Mo Li showed no sign of wanting to go back inside.
The effect of direct sunlight outdoors was far stronger than basking through a window indoors.
And within a certain range of perception, he sensed no danger either.
Thinking back now, Jiang Cheng realized that when Mo Li had tugged at her clothes and insisted on going out with her before, he must have sensed something.
Now that Youth Apartments, the neighboring Jixiang Jiayuan, and Jixiang West Street in between were all clear, Mo Li no longer had that tense alertness.
He now looked like an ordinary little cat, lounging lazily in the sun, as if life were peaceful and still.
Since that was the case, Jiang Cheng didn’t push it. She went back home on her own.
She turned on her computer and posted the same message on several major forums: [Has there been any case of animal infection?]
To prevent causing panic, she added a clarifying note: [Just curious. With so many people keeping cats and dogs, has any of them been infected with the zombie virus too?]
After posting, she turned on the TV.
Just in time—there was new content on screen: [A correspondent from the Emergency Management Command reports: The rescue troops have advanced into S City’s urban area and have now reached Chaoqing District, where intense cleanup operations are underway.]
[The first batch of rescue supplies is following close behind.]
[The on-site Emergency Management Command stated that they will adopt a “district-by-district sweep, leaving no household unchecked” approach to fully protect the lives and safety of the people.]
[Please have firm faith—the nation is always with you, breathing the same air, sharing the same fate.]
[Maintain your confidence and remember to take precautions and seek safety on your own.]
[We will surely get through this together and rebuild our homes!]
Intense cleanup operations.
Usually, the word “intense” is followed by “combat.” Putting “intense” together with “cleanup” felt a bit awkward.
But reading between the lines, although the authorities still hadn’t adopted the term “zombie” and continued to call them “mutants,” they clearly no longer regarded them as human.
If they were still human, it would be “combat.”
Since they were no longer human, it was “cleanup.”
Jiang Cheng watched the broadcast several times in a loop, then opened the forums again.
Those few major internet companies with recognizable names had already come under the leadership of the government’s emergency committee. Over the past two days, the major forums had set up regional sections for netizens to connect and share information by area. The internet company staff were still showing up for work—or perhaps working remotely. In any case, they adapted to the times and provided exactly what people needed. It was indeed very convenient.
Jiang Cheng opened the S City section of a major forum. Sure enough, many people were already analyzing the new announcement.
[Yesterday when they said ‘rebuild order for survival,’ I already felt it was pretty grim. Today they also mentioned ‘protect life safety.’ In past earthquakes and floods, they always said ‘protect life and property safety.’ The tone is clearly different. Sigh.]
[Basically means ‘just stay alive,’ right?]
[They’re starting from Chaoqing District—that’s still far from us. When will they get to Guangxiu District?]
[Pushing north from Chaoqing, the next one will definitely be Gaotang District. You’re still far from Guangxiu.]
[What does ‘district-by-district’ mean here? Administrative districts or residential complexes?]
[I was wondering the same thing. Then it says ‘leaving no household unchecked’—using households as the unit. So the earlier ‘district’ should mean residential complexes. That makes sense.]
[The above poster has a point. It’s easier to understand if you think of zombies as an infectious disease or virus. To clear a virus, you have to completely clean out an area. Otherwise, if you leave a few spots uncleared, won’t it rapidly replicate and spread? Don’t forget the zombie virus is contagious. And now everyone knows that if you get scratched or bitten, you’ll get infected and mutate. There must be people who got infected but kept quiet and tried to hide, and then they’ll turn quietly and bite a whole bunch of people when they come out. Even if one zombie bites three people, those three mutate, and each of them bites three more… It’s clear when you put it that way. So not cleaning completely is the same as not cleaning at all.]
Jiang Cheng switched to her own neighborhood’s homeowner forum. Sure enough, someone quick had already reposted all this content from the major forums.
The joyful mood from yesterday when they first heard the government was launching a rescue had been dampened.
It was replaced by worries about “when will they ever get to the new development zone?”
As noon approached, Jiang Cheng was about to start making lunch when the intercom buzzed: “Miss Jiang? Miss Jiang, can you hear me? Interim Committee?”
Jiang Cheng immediately grabbed the intercom: “Received, this is Jiang Cheng. Who’s this?”
The voice on the other end said: “This is the east gate here. There are over a dozen people here—they say they’re from Buyduo Supermarket and they’re looking for you. Hang on, he says he wants to talk to you.”
The intercom switched to a different voice, a man’s: “Miss Jiang, right? My surname is Dong—I’m the guy from Buyduo. We’ve met several times, it’s me.”
Jiang Cheng recognized him by voice—it was the small supervisor from Buyduo whom everyone called Brother Dong: “I know, I remember you. What’s the matter?”
Yang Xinyan usually stayed at the property management center, since she was the one responsible for communicating with the residents.
The intercom was on an open channel, so she also heard the conversation between the east gate guard and Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng suddenly called out to her: “Property center, is anyone there?”
Yang Xinyan quickly replied: “Yes, yes, I’m here!”
Jiang Cheng: “Xinyan, use the loudspeaker to call the interim committee members to gather at the east gate.”
Wednesday morning had been a rare moment of relaxation for everyone over the past few days. Some were lying around at home playing games, others were strolling in the garden soaking up the sun. Suddenly, the loudspeaker crackled to life, and the property girl’s voice rang out: [Interim committee members, gather at the east gate. Interim committee members, gather at the east gate. Right now, immediately. I repeat—interim committee…]
This clearly meant something was up. The committee members who’d been lying down got up; those playing games pushed aside their keyboards; those strolling in the garden turned and started running.
It wasn’t just the committee members—many other residents in the garden also followed along to the east gate to see what was happening.
Jiang Cheng met Brother Dong at the east gate.
Brother Dong had brought his supermarket employees to ask for medicine.
Jiang Cheng confirmed again: “You’re sure it’s not the zombie virus?”
“Positive,” Brother Dong cursed. “It was people from Yujing Xiangyuan who did it.”
East of Jixiang Jiayuan was Yujing Xiangyuan.
The people from Youth Apartments looked down on Jixiang Jiayuan, but at least Jixiang Jiayuan had someone step up to organize them—loosely, sure, but organized nonetheless.
Yujing Xiangyuan, on the other hand, hadn’t organized at all. Some households had run out of food entirely, and rather than starve to death hiding at home, they had no choice but to risk their lives and go downstairs.
Some got bitten and killed on the way, but others managed to reach Buyduo Supermarket.
They’d risked life and limb to get to the supermarket, only to find all the food shelves empty. Even the food section in the warehouse was cleaned out.
The despair was overwhelming.
Brother Dong told them: “The people from Youth Apartments and Jixiang Jiayuan cleared it all out—you can see the front gate, they smashed it in. It’s gone, all gone. Feel free to grab whatever else you need.”
He was trying to shoo them away.
But some people caught on quick. Looking around the supermarket, they saw about a dozen employees, and none of them looked panicked.
Why weren’t they panicking? Obviously because they had food stashed away!
Those who figured this out demanded that Brother Dong and his crew share some food with them. Their families simply couldn’t hold out any longer—there were children and elderly at home, stomachs growling with hunger.
But Brother Dong and his people had witnessed firsthand how the folks from Jixiang Jiayuan and Youth Apartments had ransacked the massive supermarket. They’d seen with their own eyes how people came to blows over a single bag of rice.
They knew all too well how crucial food was in these extraordinary times.
So of course they flatly denied having anything.
Who would believe that? Not a single person in front of them looked like they were going hungry—they all looked well-fed.
Having braved life and death to get here for their families, these people were already on the verge of breaking down. All it took was a single spark.
Especially since they were armed. They’d already smashed through human skulls and severed human necks.
Seeing the supermarket employees avoid eye contact and brush them off with vague excuses, fury rose in their hearts and courage swelled in their guts.
A clash broke out between the two sides.
Fortunately, the people from Yujing Xiangyuan had come in scattered groups and weren’t united. Buyduo’s crew, on the other hand, were solidly united in protecting their food, and their weapons were well-suited for the job. In the end, they drove off everyone from Yujing Xiangyuan.
People on both sides were injured. Some had swollen, bruised faces, others were bloodied.
The bloody ones had external wounds—a bunch of rough men who weren’t particularly careful and hadn’t properly treated their injuries.
By nightfall, they started running fevers. When everyone discovered it this morning, the fevers were already high. If this kept up, it wouldn’t do—they needed medicine.
Everyone roughly knew the locations of a few pharmacies near the supermarket. The closest and safest one was the pharmacy on Jixiang West Street.
Why was it safe? Because that street had been traversed back and forth by the Youth Apartments crew several times—cleared out exceptionally well.
Probably the safest stretch of road in the area.
After assessing the risks, Brother Dong decided to bring his people out to find medicine. When they reached the small pharmacy, the smashed door told them the bad news before they even stepped inside. They went in—and it was completely empty.
Jiang Cheng and her group had taken most of the important categorized medicines; after they left, the elderly folks who went in next grabbed everything regardless of category—swept it all clean.
All that was left were contraceptives and male enhancement pills. Even the supplements were gone.
There were other pharmacies, of course, but reaching them wouldn’t be as safe—there were bound to be zombies on the way.
One bite, and it was death.
They had some camaraderie with their coworkers, but not enough to die for them. Nobody was willing.
But Brother Dong could figure it out: “Those bastards from Youth Apartments are sharp as hell—they must have done it.”
It was that young girl from Youth Apartments who’d been the first to smash the supermarket gate. Brother Dong had a gut feeling she’d likely broken into this pharmacy too.
That girl definitely had medicine on hand. Even if she didn’t, she was a leader in Youth Apartments—she’d have a way to get some.
So Brother Dong came knocking.
And since they’d come all this way—even if it was a bit late—Brother Dong and his crew had finally realized they needed to stock up on medicine too. So they also wanted some other medications.
He laid out his purpose, and Jiang Cheng said to him over the intercom: “We only have a small amount of medicine, and there are so many people in our neighborhood. We can’t just give it to you for free.”
Brother Dong thought to himself: See? I was right. Young as she is, sharp as a tack.
The two of them negotiated over the intercom. Brother Dong took his people back to the supermarket for a while, and now they were back.
This time, they didn’t come empty-handed. They pushed several carts full of drinks: “Alright, let’s trade.”
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