Chapter 21：Time to Go Back for a Bath

Based on Dimonia's narration, Chen Dao combined his recollection of the game map and gradually remembered the information about this village. It seemed that there was a large gun shop nearby, but he had forgotten where it was.

It seemed to be in a small village, a village only 1/5 the size of Fariya Village.

The three of them stopped at the edge of the unnamed pond. There were indeed no zombies here.

After looking around for a while, he asked Payton and Dimonia to stay here and watch while he went back to drive the water tank over. The three of them had not yet found the water pump, so they had to rely on manual water extraction, using small buckets, one by one, to fill the water tank.

There must be water pumps of various power in the village, and the agricultural cooperative store lacks nothing.

After Chen Dao left, Dimonia and Payton sat by the pond, watching the zombies on the highway from a distance, and watching Father Yueningman's strange swaying appearance in the field.

The three Stuarts traveled to this small town in the United States. Although the scenery along the way was beautiful, these Americans left a bad impression on them. They saw Duo Lake Forest and the turbid but spectacular Ohio River. The experience of fishing in the quiet campsite was good.

But besides these, what else?

The gambling minorities, the Beatles immersed in fantasy all day smoking marijuana, the unemployed workers living in the trailer park, they couldn't even find a less neurotic person who could guide the three of them.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, American political confidence was highly inflated, but what was hidden under the victory was a sick America, which was also why America launched a war in the 1990s.

Then Father Yueningman appeared.

Father Yueningman is not like those Americans who have lost their enemies (the Soviet Union) and hope. He is really a very pure person. He has been unmarried all his life and has dedicated his life and family to the church in the village. Whoever it is, must respect this servant of God. His kindness and piety deeply moved Uncle Lawrence and the Stuart siblings. He is a very good person and should not end up like this.

No, all the people Dimonia saw should not end up like this!

"What exactly happened to Father Yueningman?" Payton was also looking at the priest and asked this sentence inexplicably.

"...", Dimonia didn't want to speak.

"I miss Uncle Lawrence...", Payton hugged his legs and said this after a long time.

"Do you think they can feel pain? Chen said they move by instinct. Could they possibly still have consciousness, but just can't control themselves?" Payton asked, struggling to find the right words.

Dimonia's breath hitched, but she remained silent.

"Chen said it's a plague, a plague without a cure," Payton continued.

Father Yueningman seemed to have found something, continuously ramming into a wrecked car. After a few hits, he was drawn to a pile of hay, head bowed low, seemingly doing something.

The temperature today was comfortable, only 22 degrees Celsius. The two of them sat by the pond under the shade of the trees. A boy and a girl, with a swarm of active dead people in the distance.

"What about Uncle Lawrence? Will he always be locked up in the hotel? We..." Payton brought up Lawrence again.

"I don't know! I don't know! Stop talking!" Dimonia snapped, effectively silencing Payton.

Payton stopped talking, only watching Father Yueningman from a distance, trying to figure out what he was doing.

If you observe the zombies' behavior closely, you'll find that beneath their comical and slow exterior, they hide a terrifying and brutal sharpness.

Yes, they are stupid. Any slight movement can startle them. You can even use this to attract them, bunch them together, and then burn them to ashes with a fire.

They won't resist.

But they are like machines, never resting. When you are tired, when you are distracted, they will suddenly appear where you least expect them, giving you a "surprise".

They are everywhere.

It was only a short distance from the house for sale to the small pond. Chen Dao quickly drove the car over. After getting out of the car, he glanced at the field. The zombies hadn't moved much and were still in their original positions. So, he started to clean the water tank with Payton and Dimonia, preparing to fill it with water.

This is a common American half-cubic meter vertical water storage tank, made of stainless steel, with a 2mm thick wall. It's very lightweight, but it tends to make noise when loading and unloading. With Dimonia's help, Chen Dao and Payton finally managed to throw this thing into the pond.

The main difficulty was to keep it from making a loud noise.

The three of them slowly poured water into the tank with small buckets, then shook it to mix the water. They tilted it at an angle to pour out the solution containing impurities and alcohol. After doing this several times, they pushed the floating storage tank elsewhere and repeated the process. After such repeated cleaning, they could be sure that no toxic substances from the homemade alcohol would remain inside.

Chen Dao, along with the Stuart siblings, placed the water tank back on the vehicle and began filling it with water. The task took less than an hour, and the three of them managed to fill the tank.

After the work was done, Chen Dao and Payton sat by the pond wiping sweat, while Dimonia was observing the Molotov cocktails that Payton had brought.

"Are these really useful?" she questioned the effectiveness of the Molotov cocktails.

Chen Dao took a Molotov cocktail from her hand, "I can't confirm, after all, I haven't used this to burn them..."

He looked towards the distant burger shop, the highway, and the field.

Zombies have a sense of collective consciousness. Even if the formation of the zombie horde is disrupted, they will attract each other and slowly regroup into a tight horde.

Just like now, the zombie formation they saw yesterday was not as tight as today's.

"Shall we try?" Chen Dao touched the stitches on his neck. He could probably remove the stitches in a day or two.

It's better not to strain the shoulder before the wound is completely healed.

"I'll do it. I've been over there. I can sneak over and throw one, no problem," Dimonia volunteered. "Besides, I'm confident I can throw this thing twenty or thirty meters."

"Payton, you can throw one after me. Don't rush," Dimonia saw Payton's eager expression and reassured him.

"Alright, be careful," Payton said.

Chen Dao thought for a moment and said to Dimonia, "Don't get too close. Throw it on the road or hard surface. Just throw it far away. The sound of the bottle shattering is enough to attract the zombies. There's no need to throw it directly into the horde. Let them step on it themselves."

Dimonia nodded in understanding, picked up two Molotov cocktails, and ran towards the burger shop, bending her waist.

Chen Dao took out his pistol and watched from a distance.

His glasses had been lost long ago. Although his prescription was not strong, when he looked at distant objects, there was always a sense of blurriness, which was annoying.

Dimonia, small in stature, moved towards the zombie horde, light and fast. She was indeed very suitable for moving under the eyes of zombies, a natural stealth master.

In a short while, she had reached the fence near the burger shop,using the cover of the landscape shrubs, none of the zombies were able to detect her.

She carefully took out the lighter Chen Dao had given her, lit a Molotov cocktail, and got ready to throw it.

From her perspective, the Molotov cocktail was perfect for throwing. The long bottle shape was easy to grip, and the low-quality glass ensured there was no worry about it not shattering on impact. The only concern was that the flame at the mouth of the bottle might crack the bottle itself, so it had to be thrown immediately after being lit.

She managed to throw the Molotov cocktail at least 30 meters, although she had originally intended to hit the road surface 20 meters away.

Most importantly, the zombies reacted just as Chen Dao had described. They were indeed attracted by the flames and the noise of the Molotov cocktail, moving directly towards the large pool of fire on the ground.

Their complete disregard left Dimonia stunned.

Payton's question was answered. They were just mindless rotting flesh. They couldn't possibly still have consciousness!

The zombies that reached the fire first directly brushed against the burning alcohol on the ground, completely ignoring the fact that their trousers and jackets were on fire.

They just stood there blankly, trying to locate the source of the noise and discern which flickering flame was a juicy piece of meat.

They futilely discerned for a while, then, with flames on their bodies, they were pushed into a pile by the zombies attracted by the noise and jumping flames.

As for the running zombies, they directly rushed towards the location of the Molotov cocktail, knocking down the burning zombies and pouncing on the flames.

Alcohol burns quickly and releases low heat. It also produces a large amount of water vapor during combustion. It can form a mixture with water itself.

This leads to the alcohol Molotov cocktail spreading out very quickly when used, forming a large pool of self-flowing flames, and then burning out in a short time. It's much worse than gasoline.

Alcohol is not resistant to burning.

It can only rely on luck to ignite zombies, unlike gasoline, which burns at high temperatures and can stick to zombies, not stopping until they are burnt to a crisp.

But since the only thing available at the moment is this homemade alcohol, they had to make do.

After throwing one, Dimonia's courage grew. She quickly lit another and threw it in the same manner as before. This time, it directly hit the group of zombies formed by the first Molotov cocktail, bursting into a large blue flame.

Seeing that both Molotov cocktails had successfully ignited the zombies, Dimonia quickly retreated while the zombies were still being distracted.

She kept low, using the roadside fence and bushes as cover, retraced her steps, and returned to the small pond, where she regrouped with Chen Dao and Payton.

As she caught her breath, she asked Payton, "Now, do you still think these 'things' have consciousness?"

Payton lifted his head to look at the horde of zombies being burned on the distant highway, showing no reaction to the fire.

Uncle Lawrence was really dead.

Chen Dao didn't understand the cryptic conversation between the two, but hearing them mention Uncle Lawrence, he wisely remained silent. He comforted Dimonia, guiding her into the passenger seat to rest.

Turning back, Chen Dao looked at the distant zombies that had been set on fire.

Two Molotov cocktails were definitely not enough to reduce them all to ashes. At most, they would burn them black. To burn them completely, they would need to set up a burning trap.

But Chen Dao already had the result he wanted. The Molotov cocktails were useful, and that was enough.

After watching by the pond for a while, the flames on the zombies were no longer visible from their position. It seemed that none of them had been completely burned to death. They were just smoky and a few had fallen, but they seemed to be still alive.

Dimonia and Payton looked disappointed. Chen Dao noticed their low spirits and laughed, "What are you thinking? Did you really expect two Molotov cocktails to solve a large group of zombies? They don't have health bars like in games. And the Molotov cocktails are not weapons targeting the zombies' heads, they burn their bodies."

"To burn them, we need to make special preparations. It's not as simple as throwing bottles," Chen Dao patiently explained to them, encouraging them to cheer up, "Don't worry, the Molotov cocktails are useful, that's already very good."

"Now, we should go back. Think about how long it's been since we've had a bath. Don't you want to go back and take a bath?"

"A bath? You mean we can..." Dimonia asked eagerly after hearing this.

"What else? We've gone to so much trouble to get this much water back, do you think it's just for drinking?" Chen Dao said to Dimonia in surprise. He thought that Dimonia would have realized from the indoor pipes that he had completed the water supply transformation in the farmhouse.

Now they just needed to bring this tank of water back, unload it from the self-dumping truck, and connect it to the water tank to restore the water supply, although it would be limited to the first floor.

Hearing this, Dimonia's spirits lifted instantly, and she quickly urged Chen Dao, "What are we waiting for then? Let's get back!"

"Alright, alright. Payton, get in the truck!" Chen Dao instructed Payton to climb into the back of the truck, and they headed back towards their base.

The battered pickup truck, carrying the water tank, headed back to the farmhouse just as light-heartedly as when they had arrived that morning.