As they left the Infirmary, Ning Yiwei felt as if her eyes had truly been opened.
She’d thought taking the protective suits was already crazy enough—until Xu Kewang, carrying a Red Light Physiotherapy Lamp, said to her impassively, “Let’s go.”
The world was on the verge of collapse.
With all the things they were carrying, they stood out far too much. They could only make their way to the Dormitory Building by keeping out of sight. There were many more Students hurrying about along the way. Some carried big and small bags, while others had nothing in their hands but ruthless looks on their faces.
“Ah! What are you doing?” A scream drew the attention of Xu Kewang and her companion, who were hiding behind a holly tree.
A girl holding a Plastic bag had turned bright red in the face and was struggling with a man opposite her who looked hostile. He seemed to be at least thirty years old. What was someone like him doing in the university Dormitory Area?
Before Xu Kewang could figure it out, the man had already snatched the things and stormed off. The girl was shoved to the ground and burst into tears.
“Give it back! Give it back! Waaah, that was the last of my Food.”
Ning Yiwei had always been the most compassionate of them. Seeing this, her eyes couldn’t help but redden.
She had seen what the Convenience Store was like earlier, and knew how scarce Food was. If you couldn’t get any today, you might have to go hungry for the days to come.
If you couldn’t get out and had nothing to eat, how could you stay Alive? Or rather, how many days could you last?
Xu Kewang felt sympathy too, but more and more passersby were being drawn by the girl’s cries, and quite a few of them were older men like the one from before. So she didn’t dare go out and play the good Samaritan.
At the same time, she pressed a hand against Ning Yiwei.
“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything rash.” Ning Yiwei pressed her hand back, her cold palm clasping Xu Kewang’s. “If you hadn’t reminded us, there’s no way we’d have gotten all this. These are the hope of the whole Dormitory. I won’t let my own sympathy hold you all back.”
Hearing her say that, Xu Kewang paused, then smiled with her lips pressed together.
The girl who had been robbed cried for a long time. Perhaps she’d run out of strength, too. After letting her Emotion out, she wiped her face and stood up. As if she’d made up her mind, she once again hurried toward the supermarket.
Everyone—yes, everyone—would be unable to Give Up on staying Alive so Easily right at the start of the game.
Xu Kewang thought.
The two of them finally made it back to the Dormitory Building, sneaking along with the Physiotherapy Lamp slung over their shoulders. Their building stood in the northeastern corner of the entire Dormitory complex, surrounded by several large trees. It was quieter than anywhere else.
“Good grief, why didn’t you just bring the whole house back?” Xie Yue said, taking the lamp from them all the same. “Everyone’s out grabbing things right now, so there aren’t many people in the building. Let’s hurry upstairs.”
The four of them finally got a chance to catch their breath. Once back in the dorm, they all nearly collapsed onto their beds.
Xu Kewang surveyed the dorm. Her body was utterly exhausted, but she felt unusually satisfied and secure.
Their four-person dorm room was a little over twenty square meters—not too small, not too large. Now, it was packed full of the Supplies they’d snatched, leaving almost no room to stand.
Water took up the most space, of course. They had six packs of Mineral Water, one pack of Cola, and… one pack of Beer?
“How did you manage to bring all this back?” Xu Kewang couldn’t help admiring them.
“With my natural super strength, of course! Hahahaha!” Xie Yue flexed her arm, showing off her sturdy Muscle. “Before I went, I made sure to find a few Bed Curtain cords and tie all this water together. I half-dragged, half-carried it back. You could call it weight training.”
She patted her beloved Beer with deep satisfaction.
“I’ve got to say, sweating it out made me feel a lot better.”
But as soon as she finished speaking, she flopped straight back onto her bed. “Never mind. I was bragging. I’m actually about to die from exhaustion.”
The others were used to her antics. They exchanged smiles.
Xu Kewang wasn’t planning to rest. She pushed the water beneath everyone’s desks, found a few old bed sheets and cut them up, then covered the water with them. After that, she tipped all the suitcases onto their sides and pushed them in front of the water, concealing it completely.
Next, she divided the Food they’d bought into four equal portions. Xie Yue was strong and would be the dorm’s main person for going out in the future, so Xu Kewang set aside a little extra meat from her own share for her.
“I brought dried beef and Cured Meat from home.” Wencai took out a black Plastic bag. “I coated all this meat with Salt, so it’ll keep for a long time.”
Ning Yiwei opened her cabinet and took out two Cardboard Boxes. “These are the little buns and biscuits I had left over.”
Everyone looked inside. It was packed with all sorts of brightly packaged sweets in every brand and flavor.
“So that’s what you were always munching on behind the curtains in the middle of the night. I thought you were raising mice.” Xie Yue was stunned by the variety of little buns. “You were eating all this?”
Then she looked worriedly at Ning Yiwei’s two legs, which were as thin as kindling. “Where does all the Food you eat go?”
“Maybe it turns into spring mud to nourish the flowers,” Ning Yiwei said shyly. Then, without giving anyone a chance to object, she grabbed handful after handful and handed them around. “Everyone gets some.”
Xie Yue wasn’t about to be outdone, and contributed her protein powder. “Stick with me for three months, and I guarantee that when the four of us go out, people will run at the sight of us, and ghosts will be terrified.”
Imagining the four muscular women walking down the street hand in hand, Xu Kewang found that she actually liked the idea.
If the Apocalypse from her dream was truly coming, then the pale, young, thin look favored by mainstream beauty standards might turn from an advantage into a disadvantage. Solid Muscle would be what kept them Alive.
Seeing that everyone had contributed something, Xu Kewang lowered her head. “Sorry, I don’t have much, so I’ll take a smaller share of the Supplies.”
“Don’t worry about that,” they reassured her. “If it weren’t for your warning, our Supplies would only last a few days. You’re the one who saved us.”
They continued sorting the Supplies, putting them away in their cabinets. They stuffed anything that wouldn’t fit into Storage Boxes and put them in the Bathroom.
It sounded a little disgusting, but they couldn’t leave these precious Supplies out in the open, in case someone passing by spotted them when the door opened and started coveting them.
Finally, Xu Kewang took out the one Bag she hadn’t unpacked yet.
“One lock each. Lock all the cabinets and keep the Keys on you.” She handed out the iron locks they’d snatched. “If someone comes in to steal our Supplies, the locks can buy us some time.”
“Also, here are a few fruit knives. I couldn’t find any Weapons that were more practical, so we’ll have to make do for now.”
As she spoke, she handed out the knives as casually as if she were handing out Apples.
The other three exchanged looks and drew their palm-length blades. The little knives weren’t much of a Threat, but cold glints rippled across them.
They had to admit that everything was moving in the worst possible direction.