Grass grows and orioles fly

Chapter 33 Not Everyone is as Lucky

After expressing a bit of his emotions, Lin Yuan sat back down in his chair. He still had messages to reply to.

12:07

Wang Xiao Xin: IMAGE.JPG

Wang Xiao Xin: "Hahahaha, braised beef today! My power hasn't been cut off yet, which is great."

13:42

Wang Xiao Xin: "Holy crap, lock picking is really a skill. These locks are so tough. I've been at it since morning and only managed to open the last two locks on my floor. Finally, there's more water!"

15:53

Wang Xiao Xin: IMAGE.JPG

Wang Xiao Xin: "I made a barricade. Hope it's useful for my sweeping work later."

A barricade?

Lin Yuan clicked on the image. It showed a barricade made of several large logs secured with ropes, similar to what he'd seen on TV. However, there were differences; the crossed parts were higher, suggesting nails might have been used for reinforcement. The protruding ends of the logs on both sides were likely meant to brace against the stairwell or doorways.

Looking at the design of the barricade, Lin Yuan had a flash of inspiration. That's right, why hadn't he thought of it? Making a barricade, as long as two people could move it, a 1.2-meter-high barricade could block the stairs or a corridor. Any number of zombies would be easily dealt with, turning the survival difficulty instantly into a whack-a-mole game, but in slow motion.

Flipping through the messages below, there was only one.

17:36

Wang Xiao Xin: "Hahaha, it really works! The zombies get blocked. I've already cleared five floors and am slowly disposing of the bodies. Although there weren't many in total, I've gained 20 more apartments for myself!! Hahaha, happy! Time to scavenge!"

Just as he was about to send a message thanking her for the inspiration, Wang Xiao Xin sent another picture.

11:47

Wang Xiao Xin: IMAGE.JPG

Wang Xiao Xin: "So pathetic."

In the picture, Wang Xiao Xin held her phone with her left hand, taking a selfie in the mirror. Her left cheek was slightly swollen, and there was still some dried blood at the corner of her mouth. Yet, there was a clear smile on her face, though it looked forced. Her clothes were soaked in blood, and in her right hand, she held a boning knife, from which blood was dripping.

Zombies didn't have this much blood.

Did Old Wang kill someone?

He quickly deleted the text he had just typed and replaced it with something else.

11:49

Lin Yuan: "What happened? Are you injured?"

11:50

Wang Xiao Xin: "No, someone tried to force himself on me just now. I lured him into my apartment and killed him. He didn't expect I had a knife under my pillow."

"..."

Lin Yuan chatted with Wang Xiao Xin for a while and got a general idea of what had happened.

After she had cleared the zombies on the fifth floor and knocked on every door, there was no response. As she was putting down the barricade and about to head home, someone had quietly followed her. It was only after significant physical exertion that Wang Xiao Xin, who hadn't noticed the person behind her, was held at knifepoint and forced to hand over her food.

Her life threatened, Wang Xiao Xin had no choice but to comply with the robber's demands. She even dropped her axe and brought the robber back to her apartment.

However, the scum wasn't satisfied with just robbery; he also wanted to assault her. Wang Xiao Xin played along, and as he was unbuckling his belt, she grabbed the knife from under her pillow and stabbed him. A man driven by lust wouldn't notice such details.

He bled to death.

Lin Yuan didn't know if Wang Xiao Xin was lying, but he knew her character. It was impossible for her to kill innocents. The only lie might be the number of stab wounds – one versus dozens.

The apocalypse had arrived, and the darkness of human nature would be amplified. It might erupt on any given day, but likewise, someone you thought was easily bullied could become your most terrifying nightmare.

12:07

Lin Yuan: "Don't feel burdened. Until rescue arrives, you can only protect yourself. You have to be ruthless to those who threaten your survival!"

Lin Yuan: "Although this incident might make you wary of others, I still hope you can find trustworthy companions. It's only been four days since the apocalypse, not everyone's heart is black. You need to discern carefully."

Lin Yuan: "Now, quickly clean up the blood. Otherwise, the zombies might smell it and come up. With this much bleeding, even on the thirty-second floor, you could be discovered. Fresh bloodstains can be washed away with cold water and detergent. Wrap the body tightly with tape and throw it into his apartment, then lock the door. There's nothing much there anyway."

12:09

Wang Xiao Xin: "Don't worry, Xiao Lin Zi. Your sister still needs to wait for you to treat her to hot pot. I won't be defeated so easily!"

12:09

Lin Yuan: "Mhm, mhm. Just call me if anything happens. You go do some cleaning and don't dwell on it."

Not many people were as lucky as he was to have a good teammate like Wu Tian. He could only pray for everything to go well.

In the not-too-distant city of Yuzhou, Wang Xiao Xin replied with "Okay" and put down her phone. But how could this matter be so easily dismissed? She squatted in the corner, wanting to cry. However, remembering the broadcast warning and Lin Yuan's advice, Wang Xiao Xin still stood up, crying as she stripped off all her clothes and scrubbed her body fiercely three times with cold water before stopping.

She put on the clothes she had scavenged earlier, tied on an apron, and put on the gloves used for washing clothes in winter. She took out three rolls of clear tape, her entire stock.

The ripping sound of tape echoed incessantly as it rapidly covered the attacker's body. Although people always said bodies were heavy, this 160-jin corpse didn't daunt Wang Xiao Xin. After covering all the areas, she tied a wardrobe door, which she had previously removed and sawed, onto it with ropes made of cloth strips. She also removed her brother's roller skates and taped them on, creating a rolling device for later.

The blood in the bedroom was already starting to congeal. Wang Xiao Xin then remembered that the window was open. She quickly closed all the windows in the apartment, mixed laundry detergent with cold water, and prepared a whole bucket of cleaning solution. She started scrubbing the walls and floor. The stained quilt had already been bundled with the dirty clothes.

After busy cleaning for more than twenty minutes, Wang Xiao Xin swept the dirty water into the toilet and then started dragging the body out.

This intruder's apartment was on the thirtieth floor, two floors below hers.

Going down the stairs was much simpler; she could just kick it down. Moreover, their stairwells weren't one on each side; to go down, you had to pass through the corridor, and they were adjacent. She just kicked it all the way down.

To prevent any mishaps, Wang Xiao Xin picked up her axe again. She glanced at the barricade placed at the entrance of the twenty-sixth floor's stairwell; it hadn't been touched. However, the roars of zombies in the stairwell below had indeed become more frenzied, clearly unable to pinpoint the source.

Fortunately, Wang Xiao Xin had cleaned herself up before coming down, or she would have been directly tracked.

She locked the body in the wardrobe and then sealed it tightly with tape from the intruder's apartment before returning home to move her belongings. She definitely didn't want to live in her current apartment anymore. What if it triggered memories and she had nightmares at night?

There were plenty of empty apartments in this apocalypse, and Wang Xiao Xin didn't want to move too far. She decided to move to the rooftop apartment directly. Unlike Lin Yuan's building, her building's rooftop only had a small structure to shelter the stairwell from wind and rain, nothing else.

This building's rooftop, however, had an additional floor, covering about half of the entire rooftop space. Situated in the middle, it was originally sold to wealthy individuals for exclusive amenities like gardens and rooftop swimming pools.

This building's rooftop had been purchased for a garden, complete with配套 rooms. There were two rooms, but no kitchen. One room was a storage room, containing a barbecue grill that looked expensive, a large bag of charcoal, which likely wasn't cheap, and some gardening tools, along with a few bottles of red wine. However, they weren't top-tier wines like 1945 Romanée-Conti; they were a few bottles of 1982 Lafite, which, for the wealthy, were considered decent.

The other room was a bedroom, complete with a summer mat and pillows, as well as a television and a computer. Unfortunately, the password was unknown, preventing it from powering on.

Wang Xiao Xin didn't care about these details. Like a hamster, she scurried up and down, and after busy for over an hour, she had moved all the necessary items upstairs. The tools from the storage room were all moved out and placed in this bedroom, freeing up space to stack food items like rice, flour, and oil.

The sight of boxes of food neatly arranged and categorized gave her a sense of accomplishment.

She had discovered this place as soon as she cleared the rooftop. The rooftop was very dirty, but very little dust had settled here. She took out the red wine and placed it on the table. She, who had never drunk, decided to have a drink tonight. There were a few bottles of 1982 Lafite, which, for the wealthy, were considered decent.

1:52

Wang Xiao Xin: IMAGE.JPG

Wang Xiao Xin: "Look! 1982 Lafite, the real deal! This is the 'big treasure' I wanted to tell you about the other day. I have to drink well tonight. Today's experience was too eventful!"

On the other end, Lin Yuan, who had just finished practicing his standing rifle stance, looked at the message that popped up on his phone and smiled. He replied.

He also sent over a photo of his tomato pot.

1:53

Lin Yuan: IMAGE.JPG

Lin Yuan: "Then let's drink until we drop!"

Lin Yuan: TOASTING EMOJI.JPG

"Raise a cup to invite the bright moon, and form three people with my shadow."

Survival must continue, as must everyone.