liu did not press further; they were strangers who met by chance.
Liu Liu nodded, "Alright, I'll leave in a bit. You stay safe here."
Seeing the girl's questioning expression, Liu Liu ultimately refrained from trying to persuade her any further.
The survival rule of the apocalypse: it's best not to meddle in others' affairs.
The surrounding people couldn't hear their conversation, but they saw that the two girls seemed to have reached some kind of understanding.
The girl with short hair and capable attire picked up her belongings and walked to the center of the crowd.
Liu Liu thought she should inform everyone. If not for any other reason, by putting in a little effort now, if something happened when she left, and she wanted to return later, she wouldn't be turned away at the door.
"Everyone, I have something to say. I just looked outside the window, and most of the zombies outside have been attracted by that explosion. I think this is a good opportunity to break out. Whether you want to go home or to the border to leave District B, this is a good chance. It's really not advisable to stay here any longer."
After Liu Liu finished speaking softly, she looked at everyone.
At this moment, the annoying old woman spoke up again with a sneer, "Don't drag everyone down with you if you're sick. We're fine here, why should we run out and fight zombies? We just need to wait for rescue. Don't talk nonsense here."
The woman had noticed the girl's actions earlier and thought she was up to something, only to discover she was trying to persuade everyone to escape.
Who knew how many life-or-death moments she and her son had experienced to escape to this place, and now they were being asked to go out and die.
She looked at the girl, her eyes rolling towards the heavens.
Liu Liu had anticipated the mockery. She wasn't actually trying to get everyone to go out.
After all, if she were alone, she would be a smaller target.
But if the dozen or so people here ran out together, it would attract too much attention, making them too large a target.
At that point, they would truly become living targets.