Chapter 96 Thank goodness for Xiao Shuang, thank goodness for Xiao Shuang…

After several attempts, Zhao Liang finally answered the phone, but the signal was intermittent.

When you say "boom," the person pauses for a moment.

Looking at the background, it turned out to be a very dark basement without windows.

"What happened to you?" Zhao Ya glanced at him and saw that her brother looked alright and didn't seem to have been bleeding, so she felt relieved.

Judging by the time, it should be early morning on Zhao Liang's end.

The basement contained a washing machine and dryer, along with a shelf for toolboxes and a mountain bike, taking up most of the space. Zhao Liang huddled in a corner, glancing warily out of the frame every now and then.

Hearing this, he shook his head in a state of near collapse and said, "I don't know. On my way home tonight, I suddenly heard someone firing a gun. There were a lot of bloodied people running around, and a few of them even followed me to my house, but I locked them out."

Unfortunately, Zhao Liang lived in a detached house with a yard, and the law prohibiting trespassing could not stop the zombies.

Zhao Liang initially thought it was just that the young people here were drunk at night, or that they were high for some reason, since this kind of thing is quite common here.

Until he watched helplessly as his neighbor yelled and fired a shot, severing the leg of a man who had broken into his house. The close-range lethality of a rifle should not be underestimated; half of the man's leg was blown off, the muscle at the fracture site turned outward, and the bone pierced through the skin.

Zhao Liang had never seen such a scene before. He was so frightened that he quickly hid behind the bushes, but what he saw was even more horrifying.

The intruder, who had lost a leg, seemed completely unaffected, continuing to crawl towards his neighbor on the ground.

After repeated warnings went unheeded, the neighbor had no choice but to continue firing until the fourth shot pierced the man's skull, finally killing him.

Each bullet that hit only made the intruder's movements more difficult, but it did nothing to stop his desire to move forward.

He was like a fearless, painless fighting machine, whose sole purpose seemed to be attacking the person in front of him.

What medication can produce this effect?

Zhao Liang was so frightened that he ran back to his house in a panic. Not only did he close the front door, but he also hid in the basement storage room and locked the door from the inside before he felt safe.

Even through the door, he could still hear someone banging on the large French window connecting the living room to the outside. The other person was persistent, and the noise was terrifying. If this continued, it wouldn't last long before it shattered.

Zhao Liang had obtained a gun license and owned a gun, but apart from visiting the shooting range two or three times, he had never actually fired a gun. Holding the gun, he trembled as he recounted everything to his sister and mother, showing none of his usual arrogance.

Zhao Ya sighed, guessing he was unaware that the same monster had appeared all over the world, and briefly explained the situation in China.

Zhao Liang was stunned, shocked and even more frightened.

Experiencing a zombie apocalypse in Country A was a completely different experience from back home. In China, the population was dense, and everyone lived close by, so if anything happened, you could at least lend a hand. But being in his own detached house, he felt like he was trapped on a deserted island, completely isolated and helpless.

Moreover, Zhao Ya could still hold onto hope and wait for the government to send someone to rescue her, while Zhao Liang...

Zhao Liang thought it best to forget about it.

He looked down at the pistol in his arms and gritted his teeth, saying, "If they really break in, I'll shoot."

Anyway, this is considered self-defense. Once you get over your mental hurdle, a gun is a million times more useful than a knife.

Zhao Ya, however, recalled some monsters she had seen along the way that were more agile than their kind, and felt somewhat uneasy.

Given the speed of those monsters, once they get close, someone who isn't good at shooting might not be able to hit them.

She had just seen online that injuries to the legs and feet did not seem to affect the monster's aggressive desire, so if he was not killed with one shot, Zhao Liang might be in danger instead.

One mutates after just one bite, while the other has only one weakness all over its body. This is simply unfair.

Zhao Ya had warned Zhao Liang not to act impulsively, then stared at the shelves behind him and hesitantly asked, "By the way... do you have any food with you?"

Zhao Liang suddenly froze.

He had just said last time that canned food was unhealthy, so naturally he didn't have any at home.

There are some fresh fruits, vegetables, and beef in the refrigerator, but they don't keep very long.

In addition, he is passionate about fitness and body shaping, never touches snacks, and lives alone, so he really doesn't keep enough food on hand...

Zhao Liang broke out in a cold sweat.

He didn't care about anything else and turned around to rummage through the shelves. After a while, he finally found a box of energy bars.

This stuff is high in protein, making it an excellent source of energy in the apocalypse. And there are dozens of them in this box, so if you eat them sparingly, they can last a long time.

However, they contain very little dietary fiber and vitamins, and eating only energy bars for a long time will inevitably lead to nutritional imbalance.

Most importantly...

It doesn't taste good.

At least Zhao Liang didn't think it tasted good.

The thought that he might have to rely on it to survive for the next ten days or so made Zhao Liang's face turn grim.

He wondered if it was possible to go outside and find something to eat.

Although Country A is sparsely populated, its public transportation is not very developed. People mainly rely on cars for daily travel, which makes some main roads prone to traffic jams when traffic is heavy. Once you are stuck on the road, you are really doomed.

Traveling at night when there are fewer people will avoid traffic jams, but to be honest... even on ordinary days, Zhao Liang doesn't dare to go out alone at night.

Putting aside monsters, the suburbs often have long stretches of roads without streetlights, homeless people in the neighborhoods, high-dose teenagers, and even gangs and drug dealers—aren't they all terrifying?

The possibility of them going out to forage for food has been essentially eliminated.

Zhao Ya could tell what her brother was thinking, and comforted him, "Let's focus on surviving first. Observe the situation. At least you still have food. Oh, and remember to store some water."

Zhao Liang usually drinks bottled water, and he has several cases of it. He grunted in response, his expression not pleasant, but at least he was concerned about his family.

"And you? Have you eaten enough?" As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly thought of something, and his expression became very strange.

Sure enough, Zhao Ya on the other end also made an "uh" sound, while Grandma Zhang took the phone and showed off all the various items in the house again.

Finally, she added, "Don't worry! We're fine. Just take care of yourself."

Zhao Liang's mouth gaped wider and wider as he looked at it.

Does this put his mind at ease?

This is clearly a blow to the heart!

It's not only heartbreaking, but also a slap in the face.

The things his mother hoarded, which he had been complaining about not long ago, have now become his best guarantee of survival.

Although they weren't exactly living a very good life, if they were really trapped, Grandma Zhang's family would definitely be in a better situation than most people.

In addition to staple foods and supplementary canned fruits and luncheon meat, there were also bean sprouts and two pots of chives and scallions that Grandma Zhang grew on the balcony, as well as a full range of seasonings.

Although Zhao Liang's family had seasonings, his cooking skills were average, and since he often ate out, he mostly cooked simple white dishes at home, following local customs.

That's really awkward.

His mother and sister could make a meal by mixing bean sprouts and luncheon meat with Lao Gan Ma chili sauce or mushroom and beef sauce. Changing the sauce would create a new flavor—what should he do?

Are you trying different ways to dip energy bars in peanut butter, salad dressing, and ketchup?

"..." Zhao Liang remained silent.

Seeing those familiar things again through the screen, things he had once disliked, he was somewhat stunned.

He recalled the joyful expression on Grandma Zhang's face when she showed him the pile of things she had bought online.

She said that she usually couldn't buy so many things by herself when she went to the supermarket, but luckily Xiaoshuang helped her.

...Leaving aside other matters, if Song Rushuang hadn't helped stockpile these supplies, and if her sister hadn't happened to go to find their mother, how could their mother, who lived alone at home, have survived this apocalypse?

Thinking back to what he had said before... Zhao Liang felt as if those words were a slap in the face, burning with pain.

This regret came late, but it was all the more intense.

Luckily, Xiao Shuang helped. Luckily, Xiao Shuang was there.

In the narrow, dimly lit basement, only the cell phone emitted a bright light.

Holding the box of energy bars, Zhao Liang felt a pang of homesickness for the first time since settling abroad.