Several days had passed since the great change, and Ling Qingyun and Zhuang Cheng had now been trapped in this newly finished house for four days.
The zombies that had followed them had completely surrounded the front door, and there were even more gathered beneath the windows. Even if they managed to deal with the zombies at the door, they wouldn’t get far on foot.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!” The steady sound of pounding came from the tightly shut door, which had also been reinforced with bricks. It hadn’t changed much in days, they knew without looking that it was the same group of zombies who had chased them here and were still waiting outside.
At the same time, there was a rhythmic slapping sound coming from beneath the window. If zombies could climb walls, they would’ve already broken in through the windows and devoured them!
Listening to the unceasing pounding, Ling Qingyun’s face was grim. This feeling of waiting for death was unbearable, especially since he couldn’t even get a proper night’s sleep. Over the past few days, he had barely closed his eyes, always afraid the zombies might burst in the moment he let his guard down.
In ordinary times, humans might think dying isn’t such a big deal—but when truly pushed to the edge, the will to survive becomes overwhelming. Just like now—although death felt inevitable, he had absolutely no desire to die.
Unlike Ling Qingyun, Zhuang Cheng had remained very quiet. He was fiddling with the last remaining can of eight-treasure congee in his hands and occasionally looked up at Ling Qingyun.
“Chengcheng, we’re probably going to die here,” Ling Qingyun said, his voice tinged with guilt. Why hadn’t he brought Zhuang Cheng back to the dorm to get his student ID? There had been zombies there, yes, but maybe if they’d taken the risk, it might’ve worked out. Zhuang Cheng was a grad student, he would’ve qualified to board the military rescue trucks. Even if Ling Qingyun couldn’t go to the safe zone, at least Zhuang Cheng could’ve survived.
“Dying here isn’t so bad. As long as we don’t turn into zombies… Once we’re dead, maybe the zombies will lose interest in us. Do you think, maybe far in the future, someone might discover our bones here?” Zhuang Cheng smiled faintly. His lips were cracked from dehydration.
They’d realized the water shortage issue shortly after hiding here. Although they had two bottles of drinks, how long could that last? Zhuang Cheng had rationed them carefully, and now only a few sips remained.
He looked at Ling Qingyun’s stubbled face, unkempt from days without shaving. Although Ling looked haggard, his eyes still shone brightly.
Maybe dying here wasn’t so bad. At least they’d die together. But even at this point, Zhuang Cheng couldn’t bring himself to confess his feelings… He was too afraid that in their final moments, it would cause conflict or ruin what little peace they had left.
He had liked Ling Qingyun, had loved him, for a very long time. But Ling Qingyun only saw him as a benefactor, a brother. He could never love him back.
Over the years, Zhuang Cheng had tried to drop many hints, from showing him gay films to giving him books on the topic—but Ling Qingyun always brushed it off with disdain, firmly believing that any man who wanted to be with another man must have something wrong in the head. What Ling Qingyun didn’t know was that the very “brother” he trusted so deeply was one of those people with “something wrong.”
“When we’re dead, what’s the point of a pile of bones?” Ling Qingyun muttered as he walked to the window and glanced outside. Several zombies standing below with their heads tilted upwards immediately raised their arms and tried to jump up toward him. But this was the second floor, there was no way they could reach him with just their hands.
“God, it stinks!” The stench from below drifted upward, and Ling Qingyun couldn’t help but spit down in disgust.
Even though it was winter, and even though the zombies didn’t seem to rot much after turning, the remains of their victims, the bones of people who had been eaten alive, still lingered. The dark red blood on the zombies’ bodies filled the air with the nauseating stench of death.
Staring at the zombies, whose flesh had already been partially gnawed away and who still mindlessly sought out more to eat, Ling Qingyun wished he could just piss straight into their gaping mouths.
But he hadn’t had any water in a long time, he couldn’t even pee if he tried. As for his stomach, it had been empty for so long that the hunger had gone numb.
“Qingyun, don’t waste your energy on them. Have some water,” Zhuang Cheng said, taking out the last remaining bottle of drink.
“Did you drink already?” Ling Qingyun asked, glancing at the nearly full bottle.
“I did,” Zhuang Cheng replied. He had taken a sip, yes—but that was yesterday morning.
Since they were going to die anyway, he hoped he would die before Ling Qingyun did.
Ling Qingyun took a sip of the drink, then saw Zhuang Cheng opening the last can of eight-treasure congee.
“Smells good,” Ling Qingyun said, watching the can. Then he added, “You eat it first, eat more.”
Zhuang Cheng, under Ling Qingyun’s watchful gaze, ate a few bites and then said, “The smell outside is awful—I’ve lost my appetite. You eat it. If we’re going to make it out of here, I’ll have to rely on you.”
Ling Qingyun took a few bites as well but soon stopped. They had so little food, wasting it wasn’t an option.
The two of them sat in silence in the room, waiting to die. But suddenly, the sound of gunfire echoed from the distance.
Since the outbreak, the national emergency machinery had been running at full speed—clearing zombies, rescuing survivors, and so on. But the first to be rescued were always the most “useful” people, followed by others in decreasing priority.
That first night, when there were fewer zombies—many people had already been taken to the safety zone by the military. Zhuang Cheng could have been one of them if only he hadn’t left his dorm without his student ID or any other identification…
In the past few days, helicopters had flown overhead more than once, calling for survivors to gather and await rescue. But unfortunately, only the two of them remained on this construction site. With just two people, how could they expect the rescue teams to make a special trip?
“There are gunshots! Maybe it’s a rescue convoy!” Their phones had long run out of battery, but before that, they’d received text messages stating that zombies were the enemies of all humanity and urging everyone to unite. The government had promised to do everything in its power to save every possible life.
In times of crisis, unity is crucial. The authorities clearly understood that. And the more survivors they rescued, the more people could help rebuild afterward.
“This construction site isn’t finished, there weren’t many workers to begin with, and most of them lived in flimsy temporary shelters. Even if the zombies are clumsy, they’re strong enough to break through those doors and attack. So there aren’t many survivors left here. If they came to rescue people, they’d probably head to the city center. A lot of folks must still be trapped in their homes. I think they’re here because of the construction cranes and other equipment and materials,” Zhuang Cheng said.
There was a large unfinished residential zone here, but the unit they were in was almost done—at least it had a real front door.
“I don’t care why they’re here, if they can get us out, that’s all that matters!” Ling Qingyun said excitedly, finishing off the eight-treasure congee he’d meant to save. “Chengcheng, hold on tight to me later, we’ll run together!”
Before Zhuang Cheng could respond, Ling Qingyun suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs for help. His voice was so loud that even the zombies pounding on the door paused for a second, then resumed with greater force.
“Survivors? We’re coming right now!” a voice shouted back through a loudspeaker.
“They’re here to rescue us!” Ling Qingyun exclaimed, gripping Zhuang Cheng’s hand tightly.
Zhuang Cheng held tightly onto Ling Qingyun’s hand, his heart pounding with emotion. They were still alive! Even though the world had become like this, as long as they were alive, that was enough.
Soon, a military truck appeared in their line of sight. The truck had been modified, its rear compartment was enclosed with metal sheets so that zombies couldn’t reach the people inside. Many stood behind the metal panels, holding guns and shooting at the surrounding zombies.
The people on the truck wore all kinds of clothing, they weren’t all soldiers. From the truck, a loudspeaker was blaring with recordings of someone shouting hoarse but motivational words:
“Comrades, keep going! Kill one, and it’s worth it! Kill two, and you’ve profited! Only by wiping out these monsters can we return to a good life!”
“Comrades! One more survivor means one more teammate. One less, and it’s one more enemy. Save as many people as you can!”
Ling Qingyun, who often watched the news, could tell, that voice belonged to a national leader. At a time like this, faced with such an unimaginable disaster, it really was like fighting a war, just like the old days of resisting foreign invaders. Humanity needed courage to stand and fight, to kill them all!
The chance to survive was right in front of them—but the building Ling Qingyun and Zhuang Cheng were trapped in had piles of construction materials blocking the road. The truck couldn’t get through!
They both quickly realized the situation. The rescue truck would help them—but no one on board was going to risk getting out and running into danger to fetch them!
“You have to run to us! We can’t get any closer! We’ll clear out the zombies as best we can!” shouted Zhang Yi through a loudspeaker as he stood atop the truck. A helicopter had previously scouted the area and spotted materials still loaded on-site, especially cranes and equipment the safe zone desperately needed. That’s why they’d brought enough drivers to retrieve it all.
Although they had a mission, Zhang Yi was a soldier, he couldn’t just abandon survivors.
“Captain Zhang, what’s the point of rescuing them? You’ve just drawn all the zombies to us,” grumbled a middle-aged man. He was a truck driver who had escaped to the safe zone when the disaster struck. He thought he was out of danger, but now, in exchange for food, he’d been ordered to risk his life driving back here…
“If we don’t save them, do we just let them become zombies? If we do save them, they can help us kill zombies!” Zhang Yi snapped back. One more person meant one more sliver of hope.
These past days, they’d had to give up on people, watching helplessly as some were surrounded by zombies. But no matter what, they had to try first—always try.
The guns in the hands of the surrounding drivers were all short-range firearms hastily produced over the past few days. Zhang Yi immediately fired his own weapon at the zombies clustered beneath the building, every extra zombie killed gave those two men a better chance to survive.
Ling Qingyun glanced below and happened to see a few of the most active zombies get shot in the head. Without hesitation, he chose to trust the aim of the one shooting.
He gripped the stick in his hand tightly, then began tossing the bricks and planks he had previously prepared in the room out the window.
The bricks and wooden boards knocked over several zombies, and the ones thrown farther away helped draw others aside. Since the building was only two stories tall, he jumped down, landing right on one of the wooden boards. As he rolled forward, he crushed the hand of a zombie beneath the board who had been reaching for him.
“Chengcheng! Jump down!” Ling Qingyun shouted as he furiously smashed at the surrounding zombies. A few days ago, he had already stopped seeing these blue-faced monsters as human. He had to kill them, only then could he survive!
Fortunately, the zombies were clumsy and lacked intelligence. As long as you weren’t afraid to fight them head-on, a living person could always overpower a single zombie. Ling Qingyun had liked to fight since he was young, so handling a few of them was no issue for him.
Zhuang Cheng didn’t hesitate, he jumped down as well, gripping a stick and striking the nearby zombies.
Compared to Ling Qingyun, Zhuang Cheng wasn’t as strong, but with the help of the steel rod in his hands, he could knock away the attacking zombies. Since they moved awkwardly, once pushed back, it took them a while to lunge forward again.
But they weren’t here to fight zombies, they needed to escape. As soon as there was an opening, they ran toward the rescue truck.
Gunfire continued to ring out, killing many of the pursuing zombies. But the sound of gunfire also drew more zombies toward them, especially as they neared the rescue truck. Those zombies that had already been following the vehicle tirelessly for a long distance quickly caught up!
Ling Qingyun led the way and naturally faced more danger. His arms ached from swinging his stick again and again. Although there were people on the truck shooting, most of them were irregular fighters who didn’t dare shoot the zombies right beside the two men, afraid they might accidentally hit them.
And there were just too many zombies! With only a handful of people, they couldn’t possibly shoot them all.
Zhang Yi kept firing nonstop, but the sheer number of zombies overwhelmed them. When he saw Ling Qingyun was getting close, he immediately opened a panel of iron plating on the truck’s rear compartment and shouted, “Hurry, over here!”
Ling Qingyun was just a few meters away from the truck, but that short distance felt very far to him. Meanwhile, more and more stinking zombies were closing in around him!
Surrounded by the foul-smelling zombies, Ling Qingyun swung his iron rod, trying to pull Zhuang Cheng behind him.
Zhuang Cheng was right behind Ling Qingyun, following him as they ran. Now, they were so close to being rescued, but the dense swarm of zombies could drag both of them straight into hell!
If Ling Qingyun ignored him and ran forward, they might still have a chance to survive. But at this moment, Ling Qingyun actually turned back!
A warmth spread through Zhuang Cheng’s heart, even if Ling Qingyun didn’t love him, at least he cared!
At this moment, Zhuang Cheng suddenly felt his mind was incredibly clear. The movements of the zombies around them seemed to slow down, their claws were about to reach Ling Qingyun!
Were they going to die here together? No! Absolutely not! Suddenly, Zhuang Cheng felt a surge of strength from somewhere flow into his hands. At this moment, he even felt like he had everything under control.
Just as Ling Qingyun reached back his hand, Zhuang Cheng pushed him hard!
He never knew Zhuang Cheng had so much strength. With that single push, Ling Qingyun staggered forward and was pushed right up against the truck. When he turned around, Zhuang Cheng was already overwhelmed by zombies!
The man who had always taken care of him held off several zombies rushing at him. His iron rod smashed the heads of the zombies nearby. His clothes were stained with blood, yet he still managed to smile at Ling Qingyun.
Someone grabbed Ling Qingyun’s hand and pulled him onto the truck. Then the door slammed shut quickly, but it caught a zombie’s hand in the process. That hand twitched there, forcing the people inside to hurriedly dodge.
The vehicle quickly started up. A person wearing camouflage instantly opened the door, pushed the caught zombie away, and said, “You’re lucky, kid. I thought both of you were dead back there.”
Ling Qingyun was dazed, his face expressionless. He hadn’t eaten or slept well for days. Just now, he had exhausted himself trying to escape, and on top of witnessing Zhuang Cheng’s death… he immediately fainted.