After the initial panic, even if people don't want to believe it, they have to admit that the world has changed.
After the commotion subsided, everyone came to their senses and immediately realized what was going on. Suddenly, the entire building fell silent.
Xiao Jin had never felt so quiet before.
No, it was less quiet and more deathly still.
As if worried about something, no one dared to utter a sound!
Soon, Xiao Jin's prediction came true.
Today was supposed to be the day for the distribution of supplies, but the survivors waited anxiously without hearing the sound of even one vehicle.
"Damn it! Why haven't the supply trucks arrived yet? Are they not coming at all?!"
"Dad, are we going to starve to death?"
"It hurts so much! Give me medicine, give me medicine..."
Everywhere there were cries of agony, fear, hunger, and pain!
Suddenly, Xiao Jin seemed to hear a sound.
She slowly walked to the door, bringing her ear close to the entrance, trying to catch any sounds from outside.
The once quiet air in the corridor was torn apart by a sudden burst of hurried footsteps.
The voice was urgent and heavy, like a wild beast fleeing in the night, carrying endless panic and unease.
Immediately afterwards, a voice, filled with almost desperate cries, hysterically pounded on the door of the neighbor's house on this floor.
"Aunt Wang! Aunt Wang! Please, lend me some medicine! My son... my son has a fever, a burning fever!" The voice was full of despair and anxiety.
Listening to the woman's voice, Xiao Jin could tell that there was no protectiveness on her face at all.
It's easy to imagine what her mindset was when she sought the medicine.
However, the ending was going to disappoint the woman; all she received was a deathly silence. The entire building seemed to have been muted, and all her cries for help went unanswered.
The door she was knocking on showed no signs of shaking, and the surrounding air was oppressive and suffocating.
Xiao Jin walked away silently; the real chaos was about to begin...
At 3:17 p.m., the entire apartment building fell into an eerie silence.
There were no children crying, no couples arguing. Xiao Jin sat in the darkness, toying with the Shadow Dagger in his hand.
But if she listened carefully, she could hear the couple next door arguing in hushed tones:
"...There's only half a bottle of water left...what should I do?"
"...You stay home and don't open the door. I'm going downstairs to check on Teacher Zhang..."
"Are you crazy! Get out now?"
Then came a long silence.
"We have to go, whether we like it or not! Otherwise, are we just going to stay home and wait to die?"
This was followed by soft sobs.
"But what will I do if something happens to you..."
Such conversations continued to play out in various homes; without supplies, they could only place their hopes on their neighbors.
The fog outside the building was too thick; if they only walked inside the building, they might not get infected.
Of course, this is just talk. When you're going to get infected, there's no escaping it no matter where you are.
………………
At 1:48 a.m., Xiao Jin was awakened by a scream.
"Ah—don't come any closer! Please!"
The sounds came from above, first a loud banging on the door, followed by the dull thud of a heavy object falling to the ground and the sound of glass shattering.
Interspersed among them were roars and screams.
Xiao Jin instantly regained his senses, and the long sword was already in his hand.
The sound of a creaking bed came from next door; the couple there had obviously woken up too.
"...It's a robbery..." the woman said, trembling as she gripped her husband's arm tightly.
The man lowered his voice: "Bring me the kitchen knife."
"ah--"
The screams were like a sharp blade, instantly tearing away the thin veil of civilized society and exposing the true nature of humanity hidden beneath the calm.
The scream was sharp and desperate, echoing in the narrow corridor, shaking people to their core.
Immediately afterwards, the commotion of the robbery spread like wildfire, not just in one place, but quickly throughout the entire apartment building.
The resident whose door was broken into only needs to look closely through the peephole to find out.
The neighbors who used to greet you with smiles and kindness are now armed with sticks and knives, their eyes flashing with the ferocity and greed of wild beasts.
That face had completely lost its former gentleness, leaving only a frantic desire for survival resources.
Many people initially held onto a sliver of hope and did not join the chaotic robbery.
However, as the roars and desperate cries assaulted their ears, their hearts began to waver.
Some people clutched their meager belongings tightly, hesitant and undecided; others began to look around, searching for a robbery group they could join.
“It’s all in chaos anyway,” a middle-aged man muttered under his breath, his eyes flickering in the dim light. “The most important thing is to survive.”
These words were like a curse, instantly shattering the last line of defense in his heart.
The middle-aged man suddenly stood up and joined the frenzied looting.
As more and more people were consumed by this madness, the scene became increasingly chaotic and bloody. Screams, curses, and the dull thuds of heavy objects hitting the ground mingled together.
Xiao Jin could also sense that the commotion downstairs was getting closer and closer.
"Bang!"
The door of an apartment on the fourteenth floor was forcibly broken open, and the unrest spread to Xiao Jin's floor.
"Where did you hide the grain? Tell me!"
"No...really no..."
"ah--!"
The screams stopped abruptly, followed by the sounds of ransacking and smashing.
Footsteps moved from the top of the stairs toward the middle.
"Brother, the door is locked!"
"Break through!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The heavy impacts shook the entire floor.
"Damn! This door is really sturdy!"
"Third brother, get the crowbar!"
The woman inside the door cried out in despair, "Please, please leave! We really have no food!"
Her response was an even more violent impact.
Faced with such frenzied banging, the lock on the house's security door was completely destroyed in less than five minutes. A group of thugs stormed in, and the hiding resident was dragged haphazardly across the ground.
"Help! Help!"
Xiao Jin silently entered the glass partition, arrived at the entrance, and peered out through the peephole.
A dozen or so people rushed into the house in the distance, and soon they came out carrying a pile of scattered food.
Some people didn't even leave behind half a roll of toilet paper.
Soon, only muddy, bloody footprints remained on the ground at the entrance.
One wave left, and another wave followed.
Before long, several families around Xiao Jin were also targeted.
Opposite her were the siblings, and to her right was the young couple. Only on her left, Xiao Jin never heard a sound, as if no one lived there.
'Thump!'
Five masked, burly men were kicking down the door of the couple next door, carrying fire axes and steel pipes.
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