I casually grabbed a squashed plastic bottle from the balcony and handed it to her.
"Get lost! With that opening... do you think I'm one of you guys?!"
With Li Wenli's furious shout, I immediately realized my mistake. Of course, using a bottle to solve the problem was a male privilege; for girls, it was technically impossible.
But awkward or not, the problem was right in front of us.
We were currently in Girls' Dormitory Building 2, the oldest building at the Jingyang University Branch Campus.
The history of this building was practically a tragic tale of blood and tears.
The land originally belonged to a third-rate private school. Later, whether because the principal absconded with funds or due to poor management leading to bankruptcy, it was acquired at a low price by Jingyang University, eager to expand enrollment.
Although the university later built ten brand-new modern dormitory buildings as a facade project, complete with private bathrooms, air conditioning, and balconies, the enrollment numbers were so high that these old dormitory buildings, located in the farthest corner of the campus and nearly against the perimeter wall, were still packed with us unlucky third-year students.
The facilities here were appallingly poor.
Not only was the location remote, requiring a full twenty-minute "Long March" to reach the main Teaching Building for classes, but the dormitory's internal structure was also the most primitive six-person room with bunk beds and desks underneath.
The worst part was that each floor had only one large communal washroom and toilet, located at the stairwell in the hallway. Normally, everyone had to carry a basin to the end of the hallway to queue for washing faces, brushing teeth, using the toilet, and doing laundry.
This design was just a bit inconvenient under normal circumstances, at most causing a scramble for spots in the morning. But in this apocalyptic scenario, with zombies roaming the hallways and opening the door being a death sentence, this design was practically pushing us to our doom.
Not only had using the toilet become a luxury, but even water sources had become a critical shortcoming.
There were no faucets in the dormitory, meaning that once we finished the few pitiful bottles of water we had, we wouldn't even have tap water to drink.
I sat on the chair, troubled, pulling at my hair, my mind racing.
"How about... using the washbasin?" I tentatively glanced at the pink plastic basin under Zhao Qian's bed.
Li Wenli was already flushed red, her legs tightly crossed, writhing on the chair.
Hearing my suggestion, she glared at me fiercely:
"That basin is for washing faces! And... and right here in the room? In front of you? Just kill me!"
"Then what do you suggest?" I shrugged. "You can't just pee your pants, right? You smelled it when Zhao Qian did, that stench... if you do it, neither of us will sleep tonight; we'll be suffocated."
Li Wenli bit her lip, stood up, grabbed a roll of toilet paper from the table, and quickly headed to the balcony.
"I'm going to the balcony!"
She turned back, pointing at me with a murderous look in her eyes: "Zhou Peiyu, sit right there! Don't you dare look! If you even glance back, I'll blind you with an arrow!"
"Alright, alright, I won't look. I'm not interested in that." I quickly raised my hands, turning to face the dormitory door, adopting a gentlemanly demeanor.
"Clatter."
Behind me came the sound of the sliding balcony door being pulled open, followed by the heavy blackout curtains being drawn shut.
I sat on the chair, my eyes averted, but my ears perked up involuntarily. After all, the dormitory was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
After a few seconds of rustling, a rapid and continuous "hissing" sound clearly penetrated the curtains and reached my ears.
What can I say, the situation was indeed quite awkward: a lone man and woman in a room, surrounded by zombies outside, with a school beauty relieving herself on the balcony. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
But amidst this sound, I began to ponder.
Peeing wasn't a big deal; liquid could just flow down the balcony drain, and with the overwhelming smell of blood and decay outside, the urine odor would likely be masked before it even spread.
But... what about number two?
When nature calls, it's not something you can just hold in.
We couldn't possibly handle that on the balcony, could we?
That's solid waste!
Imagine Li Wenli or me squatting on the balcony and then... the image was too vivid to bear. Plus, the balcony had no flushing facilities; if that stuff piled up, could the dormitory still be habitable?
As I was lost in thought, the sound of water ceased, followed by a few noises of clothing being adjusted.
"Clatter."
The balcony door was pulled open again, and Li Wenli walked in with her head down.
She quickly returned to her spot, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, and took a long swig, seemingly trying to mask her embarrassment with drinking.
"Um..."
She was about to say something to change the subject.
But I suddenly turned around, looking at her seriously, "Li Wenli, do you have any garbage bags in your dorm? The big black ones."
"We do... Zhao Qian bought a big roll; it's in her cabinet." She pointed to Zhao Qian's wardrobe, "What do you need it for?"
"For that."
"For what?"
"Poop."
I continued to explain, "We can handle peeing on the balcony; it can be rinsed away or dried up. But number two is different. We can't just let it dry on the balcony, right?"
"So," I pointed to the cabinet, "if we need to go, we can only do it in a garbage bag and throw it out. It's the only sanitary solution for now."
Li Wenli listened, opened her mouth as if to argue or call me disgusting, but after a long pause, she could only nod reluctantly.
"You're right..." she covered her face, "I never thought my college life would come to this. Pooping in a bag in front of a guy... just let me die."
"Hang in there," I comforted, "maybe in a couple of days, everything will be fine. If the military comes, we'll be saved."
Having resolved these awkward but unavoidable survival issues, the atmosphere in the dormitory eased slightly.
Though the air was still thick with the lingering scent of blood, at least it wasn't as unnerving as having those three corpses lying on the floor.
Night had fallen.
Both Li Wenli and I felt exhausted. Escaping death, witnessing mutations, killing with our own hands, handling corpses... this night had been more thrilling than my previous twenty years combined. Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.
"Let's rest," I yawned, feeling my eyelids drooping, "there's no point in taking turns keeping watch tonight. The door's locked; if anything breaks in, we'll hear it."
Li Wenli nodded; she was already at her limit.
There were six beds in the dormitory, but now only the two of us were alive.
Naturally, Li Wenli returned to her own bed, which was near the door. Though it was a bit unsafe being close to the entrance, it was her own space, offering a sense of security.
I faced a choice.
My gaze finally settled on Wang Yanli's bed.
Her bed was at the far end of the dormitory, near the balcony, relatively hidden and safe. Plus, she had died on the floor, so the bed was just a bit messy but otherwise clean, free of blood or filth. The pink bedding was still neatly arranged.
"I'll sleep here," I pointed to Wang Yanli's bed.
Li Wenli had no objections, probably glad to have me farther away.
I climbed the bed ladder, which was much narrower than those in the boys' dormitory, wobbling slightly underfoot. Once on the bed, I lay down on the pink bedding.
"Ah..."
I couldn't help but let out a comfortable sigh.
I had to admit, a girl's bed was nothing like the doghouse we guys had.
In the boys' dorm, the smell was a mix of sweat, foot odor, and stale smoke. But Wang Yanli, despite her questionable character, had a truly comfortable bed. The bedding carried a faint scent of laundry detergent, soft and fragrant.
The mattress was thickly padded, a hundred times better than my hard bed.
Hugging the pillow with its faint fragrance, I knew the bed's owner had just been shot by me and thrown out, but in the face of extreme exhaustion, that psychological barrier vanished instantly.
"Goodnight," I called out below.
"...Goodnight. Don't snore," Li Wenli's muffled voice replied.
...
The next morning, I groggily opened my eyes to find the opposite bed empty.
"Li Wenli?"
I called out, a sense of panic rising.
"Over here."
Li Wenli's voice came from the balcony.
I breathed a sigh of relief, jumped off the bed, and rubbed my sleepy eyes as I walked to the balcony.
Li Wenli was leaning on the balcony railing, staring outside, her back trembling slightly.
"What's up? Enjoying the view so early?"
Stretching, I moved beside her, following her gaze outside.
"Holy shit..."