After returning to her apartment, Ling Lan quickly closed the door and collapsed onto the bed.
After swallowing the crystal, she felt less exhausted, although her stomach was a little hungry.
She took out a boxed meal from her spatial storage and wolfed it down.
After eating, she was simply too tired to do anything else. She blocked the door with everything in the apartment that could be used as a barrier, took a shower, and went straight to sleep.
She was woken up in the morning by Ling Yun. The little boy had gotten up by himself and gone to the bathroom.
“Sis.”
“Good boy, you are awake. I am going to get breakfast ready first. Get dressed by yourself.”
For breakfast, Ling Lan cooked beef noodles in brown sauce and fried a sunny side up egg for Ling Yun.
After eating, the little boy played with the little white rabbit by himself while Ling Lan prepared to go outside and kill more zombies.
“Xiao Yun, Sis will be downstairs. Do not go outside. I will be back soon, okay?”
“Okay.”
Ling Yun obediently nodded and continued feeding the little rabbit carrots.
The zombies on the fifth and fourth floors had already been dealt with the previous day, so Ling Lan could now make her way downstairs.
When she reached the third floor, Ling Lan chopped down a wandering zombie. She then carefully knocked on Grandma Tian’s door and waited nervously for a response.
She soon heard Grandma Tian’s trembling footsteps coming from inside, which finally eased Ling Lan’s worries.
“It is me, Grandma Tian.”
Grandma Tian opened the door. When she saw Ling Lan standing outside, she almost burst into tears. In her urgency, she immediately began gesturing with her hands.
“Xiao Lan, are you and your brother both okay?”
“I am fine. Pack your things. I will come back and take you to stay with me.”
“Okay.”
Grandma Tian immediately began packing while Ling Lan removed the table blocking the staircase and slowly made her way downstairs.
After killing four zombies in succession, Ling Lan finally reached the iron gate on the first floor.
The iron gate was partially open. If she could close it, the safety of their entire building would improve greatly.
Looking at the zombies wandering outside, Ling Lan threw a black plastic bag into the distance.
Once the bag landed, it split open, spilling a bag of pig’s blood onto the ground.
The smell of blood immediately attracted the zombies’ attention.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ling Lan quickly closed the iron gate.
She then took out a table she had found in another apartment and firmly pushed it against the outside of the gate.
This would make the building much safer, allowing them to sleep more peacefully at night.
After taking care of everything, Ling Lan brought Grandma Tian to live in her apartment. She needed someone to look after Xiao Yun while she went outside to kill zombies. It was too dangerous to leave Xiao Yun alone at home.
Grandma Tian still had plenty of food at her apartment. She had stockpiled it after listening to Ling Lan’s advice, so Ling Lan packed everything up and brought it over.
After moving everything into the Ling family apartment, Ling Lan arranged for Grandma Tian and Xiao Yun to sleep in the large bed while she slept on her own folding bed.
Early the next morning, Grandma Tian got up and cooked breakfast for the siblings.
“Grandma Tian, from now on, you can stay here with us without worrying about anything. Just help me take care of Xiao Yun.”
Grandma Tian affectionately rubbed Xiao Yun’s head and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes before smiling and nodding.
She had lived a very lonely life. Now that she had Ling Lan and Ling Yun by her side, she was genuinely happy.
A full twenty four hours had passed since the apocalypse began, and the world had undergone tremendous changes.
The noise outside the apartment complex had gradually turned into an eerie silence. Apart from the occasional sound of a zombie bumping into an electric scooter, there was almost no other sound.
Ling Lan had already made a plan. If the military came to rescue survivors and took them to a base, they would go with them.
Their home was safe for now, but if they encountered advanced evolved zombies or bad people with special abilities later, Ling Lan alone was not completely confident that she could protect everyone, especially with her younger brother and Grandma Tian beside her.
That morning, after breakfast, Ling Lan heard gunshots coming from the street.
She immediately climbed out of bed and went to look outside.
Two vehicles had stopped across the street in front of Happiness Supermarket. The surrounding zombies noticed the humans and began howling as they rushed toward the vehicles.
Gunshots continued to ring out. Zombies around the vehicles were shot in the head and collapsed to the ground, only for more zombies behind them to rush forward. In an instant, a large number of zombies had fallen across the street.
Ling Lan watched as a group of people entered the supermarket in front of the apartment complex. A few more gunshots rang out before the supermarket doors were firmly closed.
Some people simply adapted quickly. While most survivors were still hiding inside their homes, some had already formed teams and begun searching for supplies.
This group was quite capable. They had even managed to obtain firearms.
Perhaps they had gotten them from the police station on the nearby street.
They had been outside for quite a while, so it seemed that this group planned to stay temporarily at Happiness Supermarket.
The street was covered with fallen zombies, and Ling Lan’s eyes lit up.
So many crystals.
Late at night, after making sure that Grandma Tian and Ling Yun were sound asleep, Ling Lan quickly put on all her protective gear and quietly left the apartment.
She found a small stool and placed it against the door to prevent anything unexpected from happening.
Under the dim light, a person wearing a black raincoat and holding a Tang Dao appeared on the street.
She rummaged through the dead zombies scattered across the street, searching for something.
Anyone who saw this scene would have wondered what was happening.
Had things already reached the point where people had to search zombies for food?
Fourteen crystals were thrown into her spatial storage. Ling Lan did not hurry home. Instead, she began walking along the street in search of useful items.
To avoid the people in the supermarket, Ling Lan headed toward the shops farther down the street.
She remembered that there was a children’s goods store nearby. After killing several zombies, Ling Lan quickly entered the shop.
It was pitch black inside, but there were no zombies.
Ling Lan chose several sets of boys’ clothes and shoes in different sizes, then picked up some snacks and toys.
After leaving the children’s goods store, Ling Lan entered a convenience store and searched through it before returning home.
Once she arrived, Ling Lan swallowed the crystals she had collected that day. A moment later, she was pleasantly surprised to discover that her spatial storage had expanded, gaining another thirty square meters.
Tomorrow, she would continue going outside, collecting crystals while stockpiling supplies.
When night came again, Ling Lan fully equipped herself and prepared to go out in search of more crystals.
“Grandma Tian, you and Xiao Yun stay at home. Do not go outside under any circumstances. I have brought my key, so you do not need to open the door. Do not respond to anyone who knocks.”
“Xiao Lan, it is dangerous outside. You should stay home.”
Ling Lan shook her head and comforted Grandma Tian.
“We cannot stay inside forever. Grandma Tian, do not worry. I will definitely come back safely. You only need to take good care of Xiao Yun for me.”
Inside a fresh food store on the street, Ling Lan was selecting vegetables and fruits that had not yet spoiled and putting them into her spatial storage.
Just as she was about to leave, two people ran in through the door and quickly closed it behind them.
The two were startled when they saw Ling Lan. They had initially thought she was a zombie.
A fat man with red hair and a blue striped shirt raised a gun and was about to shoot Ling Lan in the head.
“Do not shoot!”
“Ji Xu, she is a living person.”
As soon as the man realized that Ling Lan was human, he immediately lowered his gun.
Ling Lan, however, had already placed one hand behind her back and taken out her Tang Dao from her spatial storage.
“Little brother, are you here alone?”
The red haired fat man was the one speaking again. He had mistaken Ling Lan for a boy.
Ling Lan did not say anything and simply nodded.
“Fatty, stop wasting time. Hurry up and grab whatever is useful. Once we are done, we leave.”
The other boy, who was wearing a leather jacket, walked up to Ling Lan with a cold expression.
“Are you the owner of this store?”
Ling Lan shook her head.
“I came here to look for food.”
Ling Lan nodded.
Seeing that she was not speaking, Ji Xu assumed that she was mute, so he relaxed his guard slightly.
Once Fatty had filled his bag, Ji Xu signaled for him to leave.
The fresh food store’s door opened, and the two immediately ran outside.
The surrounding zombies smelled the humans and quickly gathered around them.
Ji Xu fired several shots at the zombies while Fatty ran toward the supermarket with a speed that did not match his large body.
The zombies also noticed Ling Lan inside the fresh food store and charged toward her while howling.
Ling Lan calmly raised her Tang Dao.
Ji Xu and Fatty managed to break through the zombies and return to the supermarket. Several of their companions had already been waiting for them inside.
The food in the supermarket was gradually running out, so the group had decided that they needed to go out and search for supplies every day.
The red haired fat man opened a window and looked toward the fresh food store across the street. He wanted to see whether the boy had managed to escape, and he felt a little sympathy for him.
But after taking one look, Fatty froze.
The boy holding the Tang Dao was standing at the entrance of the fresh food store, raising his blade and bringing it down to chop off a zombie’s head.
What the hell?
What kind of move was that? It was so violent!
Fatty was just about to call his companions over when he discovered that the boy had already disappeared into the darkness.
“Fatty, what are you looking at?”
Inside the supermarket, a group of university students was using a rice cooker from the supermarket to cook noodles. They had also added the vegetables they had just found in the fresh food store.
“Ji Xu, that little boy just now was amazing. He was using an axe to chop zombies in the head over and over.”
Ji Xu had been sitting in the corner smoking. Hearing this, he walked over to the window.
Apart from a few scattered zombies wandering along the street, there was no boy anywhere to be seen.
Ji Xu patted his good friend’s head and told him impatiently to hurry up and put away the food they had taken.
There were six people in their group, all students from S University.
The day the zombies broke out happened to be Ji Xu’s birthday. He had invited his friends to sing karaoke at a KTV on the commercial street.
Their group had first driven to the nearby police station and obtained firearms before coming to this street to look for food.
For the time being, the group did not have to worry too much about food and water while staying in the supermarket. However, whenever they thought about their families, everyone’s mood became heavy.
After returning to the apartment complex, Ling Lan discovered that the entrance to her building was wide open.
She clearly remembered locking the entrance door before leaving.
Ling Lan ran toward the fourth floor as fast as she could. When she saw that the table blocking her apartment door was still there, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After entering the apartment, Grandma Tian hurried over to her. Without saying anything, she immediately checked Ling Lan from head to toe to make sure she was unharmed.
“Grandma Tian, I am fine. Did anything happen while I was gone?”
“Not long after you left, we heard screaming downstairs. I thought something had happened to you. You scared me terribly.”
“Grandma Tian, I am fine, aren’t I? Go get some rest.”
That night, Ling Lan heard gunshots coming from the street again, along with human screams and zombie roars.
Through the window, she saw several more vehicles stopping at the entrance to the street, with many people getting out.
It seemed that this commercial street had attracted a large number of survivors. People had already begun overcoming their fear and venturing outside to search for supplies.
The residents of the apartment complex had also begun gathering survivors through the residents’ group chat. They formed teams and started leaving their apartments to kill zombies and search for supplies.
There were naturally survivors in Ling Lan’s building as well. After communicating through the group chat, they decided to search the building for supplies first.
Zhang Ling and her husband downstairs were still alive. Her husband led a group of survivors from door to door in search of food.
Ling Lan remained silent in the group chat, so nobody knew that she was still alive.
They were lucky that all the zombies in the building had already been eliminated. Naturally, they had no idea that Ling Lan was responsible.
They began searching each apartment for supplies until they reached Ling Lan’s door.
Bang!
The three people eating inside the apartment were startled by the impact against the door.
Ling Lan immediately stood up and walked to the door. Looking through the peephole, she saw Zhang Ling and the others.
“What do you want?”
The people outside were startled when they heard Ling Lan’s voice. There was actually someone still living inside this apartment.
“Well, you are still alive! Do you want to search for supplies with us?”
“No.”
She had refused?
That meant there were still plenty of supplies inside her apartment.
Zhang Ling and her husband’s eyes immediately lit up.
“I am saying, you must still have quite a lot of supplies at home, right? We are all facing a disaster together, so we should help one another. Give us some of yours and we will take you with us when we search for supplies later.”
Ling Lan curled the corners of her mouth and replied with a single word.
“Get lost.”
Zhang Ling, her husband, and the others immediately became furious and began pounding on the door with all their strength.
“Go ahead. Keep doing that and you will attract the zombies.”
As soon as Ling Lan finished speaking, the roar of zombies came from downstairs. The people outside immediately became quiet.
Two more days passed, and more than twenty people had gathered at the entrance of the apartment complex. They killed zombies while making their way toward the street.
They carried various weapons and hacked at the zombies whenever they encountered them, without any real technique.
Zhang Ling and her husband were naturally among them.
After killing enough zombies, the survivors gained some experience. The residents of the apartment complex had begun learning how to kill zombies and were preparing to head to nearby shops to look for food.
The residents of the apartment complex clashed with the group at Happiness Supermarket. A group of people could not compete with firearms. After several of them were knocked down, they no longer dared to approach the Happiness Supermarket.
After the survivors found food, things became peaceful for a while.
Grandma Tian cooked delicious meals for the siblings every day. Ling Lan could see that Ling Yun was finally putting on some weight.
At first, Grandma Tian was afraid to waste food because she worried that their supplies would not last. Ling Lan told her to prepare meals as usual.
She could obtain more food, so there was no need to be overly frugal.
Eating well would give them the strength to escape and fight zombies.
Her spatial storage was gradually expanding, so she could go outside and stockpile even more supplies.
Standing by the window, Ling Lan used her telescope to look toward the shopping mall. She wanted to try going there.
Many other survivors had the same idea. A large number of people nearby had already set their sights on that shopping mall.
In order to expand her spatial storage further and stockpile supplies from the shopping mall, Ling Lan decided to go outside again that night to search for crystals.
She had seen many zombies killed downstairs over the past few days. It was time to collect what others had left behind.
At midnight, Ling Lan explained everything to Grandma Tian and told her to use a table to block the apartment door. No matter who knocked, she should not respond. Ling Lan had her own key.
Not long after she left the building, several suspicious people quietly emerged from their apartments.
The street was completely dark. Without electricity, the streetlights were nothing more than useless decorations.
The dark night and high moon were perfect for Ling Lan to do what she needed.
Taking advantage of the faint moonlight, Ling Lan rummaged through the bodies of the zombies and searched for the crystals behind their heads.
She was wearing a raincoat and had even smeared a layer of zombie brain matter over herself. This could temporarily confuse the zombies’ sense of smell.
Several zombies passed right beside her without noticing her.
Ling Lan did not dare to stay out for too long. With Zhang Ling and those people around, she quickly gathered her things and headed home.
However, she failed to notice the dark figure standing at the corner of the street.