After watering the vegetable field and eating breakfast, everyone left the space and started contacting their family and friends.
The typhoon had already been raging for three days. In their previous life, the internet had gone out on the third day. After that, the signal had become extremely poor, and before long the communication system had completely collapsed.
As for when they would be able to contact people again, no one knew.
Looking at her smiling parents on the screen, Cheng Zhi felt her nose sting with tears. Still, she tried her best to hold them back as she rambled on with endless reminders and precautions.
Just before the tears fell, she hung up the call.
After everyone finished their calls, the mood turned heavy.
Chen Siyu’s eyes were red as she choked back tears.
“Honestly… I’m still scared. Scared that even after getting another chance, I’ll still die. Scared that in the end, I’ll be the only one left alive.”
Who would not be afraid of that?
Cheng Zhi wiped away the tears beneath her eyes and forced a smile.
“We’ve done everything we could. Our families made preparations too. We just need to survive and meet them again someday.”
After lunch, the internet went out.
Students from the neighboring dorm braved the wind and rain and knocked on their door, asking whether the campus network had gone down again.
Although Cheng Zhi and the others knew the truth, they could not bluntly reveal it. They could only pretend they knew nothing.
After closing the dorm door, Cheng Zhi frowned and began thinking.
“The internet’s gone. In a few more days the electricity will go too. By then no one will be able to contact anyone. Once people run out of food, it’ll be just like last time. They’ll go around knocking on doors trying to buy supplies. Are we staying put, or are we going out and looting some resources too?”
Xiao Feiran, sitting in her chair with a face mask on, spoke first.
“Of course we’re going out! I want to hit the library the most. There’s no internet or electricity anymore, so nobody can see how many books we take. If we expand our space even more, we can store even more supplies.”
Huang Yiyi, who was watching online classes, also agreed.
“Right. The longest shelf life for our supplies is only around three years. What if the apocalypse lasts longer than that? We’ll still have to rely on growing our own food. If the space gets bigger, we can plant more.”
Cheng Zhi snapped her fingers and nodded.
The other two also agreed, and the five of them finalized their looting plans for the next few days.
Over the following four days, there had been some noise and commotion in the dorm building when the power first went out, but after that nothing major happened.
Nearby dorms came asking to borrow power banks and bread.
They gave out one or two pieces of bread, but they refused to lend out power banks.
After all, they did not have much electricity themselves.
Outside, violent winds swept everywhere. Flowers, plants, and trees downstairs had all collapsed in huge numbers.
Every day Cheng Zhi kept watching outside, hoping for a moment when the storm weakened enough for them to go out.
“Holy crap! That’s a person, right?!”
Zheng Wan, who sat closest to the window, immediately grabbed the binoculars she had previously used at concerts and practically launched herself out of her chair to press against the glass door.
“My god… that really is a person. I’ve seen that reflective windbreaker before. I think he’s from our major.”
The other four rushed over after hearing her.
Cheng Zhi took the binoculars and looked.
The boy lay sprawled on his back in a flower bed while rain continuously washed over him. Random debris occasionally struck his body, yet he never moved.
Most likely, things looked grim.
The five people of Dorm 806 stood silently by the door and prayed for him.
At midnight, fierce winds still howled outside.
Because the power had been cut, the dormitory building was almost entirely dark, with only a few scattered dorms still giving off weak light.
Without electricity, Cheng Zhi had washed her hair and had no choice but to let it air dry. She had not planned on sleeping anyway.
She spread her yoga mat beside the glass door and prepared to see whether the wind and rain would weaken during the night.
Xiao Feiran, already in bed, poked her head out from behind her curtain.
She suggested that everyone take turns standing watch. Two people each night, one handling the first half and one the second.
Everyone agreed.
Xiao Feiran nodded and snapped her fingers at Cheng Zhi.
“Wake me at three. Don’t stay up by yourself until morning. If you don’t wake me, I’ll beat you up tomorrow.”
“Okay, okay, Master Xiao, hurry up and sleep. If you wait any longer, it’ll already be time to wake up again.”
Cheng Zhi waved her hand, signaling everyone to sleep.
“Who knows, maybe the wind and rain will weaken soon. Then none of you will get to sleep.”
Chen Siyu, who was making her bed, shivered and let out two silly laughs.
“Hehe… hearing you talk about going outside makes me feel both excited and terrified.”
Across from her, Huang Yiyi instantly burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha! That’s called being terrible but addicted!”
Chen Siyu immediately pretended to look fierce and threw a pillow at her.
“Who gave you permission to talk about me? Keep talking and I’ll kill you!”
The girls messed around for a while longer before Dorm 806 finally grew quiet.
Without internet access, Cheng Zhi could only listen to music through earphones.
Her eyes remained fixed outside, hoping the storm would weaken in the dead of night.
At three thirty, Cheng Zhi gently shook Xiao Feiran awake.
Half asleep, Xiao Feiran climbed out of bed and pressed her face against the glass door, trying to wake herself up.
Cheng Zhi had not gone back to bed either and squeezed Xiao Feiran’s shoulder, trying to wake her fully.
But before Xiao Feiran could completely wake up, Cheng Zhi suddenly became serious.
Pressing herself against the glass, she raised the binoculars and observed outside.
Five minutes later, Xiao Feiran was fully awake.
Not naturally, but because the sound of the wind outside had noticeably weakened.
“Holy shit… I’m not dreaming, right? It really got weaker.”
With her eyes practically glued to the glass, Xiao Feiran asked in a low voice.
Cheng Zhi did not answer.
Instead, she directly opened the door and walked out, leaning over the railing and extending half her body outside.
The action scared Xiao Feiran badly.
She immediately prepared to rush over and pull Cheng Zhi back.
But before she even took two steps, Cheng Zhi returned on her own.
Wiping rainwater from her face, excitement gleamed in her eyes.
“If we stay close to the walls, we probably won’t get blown away. Time to move.”
After waking everyone up, the five girls put on their equipment and reviewed the operation plan one more time.
Huang Yiyi and Chen Siyu would head to the library, the farthest location. If possible, they would empty all four floors.
The remaining three would follow their route in order, first the package station, then the cafeteria and supermarket.
If they finished those and the weather still held up, they would explore on their own.
Cheng Zhi looked at everyone and spoke seriously.
“Even though the apocalypse just started, we still have to stay cautious around people. And if danger appears, run if you can. Don’t fight head on. Staying alive matters most.”
Xiao Feiran nodded repeatedly and held the key to their space hanging on her chest.
“We have the space. If things go bad, we vanish immediately.”
Beside her, Zheng Wan suddenly let out an enlightened “Ohhh.”
With great effort, she turned around and pointed at the giant black backpack on her back with her thumb.
“Ohhh, we have a space? Then may I ask why exactly I still have to carry this thing? And not only that, why is it so insanely heavy? I can barely make it downstairs.”
The other three looked at each other blankly.
Their faces clearly showed complete confusion.
Only Huang Yiyi proudly stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Zheng Wan’s shoulder.
“You’re so tiny, I was worried the typhoon would blow you away, so I specially put three dumbbells in your bag.”
Zheng Wan rolled her eyes so hard they nearly flew out of her head.
She was about to curse when Huang Yiyi instantly covered her mouth.
“Don’t say anything. I know you’re moved. Falling for me is totally understandable. I get it.”
“…”
Even Cheng Zhi could not take it anymore.
“When we get to the supermarket, I’m definitely grabbing extra dish soap for you. I’m begging you, can you stop talking like some greasy pickup artist? It’s disgusting.”
Chen Siyu immediately pretended to gag and strongly agreed.
“+10086.”