I sell Coke in the doomsday

The sturdy man put his hand on his forehead, his heart full of doubts. His slightly darkened eyes looked around, and he found himself lying on an old dusty bed.

This should be one of those old houses that can be seen everywhere in the city, covered with dust and cobwebs.

Suddenly, the corner of his eye twitched, his expression became unnatural, and he subconsciously raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

I saw myself sitting comfortably on a clean sofa in a corner of the room, holding a shotgun in one hand, pressing the trigger, aiming at the sturdy man's head.

"I surrender! I surrender!"

The sturdy man followed suit and no longer had any of his previous ferocity. He held his hands high, not daring to move.

After all, as the old saying goes, the gun is faster than anything else, seven steps away.

Within seven steps, the gun was accurate and fast.

I held the shotgun, nodded with satisfaction, and then asked the strong man softly.

"Your name is?"

The sturdy man was stunned for a moment, then answered with a slightly strange expression.

"My name is Ajie, and everyone calls me Brother Jie."

The expression on my face froze, and then I touched the trigger of the shotgun in frustration and said angrily.

"No, are you kidding me?"

"Tell me your real fucking name!"

Looking at my fingers moving back and forth on the trigger, the sturdy man gave a bitter smile and said helplessly.

"My last name is Ah, and my given name is Jie."

Hmm? It seems that there is such a surname. Although it is not in the Hundred Family Surnames, it does exist. This man is not worth risking his life for a surname.

So, his brother’s name is Awei?

"So, your brother's name is Awei?"

I am a straightforward person. If I have any questions, I will ask them directly.

Of course, most importantly, I had a gun.

Strong man, no...Brother Jie...uh, Ajie, um, Ajie.

I saw Ajie's face darken instantly, but under the gunpoint, he could only shake his head slightly and answered in a low voice.

"I am an only child and I have no brothers."

"Oh, if you had a younger brother, would he be called Wei?"

"..."

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward, and I swear, Ajie must really want to beat me to death now, but obviously he can't.

However, the conversation can't go on smoothly at this rate, and I have to take care of my weed-filled head.

"Cough cough."

I pretended to clear my coughs a few times, trying to get the topic back on track. I looked at his unusually strong body and spoke softly.

"Your fighting skills are amazing. Where did you learn that from?"

After hearing this question, Ajie answered honestly.

"Before the apocalypse, I was doing some not-so-clean work."

"Like killing people."

I suddenly realized, and suddenly felt that it was not shameful for me to be beaten before, but at the same time, I had a new problem.

I moved the muzzle of the gun slightly away, supported my chin with my right hand, looked at Ajie with interest, and asked softly.

"You are very accurate with a gun, and your close combat skills are also very strong."

"A talent like you should have a pretty good life no matter where you are. How did you end up like this?"

Ajie's face darkened and became a little depressed. He sighed helplessly and said in a low voice.

"I did stay in a base for a while before, but then I couldn't stay any longer."

My heart skipped a beat, as if I had a premonition. I leaned forward uncontrollably, frowned, and asked in a deep voice:

"What's the name of that base?"

Ajie thought about it and replied.

"It used to be called Blue Mountain, but now... it's called Shield."

Chapter 38 My Purpose

"A shield stronghold...huh?"

I was slightly dazed, and I felt that I kept hearing this name recently, which made me upset, as if there was a hand in the dark pushing me towards the shield stronghold.

"Without saying a word, he shot me."

"You are not a good person either. The Shield Stronghold needs people like you. Why did you want to escape?"

Ajie had a complicated expression. He did not immediately deny what I said, but spoke in a low voice.

"It's true that I'm not a good person, but that doesn't mean I like bad people."

This sentence sounded awkward and a bit fresh, which made me curious about Ajie, so I continued to ask.

"I have a lot of time, you can talk slowly."

"What's the difference between the Blue Mountain and the Shield you mentioned?"

Ajie's expression eased a little, and after thinking carefully, he spoke slowly.

“The previous Blue Mountain location was managed by a group of young people with great ideas.”

"They didn't manage it very well, and everyone couldn't get enough to eat, but at least no one starved to death."

"However, they are not stupid. They just can't bear to be cruel and don't want others to die."

Ajie completely relaxed, put down his hands, sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, touched his dirty hair, and whispered.

"Following them, even though I can't get enough to eat, at least I feel safe and I can sleep well."

"Don't worry, you'll be sent out to die one day, as a human dart or something."

"Moreover, through continuous trial and error, their management is slowly improving. I believe that given enough time, they will become qualified managers."

I touched my shotgun with a complicated look in my eyes. I had already guessed the ending, which was exactly the same story as the one in the ancient city stronghold.

As expected, there is nothing new in the world, we are just repeating the same mistakes.

"Among the group, there was a man named Qu Yunliu, who was quiet and taciturn, but everyone had a good impression of him."

"I also think that boy, although he looks a bit embarrassed, is a good person."

"But a few years ago, Qu Yunliu, who always looked respectable, started a riot."

"He killed all the people who had considered him a brother, cut off the legs of the leader, and imprisoned him in the stone cell where the prisoners were kept."

"Then, he expelled all the people over the age of 50 from the base and left them to fend for themselves, saying that this was to solve the problem of food and clothing for the remaining people."

"Later, the Blue Mountain stronghold became the current Shield stronghold."

I listened quietly to Ajie's narration. The development of things was not beyond my expectations, but this was not enough to convince me.

"I don't think this is a reason for you to leave the Shield Stronghold, right?"

Hearing this, Ajie sighed helplessly, spread his hands, and gave me a wry smile.

"To be honest, Qu Yunliu manages the base very well, much better than I thought."

"The food grown in the base is enough to feed everyone, and the salt and sugar looted by the fighters are also plenty. If it were just this, I would feel sorry, but I would not leave the base."

"But Qu Yunliu is not satisfied with this. His appetite is growing."

"How to say?"

"He founded a religion with a rusty iron shield as his idol."

"He tried to brainwash all of us into going to die and seeing it as an honor."

"In his eyes, each of us seems to have a number, which represents our value. Once it reaches zero, that's when we die."

"He said he didn't want to waste food."

A trace of palpitations flashed in Ajie's eyes, and his brows were tightly furrowed as he described it to me.

"I feel like he's like a chess player who doesn't care about the pieces, he just wants to win."

"Even if there is only one chess piece left at the end, as long as he can win, he will be satisfied."

Ajie looked at me very seriously and said in a deep voice.

"But we are not a knife that can be thrown away after use. I don't want to die in obscurity."

"I want to live well."

I nodded slightly, lowered the muzzle of the gun to the ground, tilted my head slightly, and looked at Ajie carefully.

"This reason is okay. I will believe you for now."

After saying that, I took out an expired can from behind me and threw it to Ajie. Ajie subconsciously caught the can, and after seeing it clearly, he couldn't wait to tear open the lid.

The peculiar smell of the canned food could be smelled clearly even from my place, but Ajie wolfed down the smelly canned food.

It looked like he hadn't eaten for a long time, so was I beaten up by a guy who had been hungry for a long time?

While Ajie was wolfing down his food, I stood up gently, sorted my backpack and shotgun, and asked him.

"What are your plans next?"

Ajie swallowed the can, looked at me and said something vaguely.

"I didn't want to tell you at first, but since you're a nice guy, I'll tell you."

As he spoke, Ajie put the can down, casually wiped his dirty hands on the bed, and continued.

"I originally planned to rescue the leader and take him to find the Xisai stronghold."

"But the plan failed, and I failed to save him. I finally managed to escape. If I hadn't run into you, I would have gone to the Xisai stronghold today."

Hearing this, my expression turned strange, I squinted at Ajie and sneered.

"No, you plan to rescue the original leader. I don't think you are such a good person."

Ajie didn't care and said softly.

"I'm definitely not a good person, but at least the leader saved me."

"One thing is another. I am not a good person and I want to repay a favor. There is no conflict between that and that."

Ajie touched his head, as if he remembered something, and said with a frown.

"People who can't look directly at the sun would also want to have a sun above their heads, right?"

I don't hate this sentence.

So, I put away the sarcasm on my face and tried hard to put on a gentle smile.

"What is the Xisai stronghold you are talking about?"

Ajie raised his head slightly and stared at me for a while, as if he was doubting something, but in the end he just sighed and said helplessly.

"Forget it. When you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. I'll tell you."

After saying that, Ajie's expression straightened, his eyes fell towards me, and he spoke slowly.

"I mentioned before that everyone over fifty years old in the Blue Mountain Stronghold was driven out by Qu Yunliu."

"In fact, they didn't die. Instead, they established a small stronghold. I was planning to join them."

My eyes lit up and I immediately became interested in this Xise stronghold. This was the first time in all these years that I heard of a stronghold established by a group of elderly people.

It seems that I have to find time to visit that stronghold.

I took out three more cans from my backpack, threw them to Ajie, and said a little embarrassedly.

"I'm sorry, but you may not be able to leave."