Chapter 10
writer:
暖荷 update:2022-08-09 14:28
Luo Xun unlocked the pharmacy storage and quickly cleaned it out. Of course, he had removed the security cameras in advance. While storing the medicine, Luo Xun did not see anything else, not even the corpse of the person who had opened the door.
There were more vehicles on the road and Luo Xun occasionally caught glimpses of panicking, sweating and paling people. He grabbed the necessities and passed a rice and flour shop. His heart twitched when he saw people without zombie symptoms busily carrying things.
Suddenly with a screech of brakes several policemen ran out.
"No looting! Its illegal!"
The officers stood vigilant, one saw Luo Xun idling and waved.
"Nothing to see here, go home and bar the doors and windows!"
Luo Xun heart jumped, he had forgotten after living a decade during the apocalypse that even during chaos the state was still initially in operation. He had just grabbed solar panels and medicine, looting shops is still considered illegal……
Luo Xun hurriedly started the car and shouted to the police officer.
"I just saw a person on the road get bitten and turned into a zombie……is the disease contagious?"
The policemen’s expressions darkened upon hearing the news. The officer who had previously spoken nodded his head.
"It is possible, no matter go home now. No looting. Shut any doors and windows and wait for government response."
When would help come? What would become of society in the end?
Several large supermarkets were hit hard with multiple vehicles parked haphazardly at the entrance. Police cars were dispatched to maintain order and prevent further damage from looters.
Luo Xun hurriedly drove while surveying the landscape. He needed a few days to determine outside conditions and home security before going out again to collect materials.
He had enough time to prepare supplies before the apocalypse and there was no need to risk himself for expendable supplies. Especially if he could lose everything. Luo Xun briefly noted that the number of cars in the parking lot had decreased before driving downwards.
He used a small trailer from the hardware store to help move the goods. The containers could be stacked and pulled upstairs.
The electricity in the area had not been cut yet, the elevator was still functional. Luo Xun prepared his mace while waiting for the elevator and felt relief when the door opened to reveal empty space.
As the lift rose Luo Xun heard footsteps around the 14th floor. The zombies had escaped?
Luo Xun wrinkled his brows, it was not that dangerous to have a zombie in the house as long as it was trapped in one room. Without eating the zombie would not evolve and after three to five years the body would decompose completely.
But if it ate and gained energy, lifespan obviously increased. The zombie also evolved if energy was accumulated to a certain level. The energy may be acquired from eating or accidentally in nature. Luo Xun did not know what the lab people discovered, he only heard tidbits from the news.
Since the zombies on the 14th floor had escaped did someone open the door from the outside? Luo Xun tensed, he could not be blamed for thinking that his home may have been ransacked if someone had opened a door.
The elevator door opened slowly, Luo Xun calmed a bit seeing the empty corridor. He was furthered calmed seeing the untouched door and no intruders. Puppy excitedly shook her tail. The peephole camera showed no living creatures. Luo Xun sighed in relief and brought his loot into the house.
He removed the possibly contaminated clothes and put them in a box near the doorway, then brought the materials in one by one. On the 14th floor several zombies tottered along the corridors. To Luo Xun’s surprise, the zombies had released themselves.
Perhaps a number of people who worked overtime forgot to lock the door. Therefore after turning into a zombie, they gathered at the door due to the noise then one hit the button to open it. Similarly some neighborhood zombies also slowly wandered out. They either gathered in corridors or the stairwell to reach outside.
Luo Xun did not notice, he changed clothes, organized his spoils, took a bath since the water was still running and was now lying on the sofa with a sleepy puppy in his arms while surfing the Internet on his phone.
The apocalypse had arrived and smashed ordinary days to pieces. Luo Xun knew that for ordinary citizens, the world had irrevocably changed. In the face of sudden and death and bereaved family/friends, doomsday had begun.
The university students looked warily from the hotel, makeshift weapons in hand.
"No zombies!"
"Come on! Let’s go!"
"Where are we going?"
"Back to school?"
"No, there are four people per dormitory! With such a high population density, it must be the most dangerous place!"
"Then……where are we going?"
"Wait, I’ll check my phone."
One student opened up Luo Xun’s impressive post about the apocalypse.
"With a small group it is best to find an empty room and wait for help. Where to find an empty room and furniture to barricade the door?"
"A place with an empty room huh……"
"If the room only had one zombie, we should be able to deal with it."
"Outside the city?"
"Forget it, A-city is so big. I think WasteWoodHouse is right. Sooner or later a security base will launch a search and rescue."
"Then we should gather food and drink?"
"Yeah and medicine……God if I had not seen the post how many of us would have snuck out last night. The innkeeper was stirring up group P!"
Under such pressure, if the end of the world did not occur they would check out in the morning, but in a situation comparable to doomsday.
On the road, some vehicles were scattered and some upturned thus not letting any cars pass smoothly. A few cars gunning down the road came across gray faced people sloshing forward. The car upfront slammed on the brakes and caused a series of crashes.
A young man struggled to raise his head, blood flowed past his eyes and down his cheek. Yan Fei ignored the blood and looked up the streets; blocked ahead with many people abandoning the cars. A lot of zombies appeared attracted by the commotion.
To cross the road one had to avoid a lot of cars, the road behind was completely blocked!
"Damn!" Yan Fei cursed as he grabbed his shoulder bag and touched the handgun at his waist.
He had a gun but little ammo, even if he killed with one shot, only six zombies would be gone! The road out of town was blocked, where to go now?
Downtown was in chaos as people woke to find a changed world. The previously familiar metropolis had been swallowed in a sea of panic and destruction.
The population density of A-city was enormous, and it was November with three months until Lunar New Years. New Years Day had not arrived either which was when many workers returned home. The city population was at its peak.
In the big city many people went out for leisurely nightlife even with the hidden threat of doomsday. Especially since November 28 was a Saturday. The weekend evenings were the best time for parties, especially with A-city’s premier leisure and entertainment.
Many partied until midnight or even all night long. Luo Xun chose the southwest area with a decent population but most worked downtown and only returned home at night to sleep. Some did not come back during weekends to party.
So he did not know how many more zombies were in the city center compared to the streets of the southwestern area.