Even in the apocalypse, you still need to find a partner.
Is the national rescue mission simply to bring the survivors to the capital's large base? If I used to scoff at the idea of a base, after this zombie horde, I genuinely believe that going to an organized, led, and safe place would be better for everyone.
It seems like only a few of us are left in Huaicheng, guarding an empty city with a bleak future.
If we burned an SOS signal with flammable materials in the largest square in Huaicheng, or stood on the roof of the Hilton Hotel shouting and waving floral sheets, we might actually be spotted by helicopters. Unfortunately, we were hiding from a horde of zombies, so we were destined to miss out on helicopter flights. We can only hope that the rescue workers won't give up and will come to Huaicheng again in a few days.
Such hope gradually faded with time. Five days had passed since that helicopter flew away. The main force of the zombies had moved to the eastern part of the city, and Rongjun's area was basically freed, but there was no sound in the skies above the city.
We began trying to leave the hospital ward, leave the veterans' quarters, and venture into the scattered zombies. At first, we cautiously mimicked the zombies' movements, afraid to make any big moves. But after Zhou Yi swiftly severed a zombie's head with his small dagger without attracting any attention, we all joined this "assassination" operation.
The helmets effectively concealed their human presence. Although there were only four of them, they went out in groups, not venturing far, quietly harvesting the corpses passing by outside the veterans' compound. Then, they used the large number of corpses to block the three ends of the T-junction, piling up mountains of corpses and seas of blood as high as city walls. More than a week passed in this manner, until the zombie horde was exhausted and the scattered survivors were few and far between. The veterans' compound was reopened. People who had been cooped up in the building for over a month could finally come out and get some fresh air.
Han Bo, Zhou Yi, and I stood on the rooftop, each with a pair of binoculars, gazing at the dark, oppressive waves to the northeast.
"Following this trend, the provincial capital will be next to suffer," Han Bo clicked his tongue in disapproval.
Zhou Yi said, "It's been more than a month since we passed Huaicheng, so we probably won't reach the provincial capital until next year."
Yu Zhongshen held the mirror in one hand and a cigarette in the other: "When we pass through open areas, the zombies will speed up. It will take at most one or two months to cover 300 kilometers."
Zhou Yi harbored resentment towards him, ignoring his words and turning away like a sulking child to look in the other direction.
I was standing next to Gao Chen, tilting my head to ask him how to adjust the lens on the scope, when I casually added, "If we had a helicopter, we'd fly to Fengcheng and share our successful experience with them. I heard there are two large bases there, and there must be a lot of survivors. We can't go anywhere now, there's nothing we can do to help, it's all fate."
Gao Chen held up the binoculars and adjusted them little by little to get the best angle. He said softly, "Is the provincial capital in the north? Maybe we can go around to Tongcheng and send them a message."
Constant vigilance and a strong will to survive are essential qualities for every survivor. Since Maple City has armed groups and survivor bases, they should be prepared for the zombie horde. We ourselves are struggling to survive; how can we possibly warn or help survivors elsewhere?
As expected, Gao Chen's words were immediately met with opposition from the others. Zhou Yi bluntly said, "Tongcheng? Tongcheng has been destroyed. There are no zombies left inside and outside the city, and their numbers are almost as many as a zombie horde. What's the point of going there? To die?"
Xiao Hei also said, "Yes, if the highway from Tongcheng to the provincial capital is blocked by zombies, we can only go through the city, which is too dangerous."
Gao Chen pursed his lips shyly and remained silent. Others might not know, but I understood his thoughts. Reporting to the provincial capital wasn't the main point; the main point was that he wanted to return to Tongcheng to search for his lost memories. Even without anyone's support, he would still set off one day. Judging from the retreat of the zombie horde, that day probably wasn't far off.
“I’ll go with you.” I patted his shoulder. “In a few days, we’ll go out and check out the national and provincial highways. As long as the road is passable for one car, we’ll crash all the way to Tongcheng.”
Yu Zhongjian turned and glanced at me. Zhou Yi stared in disbelief: "Da Feng, are you crazy?"
"You guys don't know the situation, do you? There used to be an infantry regiment stationed in Tongcheng. Xiao Zhang told me that their regiment had three battalions, and each battalion had an infantry company, a reconnaissance company, and a fire support company. Do you know what other companies there were?" I tempted him with a grin, "An artillery company. What does that mean?"
Zhou Yi's eyes lit up: "Rocket launchers? Mortars in the base?"
I shrugged: "I don't know about that. Anyway, you can tell there's something good just from the name. Why don't we dare to fight the zombie horde head-on? Because guns and bullets are limited. Once they're used up, they're gone. We can't cause widespread damage to the zombies, and we're not even good enough to take them all down with us. So we not only need to go to Tongcheng, but we also need to scavenge in any of the surrounding cities with garrisons. We can never have too many weapons and equipment."
Zhou Yi and Xiao Hei nodded repeatedly: "You're right, we must go to Tongcheng." Upon hearing that there were good things to be had, they immediately became fearless, even daring to venture into the deepest hell.
I looked at Gao Chen, and he looked at me too. We smiled at each other. Han Bo strolled over to my side, squinted at the two of us, then took out his cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette, and handed it to me.
I ignored him and said to Gao Chen, "Let's go downstairs. The cafeteria has started boiling water. At least we can have a hot drink today."
The old saying goes that fortune and misfortune are intertwined, and this is certainly true. After living in a filthy, smelly place for so long, disguised as a zombie abode, and having given up all hope, God gave humanity a pleasant surprise.
On the day the zombie horde disappeared from the telescope, rumbling thunder echoed in the sky once more. At first, no one paid any attention. This kind of deceptive rhetoric of thunder without rain had fooled everyone many times. Instead of waiting foolishly for rain, we decided to do something worthwhile, such as going to Pit 1 to learn from Lei Feng and fetch dozens of buckets of groundwater to fill our reservoir.
I was doing good deeds in the spirit of Lei Feng. I got up early and didn't stop working. I delivered oil, started the motor, pumped water from the lake to wash the yard, organized a thorough cleaning, and personally operated the water purification equipment to deliver buckets of water to everyone. After lunch, I went to check the effect of the sound-absorbing cotton added to the drill bit of the drilling rig. I rewarded Lao Tian with a pack of cigarettes and encouraged him to keep up the good work.
As Old Tian, beaming with joy, thanked me with a cigarette, I suddenly felt a cool sensation on the tip of my nose. I reached down and touched it; my fingers were damp. Just as I was stunned, someone in the courtyard shouted, "It's raining! It's raining!"
People rushed out of the three buildings, their faces beaming with joy, each gazing reverently at the sky. A flash of lightning suddenly ripped through the gloomy sky of around three in the afternoon, followed by a deafening rumble of thunder that rolled closer and closer. A faint chill crept into the sweltering air, like a mix of wind and rain. Three minutes later, my hair began to drip, and I finally realized it was raining.
Only those who have truly experienced drought know what water scarcity feels like. Clean water is used for drinking and eating, while dirty water is used for washing. It's conserved whenever possible, and washing is avoided if possible. Before, after a day of killing zombies, I couldn't sleep without changing my clothes and taking a shower. Gradually, it became changing clothes and wiping myself down. Later, it became just changing clothes. When the zombie horde came, I didn't even need to change clothes anymore. I smelled bad, and you smelled bad too; nobody could complain about anyone else.
The zombie horde is gone, but we still haven't been able to take a clean bath because the groundwater production is limited, gushing out like a spring rather than gushing like a waterfall, so we have to conserve it.
It started raining heavily, and like everyone else, I was overjoyed. It felt like a divine reward for successfully escaping the zombie horde. The men rushed back to their dorms to get towels and soap, while the women searched everywhere for containers to hold the water. Over a hundred people ran around the courtyard naked, soaking themselves in the rain.
I lined up with Liu Meili and other girls in front of the administration building, passing around a bottle of face wash and vigorously rubbing our faces. We laughed at each other's faces, which were dripping with black water, and then craned our necks to catch the water curtain falling from the gatehouse to wash ourselves clean.
Liao Donghui, shirtless with a towel draped around his neck, ran over excitedly: "Doctor, the detainees request to go downstairs to take a shower."
With my mouth full of toothpaste foam, I mumbled, "You can wash it, just keep an eye on it."
Liu Meili retorted disdainfully, "Can you men please stop taking your clothes off? There are ladies here, so be mindful of your behavior."
Liao Donghui chuckled: "Aren't we all wearing underwear?"
The rain was heavy and torrential, only gradually turning into a moderate drizzle after about an hour. The trees, once entangled with the soldiers' intestines, stretched their branches, soaked in the rain, and regained their vitality; the grass, blackened by blood, was dotted with green again, revealing its verdant beauty. The dirty water flowed into the drains, washing the three asphalt roads clean.
I filled basins and buckets with water and took a cold shower in the bathroom. Groups of girls occupied several public toilets, and their cheerful laughter and splashing sounds drifted out from under the doors, which put me in a good mood.
I put on a waterproof jacket, dried my half-dry hair, and prepared to collect the rainwater buckets to gather more for later use. I ran into my mother as I went out; her hair was also wet. She had changed her clothes, and as soon as she saw me, she happily pulled me aside, looking me up and down: "You've been covered in this for over a month, looking like a little black devil! I'd almost forgotten what you looked like. Look how nice you are now that you're clean! You even look a bit like me when I was young!"
I tried to break free: "Mom, I'm busy. If it rains, I'll fetch more water and take care of things in the yard. I'll chat with you later."
She rolled her eyes at me: "Your dad arranged for someone to fetch water. Xiao Bo and the others even brought out the big water tanks from the canteen, so don't worry about it. This dress doesn't look good on you, go back and change into something else. I'll take you to see someone."
"Who are we meeting?" I asked, then suddenly realized something was wrong. "Is it Teacher Huang again? Or is it some new teacher? The zombie horde just receded and you're already doing this... I'm not going!"
My mom grabbed me tightly: "You're only acting like a decent person today, so you have to go whether you want to or not!"
"I absolutely refuse to go!"
"Ouch, my heart hurts, I'm having a heart attack."
"......"
Fifteen minutes later, my blind date and I were sitting in a corner of the cafeteria, chatting happily.
"Dr. Qi, if there are any openings in Tongcheng, please count me in. I used to serve in the Southeast Infantry, and I know how to use mortars and those portable anti-tank rocket launchers."
"Okay, okay, our team needs professionals like you. You can go back now, and I'll let you know when the departure time is set."
The young man stood at attention and gave me a military salute as he left. I returned the salute in a perfunctory manner, like an old commander, and watched him leave with a smile. Then I turned to face my mother's icy face.
"You're trying to drive me crazy." She said confidently, "I can see that now that you're all grown up, you don't want to listen to your parents anymore. You'll be free once you drive me crazy."
"mom......"
"Don't call me Mom!" She plopped down on the bench, looked at the ceiling and sneered, "Go on, go be your savage, go be your captain, what do you need a mom for?"
I had a terrible headache: "No, Mom, why do you insist that I find a partner? Let's be realistic, okay? Now is really not a good time to find a partner."
"Why? Let me tell you why!" My mother became serious. "I only gave birth to such a troublesome child like you. Do you think I can rest easy every time you go out? Every time, I'm on edge, barely holding my breath. But think about it, apart from the time you were kidnapped and I locked you up for a few days, when have your father and I ever restricted your freedom? Why don't we restrict you? Because we know the world is chaotic, there are many zombies, and it's good for you to hone some skills to protect yourself. Your father and I are getting old, we can't do fighting and killing anymore, we can't protect you anymore, but can we really let you go out alone?"
"I'm not alone, I have so many brothers!"
"It's because you always call people 'brother' that they treat you like a guy. Can brothers and partners be the same? With brothers, you protect each other. With a partner, even if you don't protect him, he will protect you!"
I disagreed: "What you're saying is just protecting your own child? It's like other people's children aren't children either. If I had a partner, I would protect both my brothers and my partner."
My mom snorted: "Believe it or not, if any of your brothers get a girlfriend, the first person they'll protect is their girlfriend. As for you, you'll have to step aside!"
"Alright, alright, I understand." It's hard to talk to someone with a generation gap, and I didn't want to argue with her about this, so I said, "Fine, I'll listen to you. But don't try to set me up with random people. If I find someone who's not willing, I'll be lucky if they don't stab me in the back, let alone protect me. Don't force people to go on blind dates. I need to find someone who likes me, and someone I like too."
My mom stood up abruptly: "Tell me, who do you like? If you really have your eye on someone, I'll give you advice, and there's no one you can't win over!"
I didn't believe it: "You're being too arrogant. I'm not a hundred-dollar bill that everyone loves."
My mom smiled smugly: "Whether it's matchmaking or finding a partner for myself, I've never failed in my life. You won't believe me, but when Li Changhai was young, she was always flirting with your dad and following him around like a puppy. And I happened to fall for him too. And what happened? You ended up here, didn't you?"
The middle-aged and elderly woman was so shrewish; I couldn't bear to listen, and I felt like gouging out my own ears. And now it's Li Changhai's family again? His sister's boyfriend was snatched away, and I smashed up his second son's place. The Qi and Li families are practically sworn enemies! I admire Li Changhai for still being able to smile at my dad!
“You’re my daughter, I’ll definitely do my best to help you. Tell me, who have you taken a fancy to?” My mother was furious.
I stammered, "I...I don't have one I like yet. I'll let you know when I do."
"No way, if you don't tell me, I'll keep looking for you!"
Forced marriage in this apocalyptic world? I'm probably the first one like it. But if I had to choose between being forced into marriage and being a free bachelor, I'd still choose to be forced into marriage. Looking at it from another angle, how sad it is for those bachelors who want to be forced into marriage but have lost the ones forcing them, and how lucky I am.
Thinking about it this way, my resistance lessened considerably. So be it, blind dates are fine. There are only so many eligible young people coming and going in the neighborhood; once she's done them all, she'll calm down. Making my mother happy is a small act of filial piety on my part as her daughter.
A heavy rain simultaneously resolved both environmental and personal hygiene issues, the zombie horde receded, and the survivors appeared even more resilient than before. After the rain, the weather returned to its previous pattern of hot days and cold nights, with daytime temperatures still exceeding 35 degrees Celsius. Grandpa Tang reminded us to dispose of the corpses on the road outside. He explained that the combination of high temperatures, humidity, and decaying corpses could create a breeding ground for bacteria, polluting the air and water and causing another type of virus that could infect people even without being bitten, historically known as the plague.
So I became even busier, assigning people to go out and collect and burn corpses, while Gao Chen, Zhang Yan, and Huang devised a plan to explore Tongcheng. In my spare time before and after meals, I actively participated in the blind dates my mother had meticulously planned—I chatted quite happily with three young men, then whispered in their ears, threateningly saying, "If you agree, I'll kill you." The young men, relieved, apologized to my mother, expressing their admiration for me and shamefully admitting their shortcomings, such as trembling hands from alcohol poisoning, mild polio, and possibly still having rabies from being bitten by a stray dog in their teens. None of these met my mother's first criterion for a partner: excellent health.
Seeing my mother's increasingly dark face, I outwardly appeared anxious, but inwardly I felt smug, thinking to myself, "Am I the kind of person who succumbs to an arranged marriage? We're about to leave for Tongcheng, so I'll just spend a little more time with you."
Until one day, I walked into the cafeteria at my usual blind date time and saw the person sitting in my usual blind date spot. I was stunned.
What are you doing here?
Yu Zhongjian sat back on the stool, leaning lazily against the dining table, and said, "Why can't I be here?"
"No..." I looked around in panic, but my mother wasn't there. "How could it be you?"
"Why can't it be me?"
I found his confident, self-assured demeanor extremely displeasing. "My mom sent you? Impossible!"
"Just because your mom didn't let me come, doesn't mean I can't come?"
Oh ho, one question after another, as if you have a point. I rolled my eyes: "It's no use you coming. I have nothing to say to you on this matter."
A slight smile played on his lips: "Which matter?"
I got annoyed: "I'm not going to waste my breath on you. I'm telling you, what you're thinking is impossible, and I won't agree to it!"
After I finished speaking, I turned around and left. I hadn't gone far when I bumped into Gao Chen as he entered the cafeteria. My mother was walking beside him, her face beaming with joy.
"Hey Dafeng, where are you going? Don't go, Xiao Gao is here, you two have a chat."
She took a few quick steps, her face beaming, and whispered in my ear, "You're such a shy child. I wouldn't have known if Meili hadn't told me. How could you forget about Xiao Gao? He's right in front of me every day, and I just didn't think of him. He's a good guy, and I think you two are a good match. I've only hinted at what's going on. You talk to him first, and if that doesn't work, I'll step in."
I stood frozen in place, and after a long while, I slowly turned around. Yu Zhongjian looked at me with a half-smile: "I volunteered to fight in Tongcheng, and you refused?"
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