The New Year has passed, and time flies by.

At first, people were looking forward to the normal spring weather and blooming flowers after the New Year, but as June approached, the weather outside was still cold and the ice layer did not melt at all.

That day, Uncle Zhang suddenly came to the 18th floor looking for Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao.

Before leaving for work that day, Uncle Zhang made a point of knocking on the door on the 18th floor. Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao had just gotten up and happened to hear Uncle Zhang's knocking.

"They really know how to enjoy life, and all three of them are capable."

Song Zhao opened the door and welcomed Uncle Zhang into the house. Uncle Zhang felt a warmth inside that was different from outside, and he thought to himself with emotion.

These days, no one dares to turn the living room temperature up to pre-apocalyptic winter levels. The limited heating supplies in the house need to be used not only for warmth but, more importantly, for cooking. In this kind of weather, without heating, even steamed buns will freeze solid—hard enough to kill someone if you smash one down.

Sitting on the sofa, Uncle Zhang took a sip of the hot water Gu Yanzhi brought over to warm himself up before saying, "Xiao Song, Xiao Gu, have you noticed that there are fewer and fewer people outside lately?"

The extreme cold has lasted for almost a year, and recently government supplies have become increasingly scarce. The relief supplies are dwindling; at first, they were barely enough to feed people, but now they're only half full. More and more people are venturing out to find supplies and fend for themselves.

However, in the past month, he has observed fewer and fewer people coming out during his commute to and from get off work, and the elderly are the ones who have disappeared the most.

He also noticed that many of the frozen corpses on the road surface seemed to have disappeared.

Upon hearing Uncle Zhang's words, Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao quickly exchanged a glance.

"We haven't been out lately, so we didn't really notice. Let's observe for the next few days," Song Zhao said, using this excuse to lure Uncle Zhang away.

It's true that I didn't go out, but it's false that I don't know what happened.

Gu Yanzhi had a vague suspicion that something similar had happened much earlier in his previous life. He had thought that in this life, the government's aid had come earlier and was better prepared, so such a thing wouldn't happen again.

Unexpectedly, although it happened a few months later, the incident still occurred.

As soon as Uncle Zhang left, before Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao could even exchange words, Gu Yanlin rushed in from outside.

"sister"

"Brother-in-law"

"Hehe"

"Hehe"

"Hehe"

"What's wrong? Tell me slowly." Gu Yanlin was out of breath from running. Song Zhao helped him sit on the sofa, handed him a glass of water, and helped him catch his breath.

"Outside, it seems like someone is eating human flesh," Gu Yanlin said, his voice filled with shock.

These past few days, their team has been on patrol in a certain area of ​​City C.

Last night, as they passed a building, they saw several men suddenly emerge from it. Fearing they might cause trouble, Gu Yanlin and Zhao Rui secretly followed them, only to witness a scene that would shock them for the rest of their lives.

The group of men picked up several corpses as they walked before heading back.

They found a secluded spot and dismembered the body.

Considering the pungent smells emanating from the stairwell after they returned home, Gu Yanlin understood everything.

In the middle of the night, the presence of a corpse and the combined smells of fragrance and stench made it hard not to have some thoughts. Gu Yanlin and Zhao Rui immediately made the connection.

Not wanting to break into a private residence, Gu Yanlin asked Zhao Rui to report to Chu Guodong, while he stood guard outside the building.

I waited until this morning before anyone finally came out of the building.

As dawn broke, several people dressed in work clothes, bundled up tightly, hurried away carrying tools such as axes and ropes. They looked like they were in a rush to get to work.

It wasn't until dawn that other people gradually came out of the building.

Gu Yanlin also noticed that the people who were in a hurry to get to work didn't seem to be the group of men he had encountered last night who appeared to be eating corpses.

The people coming out of the building split into two groups. One group looked to be in good spirits and had some muscle, and they moved around leisurely.

The other group suffered from hunger and cold, their faces pale and emaciated, their appearance gaunt and haggard. Their faces were etched with exhaustion and helplessness.

These people either hurried about in a rush to find food, or wandered around like ghosts, as if they had lost all hope for life.

What's even more striking is that Gu Yanlin saw several rosy-cheeked children surrounding and bullying a child who was so thin from hunger that he was practically skin and bones. They were saying things like, "Your dad didn't listen to my dad," and "You deserve it. Your dad is Zhuang Qinggao, so you'll have to pay off his debts."

Some of these remarks were made without thinking, while others clearly stemmed from things their parents had said at home.

All signs point to their suspicions.

After Gu Yanlin reported some of his findings to Chu Guodong, Chu Guodong gave him and Zhao Rui a day off to calm down. He then hurriedly went to the division headquarters.

He also needs to report this discovery to his superiors so that the next steps can be taken.

"By the way, what did Uncle Zhang come here for?" After explaining the whole story and the ins and outs, Gu Yanlin remained silent for a while before he remembered that he had bumped into Uncle Zhang when he rushed upstairs.

However, he was somewhat dazed and didn't respond when Uncle Zhang greeted him.

"It's the same thing as you."

Uncle Zhang noticed that there were fewer and fewer elderly people and corpses outside, and he became suspicious.

Gu Yanlin admired him in his heart, thinking, "As expected of Uncle Zhang, he is experienced and insightful."

They even noticed that.

At lunchtime, Gu Yanzhi prepared braised pork, which they all loved.

Gu Yanlin had just picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and was about to put it in his mouth when he couldn't help feeling nauseous and vomiting.

Although he didn't see it with his own eyes, just thinking about that scene made him want to vomit.

Gu Yanzhi quickly removed the braised pork and replaced it with stir-fried pork.

Upon smelling the meat, Gu Yanlin rushed to the bathroom and vomited.

It seemed that Gu Yanlin wouldn't be able to eat meat dishes for a long time, so Gu Yanzhi took the stir-fried pork away and replaced it with two vegetarian dishes. Only then was Gu Yanlin able to finish the meal smoothly.

As evening fell, people from Building 10 who had gone out to work gradually returned.

Gu Yanzhi, along with Song Zhao and Gu Yanlin, arrived at Uncle Zhang's house and began their first collective meeting since the disbandment of the No. 10 Building Ice-Cleaning Team.

We all got together for a while during the Chinese New Year, chatting and laughing for a bit, but that didn't really count as a meeting.

"What did you say"

As soon as Gu Yanzhi dropped this bombshell, the shock of several young people in their twenties in Building 10 was so great that it almost lifted the floorboards off.

After everyone spoke in unison, they each started muttering to themselves, unwilling to believe it.

“woc”

"I must be hallucinating."

"It must be my imagination; my ears are malfunctioning."

The remaining older people looked alright, but their dazed expressions betrayed them.