"Click."
With the sound of a lock cylinder turning, Wu Mengyao finally opened the last room without zombies.
By this time, all the empty rooms on the 11th floor and above of the two buildings had been opened.
"Alright Mengyao, you go rest in the sentry box first. We'll handle the rest of the cleanup. If you need anything, just tell us, and we'll collect it for you," Lin Yuan said, looking at Wu Mengyao, whose forehead was covered in sweat, feeling a pang of heartache.
Wu Tian clutched the asthma inhaler in his bag tightly, ready to administer treatment immediately if Wu Mengyao had any issues.
This girl was stubborn; even eight oxen couldn't pull her back. She insisted on opening all the empty rooms before resting.
Lin Yuan didn't ask Peiqi to follow along. It wasn't easy to do physical labor while wearing a mask.
Fortunately, Wu Mengyao's lock-picking skills had improved significantly after the baptism of so many door locks. Her speed was now quite fast, usually opening a lock within 10 minutes.
"It's okay, Brother Lin Yuan. I don't feel very tired, and I don't have trouble breathing. Maybe the fungal spores the broadcast mentioned are working on me too," Wu Mengyao said normally, without any signs of breathlessness.
Lin Yuan was still worried, so he and Wu Tian escorted Wu Mengyao to the sentry box on the rooftop to rest.
The rooms were currently being ventilated and would need some time before they could be entered.
After slicing the watermelon, Lin Yuan and Wu Tian sat on chairs, watching Wu Mengyao rest.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.
"Sis, can you and Brother Lin Yuan turn around? I feel really uncomfortable being stared at by you two. And Brother Lin Yuan, why are you looking at me? This is such a good opportunity for you to date her, and I'm only 11 years old!" Wu Mengyao said, drinking some water and looking at the two "door gods" with open eyes and a resentful expression.
Her words made Lin Yuan, who was about to grab a piece of watermelon, choke. He quickly waved his hands at Wu Tian, signaling that he was innocent and had no inappropriate thoughts about his sister.
Wu Tian rolled her eyes at Lin Yuan, thinking that he was the only one who doted on his sister.
"Alright, since it's getting late anyway, let's go to the stove to cook."
The place for stacking miscellaneous items was naturally under the awning. The two moved a small stool and sat down.
"Let's keep lunch simple today, just boil some water and eat self-heating hot pots," Wu Tian said, pointing to the bags piled up nearby.
"Okay, I brought three as well. Two each should be enough for everyone, especially since we've also cut two watermelons."
"About right."
After eating two more slices of watermelon, the two began their work.
Wu Tian used a lighter to ignite a magazine as kindling and started to build a fire. Lin Yuan, on the other hand, was chopping wood with an axe, which not only provided firewood but also allowed him to practice his axe skills.
"Wu Tian, do you think we should move our base to the 16th floor tonight?"
His hand, holding firewood, paused. "I've also had that thought. Living on the 11th floor always makes me fear zombies prying open the windows in the middle of the night."
Although both knew that the 16th floor was only slightly safer than the 11th, living there would bring more peace of mind, and the commute to their morning exercise would be shorter.
"Then should we live together? Or separately?" Wu Tian asked directly.
"Let's live separately. Living together always carries the risk of accidental sparks, and it's easy to get lost in a sense of bliss," Lin Yuan replied, catching the direct question with an impeccable response.
"Oh, okay then." Although slightly disappointed, reality dictated that she had to accept it.
Lin Yuan looked at Wu Tian's expression and smiled, "Miss Wu, you haven't really fallen for him, have you? Isn't it a bit too soon?"
Unexpectedly, Wu Tian didn't respond with teasing. Instead, she propped her chin on her hand and stared at Lin Yuan, "Isn't it perfectly normal? I feel like these past two or three days have felt longer than the usual two or three years."
As if realizing something, she quickly turned away, fanning the fire to try and make the sound of burning wood louder.
"Holy crap? Has this woman really fallen for me?"
Lin Yuan, who rarely interacted with girls at school, felt a bit nervous at this moment.
Is this a confession? What should I say?
'Then you'll be my woman from now on?'
No, that's too stupid.
'Then we'll be a family from now on?'
No, that's too awkward.
After thinking for a long time, Lin Yuan couldn't figure out how to respond. He put down the axe and moved a stool to sit beside Wu Tian.
Instead of reaching out to cup Wu Tian's face and kiss her, he seemed a bit lost, "I don't know how to answer. But honestly, who wouldn't like a great beauty like you? You can cook, you're good with a bow and arrow, skilled in combat, adventurous, and have a great personality. If this were normal times, we'd never have crossed paths..."
"But these are not normal times! If all this hadn't happened, you and I would have had our own bright futures. But there are no 'ifs' in this world. Now you've met me!" Wu Tian turned her head, her face slightly flushed from the heat radiating from the stove.
"Your sister is right. It's my good fortune accumulated over eight lifetimes to be able to marry you. And I believe that our future together will also be very beautiful!"
Lin Yuan looked at Wu Tian, his gaze no longer avoiding, but intensely burning.
The two seemed to be telepathically connected, closing their eyes simultaneously and slowly leaning towards each other.
If nothing unexpected happened, something unexpected was about to happen.
"Sis, Brother Lin Yuan! Something's happened, hurry and come see!" Wu Mengyao's anxious voice suddenly rang out from the walkie-talkie placed nearby.
The two, about to taste the sweetness of love, quickly opened their eyes, forgetting their shyness. They grabbed their weapons and rushed over.
"What's wrong, Mengyao!" Lin Yuan and Wu Tian asked simultaneously as they rushed into the sentry box.
Seeing that no zombies had approached, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
Wu Mengyao pointed at the telescope, "You guys quickly look at this. It doesn't seem like a normal situation!"
When the sentry box was built, Lin Yuan had told Wu Mengyao to record any unusual situations or abnormal zombies. If she discovered something very unusual or zombies heading towards the residential area, she was to notify them.
Lin Yuan took the telescope. Wu Mengyao reminded him, "It's where it caught fire the day before yesterday."
Hearing this, Lin Yuan focused his gaze on the area that had been burned that day.
He saw that the remnants of the collapsed area were mostly covered by something resembling black slime mold. The empty buildings next to it also had these black slime molds. The scene was like the creep's biome from StarCraft.
Moreover, these slime molds showed a clear growth trend. After spreading to a certain extent, they began to grow inward. The empty shell buildings had many root-like structures extending inward.
It felt like they were building something. Did this stuff have its own consciousness?
After thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure out the origin of these black slime molds. The zombies had yellowish-green or light green ones, which were different, but this gave Lin Yuan a very bad feeling.
Could it be a real-life remake of Resident Evil 7?
They were out of reach and could only wait for the airdrop to arrive to investigate.
He handed the telescope to Wu Tian, "There shouldn't be any major issues for now. Even if there were, we couldn't do anything about it. Mengyao, your task now is to monitor it. Also, pay attention to your surroundings at all times. It would be bad if mutant creatures came in swarms to hunt."
Wu Mengyao nodded, indicating that she understood.
"Alright, Old Wu, let's go back to cooking. Our training time this afternoon might be delayed. There are a total of 6 floors and 24 rooms. Excluding mine, the previously opened rooms, and the rooms with zombies, there are still 16 rooms to search for supplies. And have you finished clearing your 6 floors?"
Clearing rooms took a lot of time, but supplies were extremely important and had priority. They could just squeeze in time from their training. At worst, they wouldn't spar today and would switch to self-training for reaction speed.
"Not yet. There are at least 4 more floors of rooms to clear. We only took the water. The rooms are full, so we planned to clear them together today."
Wu Tian also looked distressed. Sometimes, having too many supplies was also a problem.
Pressing his hand against his forehead a few times, Lin Yuan came up with a method that should have occurred to him much earlier: "I've got it. We can build a supply storage warehouse. This is a high floor, with relatively high temperatures but not too high humidity. We just need to find a house that's half in the shade. We're linked buildings, so the rooms facing the residential area in between can barely serve as a supply warehouse. We can store our water, canned goods, and some short-term necessities in our own homes."
"I think that's fine. Then will we be living together? It would also be more convenient for operations," Wu Tian said, a hint of expectation in her eyes.