Chapter 206: Zombies and Outing.
. She and Yan Cijin kept walking, carrying their things home with firm, fast steps.
When they got upstairs, Bai Li first brought two cases of bottled water and one case of drinks to Yan Cijin’s place before going back to her own residence. Yan Cijin did the same with the frozen food, carefully putting everything into the refrigerator as soon as she got inside. The cold air from inside felt comforting for a moment, even if it was only temporary. Every little bit of order in the chaos felt good now. Bai Li piled all the bottled water and drinks in the living room and then took the frozen food from her bag and put it into the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. The refrigerator was already getting crowded, but it still held enough for now. The sight of it made Bai Li feel a bit more settled. At least for the moment, they had enough to eat and drink.
Yan Cijin met Bai Li again at the door not long after that, already preparing to go down again. They did not waste time on unnecessary words. On the way down, Bai Li killed three zombies outside the building. The kills were quick and clean, with no wasted motion. Once again, she moved like someone who had already accepted that hesitation was the fastest way to die. The two of them returned to the small supermarket, and this time Bai Li’s priorities changed. She stuffed toilet paper, tissues, sanitary napkins, shampoo, and shower gel into her storage space. These were the kinds of things that did not seem urgent when life was normal, but once the apocalypse started, they became hard to find and even harder to replace. With some space still left, she put in the remaining instant noodles as well.
Bai Li did not take any more frozen food this time because the refrigerator was already full. Instead, she began packing snacks from the supermarket into her bag, and Yan Cijin did the same, filling her own backpack with as many packaged snacks as she could fit. They moved quickly and methodically, checking every shelf and every box they could reach. By now, the supermarket was looking emptier than before, but there was still enough left that it did not feel completely stripped bare. Bai Li was careful to only take what they could use. There was no point in hauling back things that would rot or go to waste before they had a chance to eat them.
By the time they returned for the third time, Bai Li’s clothes were soaked with sweat. June was already hot, and the heat had only gotten worse under the pressure of moving up and down ten floors three times. On top of that, both of them were wearing layers, and every trip meant carrying heavy bags, fighting off zombies, and pushing through the stale air of the stairwell. It was the kind of work that made a person feel drained right down to the bones. Even Bai Li, who was usually calm and steady, could feel the stickiness of sweat clinging to her skin. Her hairline was damp, and the back of her clothes had darkened with moisture. Yan Cijin did not look much better. The two of them were tired, but nobody said they wanted to stop. They both knew this was the right moment to gather as much as they could before things got even worse.
Before going home, Bai Li left some toilet paper and sanitary napkins for Yan Cijin. That sort of thing was hard to come by later, and Bai Li did not want Yan Cijin to run out and regret not keeping any back. Yan Cijin accepted it without pretending to be shy about it. In a world like this, pride did not matter nearly as much as usefulness. After that, Bai Li finally went home, piled her belongings back into the living room, and then quickly took off her coat to shower. The cold water on her skin helped wash away some of the heat and fatigue. After showering, she leaned back on the sofa to rest for a bit. Her whole body felt loose and a little tired, but it was the kind of tired that came with getting things done, not with doing nothing.
When she picked up her phone and looked at it, Bai Li saw that many people in the Building 9 residents’ group were tagging her. The message count had blown up while she was busy downstairs. A slight smile played on Bai Li’s lips as she clicked into the group. The chat was full of all kinds of nonsense. Some people were threatening her, some were offering to buy supplies from her with money, some were trying to use their children to morally blackmail her, and some were making empty promises that meant nothing at all. It was the kind of flood of messages that would annoy a normal person, but Bai Li only found it funny. At a time like this, were these people still dreaming? Did they really think money still meant anything? Did they think a few sweet words or fake threats could make her hand over the things she had risked her life to get?
Bai Li let out a soft chuckle and tapped the screen. Then she quickly typed a message back into the group: "At a time like this, still thinking of relying on others? Forgive my bluntness, but those who rely on others will end up suffering a terrible fate. By the way, I have no morals and no compassion, so don’t tag me anymore. I’ll just treat what you’re saying as a joke."
The moment she sent it, the group exploded again. More people started tagging her, and the tone of the messages got even messier. Some were angry, some were desperate, and some were still trying to reason with her in that fake polite way people used when they wanted something. Bai Li did not care. She knew exactly what kind of people these were. They would rather cling to her as a lifeline than risk their own lives. They wanted handouts, not effort. They wanted someone else to be responsible for their survival while they sat in safety and waited. In the apocalypse, that kind of person was a burden. They were fickle, greedy, and always the first to turn on others when things went wrong. Bai Li had no intention of carrying dead weight like that, and she did not feel bad about saying so either.
She told Yan Cijin she would not be going over for lunch, then went into the kitchen to cook some frozen wontons. She added a generous amount of shrimp paste and meatballs too, because if she was eating, she might as well eat properly. Bai Li did not do things halfway. The broth was seasoned simply with seaweed and condiments, but the smell that rose from the pot was rich and warm, the kind of smell that could make a tired person feel human again. In a short while, a fragrant bowl of shrimp paste, meatball, and wontons was ready. Bai Li carried the bowl to the living room and turned on the TV, only to find that only channel 1 seemed to be working properly. The other channels were mostly showing glitches, flickering nonsense, or static that made the screen look broken.
She ate while watching TV. The female anchor on the screen was trying her best to stay calm, and her face was carefully controlled, but Bai Li did not believe a word she said. The anchor kept talking about order, rescue, stability, and how the situation was being handled, but Bai Li knew that those were just the kind of words people used when they wanted everyone else to stop panicking. With things like this happening outside, how could order be restored in a short time? The government might still be trying to hold on, and the media might still be trying to reassure people, but the truth was obvious. This was only the beginning. According to the plot in the book, there would be more disasters after this. The zombie invasion was just the first crack in a wall that was already starting to break apart.
Bai Li ate with relish and finished a large bowl of wontons in no time.
After that, she took the dishes back into the kitchen and washed them. She turned on the faucet a couple of times and noticed that the water flow was already getting thin. At first it dribbled out weakly, then after a few seconds the faucet stopped completely. Bai Li stared at it for a moment and her heart sank. She muttered to herself, "The water’s cut off?"
The answer seemed to hang in the air in front of her. After the water stopped, the power would probably go out soon too, and then the internet would be gone as well. The world they had known would keep retreating farther and farther away, until even basic comfort became something they could only remember. Bai Li sighed. She had known this would likely happen sooner or later, but knowing it and seeing it happen were two different things. The moment the water really stopped, the sense of finality hit harder than she expected. The apocalypse had truly arrived.
