She dialled 110 on her phone, no matter what, she needed to turn herself in first and strive for lenient treatment.
Unable to connect.
Her hands trembled like a sieve as she continued dialling. She kept dialling for a full twenty minutes until, by some stroke of luck, she finally got through to someone.
Fu Erdie: “Hello, I…”
The voice on the other end shouted loudly, “Unknown virus invasion! Everyone, stay at home, close your doors and windows! Don’t get scratched or bitten by people with abnormal behaviour! Please inform each other… *static* *beep beep beep*”
The call was cut off.
Clearly, the situation on the other side wasn’t good either. She could only keep answering calls and quickly issue emergency warnings.
Fu Erdie’s heart settled slightly, and she finally noticed the blood and unidentified body tissue splattered on her face and hands from the zombie-like old man.
She rushed into the bathroom and vomited violently, emptying her stomach of the dinner she had just eaten. Her whole stomach felt like it wanted to empty itself.
Fu Erdie had read many post-apocalyptic novels, where natural disasters, zombies, human disasters, superpowers, and crystal cores were the common elements of the genre.
She had thought more than once about what would happen if she found herself in a post-apocalyptic world. She couldn’t drive, couldn’t navigate, couldn’t distinguish between edible and inedible food, and her idea of cooking was just reheating precooked food from the supermarket and adding packaged seasonings to eat with rice.
Without delivery and supermarkets, she would only be able to eat egg fried rice every day or rice with pickled vegetables.
Moreover, she was particularly prone to catching colds, especially when the temperature suddenly dropped. It was a certainty that she would catch a cold.
Encountering the apocalypse, even without zombies, she would end up tormenting herself to death.
Previously, it was just a thought, but now, it was about to become reality.
She didn’t have time to clean the bloodstains on herself and at the entrance. She charged all the devices in her home, filled buckets and pots with water. She tore up unused bedsheets and turned them into long ropes, tying them together, in case she had to take the risk of sliding down from the 16th floor.
She was thinking about various things, but deep down, she knew that these were just the preparations of a mediocre student seeking peace of mind.
With her physical strength, it was impossible for her to descend from the 16th floor bit by bit.
She dragged the heavy dining table to the door, so she could immediately block it once Zhao Xiaolu came in.
Sofas, TV cabinets, even the ceramic mop sink in the bathroom, were all dragged over, waiting for Zhao Xiaolu to arrive.
After completing these tasks, she took out a radio.
It was a decorative radio that played FM radio frequencies, with pre-set programs on different channels, but there was no additional information available.
She cleaned up the tissues and blood on the floor, then took her third shower of the day.
During this shower, she didn’t play any music, and she didn’t even close the bathroom door, so she could hear the sound of Zhao Xiaolu knocking and rush up immediately.
But after quickly showering in two minutes, she felt as if her face and hands were stained with something that couldn’t be washed away. She kept washing her face and hands for half an hour, but Zhao Xiaolu still hadn’t arrived.
Fu Erdie stopped her neurotic behaviour and came to the window, where a noisy and surging crowd outside and a drizzle met her gaze.
She thought that maybe Zhao Xiaolu would never come.
An hour ago, she would have run out to find her.
Now, she just wanted to sit on the balcony and wait for divine judgment in the form of mutation.
Zombies or superhumans, either would do. As an ordinary person, she would definitely not survive.
In novels, it was written that at the beginning of a mutation, there would be special particles in the air, and different people would go in different directions.
Fu Erdie turned off the air conditioning, opened the windows, and let the gentle breeze and drizzle caress her face, welcoming the possible transformation.
She touched the dog’s head that had rubbed against her, her thoughts in chaos. She thought that zombies probably wouldn’t be smart enough to unlock doors and remove security chains, right? If she turned into a zombie at home, she would probably be a zombie unable to leave the house, not causing a significant impact outside. It would just harm the dog. It would be better to let the dog out now.
So, she took a drying rack and opened the door, poking the corpse of the old man zombie with determination and pointing outside, saying, “Mozi, go run.”
In the past, when faced with such a situation, Mozi would happily go out to play. But now, it refused to move at all, even turning around and sitting in the farthest corner of the balcony, as if it knew that leaving meant leaving forever.
Fu Erdie’s eyes became slightly moist. After a long stalemate, when she saw another zombie approaching from outside, she closed the door again.
She couldn’t bear to part with the dog. If they were together in the house, then they should stay in the house. What if they both turned into mutated dogs or mutated humans?
Let it be like this.
As she closed the door, Fu Erdie heard a cracking sound, as if something was breaking outside.
She looked down, but didn’t notice anything amiss.
“Maybe it’s the remains outside the door that haven’t been cleaned up,” Fu Erdie thought and symbolically poured a little water towards the crack under the door, to wash away any potential residue.
Fu Erdie’s balcony was an enclosed space of about eight to nine square meters. Three sides were walls, and one side had a window. She lay on the floor, allowing the heatwave to blow over her, turned off the lights, charged her phone, and kept a long extension cord beside her, ready to receive messages at any time.
At some point, she actually fell asleep.
When she woke up from the heat, an hour had passed.
It was 9 p.m.
The indoor temperature was 35 degrees Celsius, and the dog beside her was panting from the heat but made no sound.
Fu Erdie stood up and assessed her physical condition.
No mutation, just feeling hot. And she gradually snapped out of her daze and the state of having just killed someone.
Should she wait for rescue at home or go to find her family and escape to the countryside?
She had prepared many buckets of water at home, and as someone who lived alone, she had the habit of stockpiling instant noodles, so she could survive on a limited supply for a month.
Assuming the zombies couldn’t get in, she could at least survive at home for a month and see if she could wait for rescue.
But now, the situation of mutation was unknown, and the zombie virus wouldn’t stay away because of her identity. Ordinary people could turn into zombies, and even comrades in the police station…
Moreover, many people would seek shelter at the police station if they were in trouble. If someone carrying the zombie virus entered, causing a mad wave of infections, the situation would become even more difficult, and rescue efforts wouldn’t be so smooth.
If she stayed at home and waited for help, she would likely miss the initial wave of escape. Behind one city after another would be filled with zombies, and she wouldn’t be able to escape.
Looking at her dishevelled room, Fu Erdie thought and thought, then clenched her teeth. She decided to take her bicycle and seek refuge with her family, while also trying to find Zhao Xiaolu if possible.
Her grandmother was the person closest to her, but it would take one or two hours to get there by bus. She couldn’t drive, and she didn’t even know how to ride a bicycle.
Her relatives nearby were her uncle, who usually took a forty-minute walk to reach her place, so on a bicycle, maybe she could get there in twenty minutes. Her uncle’s family had a car, and they could escape together.
Actually, her cousin’s family was even closer, but their relationship wasn’t as close as with her uncle, so she leaned towards seeking help from her uncle’s family.
She packed a bag, took a hammer, and determinedly opened the door to rush out.
Just as she took the first step, her eyes met the gaze of a neighbour swaying in the corridor…!
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