Chapter Thirty: The Cruelty of This Apocalypse (I)

Page (1/3)

At last, after a deafening crash, the iron door was forcibly smashed open in the middle, leaving a wide gap. I took a closer look and was overjoyed to find the warehouse packed with all kinds of food and supplies.

I turned back and gave those “human tools” a faint smile. “Thanks for your hard work. You can all get lost now!”

With that, I rushed into the warehouse and began to feast.

I searched the place from top to bottom, wolfing down a hearty meal until the hunger ebbed away like a receding tide. I wiped my mouth and looked around, searching for anything I could carry with me.

In an inconspicuous corner, I found a backpack. It was somewhat worn, but sturdy and durable. I stuffed in as many portable items as I could—biscuits, instant noodles, and several precious bottles of water—wishing I could fill the little pack until it burst.

Then I turned my head, and my gaze was immediately drawn to several crates beside me. I tore one open.

“Are these… cigarettes?!”

My eyes lit up. In this post-apocalyptic world, where supplies were scarce, cigarettes had practically become a luxury item. I hurried over, carefully opened the crates, and tucked the cartons into my backpack as though they were priceless treasures.

I calculated that once I rescued Boss Xu, this unexpected surprise would surely ease his troubled expression somewhat.

After packing everything, I hefted the heavy backpack onto my shoulders and walked out of the supermarket. The sky had gradually darkened, and the surroundings were frighteningly black. Only the occasional growls of zombies made my heart tighten.

Unknown dangers might be lurking beneath the night. I could not wander around aimlessly for the time being. I needed to find a safe place to rest, regain my strength, and continue onward tomorrow.

Without streetlights, I could not tell which way I was going. Before I knew it, I had arrived in front of a villa. Looking over the surroundings, I figured its owner must have come from a fairly well-off family. The open space in front of the villa was a small garden, suggesting that the former owner had loved flowers.

“There shouldn’t be any living people inside, right?”

Even so, I tried knocking on the iron gate. After waiting for quite a while, there was no response.

I climbed over the wall and entered the little garden. It had clearly gone untended for a long time, and many of the flowers had withered and died. The garden was not large. Beside it stood a well, its opening covered by a wooden board to keep dirt from falling inside.

I walked to the villa and twisted the doorknob. The door opened.

Inside, there were only a few pieces of old-fashioned furniture, all of them covered in dust and clearly quite old. There were no modern decorations in the main hall. Its antique style gave me the strange feeling that I had traveled back to the 1920s or 1930s.

I followed the wooden staircase up to the second floor. The decor there was completely different from that on the first floor—luxurious and filled with a distinctly modern atmosphere. The lighting was poor, however, making the space feel rather gloomy.

“Uh… uh…”

The sound came from somewhere in the corner. My heart tightened, and I narrowed my eyes as I looked over.

Two genuine leather sofas stood in the corner, with a tall glass coffee table between them. Several plates and soup bowls sat on top. On the sofa against the wall… lay a man.

I scarcely dared to breathe. In the moonlight, the man appeared to be very old, with sparse, graying hair.

His body was so thin that he was little more than skin and bones. He looked even more like a zombie than those outside. Slowly, he turned his head toward me. His expression seemed extremely agitated, and although he tried to speak, no words came out. He merely let out two sounds:

“Uh… uh…”

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

His hands began to move, as though he wanted to stand, but he no longer had the strength. He grew increasingly frantic.

“Food… food…”

At last, he managed to say those two words clearly.

I immediately stepped forward, took a tube of biscuits from my pocket, and handed it to him. The middle-aged man accepted them with trembling hands and began devouring them. He ate so quickly that he choked and rolled his eyes.

“Good grief! Were you reincarnated as a starving ghost?”

I handed him half a bottle of water. Then I stood to one side without saying anything and simply watched.

The middle-aged man ate quickly. In the blink of an eye, he had finished everything. After drinking the water I gave him, he looked much better, and his speech became clear.

“Do you have any more? Give me… give me some more!”

He gazed at me expectantly.

“No. You’ve been starving for too long. You can’t eat any more right now. You’ll choke to death. Wait a while.”

I tried to reason with him.

“No! I want it now! I… I’ll pay you! I’ll give you lots of money, I swear! Just give me more food!”

The middle-aged man grew frantic.

“What use is money to me? I have food, but I’m not giving you any more for now. Wait until dawn.”

I spoke to him calmly.

“You don’t want money? Name your price. Whatever I have, I’ll give you. I’ll give you anything. Please, give me some more food.”

The middle-aged man continued pleading with me.

“I told you, eating more now will kill you. The fact that you’ve survived this long is already a miracle.”

I continued trying to persuade him.

“Ha… ha! Die? Do you think I’m afraid of death? I’ve been waiting to die this whole time—waiting to starve to death. Do you know what that feels like? While I was waiting to die, my greatest wish was to eat until I burst.”

The middle-aged man began to lose control.

“You don’t have to die just yet. I know a place not far from here with food. I’ll give it all to you.”

I felt some pity for him.

“No. I’m not going anywhere. This is my home. This place…”

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became.

“My wife is here. My wife? Waaaah…”

The middle-aged man completely broke down.

“My wife was with me for thirty-six years. Thirty-six whole years…”

Under the cover of night, as the middle-aged man recounted his story, I gradually learned what had happened to him.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

The man was very wealthy. He had taken on numerous construction projects in Nanhuai City, the capital of Nanyang Province, and usually lived there. Every year, when the New Year approached, he would return to his hometown to celebrate the holiday.

The year before last, one of his projects ended early, so he returned home ahead of schedule. Soon afterward, the virus broke out. Fortunately, neither he nor his wife was infected. Unfortunately, there had not been much food in the house. They were trapped for more than three months, and once the food was gone, they began eating the plants outside the door.

His wife had already been in poor health. Before long, she starved to death.

Terrified of starving himself, the man began eating his wife’s corpse in order to stay alive. He had somehow clung to life until now.

“I ate her! I deserve to die! I should have gone down to join her long ago! Please, give me enough food to eat until I burst!”

After saying that, the man began begging for food again.

Hearing this, I began to feel disgust toward him. The thought of cannibalism made my stomach churn. Still, I did not condemn him. If I had been in his position, perhaps I would not have done the same—or perhaps I would have eaten human flesh too.

“Do you have any weapons? Or anything else for self-defense?”

Seeing how painful it was for him to go on living, I decided to grant his wish. The sooner his life ended, the sooner he could escape this damned apocalypse.

“Weapons? Yes, I have some. Wait here while I get them.”

The middle-aged man pushed himself up with the help of the sofa and staggered into the study. A short while later, he returned carrying a wooden box and handed it to me.

I opened it and saw a handgun inside, along with three magazines. The space beneath them was packed with ammunition.

“You have a gun? Then why didn’t you shoot the zombies outside the door?”

I asked, puzzled.

“I tried. They can’t be killed!”

The man sounded equally confused.

“Uh…”

I was utterly speechless.

Good grief, brother. In your next life, don’t focus only on making a fortune. Watch a few more television shows and movies.

“I’ll take the gun. I’m a little tired. Wait until dawn, and I’ll grant your wish.”

With that, I found a room in his villa and went to rest.

…

Page (3/3)