"Don't judge me by my looks, bro. I'm all muscle," Guo Xiaobei said with a grin. "And I've got some food in my car. If you take me with you, I can take care of myself and won't be a burden. In this situation, the more people there are, the safer we'll be. If I really do slow you down, you can just leave me behind then."
The man's attention shifted to the part about the food, and he didn't pay much attention to the rest. "What kind of food do you have?" The man gave a glance to the others.
Guo Xiaobei's eye twitched, and he forced a calm smile. "I left home late, and all the edible food had been taken. I only managed to get some uncooked rice and flour, but I can cook them. If you take me with you, these will come in handy." Guo Xiaobei revealed part of the truth, hoping to pique their interest. However, food was a necessity. A small amount was fine, but too much might arouse their greed, especially considering his weak aura at the moment. If these people were completely heartless, he would just fight his way out. He had already killed countless zombies, so killing a person shouldn't be a problem.
"Hey, Heizi, Erhu, go take a look," the man shouted behind him.
"Slow... boss, we're all just trying to survive. Although I don't have much, but..." Guo Xiaobei put on an expression of surprise and caution at the right time. Although the amount of food he had collected wasn't a lot, it wasn't little either. Mainly, those grains and flours weren't easily taken unless there was a large - scale transportation vehicle or a multi - person team. A lone escapee wouldn't carry too much.
Guo Xiaobei looked at the man in front of him very seriously. "Boss, if you can take me with you, I'll contribute half of my food."
The man stared at him intently for a long time before slowly speaking. "We're all here to survive, and it's not easy for anyone. I'll agree to your request, but you'd better not be a burden to us as you said."
"Don't worry," Guo Xiaobei let out a long sigh of relief. It was best to travel together. Even with the system, he wasn't sure if he could survive on his own.
Guo Xiaobei quickly walked to his car. Using the back of the seat as a cover, he took out a bag of flour and half a bag of rice. Then he dragged the bag of flour off the car.
The two young men who had been named by the man earlier also came over. They glanced into his car and took the flour from his hands.
This bag of flour was about fifty pounds, and the two young men easily carried it back. Guo Xiaobei followed behind, watching the man talk to the two young men and then looking at the bag of flour.
"Brother, why don't we put all the food together? I've got a few people with me too. Put it in your car, fill up with gas, and we'll set off in a while," the man patted Guo Xiaobei on the shoulder. "From now on, just call me Brother Xu when you're with them. What's your name?"
"Just call me Xiao Guo, Brother Xu. This..."
"Don't worry, Xiao Guo. We won't harm you. In this day and age, those who have food and skills can survive." In other words, without food and the ability to protect themselves, they would still be abandoned.
Guo Xiaobei gritted his teeth and watched as Brother Xu sent someone to his car to take away the remaining half - bag of rice. Fortunately, it was only a small part of his collection.
Guo Xiaobei claimed that he hadn't eaten for a day. He got some cold steamed buns and half a bag of pickled vegetables from Brother Xu and ate them. At the same time, he filled up his car with gasoline.
When Guo Xiaobei got back into the driver's seat, he saw a young man who had come over to help move things earlier bringing a few people over.
"Xiao Guo, take these few people with you. There are too many things in that car, and there's no more room," the young man said as he led the three people he brought to Guo Xiaobei and then left. Guo Xiaobei quickly sized up the three people.
There was a girl, probably fifteen or sixteen years old. However, she was quite ordinary - looking and not considered beautiful. Behind her was a woman in her twenties or thirties. She also looked ordinary, but had a better temperament. Both of them looked rather thin and weak. Guo Xiaobei roughly understood Brother Xu's intention. Everyone was relatively weak. If a large number of zombies attacked, they could be dealt with together, and all the food would be taken away without any concerns.
As soon as Guo Xiaobei thought about it, he understood Brother Xu's intention and it made him grind his teeth in anger. This was too obvious; they didn't even have a shred of decency.
However, when Guo Xiaobei turned to look at the third person, his previous thoughts were completely overturned. This third person was not an old, weak, sick, or disabled person. On the contrary, he looked very strong. He was quite tall, probably around one - hundred - eighty centimeters, and had a stocky build with broad shoulders and a big waist.
Guo Xiaobei proactively opened the car door and called out to the three people. "Hurry up and get in the car."
The two girls got into the back of the car timidly. The man sat down next to Guo Xiaobei.
"Brother, where did you escape from?" Although they hadn't left the city yet, the city was very large, with more than a dozen districts and counties.
"I'm not from here. I came from Shanshi City to look for a job," the man nodded at Guo Xiaobei. "And you, brother?"
"I'm a local. A few days ago, someone kept bringing me food and water. Then suddenly, it stopped. When I went out to check, wow... sigh!" Guo Xiaobei shook his head and sighed. He stepped on the accelerator to catch up with the convoy in front and started moving forward. What he said was actually the truth, except for hiding a part. The man saw that he didn't seem like a very sly person and also started talking about himself.
The car traveled for half a day, and Guo Xiaobei finally found out why these few people were forced onto his car. As for the two girls, there was no need to say much. They were both thin and weak and not good - looking at all, so they couldn't catch the eyes of those people. And the man in front of him, named Xing Fang, had fought with Brother Xu's younger brother - in - law a few days ago and was regarded as a thorn in their side.
However, despite this, through several struggles, it could be seen that he was a strong and useful hand. Brother Xu wouldn't easily abandon him. He just said that there were few people on this side and asked him to come over to help with the weight on the car. Although Xing Fang had come over, he knew what the other party really thought in their hearts. But since they hadn't completely fallen out yet, he pretended not to know. If they really had a big fight, he would be the one at a loss.
After getting into Guo Xiaobei's car and chatting for a few sentences, they found that although this young man looked young and thin, he was actually a good person. He didn't play any tricks on them. Moreover, after seeing that Mr. Xu had taken rice and flour from his car, they naturally felt a bit sympathetic towards him and told Guo Xiaobei all about this group of people.
It turned out that this group of people weren't good people at all. They were a bunch of idlers in the county town. Brother Xu's real name was Xu Chunshan. He owned an internet cafe and usually hung out with a few so - called brothers, not doing anything good.
However, since these people were all out in the world, they were relatively shrewd. Seeing that the situation outside was bad, and with a few of their juniors chattering about the end - times and zombies, they more or less believed it. Taking advantage of the chaos, they looted several supermarkets nearby and stole two off - road vehicles and a small truck. Then they loaded up the goods and started heading north with their brothers. They had heard on the way that the military in various places had established some protection bases, so they chose the L - city shelter, which was the closest to them. They didn't care much about the conditions there. What mattered to them was that there was a regular army there. In any case, it was much better than waiting to die in this small city.