From the thirteenth-floor window, Zhang Yi watched more than a thousand residents scatter in panic across the snow. It was his first time using a grenade, and even he was surprised by how lethal it had been.
He had planned to throw more, but the crowd broke immediately after the first explosion. Rather than waste his limited stock, he held back and waited for the five representatives to arrive.
When they finally stumbled up the stairs, all of their earlier arrogance was gone. Li Jian tried to appeal to Zhang Yi's sympathy.
"People are starving and freezing," he said. "Some of them are even resorting to cannibalism. We need your help."
Zhang Yi remained unmoved. "Cut the crap. What do you want?"
Li Jian laid out their so-called cooperation plan: Zhang Yi would continue gathering food and supplies for everyone, and in return, they would "help" him search for resources — which really meant seizing his snowmobile.
Zhang Yi slammed his pistol down on the table.
Uncle You was blocking the door. The five representatives all turned pale.
Zhang Yi's voice was cold. "I'll never agree to your demands. I can't feed a thousand people. But I can give each building ten rations a day. You decide who gets them."
That immediately split the alliance.
Huang Tianfang, who only had eight men left, said, "Ten rations is enough!"
Wang Qiang, with sixteen men, said, "We can cut six people and make it work."
Li Jian, whose Harmony Home had eighty residents, knew his system would collapse if he had to hand out the food himself.
Chen Lingyu tried to protest, but one look from Zhang Yi's murderous stare shut her up.
Then Zhang Yi pulled out a packet of corn seeds.
"We can't keep scavenging forever," he said. "Let's plant corn. Work for your food."
The representatives stared at the seeds, stunned.
Only then did they realize Zhang Yi had already outmaneuvered them completely.