Episode 4

Zhang Xiaoqiang sat on the ground, breathing heavily. One foot was extended forward while the other was bent upwards. A 1.6-meter iron spear rested beside him, its triangular head pointing towards the locked antitheft door. The weapon was stained with old, black and putrid blood. The security door, which was 70% new and green, was open a 10-cm gap, revealing several corpses lying still outside. They were human twenty days ago but now transformed into zombies. "I killed them!!!" Zhang Xiaoqiang felt no post-murder fear, only a sense of excitement after his victory. "I did it," he whispered to himself, "and I will survive. I will continue to survive." He rested for about five to six minutes before picking up the iron spear and standing up. He untied the rope from the doorknob and tried pushing the door outwards, but the pile-up of zombie corpses blocked it entirely. Zhang Xiaoqiang used his spear to shove the corpses away to create a path. He then stepped out cautiously and looked around. Seven corpses lay randomly in the hallway outside the door, and he could hardly find a place to step. The zombie he had killed five days earlier lay at his feet with its back facing up—its head crushed and brains smearing everywhere. Zhang Xiaoqiang dared not look down for long, afraid he might vomit. Standing among the corpse pile, he shuddered at the intense stench that overwhelmed his senses. Even with his scarf soaked in flowers' alcohol, the smell was unbearable. Zhang Xiaoqiang found the shield, a cooking pot cover that he had accidentally dropped five days ago. He felt reassured, knowing it could not protect him from guns and knives, but from zombie claws.

The iron door opposite him was open, and there was no light in the room, which made him feel a bit chilly. He carefully walked into the opposite living room, and the white floor reflected his dim reflection in the dim light, giving him a bone-chilling feeling inside.

Zhang Xiaoqiang found the power switch of the living room and turned on the ceiling light, and he finally felt a bit more comfortable under the light.

His target was the kitchen. He dared not go to the other bedrooms, as he would be in big trouble if he encountered a zombie and got scratched.

He cautiously approached the kitchen. It was always uncomfortable to search for things in someone else's house. He had never committed burglary in his previous life, but in the apocalypse, Zhang Xiaoqiang had to become a thief once.

He approached the kitchen silently, but suddenly heard something scratching the kitchen door. His heart tightened. Why did something have to happen every time? Couldn't he just live peacefully for once?

Zhang Xiaoqiang cursed and braced himself. He tightly held the lid of the pot in front of him, with his right hand holding the gun with three fingers while using his thumb and forefinger to turn the door handle gently before pulling it with force.

There was a sudden whoosh as a dark shadow emerged from the kitchen. Zhang Xiaoqiang held up his iron spear with his right hand and shielded himself with the shield on his left, ready to attack at any moment.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a fat cat from the neighbor's house. The cat looked at him and ran out of the door. This cat had frightened him so much that his heart was thumping.

"Meeting a cat is better than meeting a zombie." Zhang Xiaoqiang comforted himself and walked into the kitchen.

The imitation mahogany dining table in the kitchen had accumulated a thin layer of dust after 20 days of neglect. Only a few cat paw prints resembling plum blossoms were scattered sparsely on the surface.

Opening the refrigerator, Zhang Xiaoqiang found that the vegetables had been stored for too long and were not very fresh. He didn't mind and stuffed them into his pockets. He quickly devoured the eggs and vegetables on the top shelf, as well as the frozen fish and pork on the bottom shelf. In the kitchen, he found a bucket of rice, a tub of pickled vegetables, a bag of sugar, and some other seasonings. It took him two trips to bring everything home and clean out the kitchen.

Feeling that something was missing in the food in the living room, he remembered that there was a liquor cabinet in the corner next to the television in the neighboring living room. Zhang Xiaoqiang hurriedly brought back all the cigarettes and liquor as well.

Looking at the body outside the door, he needed to find a way to dispose of it because it was too smelly to keep it near him. Zhang Xiaoqiang went outside to find a place to dispose of the body. He saw the small vegetable garden in the center of the platform, which had more than 30 large cabbages that were ready to be harvested anytime. The scene of their desperate struggle from five days ago still felt fresh in his mind.

"Ah!!! This damn virus, this damn world."

His lamentations were always plenty after doomsday.

The cabbages would not run away on their own, so he left them for later. He went to the staircase on the platform to see what happened to the zombie that he kicked down to the ground floor from the neighboring apartment after being attacked by the zombie across the hall. From then on, he was always careful when going out. Slowly walking to the staircase and looking down, he saw a zombie with a broken leg crawling on the lower steps. The clothing on its body was ground into pieces of cloth pudding and hung on its body. Suddenly, it smelled Zhang Xiaoqiang's scent and crawled towards him.

Zhang Xiaoqiang squatted on the platform and watched as the zombie slowly climbed up from below, smelling the fresh human scent and excitedly opening its mouth full of sharp teeth. Its claws left a series of marks on the cement steps.

A triangular spearhead suddenly pierced into its brain from the bridge of its nose, turning left and right as it was pulled out. The zombie stopped moving, with a helicopter-sized hole on its face from which black blood poured out.

Zhang Xiaoqiang was becoming more and more accustomed to killing zombies, just like when he was a child, squatting in the corner to kill ants. He no longer felt excitement or fear, only indifference. He knew that he couldn't kill all 6 billion zombies in the world, so he only had to eliminate the ones that posed a threat to him.

There was a garden under the stairs, and the January weather made the plants seem even more desolate. Several grape vines, over twenty years old, had lost most of their leaves, and the lawn had turned yellow. There were three cement pavilions for the older residents of the seven nearby buildings to relax in, and there were usually many people there. Now, there were more than thirty zombies wandering in the garden, with the closest one to him being over forty meters away and still not reacting to his presence. This made him realize that the minimum safe distance from zombies was at least forty meters.

There was a small shop downstairs that usually sold tobacco, alcohol, snacks, rice, and eggs. Right now, he dared not go there to find food, as he would have to pass through over thirty zombies.

On the second floor platform, there was a garbage chute where both buildings' trash was usually dumped. Zhang Xiaoqiang threw the seven bodies inside. He was so tired that he was sweating! Finally, it was resolved. He ignored the bodies on the stairs, as they were far from his door and wouldn't affect him.

Looking at the two houses opposite the platform still being open, there was some hesitation in his heart. The floors of both units on the left and right must have zombies, and every family has a security door that he can't pry open. Thinking of this, he made up his mind and walked towards that side while holding his shield and iron spear...

Zhang Xiaoqiang returned home and locked the security door, with a pocket placed on one side of the door. A backpack filled with items, and a bulging snake-skin bag. This was his harvest from across the platform. He didn't meet any zombies, so he believed that he had killed all six of them in that house. Zhang Xiaoqiang happily dragged the two large bags to the sofa to prepare for inventory of his loot from today.

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