Grandpa Zhang’s gaze hardened. He pointed upstairs.
—What about Little Bao?
Lin Zao shook his head again.
—Little Bao’s safe. I handled it.
Grandpa Zhang had done so much for their family, was Little Bao’s old friend!
How could he stand by?
These robbers were vicious, lawless.
Take the store today, turn guns on his house tomorrow.
Happiness Street the day after!
Sit this out, and they’d come knocking eventually.
Better to join Grandpa Zhang now, go all-in, than get picked off later!
Lin Zao stopped arguing. He whipped around, scanning fast for something better than an iron stick.
Firecrackers…
No—good for scaring zombies, useless on people.
Wrench…
Nah, too small, blunt. Useless up close.
The truck…
That could work! Ram ’em with Fu Cheng’s pickup.
But he sucked at driving—might hit Grandpa Zhang.
Then…
Lin Zao’s eyes lit up. He dropped the iron stick and bolted forward.
Rumble—rumble—
Suddenly, a roar thundered.
It drowned out even the minivan’s engine.
The robbers jerked their heads up, staring toward the alley’s end, beyond the wall.
A young man emerged, clad in a green military coat, motorcycle helmet on his head, shouldering—
A chainsaw!
Lin Zao stood in the alley beside Grandpa Zhang’s house, one hand gripping the chainsaw tight, the other yanking the starter cord.
His husband ran the auto repair shop and kept a chainsaw at home as a tool. That was perfectly normal, right?
This was a large gasoline-powered chainsaw, and it was quite a struggle for Lin Zao to heft it onto his shoulder.
So Lin Zao wrapped a towel around his hand and the chainsaw’s handle, binding them together.
With each pull of the starter cord, the serrated chain spun rapidly, slicing through the air with a deafening roar.
Through the helmet’s face shield, Lin Zao still wore a mask, leaving only his eyes visible—eyes burning with determination.
He tugged at the chainsaw while stepping forward, advancing slowly.
The robbers were already scared shitless. As he closed in, they instinctively backed away.
Lin Zao gritted his teeth and forced a single word from his throat: “Scram!”
The men stumbled backward, not watching where they were going, and crashed right into Baldy.
“Fuck!” Baldy shoved them aside viciously. “What the hell are you afraid of?!”
“We’ve got numbers on our side. You think we’re scared of him and his little saw?”
“That thing might fool someone else, but not me!”
Baldy looked up at Lin Zao and let out a forced chuckle, trying to play it cool.
“Buddy, first time using one of those? You can barely hold it steady.”
Lin Zao clenched his jaw hard, refusing to show any weakness.
He deliberately roughened his voice and barked, “If you don’t want to die, get the fuck out!”
“What’s that old man inside to you?”
“None of your damn business! Get out!”
“Wanna team up with us for a score? Split the loot fair and square?”
“I said scram!”
Instead of backing off from Lin Zao’s shouts, Baldy pressed forward.
Lin Zao instinctively wanted to retreat but caught himself and forced his feet to stay planted.
The guy was testing him. In a situation like this, he couldn’t afford to flinch.
Baldy kept probing. “You live on this street?”
Lin Zao bit down harder, deciding to ignore him from here on out.
Baldy didn’t get mad at the silence. Instead, he adopted a casual, unflappable air.
He turned his head and glanced around as if idly surveying the scene, reading off the shop signs aloud.
“Sisters Hair Salon? Nah, not that one—you’re a guy.”
“Afei Couple’s Flat Meat Shop? Doesn’t fit. You’re not fat.”
Lin Zao stayed silent, just glaring daggers at him.
The next second, Baldy’s gaze shifted to the nearest sign.
He raised a hand, pointed at it, and spelled out the words deliberately, one by one—
“Xiao. Lin. Auto. Repair. Shop.”
Lin Zao’s heart sank. His chest heaved twice, but he held it together, giving nothing away.
“What a coincidence.” Baldy chuckled twice. “Back in middle school, I had a classmate. Lin, same last name.”
“His mom was the killer. His dad was the one she killed. I used to call him—”
“Little. Bastard.”
At those three words, Lin Zao’s expression darkened. His grip tightened unconsciously.
Small City was too damn small. Of all people, he had to run into this guy.
It really was…
Too much of a coincidence.
Baldy rubbed his shaved head and kept going. “My classmate had a childhood buddy. Fu, last name.”
“Those two were like a married couple, always stuck together.”
“That Fu guy was a total mad dog. Mess with his ‘wife,’ and he’d come at you fangs out.”
“I called Lin ‘little bastard’ once, and the guy spent days rounding up crews to sack me in alleys. Even beat up my folks!”
Lin Zao’s face was stone-cold. “You had it coming.”
Fu Cheng had always shielded him well.
It had been so long; he’d forgotten all about it.
That’s why Baldy had only seemed vaguely familiar at first—he hadn’t placed him.
But Baldy remembered, even now. He’d recognized him on sight.
In this apocalyptic world, with zombies running rampant…
Morality, law, social order—all collapsed.
Old grudges got amplified a thousandfold.
It turned a guy nursing resentment into someone itching for brutal payback.
Baldy and his crew had come to rob the place anyway. Now he’d spotted his old school nemesis here too.
No way he’d let it slide.
Lin Zao’s face grew deadly serious. “Yeah, that’s me.”
He turned his head and pointed the chainsaw toward the dark alley.
“You know what? Fu Cheng and I are married. He’s right there now, rounding up the neighbors.”
“Fu Cheng’s about to come out. You can’t take him.”
“I’m telling you, grab your guys and go. Don’t throw your lives away here…”
Before he could finish, Baldy exploded forward in a lunge.
“Fuck your grandma!”
“That Fu bastard got bit by zombies ages ago!”
“You think I’m stupid? Think you can bluff me?!”
Lin Zao dodged aside in a flash and swung the chainsaw toward Baldy.
Baldy stumbled, nearly falling flat.
He caught his balance and whirled back to bellow at his crew.
“What are you standing around for? Get him!”
“Chainsaws like that have safety stops! Hits flesh, it shuts off automatic!”
“What the fuck are you scared of? Charge!”
At those words, the robbers got fired up.
Lin Zao froze for a split second but snapped back quick, raising the chainsaw and swinging it at them wildly.
“Bullshit safety stop!”
“He’s lying to get you killed, and you’re buying it?”
“Anyone not afraid of dying, come test it!”
“Come on!”
Lin Zao gritted his teeth and yanked the starter cord furiously.
The chainsaw roared to life, sweeping past the group’s arms and faces.
It was still winter; they were bundled in puffy coats.
The blade ripped through fabric, slicing into flesh.
Down feathers and blood sprayed everywhere.
“Fuck! My arm!”
“Big Bro, you said—”
Lin Zao’s eyes were bloodshot, his breaths coming in gasps. His legs wobbled beneath him.
But he held firm, hoisting the saw and chasing after them, slashing wildly.
“Come on! Try me again! Come closer!”
Baldy tried sneaking up from behind, foot lifting for the strike.
That’s when a glob of chicken blood, shit, and feathers flew from nearby, smacking him square in the face and blinding him.
“You motherf—”
Lin Zao heard the noise and whipped around instinctively, backing up a few steps.
It was Grandpa Zhang.
The old man was too frail to come out directly—didn’t want to get in the way.
But he’d helped from inside the house!
Baldy wiped his face and yelled at his crew. “Charge! Fucking charge!”
“His husband’s got a whole truck of supplies stashed inside!”
“Grab that haul, it’ll last us half a year!”
Lin Zao had the chainsaw, so the group hung back for now, using iron sticks to parry the blade, trying to jam it.
The chainsaw was too bulky, too heavy. Lin Zao’s arms were burning, going numb and shaky.
He knew damn well he couldn’t hold out alone much longer.
So he looked around and started shouting for backup too—
“Yellow Hair! Green Hair! Red Hair! Get down here and help!”
“Fat Uncle, Fat Aunt, come on!”
“If they get in, the whole street’s fucked!”
“You can’t hide forever! Come help!”
Lin Zao swung the chainsaw while hollering.
The racket outside was huge—the neighbors had to have heard.
But…
Like Lin Zao before, they were clinging to false hope.
Lin Zao had figured the robbers couldn’t bash through the garage roller door and would leave.
They figured Lin Zao could chase off the thugs. If not, someone else would step up.
But now, that wasn’t happening.
Fear, wishful thinking, terror, survival instinct—human nature.
Lin Zao gasped for air. “Come out! Hurry! All together…”
Right then, a clatter of doors—”clang clang”—and the neighbors finally manned up, flinging open their doors and rushing out.
Leading the charge were the three cocky young guys from the auto factory.
Right behind: the two sisters from Sisters Hair Salon and the middle-aged couple from Afei Couple’s Flat Meat Shop.
They didn’t have wrenches, hammers, or chainsaws like Lin Zao and Fu Cheng’s place. Just hair shears, cleavers for chopping meat, and some throwing knives for show.
But unity was human nature too.
Red Hair launched a flying kick into a robber’s back.
“You fucker! You dare rob my Gan Grandpa’s place!”
He didn’t send the guy flying—instead, he bounced off himself.
Yellow Hair and Green Hair scrambled to haul him up.
The two sisters gripped their shears back-to-back, slashing wildly at the robbers.
The middle-aged couple had more heft; their cleavers were sharp and swung hard.
With their help holding off the robbers, Lin Zao wasn’t outnumbered one-against-many anymore.
Lin Zao finally exhaled in relief. “Good…”
He blinked for just a moment—and someone yelled from behind—
“Little Zao!”
Lin Zao spun around on instinct.
Before he could make sense of it, Grandpa Zhang charged out from somewhere, wood-chopping axe in hand, planting himself at Lin Zao’s back.
The axe came down heavy, cleaving right into Baldy’s upraised arm.
He’d been going for a sneak attack on Lin Zao.
“You old fuck!”
Baldy howled in agony and swung his iron stick at Grandpa Zhang’s head.
Lin Zao couldn’t stop it in time. He just grabbed Grandpa Zhang’s arm and yanked him behind.
Old and young tumbled to the ground together. The other neighbors tripped over them in the chaos, too busy fending off attackers.
Lin Zao could only raise the chainsaw with both hands and keep swinging.
“Get lost! Back off!”
The iron stick slammed into the chain, nearly sparking.
By now, Lin Zao couldn’t shout for anyone else—not even “help.”
He just screamed on reflex: “Fu Cheng! Fu Cheng! Fu Cheng!”
“Brother Cheng—”
The next instant—
Clang! Baldy’s iron stick hit the ground.
A massive hand reached from behind Baldy.
The palm spread wide and clamped onto his bald pate.
Whether the hand was already bloody or had crushed his skull, thick gore streamed down Baldy’s head, plastering his face and dripping to the dirt.
“Ah… ah…”
Baldy flailed in panic, voice hoarse, unable even to scream properly.
He could only roll his eyes, watching helpless as his head was gripped and he was hoisted clean off the ground.
Lin Zao shielded Grandpa Zhang, no time to gawk or think—just scrambled back out of harm’s way.
The neighbors and their robber opponents froze mid-fight.
They looked up, stunned at the sight.
Behind Baldy—
A ridiculously tall man, drenched in blood head to toe…
Radiating raw murderous fury from every inch.
