Another great battle had ended, bringing joy to some families and sorrow to others.
"Why the long face? We lived another day," said one of two men sitting casually on the ground, leaning against the bodies of their fallen comrades.
Some had been bitten by zombies, others killed by them.
Experiencing this countless times, their initial horror and nightmares had faded into numbness.
Those bitten were given mercy.
"Got any smokes?"
"Only two left."
Each lit a cigarette, the taste filling their lungs and lifting their spirits slightly.
Nearby, dozens of green, greedy eyes watched them, staring at the cigarettes in their hands.
Some even breathed in time with their smoking.
No more smokes, gonna be hard to sleep tonight.
...
The next morning.
Crowds packed the entrance to the Future City trading market.
"The boss who buys smokes isn't here today. Don't crowd around, why didn't you come earlier?" shouted the staff trying to clear space.
"I'm not here to sell smokes. I want to buy my smokes back," one man said.
"Me too, I want to buy them back," another joined.
"Do you know when they'll come? They have the most smokes in all of Future City now," someone asked.
The young female staff watched them speechlessly.
These people are crazy. Just days ago they had eagerly sold their smokes, now they wanted to buy them back? What's so good about these smokes?
"Make way, don't cause trouble. Don't you dare disrespect Future City," shouted the captain of the trading hall guards, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
He was in a bad mood today. Not only were the sister flowers gone, nobody was giving him free smokes either. These people were causing a disturbance, did they think he was just for show?
Nobody dared oppose Future City, they didn't have the guts. Seeing the glowing ember in the captain's mouth made them even more upset.
Can't beat them, can't steal from them, and the main culprits hadn't even shown up. What was the point of causing trouble?
The crowd reluctantly dispersed but some diehards kept watching for those sister flowers.
By 10am, a rumor spread quickly through Future City.
"Hey, did you hear? Those sisters ran off last night, I heard they went to the Lone Wolf Group's turf."
"Really? I thought they were from Future City?"
The rumors grew rapidly.
"I got it from my buddy's uncle's nephew's cousin who went to ambush them last night. Saw them run into Lone Wolf turf with his own eyes."
"That's not the full story. My cousin's uncle's son was also part of that ambush. They ended up fighting the Lone Wolf guys, and those ladies walked right in in front of them."
With nothing to do during the day and unable to snatch airdrops from the big groups, they didn't dare leave Future City either. The storm continued to brew.
By 3pm, outside the Lone Wolf Group's territory.
Over a hundred people faced off, with more still arriving.
...
"Lower, more left, right there. That feels good," Xiao Jun lay sprawled on his stomach across the longest sofa, with Jing Ru sitting right on his butt massaging his back.
Her sister squatted next to them, kneading his legs.
Across the room, Jiang Doctor sat reading a comic, watching the three of them resignedly.
"All done, where's my chocolate?" Jing Ru bounced off of Xiao Jun's butt and held out her hand.
"That was just a few minutes! Look at your sister, she's been at it so long without complaining. You should learn from her," Xiao Jun had just started enjoying it and she went on strike already.
"I don't care, I want chocolate, I want Snickers bars. No Snickers, no motivation."
"Okay, okay, here you go."
Xiao Jun took out a box of Dove chocolates from his storage space, followed by a box of Snickers.
Jing Ru happily took them and immediately fed her sister a piece, then offered some to Jiang Doctor as well.
Seeing this, Xiao Jun took out two more boxes.
"With this cold weather, it'll be hard on you, Doctor Jiang."
The past two nights of fighting and daytime airdrop snatching had led to many of their sisters catching colds.
They couldn't just use mutant crystals for every little illness, not with their group almost a thousand people strong now. Minor colds still required medicine.
"It's no trouble. They obtained the medicine themselves, I just look them over and prescribe something. It's what I should do."
After spending so much time cooped up on the second floor, Jiang Wei was feeling conflicted.
The people up here were all important figures in the group. Even the twins had started taking on tasks.
Meanwhile she didn't seem to contribute anything.
Good looks? No one here was bad looking, and they were all much younger than her.
Recently she finally felt useful, examining each girl with even a minor cold.
It felt good to be doing something.
"Jing Yi, what's your plan for the next step?" Xiao Jun changed the subject, focusing on the most critical issue.
Even without going outside, they knew the storm brewing out there.
For nicotine addicts in this apocalypse, nobody could help them except cigarettes, their spiritual sustenance.
But now, the cigarettes were gone.
The big groups must have stockpiles, but they were no charity, even content to sit back and profit off this.
Only the tragic Lone Wolf Group now faced huge pressure.
Yet no one would lend a hand, not Future City or the Bloody Clothes Gang. Future City preferred the fewer powers in the city, the better.
"What do you think the Lone Wolf Group will do?" Xiao Jun casually asked.
"First they'll adamantly deny it, but it's useless. Everyone in the city only recognizes them now. Even if some realize they've been framed, the key point is that the Lone Wolf Group must have cigarettes."
"If they're not stupid, they need to act in two ways. First kill the chicken to warn the monkeys, deter everyone."
"Then take out their own stockpile and sell it to them."
Jing Yi seemed to have thought it through countless times, responding immediately to Xiao Jun's question.
"But as soon as they start selling cigarettes, it'll be admitting they did it."
"If they sell at high prices, they can suppress things by force for now, but later it'll be hard for them to expand in Future City."
"If sold cheaply, how many people can they sell to with their stockpile?"
"After this, not knowing when the zombie rain will stop, everyone will stock up extra at home. With thousands in their group, they won't have enough for themselves, let alone to sell."
"And for sure, others will see this chance for profit."
"No matter what, the Lone Wolf Group is screwed this time."
Xiao Jun smiled. Jing Yi certainly hadn't let him down, she'd done even better than expected.
He knew the Lone Wolf's indecisive nature. This matter would surely deal them a heavy blow.
He just had to sit back and wait to reap the rewards.