10. Blizzard
Before dark, Fu Yunong and Shi Dong returned to the residential area.
Everything went relatively smoothly, except for a slight delay when entering the door. Fu Yunong's space was almost completely crammed in, and she had to move the supplies back and forth before she could move the heavy objects at the doorway.
After finally climbing to the 35th floor, panting heavily, the first thing she did was to move out the stored fresh water, which instantly filled half of the hall.
Shi Dong drew the curtains, asked Fu Yunong for a candle and lit it, then asked her to take out the sheets, blankets and other odds and ends. Seeing that Fu Yunong was about to help, Shi Dong said calmly, "You rest for a while, I'll do it."
Fu Yunong did not refuse, and only got up to put away the small items after Shi Dong left.
The house was a large apartment with three bedrooms. Shi Dong thought for a moment and instead of choosing the spacious master bedroom, she picked a bedroom with a small window to make her bed. She gathered the original bedding in the room aside, intending to mix it with the bedding in the other rooms, just in case.
Fu Yunong had no objection to sleeping in the same bed again. She really didn't dare to sleep alone, especially since the other person hadn't complained about her.
After they had finished tidying up, the two of them went up to the roof together.
It was already completely dark.
This place used to be where residents dried their belongings. When the beam of a flashlight swept across it, you could see fabrics and drying mats scattered on the ground, all of them filthy.
The two carefully navigated around the clutter and reached the edge of the roof.
As soon as they turned off their flashlights, they instantly blended into the darkness. This wasn't the kind of night with light they had in their previous lives; it was absolute darkness, so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
The wall was about half a person's height, and the wind was strong, so Fu Yunong dared not go too far forward.
Shi Dong took out a monocular telescope from his pocket, opened it, and carefully observed his surroundings. After looking at this side, he walked to the other side and scanned the entire neighborhood.
After looking around, she spotted at least three places where people might be hiding. It seemed there were far more people lurking in the entire neighborhood than that.
Back in the room, Shi Dong told Fu Yunong what he had observed, “...most of them choose to stay in the middle and upper floors, which is convenient for going out and also provides a certain level of security.”
Fu Yunong nodded. There probably aren't many people like them. After all, they have their own system, so they don't have to search for supplies like others. But all of this depends on having enough points; otherwise, just finding food and drink every day would be a headache.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Fu Yunong was awakened by a sharp pain in her stomach. She hurriedly got up, grabbed a sanitary napkin, and rushed to the bathroom.
A moment later, she came out with a pale face and lay back down on the bed weakly.
She never had menstrual cramps before, but now she doesn't know how she developed this problem.
Shi Dong watched silently and immediately understood the situation. She didn't say anything, and quietly got up and left the room. About half an hour later, she came in with a steaming cup of ginger tea.
Fu Yunong rubbed her stomach and asked groaningly, "Where did this come from?"
Shi Dong handed the cup to her, "Drink it first, then we'll talk."
After drinking a cup of tea, Fu Yunong felt warmer all over, her stomach felt much better, and her hands and feet were no longer so cold.
"Thank you, Shi Dong." Her eyes were full of gratitude.
Shi Dong took the cup, a faint smile on her lips. "Sleep a little longer, it's still early."
Fu Yunong nodded and buried herself in the blankets. In her hazy state, she seemed to hear rustling sounds outside the window. When she woke up again, it was already a blinding white world outside.
It's snowing!
She sat up abruptly, a chill instantly seeping into her collar, making her shiver involuntarily. So cold!
She put on one piece of clothing after another, and then walked out of the bedroom.
Shi Dong stood by the window, gazing at the snow outside, his tone grave. "There's something wrong with this snow." As he spoke, white mist escaped his lips.
Shi Dong said that she went up to the roof to check when it first started snowing, but found that the snow felt burning on her skin. To verify this, she took some back and found that it still had a distinct sour smell after boiling.
She added that snow containing acidic substances usually needs to go through three steps—neutralizing the acid, removing contaminants, and sterilizing—to meet the standards for use and consumption.
Upon hearing this, Fu Yunong immediately bought a bottle of [Emergency Water Purification Tablets (100g)] and a [Portable Water Filter] for emergencies, spending a total of 63 points.
Then, she held a raffle for today, and the prize was a thermos (800ml).
Fu Yunong looked at the water bottle in her hand; it was an old-fashioned military model, complete with an insulated sleeve. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry; it was quite timely indeed.
In the center of the living room stood a wooden stove, carved from a stump by Shi Dong, with a kettle on top for boiling water. This was how the ginger tea was made in the mornings; now only a few embers remained at the bottom of the kettle to keep it warm.
Fu Yunong walked over and poured the hot water into the newly acquired kettle.
The wind and snow howled, and the building's door was pushed open a crack, revealing two people bundled up tightly. They stepped into the snow, their white clothes almost blending into their surroundings.
Shi Dong didn't want Fu Yunong to come, but she was adamant about it.
"Without me, you'd have trouble even going downstairs."
Shi Dong couldn't refute it; with her around, harvesting crystal cores was indeed twice as effective.
They had originally planned to observe the situation first, as the disappearance of so many zombies at the same time would easily arouse suspicion. However, the sudden snowstorm disrupted their plans. Their current thought was to harvest as soon as possible, as they feared they would be unable to move an inch if the weather worsened.
Shi Dong pulled Fu Yunong forward, bending over. Along the way, they noticed that the zombies were moving much slower, and they figured that they would probably be buried by the snow soon.
Braving the raging snow, the two struggled to wander around the neighborhood before finally returning to their building.
The heavy object fell again, and the two brushed the snow off each other, only to find that the outermost layer of their cotton-padded coats was already charred brown. If left any longer, they feared it would burn through.
The two exchanged a glance and quickly took off their outermost clothes, along with their gloves.
Fu Yunong breathed on her hands and rubbed them together, her teeth chattering from the cold. "It's so cold, let's go upstairs quickly."
The temperature dropped sharply and rapidly; with each breath, the cold air rushed into my nasal cavity, scraping painfully like a knife.
Even after climbing 35 floors, the two of them didn't feel much warmth.
After entering the house, Shi Dong quickly set up a stove, and the two of them sat around it to warm themselves and drink tea, gradually warming up.
Fu Yunong opened the system. She had just gone out and killed all the zombies she encountered. Although they were all level one, she still managed to exchange them for 280 points. If she used them sparingly, she shouldn't go hungry anytime soon.
In the afternoon, the two cooked porridge in the kettle, adding rice, dehydrated vegetables and mashed hard-boiled eggs. Fu Yunong also bought two energy bars for Shi Dong.
The porridge tasted really average, but in this kind of weather, being able to eat something hot and that provides enough energy is definitely a lucky thing.
As Shi Dong had predicted, the temperature dropped even more sharply after nightfall. Outside the window, the wind and snow howled, accompanied by hailstones the size of fists, which occasionally pounded against the glass with a loud thud, making one's heart tremble.
The windowpanes gradually became covered with a layer of white frost, and even the fresh water in the living room began to freeze.
At Shi Dong's instruction, Fu Yunong quickly followed her to collect usable items on each floor. First, they sealed all the windows in the house and elevator lobby tightly with plastic wrap and tape, then found wooden boards and nailed them shut to the large windows and bedroom windows. The elevator door was sealed little by little with plastic wrap, tape, and old cotton wool.
After doing all that, they added two more layers of bedding to the bed, and then added three more blankets to cover themselves.
They finally lay down in bed late at night, both wearing thick woolen hats. Shi Dong had found these hats somewhere; judging by their style, their owner was probably an elderly woman or man.
Even so, Fu Yunong still felt the chill seeping into her bones while she was asleep, and she woke up two or three times during the night, unable to sleep soundly at all.
Meanwhile, Building 11.
Five or six men, wrapped in blankets, huddled around a fire, the orange flames dancing on their faces, and empty wine bottles lying askew at their feet.
"It's fucking freezing! Can't you close that damn door? If it's left open, my balls will freeze off!" Scarface yelled, swearing loudly.
The man opposite him was impatient, his black teeth flashing as he spoke. He cursed viciously, "You idiot! Wouldn't you suffocate if we closed the door? Your brain is always like it's been kicked by a donkey. It's my worst luck to be associated with a moron like you!"
The older man yelled, "You two shut up! We're almost out of food and drink, instead of thinking about where to get something to eat, what are you babbling about here for? Let's starve you for a few meals and see if you still have the energy to dawdle here!"
These men were migrant workers from the north. Having operated in the nearby vegetable market for a long time, they had gradually become notorious local bullies. The older one was their leader, named Li Qiang. These men were all his distant relatives. They used to make a living by monopolizing the vegetable supply and extorting protection money from the vendors. They were ruthless in their fights, and everyone avoided them.
Before the apocalypse, Li Qiang had just received a shipment from a friend in the underworld: two modified hunting rifles, half a box of bullets, and two old-fashioned hand grenades from who-knows-when. He intended to hide them in a warehouse in the vegetable market to keep them in check, but unexpectedly, disaster struck.
In the chaos, the group of men, relying on their brute strength, seized the supplies in the warehouse and have managed to survive until now thanks to those remaining stock.
With their rice, flour, and dried vegetables almost gone, and then this awful weather hit them, making them increasingly irritable.
After Li Qiang yelled at them, the two dared not argue anymore. However, Scarface, who was already irritable, couldn't hold back any longer. He suddenly stood up and kicked an empty wine bottle next to him. Unexpectedly, he kicked it off course and accidentally kicked the grenade into the fire.
"I'll f*** you..." The cursing stopped abruptly.
"boom!"
The deafening explosion ripped off the roof, and flames mixed with splinters of wood shot out of the windows.
Shi Dong sprang out of bed instantly, ignoring the biting cold, and rushed to the window where the wooden planks hadn't been nailed down, looking out through the glass.
The wind and snow were so strong that only a flickering flame could be vaguely seen, mixed with the acrid smell of gunpowder, drifting over on the wind.
At the same time, a figure slowly advancing in the darkness stopped. It turned its head 180 degrees and roared at the swirling snow. Instantly, the zombies wandering around turned around and rushed towards the residential area.
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