The atmosphere in the hallway had frozen solid.
At that moment, Jiang Cheng’s gaze shifted to a spot behind the man.
When the incident happened, most people had taken a step or two back, forming a semicircle surrounding the man.
But behind him, a girl who had initially been kind enough to help him hadn’t had time to retreat to the group. Now she was pressed flat against the wall behind this man who had lost all composure, not daring to move.
Jiang Cheng’s gaze landed on her.
The girl looked back at her.
Jiang Cheng gave her a look.
The girl’s lips moved slightly.
Jiang Cheng stared straight at her.
She knew she could do it. This girl had participated in the garden siege earlier that day and had stayed near Jiang Cheng on the way to the supermarket. Jiang Cheng already recognized her face.
She had asked her name too. Her name was Su Yu.
Su Yu had been brave in attacking zombies during the day and had actively signed up for the building-sweeping operation. She was just momentarily unable to overcome the mental block of “he hasn’t mutated yet—he’s still human.”
Jiang Cheng’s gaze was very calm, and it helped Su Yu calm down as well.
Su Yu pressed her lips together tightly and gripped her weapon—a frying pan.
She was someone who earned her own living, lived on her own terms, and loved to cook. She had kitchen knives at home too, but the feeling of a blade sinking into human flesh was too awful, so she had chosen a frying pan as her weapon. Against zombies, which truly “died” when their heads were crushed, it was actually quite suitable.
The hysterical man was on high alert. Tears and snot ran down his face. He pointed both hands in two directions, his gaze constantly shifting left and right, terrified that someone would seize the opportunity to subdue him.
He never expected there was someone behind him he had missed.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Su Yu gritted her teeth, swung the frying pan, and slammed it against the back of his head.
Thud. The man collapsed on the spot.
Everyone swarmed forward, grabbing and restraining him.
Jiang Cheng said, “Check the apartment for something like a belt.”
This man was already too agitated. He wouldn’t allow himself to be locked up obediently. They had to restrict his movement—tie him up.
Someone went inside to search the owner’s closet, hoping to find a belt or a necktie, but instead uncovered a collection of adult toys—whips, handcuffs, ball gags, and the like.
The two zombies in the apartment had originally been a couple.
The handcuffs and ball gag were actually quite suitable for this man, since he himself had said he would bite.
Under normal circumstances, people probably would have laughed at finding these things. But no one could laugh now.
There was a grim, ironic sense of fate.
Even with so many people in the stairwell, it was so quiet that you could clearly hear the “click” of the handcuffs locking into place, and even the rustle of clothes as everyone moved.
Once they had handcuffed him and fastened the ball gag, everyone turned to Jiang Cheng. “Where do we put him?”
The property management conference room couldn’t be opened anymore.
Jiang Cheng had originally planned to coax the man into going to 0308, the empty apartment next to hers, for isolation. But now there was no need.
“Just leave him in this apartment. Find the keys to this place.”
The keys were quickly located on the shoe cabinet by the door.
They tossed the man onto the bed. Everyone locked the door from the outside.
Many owners on this floor had opened their doors to watch.
“You, you, you, and you.” Jiang Cheng called over the neighbors next door and across the hall. She handed the keys to the person across the hall—the same person who had first asked everyone to check this apartment, which showed he was observant.
“Keep an eye on him, you few. If he mutates, call me or Li Jiangbing. The pinned post on the forum has the contact information for all temporary owners’ committee members.”
Jiang Cheng and Li Jiangbing permanently held walkie-talkies, while the other three units circulated. As long as someone contacted her or Li Jiangbing, they could relay the message to others more quickly and easily.
Jiang Cheng assigned this task to the owners on that same floor.
This was a matter concerning everyone’s safety. They couldn’t rely entirely on the temporary owners’ committee for everything. Everyone needed to do their part.
Jiang Cheng had everyone continue sweeping the building. She switched her walkie-talkie to open channel and notified the temporary owners’ committee of what had just happened and how they had handled it.
“Just a reminder,” she said. “There’s no need to provide food. A person won’t die from going hungry for a day or two.”
If the person hadn’t mutated after two or three days, they could consider releasing him.
Song Jingshuo’s voice crackled through the static: “Got it. Understood.”
The other buildings responded: “Understood.”
Song Jingshuo ended the transmission and clipped the walkie-talkie back onto his belt.
He was also leading the crew from Building 4 in sweeping their building. He reminded everyone, “Be very careful.”
Everyone nodded in acknowledgment.
Someone asked, “This Jiang Cheng… what did she do before?”
Song Jingshuo said, “Li Jiangbing said she’s a company supervisor.”
Jiang Cheng had told Li Jiangbing she was a “junior supervisor,” but when Li Jiangbing bragged to others, he dropped the word “junior.” “Jiang Cheng? She’s a supervisor. Pretty impressive.”
Others nodded. “She does seem like someone who can take charge.”
Now, people said, “This Jiang Cheng…”
What about Jiang Cheng? It wasn’t as if Jiang Cheng had done anything unforgivable.
But some people would touch their noses and say, “I’d never dare to have a girlfriend like that.”
No matter how pretty—too intimidating.
Weaklings.
Song Jingshuo sneered inwardly.
Mercy cannot command troops, righteousness cannot amass wealth, kindness cannot hold office, and emotion cannot accomplish tasks.
Those who are hard-hearted enough to make difficult choices and decisions do frighten people.
But right now, people like her and Jiang Cheng were exactly what was needed.
Jiang Cheng also ended the transmission and clipped the walkie-talkie to her belt. Turning around, she saw Su Yu, still holding her frying pan, her back against the wall, staring at the floor with unfocused eyes.
Jiang Cheng walked up to her and, just like Li Jiangbing had done, extended her fist.
Su Yu looked up at her. Her eyes cleared. She also extended her fist and bumped it against Jiang Cheng’s.
But she asked, “Jiang Cheng, in the future… I mean later on, will anyone come after us for this?”
Jiang Cheng said, “If we’re held accountable someday, I think that would be something worth being happy about.”
She said, “Come on. Let’s continue.”
Su Yu nodded and gripped her frying pan.
The two of them caught up with the others.
By the time the entire building had been cleared, it was already past eleven o’clock.
Everyone went down to the first floor and called the elevator. When the doors opened, it was piled with bodies.
“We’re not going outside at night,” Jiang Cheng said. “Let’s stack them in the lobby for now and burn them tomorrow.”
Although the garden had been cleared during the day, it was better not to go outside at night, just in case.
Among the bodies were a few who had been killed by the zombies they lived with. The common feature of those killed in the first wave by their cohabitating zombies was that their necks had all been bitten through.
Li Ziqing’s boyfriend had been the same way.
Everyone stacked the bodies in the lobby and pushed the security desk over to block the glass doors.
After the day’s events, everyone had gained a better understanding of zombies. Zombies had poor eyesight. If not attracted by living people or sounds, they would wander aimlessly and slowly, without actively destroying their surroundings, such as doors or windows.
They were drawn to the scent of blood and the sound of the living.
Jiang Cheng communicated over the walkie-talkie: “Building 2 is cleared.”
“Building 6 is cleared too.”
“Almost there. Building 1—we’re almost done.”
“Building 4 is cleared.”
“Building 3 has one injured person. He’s been restrained—hands, feet, and mouth bound. People on the same floor are keeping watch.”
“Building 5 also has an injured person, um…” The person in charge of Building 5 paused briefly. “They were dealt with on the spot.”
The person from Building 2 had only threatened to bite people. The person from Building 5 had actually gone for it with their teeth. Fortunately, the person who was bitten had good protection—they had wrapped magazines around their arm with tape. A conflict broke out, and that person died during the struggle, before they had even mutated.
After the contact from Building 5 finished explaining the general situation, the lobby of Building 2 fell silent, and so did the walkie-talkie channel.
They had been killing zombies all day, but this was the first time a living person who hadn’t yet turned into a zombie had been killed.
“Good work,” Jiang Cheng said, raising the walkie-talkie to break the silence. “Next time, please try to capture them alive for isolation whenever possible. Let’s try to prevent this from happening again.”
In these extraordinary times, those who stepped up to take responsibility and voluntarily became leaders were mostly clear-headed and sharp-minded. The voice on the other end replied, “Okay. I didn’t handle the situation well. It won’t happen again.”
Song Jingshuo’s voice came through, smoothing things over: “It’s everyone’s first time. It’s inevitable. Now we have experience for next time.”
Jiang Cheng said, “Yes, good work, everyone. Now that we’ve been through it, we have the experience. Get some rest early, and stay in touch if anything comes up.”
She ended the transmission, swept her gaze across the people in Building 2’s lobby, and said, “Good work, everyone. Get some rest and head back.”
Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, exchanging “good work, good work” with each other as they headed into the elevator lobby.
But Jiang Cheng called out to Su Yu. “Su Yu.”
Su Yu stopped in her tracks.
Li Jiangbing glanced at them, guessed they might have girl talk to discuss, and tactfully didn’t stay. Only Jiang Cheng and Su Yu remained in the lobby.
Jiang Cheng looked Su Yu over.
In big cities, if a girl’s family was local, most parents wouldn’t allow their daughter to live away from home. Although the youth apartment complex had more male than female residents, the vast majority of the women—like Jiang Cheng—lived alone.
They were all people who had come from elsewhere to make it in S City.
Most of these girls were capable and independent.
Su Yu looked like a very typical example of such a girl.
“What’s wrong?” Su Yu asked.
Jiang Cheng said, “If you know other girls in the complex—actually, it doesn’t matter if you know them or not. Anyway, if you come across other girls, try to encourage them to participate as much as possible in the activities organized by the owners’ committee.”
“Our complex has more men than women,” she said. “It’s very easy for us to get marginalized. You know how it is.”
Su Yu’s eyes widened slightly. She did, indeed, understand.
At a company, if you don’t fight and compete, it’s easy to get sidelined. As a girl who had come to a big city on her own to make a living, she understood this better than anyone.
Getting marginalized at a corporation meant, at worst, losing out on benefits. But in the current situation, what would happen if she got marginalized?
Su Yu recalled what Jiang Cheng had said upstairs: “If we’re held accountable someday, I think that would be something worth being happy about.”
For someone to hold them accountable, there needed to be a government, laws, and enforcement agencies.
That meant that, in the current situation, it was also possible that no one would come to hold them accountable in the future. Which implied…
Su Yu still struggled internally. “It won’t get that bad, will it?”
Even floods and earthquakes in the past hadn’t led to that.
Jiang Cheng said, “Who knows? Before yesterday, who would have thought people could turn into monsters?”
She said, “All I know is that in ancient times, during wars or great disasters, they always sold off their wives and daughters first. And if there was a famine and people resorted to cannibalism, they ate the women first.”
Why had Su Yu been so proactive in participating in all of this—despite it being dirty, disgusting, and dangerous?
It was because she instinctively understood that if she didn’t actively participate and contribute something, then if the situation worsened, she might lose something.
She just hadn’t turned that intuition into explicit, conscious logic.
“If people don’t take on responsibilities and duties, the corresponding consequence is the loss of rights.”
Jiang Cheng’s voice was very soft, as if she didn’t want the men in the elevator lobby to hear.
But to Su Yu, it rang out like a bell.
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