What was she thinking?
No internet, no signal, what fees to pay?
Next month, the water and electricity might automatically be cut off.
The dog nuzzled Fu Erdie’s leg, holding a pet brush in its mouth, wanting her to groom its fur.
It had been nearly half a month since it was brushed.
During this time, its owner hadn’t even touched it much.
It felt a bit wronged, but it also sensed that its owner’s mood wasn’t right, so it behaved well and only occasionally sought her attention.
Unnoticed by Fu Erdie, the inkling of her presence, her gaze towards the ceiling, was empty and numb.
Suddenly, she raised her hand and swung a punch at the air, trying to fend off the tall, robust figure in her mind.
But just like in her dreams and in the past, her arms were too short, unable to reach him.
Her powerless hands could only wipe away her weak tears countless times, then she would nestle in her room pretending to be calm, pretending nothing had happened.
She knew it was her own fantasy just now.
She could still distinguish between fantasy and reality, for tomorrow, and the day after.
And a month after the food was consumed.
She had enough rice to last half a month, and the instant noodles were still untouched, enough to last her a month.
Although a month and a half wasn’t short, thinking about it was tormenting.
She didn’t understand why she was so weak, nor why she felt so miserable despite the strong protection from her house and the plants.
She wasn’t a protected survivor, just a timid person waiting to die.
Apartment 720, a massive power outage struck.
It didn’t seem like a simple power cut-off due to non-payment, more like lines being cut or damaged, or the energy running out.
The air’s temperature began to rise.
After placing a thermometer outside the window for five minutes, the outdoor temperature had already reached 45 degrees Celsius.
Fu Erdie powered down all her devices, leaving only the surveillance running on the remaining battery. Through the monitor, she could still see countless zombies.
After two hours, the battery ran out, leaving her with no information.
Fu Erdie stared blankly, then suddenly picked up a hammer.
She had enough.
Compared to the torment that felt as if it would never end, she’d rather rush out and fight the slow-moving zombies.
The ways to gain special abilities were basically external air, rainwater, radiation, zombie bites, bites from ability-infused zombies, and so on.
She had a month’s worth of supplies left. If she found a way to become an ability holder within this month, she could continue to survive.
And during that month, whether she died now or starved to death in a month, the difference was minor.
The only difference was that she wouldn’t die in fear of the unknown. She would die in battle.
That was enough.
If there was a mirror in front of her right now, she would have seen some of the numb pain fading from her eyes, a bit of the pre-apocalyptic vitality returning.
Even as a weak person, she had to fight.
Not just for survival, but for thriving.
Her hand gripped the handle of the security door, Fu Erdie took a deep breath, her gaze turned resolute.
Bring it on!
She had already been prepared to face death, now nothing could threaten her!
There were too many zombies, Fu Erdie couldn’t get out. She pushed the door open forcefully and swung the hammer at the zombie’s head.
Zombies weren’t very agile, nor were they fast, but they were strong.
They swarmed in, breaking into the house.
Fu Erdie fought and retreated, moving back to the dining table. She leapt onto it, using the advantage of height to deliver head blows.
Her arms were short, but her determination was towering.
She wasn’t tall, but she could stand tall.
She didn’t have special abilities, but she had a home that could provide her with a safety net.
And she also had a lot of love.
Her dad, mom, steadfast friends.
Her love was abundant, so much that when she was overwhelmed with fear, tears streaming down her face, she still had the courage to face her dissatisfaction, then explode at a certain moment.
Bang.
Fu Erdie wiped the tears and blood off her face, continuing to smash another zombie’s head.
Zombies caught the scent and gradually made their way to 16-1 from various floors.
However, she didn’t know when the security door had been forced shut again due to the mass of zombies pressing against it.
Fu Erdie alternated between pounding zombies on the dining table and jumping onto the sofa to continue her assault.
Even the dog wasn’t idle, occasionally launching surprise attacks from the side-lines.
Initially, its biting lacked strategy. But later, it learned to bite zombies’ neck vertebrae from specific angles, causing their heads to hang limply due to severed necks. Though not fatal without a headshot, their vision became disoriented and reversed, their actions becoming even slower.
Fu Erdie circled around, smashing the heads of the surrounding zombies. Soon after, she saw the heads of those zombies tilting, and a few more strikes resulted in more head explosions.
The zombies within the room were cleared out.
Fu Erdie took the dog to the bathroom to shower. She noticed a deep scratch on the dog’s forelimb. Her own legs, abdomen, and back bore over a dozen scratches of various sizes.
She didn’t tend to them, instead she turned on cold water and rinsed herself and the dog.
The dog whimpered, in pain and wanting to escape, but Fu Erdie held it gently.
“We both need special abilities.” She didn’t care if the dog understood her, she explained in a low voice, “If we’re unlucky and don’t become ability holders, we’ll end up clean and neat, turning into zombies.”
The water stung the wounds, but just as she washed away the blood, Fu Erdie saw the blood turning into a faint white light, dispersing. More white light flowed into the bathroom from outside, healing her and the dog’s injuries.
Fu Erdie: ???
Oh yeah! The house has healing capabilities!
Quickly washing their fur, she rushed out to see the devastated living room, now filled with green “specimens” of zombies.
The green plant’s branches and roots intertwined around the zombies, releasing a pale green substance that gradually dissolved them.
The room, which had been slightly dim due to the power outage, suddenly brightened.
It was the ceiling light, and also those scattered white light points.
The entire space had on one side grotesque dissolving green zombies, and on the other, floating lights and shadows, an eerie and dazzling sight.
Thirty-four zombies dissolved within four hours by the green plants.
Much faster than Fu Erdie had imagined.
The plants seemed tired or spent, they absorbed the filth from the sofa and slowly withdrew into their bodies, no longer moving.
Fu Erdie picked up a broom and mop, cleaning up the aftermath.
After sweeping and mopping thoroughly, Fu Erdie made herself an egg fried rice, then returned to her bedroom and fell into a deep sleep.
During this sleep, she slept soundly.
In her dream, she, clad in a suit of thorny armour, sent the superpowered person flying with a single punch.
The next morning, Fu Erdie woke up as usual.
Refreshed.
It was still pouring outside, but Fu Erdie didn’t feel that oppressive sensation.
She decided that whenever she felt lost in thought, she would just go beat up some zombies.
Yesterday, both her and the dog’s wounds had healed without any mutations.
Fu Erdie wasn’t sure if both of them had been healed by the house, preventing them from undergoing mutations. Today, she was going to try again.
Open the door, lure the zombies in, close the door, fight the zombies.
After the fight, she was covered in injuries. Fu Erdie held the dog and sat at the dining table, observing the changes in the room once again.
She confirmed two things: firstly, the “trash” inside the room was being cleaned up by the green plants.
Secondly, her own blood that flowed out would be turned into white light by the house, and then this light would roam around the entire house before returning to her body with even greater force.
Fu Erdie felt a warm sensation all over her body, closed her eyes to carefully sense it, and had a strange feeling of being merged with the house.
This illusion was fleeting, probably just psychological.
The green plants were still hissing and dissolving the zombies. After finishing, they cleaned up the sofa, which was harder to clean, then went back to their original form and rested.
Fu Erdie took over the cleaning work.
Compared to yesterday, the plants were visibly growing at an accelerated rate.
Especially the green ivy.
It was just a small potted plant before the apocalypse, but now it had turned into a small tree.
As it rested, it emitted a soft green light.
It wasn’t as obvious as the white light, but it quietly spread along its roots to the floor and the surrounding walls.
After completing the cleaning, Fu Erdie closely observed the walls.
Gradually, she noticed that the inconspicuous green light points were changing into various colours.
Some of them resembled the white light that had healed her wounds, while others were blue, transparent, or purple.
Fu Erdie reached out to touch them, the white light points approached and circled around her fingertips. However, the light points of other colours didn’t respond to her, continuing to wander around the room and slowly fading away.
Fu Erdie gently flicked her fingertip, lost in thought.
The area was experiencing a widespread power outage, and her home should be no exception.
However, after fighting the zombies yesterday, the night light and air conditioning turned on by themselves. All the charging sockets, and even the surveillance camera at the entrance, were powered up again.
Besides electricity, she could still use water and gas normally.
The water containers she had filled on the first day of the apocalypse still hadn’t been used.
Fu Erdie had a guess and immediately went to verify it.
She opened the window, endured the high temperature, tied a rope, and moved little by little from her balcony to the neighbour’s balcony on the other side.
For now, the neighbour’s house was relatively clean. The front door was securely closed without any intrusion. Each room inside was in the same state as when Fu Erdie had last seen them.
She turned on the tap.
A little residual water sprayed out from the old pipes, and then it went quiet.
She went to the kitchen and turned on the stove. There was no gas.
After closing the stove, Fu Erdie felt a sense of protection.
Her house had truly mutated. Moreover, it became an all-purpose mutation, almost mimicking its state from before the apocalypse.
However, she felt unworthy. Having such a treasure but being unable to protect it, she could only hope that no ability holders would come knocking.
Sensing negative emotions welling up, Fu Erdie quickly shook her head.
Instead of overthinking, she’d better fight some zombies.
So, in the afternoon of that day, Fu Erdie fought another wave of zombies.
She ended up battered and bruised again, only to be healed by the room.
Perhaps her place was the most active in the entire building, so every time she cleared a wave of zombies, another wave would arrive.
For over ten days, Fu Erdie fought like this until she managed to clear the entire building of zombies by the time she reached apartment 731.
And on this day, after saving on rice for two months, she officially ran out.
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