Dreams and reality intertwined as Zuo Feng opened his eyes in the darkness; the morning light was just peeking through, signaling a new day and new challenges.
“A little further, good girl, a little further…”
Zuo Feng peered through the peephole, his left hand gently gripping the doorknob, his right hand tightly clutching a homemade weapon, his breathing a little heavy.
Fine beads of sweat had already seeped into the palm of his hand, tightly gripping the homemade weapon; he had to kill with one blow, for if he failed, Zuo Feng himself wasn't sure if he would get a second chance.
Zuo Feng had been staring through the peephole for nearly ten minutes; he was waiting for an opportunity.
Currently, the three zombies in the corridor were too close.
Although zombies without a target would wander in small areas, more often than not, they would remain motionless in strange postures, like machines with their power cut off.
Zuo Feng knew that patience was key to survival; he took a deep breath, adjusted his breathing, and waited for the optimal moment.
Time seemed to freeze, every second infinitely long.
Finally, two of the zombies moved: the female neighbor zombie next door slowly wandered out of Zuo Feng’s sight, and the male zombie across the hall also turned sluggishly, dragging his trembling legs back to his former home.
“The chance has come!”
The one remaining was the male zombie from next door, who had been lazy and gluttonous in life; Zuo Feng called him the ‘Skinny Dog.’
In life, the man was extremely thin and small, about 1.6 meters tall, weighing probably less than fifty kilograms; his physique was even less robust than his wife’s.
The Skinny Dog zombie was about three meters to the right of Zuo Feng’s door, a distance Zuo Feng could cover in two seconds to close in and complete the kill.
At the zombie’s shuffling speed, as long as Zuo Feng struck with one blow, the other two zombies would definitely not even have time to get close.
After repeatedly simulating the movements in his mind several times, Zuo Feng’s gaze was as sharp as a knife, locked onto his target.
“Creak—”
A grating sound of a door opening rang out.
“This heartless landlord!”
Zuo Feng cursed inwardly.
For the past six months, no matter how he opened his front door, it was always accompanied by an ear-splitting creak.
Previously, when he asked the landlord to fix it, the landlord readily agreed but then dragged his feet for half a year, never showing up, only being exceptionally proactive when collecting rent over the phone each month.
“Roar…”
As expected, the sound of the door opening startled the Skinny Dog zombie; it slowly turned its head, a motion that took half a second to complete.
Upon seeing Zuo Feng, it opened its mouth and let out a muffled growl.
Before it could fully turn, a flash of white light! Zuo Feng’s right hand, raised high and tightly gripping a sharpening steel, thrust with full force towards the Skinny Dog zombie’s lifeless gray left eye.
“Pfft!”
With a soft sound, there was no resistance, like stabbing into tofu.
The stainless steel sharpening steel instantly sank in half its length, reaching directly to the back of the skull.
At this moment, the Skinny Dog zombie’s body had only just turned halfway!
Zuo Feng quickly pulled back the sharpening steel, took a step back, his heart pounding like a drum.
Seeing the Skinny Dog zombie fall to the ground motionless, he confirmed: destroying the brain was the zombie’s fatal weakness.
There was no scene of blood splattering like in movies; the zombie’s blood was no longer red but a viscous, paste-like gray.
“First blood!”
Having succeeded with one strike, Zuo Feng shouted the classic line from games, trying to dispel the tension of his first zombie kill.
Immediately after, he made a quick sprint, pouncing on the female neighbor zombie, who was six meters away and only had half a face left.
“Double kill!”
Pulling the sharpening steel from the female neighbor’s skull, Zuo Feng’s breathing was rapid, but his eyes were unusually firm.
He quickly scanned his surroundings, confirming there was no immediate threat; a one-hit kill!
The female neighbor zombie fell to the ground, gray liquid slowly oozing out, and a nauseating smell permeated the air.
Zuo Feng gripped the sharpening steel, muttering to himself, “Steady, there’s still one left.”
“Come on, my Triple kill!”
Zuo Feng’s gaze was like a torch, locked onto the door where the Fat Man zombie had disappeared.
Zombies might be easy to kill, but one mistake could be fatal!
He had to be cautious—this was also why he chose the female zombie in the corridor, with its unobstructed view, as his “double kill” target.
The situation inside where the Fat Man zombie was located was unknown, and rushing in would be extremely risky.
Who knew how many were hidden inside or where they might pounce from.
“Could the commotion have been too small, and the Fat Man didn’t hear it?”
Zuo Feng had seen him walk into the room with his own eyes; there was no reason for him to be completely unresponsive.
He waited for another full minute, but the room remained dead silent.
Zuo Feng lived in Kaitian Community, Building 12, Unit 1, Room 1302.
This building had three units, two elevators per unit, and five households per floor, with a clear structure.
At this moment, he leaned against the wall at the end of the corridor; to his right were two tightly closed elevator doors with their indicator lights off due to the power outage, and to his left was the stairwell safety passage, both wooden doors of which he had closed.
At the opposite end of the corridor was the tightly closed security door of Room 1301; that household’s peephole offered the best view, allowing him to see the entire hallway.
The two open doors on his left were Zuo Feng’s Room 1302 and the zombie-killed Room 1303.
The other two households across from them were the Fat Man zombie’s open Room 1304, and Room 1305, which always had its door tightly shut.
“Hey! Buddy, come out and see someone streaking!”
Zuo Feng deliberately raised his voice, trying to lure out the Fat Man zombie.
His position was excellent; he could observe the movements in Room 1304 and retreat into the safety passage at any time.
As expected, tens of seconds later, the Fat Man zombie staggered out from the open door of Room 1304.
“Triple kill!”
The sharpening steel pierced through the Fat Man zombie’s temple; the resistance was slightly greater than when piercing the eye, like penetrating tough pigskin.
Zuo Feng quickly pulled back the sharpening steel, and the Fat Man zombie fell to the ground with a splash of gray liquid.
He took a deep breath, muttering to himself, “It’s finally over.”
Zuo Feng quickly wiped the filth from the steel with zombie clothing, cautiously scanning his surroundings to confirm there was no immediate threat.
Standing at his own doorway, he knocked on his door with the iron rod, waited for two minutes, and only entered after confirming there was no movement inside to retrieve his keys—just in case a zombie sister had sneaked into his home while he was fighting and climbed into his bed… In short, caution was key.
“The Fat Man and those two couples should have food at home, right? Hopefully, they’re not as poor as I am!”
Zuo Feng’s home had very little food and water left.
Although the tap water hadn’t stopped, he dared not drink it directly; who knew if it had been contaminated.
He tucked the keys into his pocket, grabbed the sharpening steel, and left, pulling the creaking security door shut behind him.
With the zombies cleared, when else was there to collect supplies?
Although his targets were only next door and across the hall, caution was always wise; the weapon stayed in hand, and the door had to be securely closed—after all, a zombie sister climbing into bed was not an exciting experience.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
Zombies would be attracted by sound, so he had to make some noise before entering a house.
Standing at the Fat Man’s doorway, Zuo Feng knocked on the open security door with the sharpening steel, held his breath and waited for a full two minutes, confirming there was no movement inside, before slipping in and closing the door behind him.
The Fat Man was also a tenant, living alone.
“Damn it, this is a pigsty!”
A pungent stench instantly assailed his nostrils; the living room floor was covered in grime, almost turning into mud, and the trash can next to the coffee table was piled higher with garbage than the table itself.
Beer bottles, trash bags, and cigarette butts lay scattered everywhere.
The coffee table was covered with leftover meal boxes, clearly visible with white maggots wriggling within them, some falling from the edges and crawling on the floor.
“No wonder you got so fat, you even raised your maggots to be plump!”
Zuo Feng pinched his nose, stunned by the sight before him.
Could anyone live in this hellhole?
At least his own home was much cleaner; he took out the trash daily, and when he was diligent, he’d sweep the floor every two or three months, at least he hadn’t raised maggots!
Suppressing the urge to vomit, he carefully avoided the filth and headed straight for the kitchen.
He hoped to find some edible food and water amidst the mess.
The refrigerator door was ajar, emitting wafts of strange odors, but hunger forced him to steel himself and rummage through it.
“Bad luck right from the start…!”
Zuo Feng’s face darkened as he stared at the half-pack of cigarettes and a large pack of tissues in his hand, sighing helplessly.
After searching the entire house, these two items seemed to be the only food he could take?
There were leftovers—currently nurturing maggots!
There were no snacks at all, and only a little less than half a bottle of mineral water left by the Fat Man.
He could drink it, but that would have to wait until he was truly desperate.
Zuo Feng shook his head with a bitter smile, secretly glad that he was relatively clean.
Zuo Feng turned and walked towards the door across the hall, silently praying that the couple there would have some clean supplies.
After inserting the key he found at the Fat Man’s house into the door and securing it, he still felt a lingering smell of stinky socks on him—it was from the Fat Man’s room.
He would bet that after staying in that room for a moment, even the sweetest fairy would become foul-smelling.
He knocked on the open security door of Room 1303, waited another two minutes, and only entered after confirming the room was dead silent.
The clean and organized environment allowed his tense nerves to relax slightly.
Indeed, a home with a woman was different; a faint, elusive fragrance still lingered in the air.
Fortunately, the couple next door had quite a rich supply of goods: toilet paper, facial tissues, and wet wipes were all available; there were thirty to forty catties of rice; although there was no bottled water, they had a water dispenser at home, two large unopened barrels of water, plus more than half a barrel on the dispenser, so water was plentiful.
The refrigerator was packed with food, but unfortunately, with the scorching June heat and power outage, the vegetables and meat had long since rotted and spoiled.
Zuo Feng only took the ham sausages and canned fruit.
The biggest surprise was finding a fully stocked household medical kit!
He didn’t look closely at the specific medications; he just grabbed the box and left.
“Click!”
With a soft sound, the door lock sprang open.
Zuo Feng, holding a bank card, skillfully slid it along the door crack, and the door opened.
He had learned this trick after forgetting his keys once and shamelessly pestering a locksmith, paying three hundred yuan to learn it.
This was the unit across the hall from his neighbors; Zuo Feng knew it seemed to have been unoccupied for a long time.
But supplies weren’t just food and drink; what if there were other useful things? Like—weapons!
Pushing the door open with a hint of anticipation, the sight before him left him stunned.
“Damn it! An empty shell!”
Zuo Feng stared at the empty room, not even seeing a toilet, cursing his terrible luck.
Out of three households, only that couple had hoarded some things; the few broken items at the Fat Man’s house were hardly worth mentioning…
“Thump… thump… thump…”
Is anyone inside? Room 1301.
Zuo Feng knew it used to be empty, but a new resident had moved in recently—a young woman.
He hadn’t seen her in person, but the shoe cabinet at the door was piled with women’s sneakers and high heels; it couldn’t possibly be a middle-aged woman’s style, could it?
Moreover, the owner of this house left early and returned late; the zombie virus outbreak happened in the afternoon, so the house was likely empty.
“No one, indeed! Well, then, I’ll help myself to the supplies inside.”
A smile played on Zuo Feng’s lips; since no one was home, he was sure to take advantage…
Pressing his ear against the security door, he confirmed it was dead silent inside.
Zuo Feng rubbed his hands, pulled out his bank card, and confidently slid it into the door crack—his expression instantly froze.
He tried again, a swipe…
“Damn it, it’s deadbolted!”
Zuo Feng’s face was as black as a pot bottom; he was good at opening doors with a bank card, but with the deadbolt, he was out of luck!
Reluctantly stepping back a few paces, Zuo Feng took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping towards the corridor stairwell.
This building had 15 floors, with 5 households per floor.
He decided to start from the upper floors—first clearing the zombies on the 14th and 15th floors, then sweeping downwards floor by floor.
After all, there were fewer zombies on the upper floors, making them easier to clear…
“What a huge haul! If Da Bai Tu were still alive, it would be great.”
Zuo Feng, tired from a day’s work, collapsed onto the sofa.
He had scavenged two households on the 14th floor, with a haul no less than his next-door neighbors’.
He had only cleared one house on the 15th floor, instantly killing the fat girl zombie inside the moment he opened the door.
The spoils were a pile of cans filling more than half of a side bedroom—a total of 300 cases of canned meat.
They were all the same brand but different flavors: beef, lamb, pig’s head meat… each can 500 grams, 24 cans per case.
Just moving them took him an entire afternoon.
In the apocalypse, long-lasting canned meat like this was the most sought after, filling and durable.
Even if he ate five or six cans a day, this stash would last him three or four years.
Zuo Feng shook his sore arms, opened his phone, and repeatedly played Da Bai Tu’s voice messages.
Her charming voice lingered in his ears; closing his eyes, her pretty smiling face appeared in his mind—if she were still alive in this apocalypse, perhaps they could rely on each other to survive…