Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

"Bullshit. Don't try to shift the blame to me. You took the same amount as me. Where is your money then?" Yin Chen fired back.

"I already told you, I spend them——"

"Shut up! Both of you! We'll just turn the four boxes in. It's not like he would know how much we took... Yin Chen, you wiped the account clean, right?"

As the senior major looked toward Yin Chen, he nodded in agreement.

"Then Commander Xiaoyun has no way of knowing it. Let's just go now."

Seeing no other option, all the majors accepted the senior's command and followed suit with the box up the stairs.

"Old Tian, what should we do if Commander Xiaoyun questions us? Like just what if?"

The senior commander looked at the major for a second, then turned back around.

"I got no other options... I'm not going to end up like those people. None of us have any other options."

Old Tian moved his hand to the pistols, then moved back away as he opened the door.

A few of the younger majors suddenly started to feel worried as they followed behind the older majors at the end of the line.

But the older majors knew exactly what Old Tian was talking about.

They had been in Luoping long enough to witness it firsthand when they were still regular soldiers.

---

Just as the majors headed out of the basement floor and onto the main lobby, they ran right into Han Bang.

"You guys got the money?" Han Bang curiously asked as he noticed four of them holding a box.

"Yeah. We're going to head upstairs to apologize——"

"Great... Oh, right, I almost forgot. I just talked to Commander Xiaoyun earlier, and I was able to convince him to have you guys demoted rather than be fired outright.

You guys don't do anything stupid, okay? I'm sure you all will get back to majors in no time."

"Thanks."

The faces of the older majors in the front suddenly turned dark as they bowed down in gratitude toward Han Bang.

But all the younger ones at the back were extremely grateful for Han Bang's help.

After traveling all the way to the top of the building onto the hallway, Old Tian knocked on the door.

"Come in."

As the major all entered the meeting room, Xiaoyun started tapping the table with his pen.

"Thank you for your generosity, sir. We heard what you had given to us from Han Bang... This is all the money we had gathered into the four boxes."

Seeing the box on the table, Xiaoyun stopped tapping the pen.

"I know some of you are not happy with me... Being fired to being demoted all the way to the beginning doesn't feel good."

Xiaoyun paused for a second before signaling to Kate to put the boxes of money to the side.

"But this has to be done. I can't just give you all a free pass. I hope you all can understand."

"Of course we understand, sir." One of the younger majors on the back said out loud.

"Very well. You all can leave now... I'll issue an official statement tomorrow."

Just as the younger majors were about to head towards the door, Old Tian suddenly spoke up.

"Is there no other way to make it up, Commander Chen?"

Xiaoyun looked towards Old Tian with a confused face but answered his question anyway.

"There is no other way."

Suddenly, Old Tian moved his hand down to reach for his gun. But Kate instantly recognized his hand movement and pulled out her gun as well.

Immediately, all the majors panicked as it was now a standoff situation out of nowhere.

"Old Tian, what are you doing? This is not part of the plan!" One of the older majors asked in confusion.

"Commander Chen, I'm not going to leave my position."

Old Tian threatened as his gun pointed directly at Xiaoyun's head, unwilling to move at all despite Kate pointing her gun directly at his head as well.

"Kate, put your gun down."

"But——"

"Put it down. Throw it over to the side."

Kate reluctantly throws her gun to the side after Xiaoyun raises his tone, but her hand remains near her pocket.

"Can I ask why you want to kill me?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"I don't want to kill you commander. You did an amazing job... But I can't lose my position. I just can't."

Hearing Old Tian's answer, Xiaoyun got a little intrigued.

"Why not? Is it wrong for me to punish someone who did something wrong?"

"It's not your fault. It's my fault... But I'm too old to work from the beginning again. I only have so little time before I'm forced to retire."

Xiaoyun froze for a second but quickly realized what Old Tian meant as he remembered the official retirement policy he had implemented for soldiers at the age of fifty.

"So that's why you pulled the gun at me? What are you trying to accomplish with it? Threaten me to let you keep your job?

I'm going to tell you one thing: I'm not going to take back my words... Now, are you really going to pull the trigger on me?"

Old Tian didn't know how to answer back as he couldn't understand why Xiaoyun seemed so confident despite having a gun pointed at his head.

But he knew Xiaoyun was right. He couldn't pull the trigger as it would be a death sentence for him afterward when he left the building.

"Old Tian, just drop it. You can't win this." One of the younger majors suggested

"Yeah, why are you pulling your gun out? We were just about to settle this peacefully." Another major complaint.

"Shut up! You all are young... I'm going to be honest with you, Commander Chen. All of us were embezzled even more money than these four boxes.

If I remember correctly, it wasn't even five boxes. It was seven boxes full of food stamps. That's how corrupt we were."

All of the majors flipped out as Old Tian suddenly snitched on them.

"What the fuck Lin Tian!"

"You asshole! Why did you do that!"

Seeing the majors all mad at him, Old Tian didn't look nervous a single bit as he felt a sudden relief.

"Shut the fuck up. You all are in the same boat as me now. If you don't join in with me, do you really think Commander Chen is going to let you off the hook?"

All of the majors quickly realized what Old Tian was trying to say, but most of them didn't want to join in, especially after being snitched on just as they were about to get out.

"He isn't wrong. If someone told me they didn't even pay the full amount that they embezzled, I would punish them even harder.

But I already promised I won't take back my words... Lin Tian, it's up to you what you want to do next."

Old Tian got a little confused by Xiaoyun's reply, but it didn't change his mind at all.

"Old Liu, you idiot. You really forced us to do this..."

Several of the older majors who had known Old Tian for a long time reluctantly joined him, with the younger one still staying back, unable to decide.

But Old Tian didn't care about them at this point as he felt happy enough with a few of his comrades who were willing to switch sides.

"So, commander Xiaoyun, what is your choice? Surrender or die?" Old Tian asked coldly.

"What do you think? Do I look like I have any other choice?" Xiaoyun replied as he raised both of his hands into the air.

Seeing Xiaoyun surrender, Old Tian quickly gave two of the majors the eye signal to tie him up, and the other two tied up Kate.

However, just as the two majors got close to Xiaoyun, he suddenly kicked the meeting table upside upward towards Old Tian.

As Old Tian instinctively moved his hand to hold the meeting table that was falling on top of him, two of the major weren't so lucky.

They were on the floor in pain as Xiaoyun had managed to punch them right in the liver before they could even react in time.

Meanwhile, the other two majors, who were just about to go towards Kate, stopped as their brains couldn't process what had happened.

"I really don't get why you just couldn't retire and live your old age in comfort. What makes you think you can beat me just because you have a number advantage?"

Seeing Old Tian struggle to hold the table up, Xiaoyun kicked it and forced it to crash on top of him.

"Fuck! Shit!" Old Tian yelled in pain as he collapsed on top of the floor, with the meeting table covering his entire body.

"You three, do you still want to try to be like him?" Xiaoyun asked as he turned towards the younger major.

"N-No, sir." One of them nervously replied, with the other nodding like crazy.

"Good, start from a private again, okay? I hope you three learned your lesson and don't be like him."

As Xiaoyun replied to them, he moved his foot directly on top of the table and stomped right on top of it again.

"FUCK! I'M GOING TO DIE! Please, I'm sorry. I'll never do it again——"

"Your four, do you all want to be like him? Or are you guys willing to be a model officer and honorably retire from the army?"

Xiaoyun asked as he stomped down on the table again, making a ton of crackling sound as several bones in Old Tian simultaneously broke.

"W-We will love to r-retire, sir."

The four of them said out loud at the same time, with the two on the ground still barely able to breathe as they still clutched their chest.

"Good... All of you, don't forget to pay back what you own. Han Bang will check if any of it is missing."