“Really? You’re such a warm-hearted person!” A fool wouldn’t pass up a good deal! Shi Zuo An didn’t even think twice before agreeing.
“Then can I go back and grab a few pieces of clothing?”
…He agreed way too fast.
Xia Ao pushed his rectangular glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
“Do you need me to go with you?”
“No need.”
Shi Zuo An swiftly unbuckled his seatbelt, grabbed the perfume bottle from Xia Ao, and sprayed a few spritzes.
Hmm, white tea scent, just like his former boss used. A little touch of sophistication.
Shi Zuo An insisted he didn’t need company. Xia Ao didn’t argue, only reminded him to be careful: “Hold the axe and watch your step going upstairs.”
“Oh, and if I’m not back in twenty minutes, just drive off,” Shi Zuo An added, turning to give instructions.
Then he gently hooked his right hand onto the car door and carefully stepped out, trying not to make a sound.
He scanned the surroundings, making sure no zombies were paying attention, before slowly moving away from the car.
The corridor of the slab-style building was dark and damp, carrying a musty smell. He took a deep breath and dashed inside, running up the stairs.
After two flights, his body was slightly heated. Just as he was about to dash straight to his door, he was stopped midway.
Several zombies were wandering the third-floor corridor.
The hallway was narrow, and a few doorways had parcels and shoe racks piled outside, blocking his path.
He hesitated, wondering whether to take a gamble and rush through, then a car horn blared from downstairs.
It was Xia Ao honking to draw the zombies’ attention!
Hiding behind a corner wall, Shi Zuo An watched as the zombies blocking his path actually jumped straight down from the third floor.
Xia Ao’s trick really worked!
Within two minutes, not a single zombie remained in the corridor.
He leaned over the railing to look down.
The zombies that had fallen either broke their legs or smashed their heads, even if they got up, they couldn’t find their bearings, let alone come after Xia Ao for “revenge.”
…Pretty stupid.
With all obstacles gone, Shi Zuo An made his way back to his own apartment door with practiced ease.
This apartment was rented. The landlord was a good person, and after moving to a seaside city for vacation, he rented the place to Shi Zuo An at a cheap rate.
It had solved an urgent problem for him back when he was almost homeless.
It was a one-bedroom apartment, and as soon as you walked in, the bed and wardrobe were directly in front.
The front door, which had originally been padlocked, now hung wide open. The single bed had been pushed so that three of its legs traced a quarter-circle on the floor, and the headphones and books that had been on the bedside table were tossed haphazardly across the floor.
Fortunately, there were no zombies in the room. Shi Zuo An moved faster.
Even in the apocalypse, he knew what mattered most.
He dragged over a chair and stepped on it, reaching up to the top of the wardrobe to pull down a huge travel backpack. He had bought this bag many years ago when he was still living at home. It was a brand-name bag with excellent quality, and even after years of use, the fabric hadn’t thinned at all.
He tossed the bag onto the bed and began searching through the remaining food in the apartment.
His work life was basically dictated entirely by the company’s schedule.
Time at home was extremely scarce throughout the year. Holidays rarely followed legal public holidays, whenever a project came up, he had to travel all over the country.
He might just bring groceries home that afternoon, only to rush off that evening to a small southern town for a business trip.
Using that as an excuse, Shi Zuo An, nearing thirty, had never thought about learning to cook.
If he had money, he ate out, if not, instant noodles with steamed buns would do.
That was still living, right?
He rummaged left and right, eventually pulling from the cupboards and fridge three packs of instant noodles, two cans of soda, and a bar of chocolate.
Pathetically little.
The last time he had stayed home was two months ago.
He had just returned from a job site and submitted his resignation, intending to rest for a while, but overnight, the tiny apartment had become unlivable.
He silently prayed that this small stash would at least show his sincerity in joining forces.
Elsewhere, Xia Ao sat in the car, occasionally glancing at the time on his wrist.
Only eight minutes had passed, leaving twelve more until their agreed-upon time.
For some reason, he felt restless. Was it the stifling heat inside the car, or the seat positioned so far forward that the steering wheel pressed uncomfortably against him?
His index finger tapped uncontrollably against the wheel.
The ninth minute.
Should he go check?
Two little figures suddenly popped up in his mind. One scolded him, telling him to clear his head, what was the point of worrying so much about the person upstairs when they’d only known each other for a day?
The other, however, fanned the flames, reminding him of the intimate moments the two had shared in bed last night. A one-night stand was still a connection, he couldn’t just leave the other person alone in danger.
The two figures argued fiercely, leaving Xia Ao’s mind unusually chaotic. Suddenly, he realized that zombies were gradually approaching the second floor.
Their apparent target was Shi Zuo An’s room, the one missing its door.
Crap!
Following the strategy that had worked last time, he honked the car horn twice. Most of the aimless zombies once again fell into a free-fall act, but a few were still moving toward the room.
Xia Ao felt a bad premonition.
He decided he had to go check.
Thinking that, he spritzed a little more perfume on himself, opened the car door, and jumped out.
He took a deep breath, gripped the fire axe tightly, and landed almost entirely on the balls of his feet, making no sound, and ran toward the third floor.
The corridor on the third floor reeked of blood and a nauseating stench of decay. He quickened his pace and reached Shi Zuo An’s apartment door.
Although the door was broken, the occupant had still managed to pull it closed after entering.
Through the door, Xia Ao heard sounds of a struggle coming from inside.
His heart sank, and he immediately kicked the door open, axe raised, and rushed in.
The person inside was startled, and the force in their hands momentarily went out of control.
“Puh-zi”, the white blade plunged into the zombie’s neck, and blood spurted out instantly.
“Damn, Xia Ao, you scared me to death!”
“Watch out—”
?
Shi Zuo An had just turned to complain when something brushed against his hair and flew past him. With a “thud,” a heavy object hit the floor behind him.
“…Did you hear what I said? I said you scared me to death! Got it this time?!”
Xia Ao met his resentful glare and gave a nervous laugh: “There’s a zombie behind you.”
A zombie had actually been clinging to the window, trying to squeeze in through the unlatched gap.
At that moment, Shi Zuo An was busy finishing off a zombie and hadn’t noticed an arm already slipping into the room.
Xia Ao had walked in just in time to confront this heart-stopping scene.
“What’s going on? There’s a zombie in the room and you’re still going in?” Xia Ao kicked the zombie lying on the floor.
“This is an unfounded accusation!”
Shi Zuo An pursed his lips. “It was hiding in the wardrobe the whole time. I was about to grab some clothes when it suddenly lunged at me.”
Xia Ao couldn’t believe it. “It was waiting in the wardrobe this whole time?”
It hadn’t been attracted by the noise Shi Zuo An made after returning to the room. Instead, it had been lying in wait, like a trap, until Shi Zuo An opened the door and let it out.
The wardrobe zombie and the one climbing in through the window seemed different from any zombies they had encountered before, almost as if they had intelligence.
Shi Zuo An realized this as well and went to the balcony to look at the zombie Xia Ao had struck down with the axe.
“This guy was a homeless person in this area, often climbing the pipes to steal things, even women’s underwear. He’s been caught by the police many times, but there’s something off with him,” Shi Zuo An said, tapping his temple with his index finger. “Every time, they couldn’t hold him for long before releasing him, and he went right back to stealing.”
Most residents in this area were low on money. The ones who could afford it installed burglar-proof windows, those who couldn’t, like Shi Zuo An, had to lock their windows every time they went out.
“But he usually only stole from the first and second floors. I’ve never heard of anyone on the third floor being targeted before.”
Xia Ao thought for a moment and speculated, “He didn’t go after the third floor before because he knew the risk was higher. The effort wasn’t worth it. But now that he’s turned into a zombie, as long as the fatal spots aren’t hit, he can still climb and move around.”
“You’re right. Maybe he just doesn’t have the concept of ‘death’ in his mind anymore. He’s fearless, so climbing to any floor doesn’t matter.”
Shi Zuo An shrugged, kicked the dead zombie aside, and made room to continue packing.
The room was small, so Xia Ao had to sit on the bed.
“What I’m trying to say is we can’t be too careless.”
“Zombies that jump down when attracted by a car horn are low-level. The ones that climb into third-floor windows or ambush from wardrobes are high-level.”
“If we encounter zombies later and can’t immediately tell the type, treat them as high-level zombies.”
Outside, the noise continued relentlessly. Shi Zuo An folded the last T-shirt into a neat square and packed it into his backpack, catching Xia Ao’s explanation of the ‘high-level’ and ‘low-level’ zombie classification.
He couldn’t help but laugh, weighing the backpack, then pulled a notebook from the drawer under the wardrobe and tucked the top few clothes inside.
“They’d never expect that a lifetime of being low-class would turn into ‘high-level’ status after death,” he muttered, referring to the two zombies labeled as high-level.
Although he spoke with a smile, his tone was harsh to Xia Ao’s ears, probably some old grudge against those two from when they were alive.
Xia Ao knew better than to ask more.
Once Shi Zuo An finished packing, the two finally left the dilapidated room with its missing door behind them.
Hopefully, the landlord would still try to claim compensation.
Shi Zuo An sat quietly in the passenger seat, planning to feign stubbornness when the time came. He would have no money, but it wouldn’t cost him his life.
The little Mini nimbly avoided overturned vehicles and wandering zombies on the street.
Finally, they turned into the neighborhood and parked in front of a high-rise building.
The two osmanthus trees at the entrance of the building looked far nicer than the messy, random trees in his old block.
When he was in school, there had been an osmanthus tree in the yard of his house. Every year he looked forward to autumn, when the flowers would fall, pestering his family to make osmanthus cakes for him.
Shi Zuo An looked at the lush green leaves. It was still spring, so as expected, there would be no osmanthus cakes this year either.
“Is something wrong?”
A sudden burst of heat sprayed across the side of his face.
Shi Zuo An froze instantly, his head slamming against the car window. He wished he could punch a hole and crawl through it.
“What are you doing?!”
“Huh?” Xia Ao still held the position he had leaned into, looking puzzled at Shi Zuo An’s overreaction.
“Why did you suddenly lean in and start talking?”
“Heh.” Xia Ao realized and laughed. “I called your name three times, and you were just staring at the building entrance without moving. I thought you were deaf, so I had to get closer to ask.”
“You’re not thinking I’m hitting on you, are you?”
!
Crossing the line! Way too far!!!
Shi Zuo An’s ears turned bright red immediately.
Feeling like his face was on fire, he turned away and slung his bag onto his back before getting out of the car.
“I was observing whether there are any zombies outside… your community’s security is pretty good. Let’s go quickly.”
Damn it. He was at this age, yet still getting flustered by a teasing remark from this brat!
Shi Zuo An huffed, annoyed at his own reaction.
Perhaps because this area was still under development and the occupancy rate was low, they didn’t encounter any zombies and managed to get inside the building smoothly.
The keypad lock clicked back into place, and the tension that had been building in his chest finally eased.
“I wish we don’t run into zombies that can crack the code,” Shi Zuo An said, pressing his hands together sincerely.
“I’d rather pray that no super-strong zombies come and just smash this door down,” Xia Ao said. That seemed far more likely.
The sun had already set. After the exhaustion of last night and a full day of running around on edge, both of them were desperate to lie down and get a proper sleep.
Shi Zuo An followed Xia Ao to the elevator. The LCD screen was dark, showing no numbers.
A bad feeling crept over him.
“Don’t tell me it’s out of power.”
Xia Ao quickly located the hallway light switch and pressed it, nothing happened.
“Looks like it’s out of power.”
“Can’t the backup supply run the elevator?” The access system was still working, so there was backup power in the complex.
“The backup probably only supports the access system,” Xia Ao said, pulling open the dusty stairwell door. The long-unused hinges were covered in rust. “Eighteen floors. Brace yourself.”
Eighteen floors!
Shi Zuo An felt his eyes go black.