Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

"Actually, can you bring us to their base?" Xiaoyun awkwardly scratched his head as Chen Ping's location wasn't on the GPS.

"Of course, boss." Chen Ping followed Xiaoyun out of the golf course.

After leaving a squad behind to watch over the captives, Chen Ping entered the front car and started leading the convoy.

Twenty minutes later...

"Are roads supposed to be this quiet? Where are the zombies?" Xiaoyun asked as only a few zombies appeared in the road.

"Most of the zombies are all migrating north... Maybe the moisture here is too much for them to handle. At least that's what I saw them traveling through the G107 highway in hordes." Chen Ping replied.

"Only if the zombies in our city do the same." Xiaoyun sighed.

"Is that their base?" Wuli noticed a massive blockade in the distance.

"Yes, that's their base... Boss, do you want me to stop the car?" Chen Ping asked.

"Stop right in front of the blockade."

"Also, Regiment Three and Four, get off your vehicle and try to sneak around them. Over." Xiaoyun directed through walkie-talkies.

As Xiaoyun's car stopped before the blockade, the people behind the security booth immediately raised their guns.

"W-What business d-do you have here?" One of the people inside the security booth nervously asked through the megaphone.

"We're 74th Group Army, and one of our comrades was imprisoned here." Xiaoyun bluffed on the spot.

The atmosphere started getting increasingly tense as neither side chose to speak up, as if both sides were trying to stall it out.

"Regiment Three is in position, over." A Major's voice came out of Xiaoyun's walkie-talkies.

"Hold for now, wait for Regiment Four, over."

"Regiment Four is in position, over." Another Major's voice came out of the walkie-talkies.

"Are you guys going to let us through? This is a final warning." Xiaoyun's car speaker spoke to the outside.

The security booth stood in silence as they still refused to speak up.

"Regiment Three and Four, permission granted, you may attack over."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, two of Xiaoyun's regiment appeared at the side of the security booth and opened fire.

Within seconds, the booth was reduced to ashes.

After clearing the blockade, Xiaoyun's army was finally moving forward again.

Throughout the way to the White Lotus base, sparse gunshots were fired toward Xiaoyun's vehicles, but it barely made a dent.

With Xiaoyun's plan to use the convoy as a distraction, the other two regiments could sneak inside the building and clear them individually.

Most of the cult members eventually surrendered after getting a taste of the regiment's overwhelming firepower.

"Well, this was easier than I thought," Xiaoyun commented as they arrived at the main building of the White Lotus.

"How's a bunch of religious fanatics going to fight against a modern army?" Chen Ping mumbled.

As Chen Ping stopped the car, suddenly hundreds of cult members got out of the building and stood outside with their hands raised in the air.

"We surrender, please don't kill us." One of them spoke up.

Noticing that all the people who stepped outside were men, Xiaoyun's mind was reaffirmed that they did practice killing women.

"Regiment One and Two, arrest all of them, over."

After the two regiments arrested the two thousand people standing there, Xiaoyun exited the car.

"Who's the leader?" Xiaoyun asked.

None of them spoke up until one of the men ratted him out.

"He's the leader! He had killed so many people for his leisure. He's a psychopath."

Xiaoyun turned his attention to the man who pointed the leader out.

"Untie him... What's your name?" Xiaoyun asked as the soldiers untied the man.

"My name is Zhen Ti," the man replied.

"You seem to have a grudge against him. Can I ask what it is?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

Zhen Ti suddenly burst into tears as he thought about the past.

"He killed my wife and two-year-old daughter right in front of me. I tried to fight back, but they all beat me until I was unconscious.

By the time I was awake, all I had was my son. I have no option but to join them to get food for my son."

"I'm sorry to hear that... Here's your chance of revenge." Xiaoyun hands Zhen Ti with a knife.

Zhen Ti immediately understood what Xiaoyun wanted and rushed toward the cult leader.

The cult leader groans in pain as Zhen Ti stabs his stomach multiple times, then groans in pain even louder as Zhen Ti stabs at the crotch.

With a final cut at the neck, the cult leader finally dropped dead to the floor.

"Thank you... My life is yours, sir." Zhen Ti kowtow on the ground in gratitude.

"No need for this. You two, bring him some food to eat." Xiaoyun directed the two soldiers to bring Zhen Ti down.

Just as Xiaoyun was about to give a verdict to the rest of the cult members, his walkie-talkie suddenly rang.

"Commander, what should we do with the captives we capture in the building?" The Major from Regiment Four asked.

"Regiment Four, when you are finished clearing the building, you may bring all your captives to White Lotus's main building," Xiaoyun replied.

"Regiment Three, do you need reinforcement?" Xiaoyun asked as he noticed Regiment Three had been radio silent the whole time.

"No, sir, but we might need a few more minutes to clear this. They got several rifles in here."

"Take your time. No need to rush it." Xiaoyun returned the walkie-talkie and turned his attention to the cult members.

"Now... who is the 2nd in command of White Lotus?" Xiaoyun asked.

Immediately, the entire crowd of captives burst into chaos as if they wanted to fight for the right to point him out.

The soldiers quickly put the captive back into silence as Xiaoyun walked over to the 2nd in command.

"You're the 2nd in command?" Xiaoyun asked.

"Yes... if you want to kill me, just do it already." The middle-aged man didn't seem to care about dying.

"I have a change of heart. If you tell me the event leading up to the White Lotus... and more about the cult leader, I'll let you live." Xiaoyun promised as he got a little curious about the whole cult.

After waiting for a few seconds, the middle-aged man gave in.

"The cult leader wasn't always like this... before the zombie apocalypse, he was just a family man with a beautiful wife and son.

But then, when the zombie apocalypse did happen, his wife cheated on him with another man. He held it in, but then, during a life-or-death situation... his wife chose the other man over him and his son.

Luckily, he was able to survive, but his son died... That's when he started to become more and more extreme. He left the settlement and founded White Lotus."

The middle-aged man looked at Xiaoyun as if he was expecting to be free now.

"And how did all of you decide to join him? Just because he was a lunatic, you guys still have common sense, right?" Xiaoyun asked another question.

"We never agreed with his ideas. But he was a good leader... he gave us all food and treated everyone as equals. He's the best we can ask for compared to other settlements."

"Okay, one last question. It seems you have been with him since the start, but I pardon your crime... Now, can you point out all the core members who participate in killing innocent people?" Xiaoyun signaled the soldiers to untie the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man immediately started pointing them out one by one, with many yelling at him for being a traitor.

In the end, almost half of them were on the left side, participating in the ritual.

"The rest here are newcomers that haven't gone through the official ritual."

"What's the official ritual?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"The official ritual is... cutting a woman's body part, and then watching them burn on a cross." The 2nd in command nervously replied.

"Very well, you two, tie him back up." Xiaoyun directed the two soldiers.

"Wait, I did everything you asked for. Why are you tying me back up?" The 2nd in command yelled out in anger.

"You thought I let you go? How naive can you be?" Xiaoyun signaled the soldier to open fire as he turned to the right.

"Do you guys think they deserved it?" Xiaoyun asked the captives on the right, watching their fellow cult member being shot to death.

All of them immediately nodded in agreement.

"That's good to hear."

Just as Xiaoyun finished speaking, the fourth regiment finally returned with their captives.

"Commander, we have achieved our goals!" The Major saluted toward Xiaoyun.

"Very good. You all can go take a break." Xiaoyun signaled the first regiment to take over captives.

After ten minutes, the third regiment finally came with their captives.

Xiaoyun directed the second regiment to take over the captive, then asked the cult member who was still on the right.

"Can you guys point out the core member?"

---

After thirty minutes, everything was finally sorted out.

There were still around one thousand people in captivity, and Xiaoyun didn't want to risk bringing them home.

"Zhen Ti, do you want to be a new leader for the people here?" Xiaoyun suggested.

"Me? But I don't have any leadership skills... Am I really qualified for this?" Zhen Ti refused the proposal.

"You can learn it as you go. I'll send a few people to assist you." Xiaoyun pushed the idea again.

"But there's still some remnant outside the city that hates us. If you leave us, we'll all die here. Please take us with you." Zhen Ti pleaded.