If you don't understand, why don't you teach me?
A little boy was kneeling inside a protruding security window on the seventh floor of an old residential building on the north side of the road.
He gripped the steel bar, squeezed his small face into the gap, and peered down at us. His mouth moved as if he were speaking, but his voice was too soft to be heard.
If Leonardo DiCaprio didn't have the habit of looking up at the sky, we probably would have missed out on this child.
I craned my neck and called out, "Hey, do you have any adults at home?"
When the child heard me shout, he looked around in a panic at both ends of the road, then shook his head.
Are there zombies in the building?
The child stood still for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
I laughed at Yu Zhongjian and said, "This little brat is quite cunning, trying to trick us into going in to rescue him. It seems there are definitely zombies in the building. What should we do? Should we rescue him or not?"
Yu Zhongjian smoked, his face indifferent: "You're the captain, so you make the decisions."
Now he's remembered I'm the team leader, and he just rejected my opinion! I snorted and said to Zhang Yanhuang, "Why don't we go up and bring him down? This is the first time I've seen a child since the zombies appeared. He's the flower of our motherland, we can't let him starve to death."
"Let's go." Zhang Yanhuang said without hesitation.
Li Tonggu, who had been watching the little boy, said, "I'll go too."
"Don't go. This is an old building with narrow stairwells. You're too big to move around properly, and it wouldn't look good if a zombie grabbed you and took a bite out of you."
Yu Zhongjian didn't move at all, and I didn't care. I was full of energy and overflowing with love, so I checked the weapons and led Zhang Yanhuang to the side of the road.
Gao Chen leaned out of the car and said, "Xiao Zhang, um... Miss, please be careful."
"Hmm, Miss?" It seems he finally realized he couldn't just blurt out whatever came to mind anymore; whatever he said would be wrong. Zhang Yanhuang glanced at me apologetically, but I remained expressionless, my face unchanged. A person of the martial world doesn't care about surnames.
The building's entrance is located between two shops, secured by a stainless steel electronic security door. Although the power is out, someone has secured the opening with nylon cable ties, preventing zombies outside from getting in and those inside from getting out.
The gunshots had already attracted the attention of the zombies inside the building. At this moment, several of them were huddled together inside the door, banging on the door with their bodies and stretching their claws out through the gaps.
I noticed the cable ties were facing outwards, realizing someone had placed them before leaving to protect the people inside and prevent zombies from entering. But this person certainly didn't expect that they would never return, and that zombies would appear inside the building as well.
"Go and get the sharp steel bars from the car." I instructed Zhang Yanhuang, then took out a pair of rubber gloves from my pocket and put them on. These were prepared by Liu Meili for each of us. She said that in order to prevent infection, we should try to avoid physical contact with zombies. If we must come into contact with them, we must wear gloves, masks and goggles.
I wasn't aware of any protection before, and by the time I became aware, I had lost count of how many times I'd been sprayed with zombie blood. It was on my body, hair, even my face; I would have been infected ten times over if I had been. But I'm still alive and kicking, and so are others. This isn't luck; it only proves that the virus in zombie blood loses its activity immediately after leaving a host.
Ultimately, it wasn't completely cruel; it still left humanity a way to survive.
Zhang Yanhuang prepared the steel bars, and I reached out and grabbed a section of a bluish-black wrist through the gap, pulling it outwards with all my might: "Stab it!"
I pulled half an arm off the zombie, its head pressed against the door, its bulging, dead fish eyes unable to move, like decorations embedded in its face. Its hair was gone, but its face was intact; it must have been a woman in life. I could see its eyebrows—they were all gone, only traces of eyebrow tattooing remained.
The steel bar pierced through its eyeball and down the back of its head, and its withered claws, which had been trying to grab me with long, dark nails, suddenly lost their strength.
Pulling out the steel bars, we did the same thing, killing all four zombies crowding the doorway, cutting the cable ties, and sneaking into the building.
The first floor was lined with shops on the opposite side, but no one lived there. The second floor had four households, and the hallway was very narrow. The two houses opposite each other had their doors and windows wide open, while the two houses next to each other had their doors and windows tightly closed. There were no zombies and no human voices. We held our breath and crept up floor by floor. Starting from the fourth floor, the hallway became less quiet.
On the fourth floor, there was an old zombie with half its neck bitten off, hanging precariously from its shoulder, pacing back and forth in the stairwell; on the fifth floor, there was a man and a woman, the woman being mutated, whimpering and lunging with outstretched arms; the sixth floor was more tragic, with three zombies and several mutilated corpses, some lying in their own rooms, others hanging from the stairwell railings, so badly mutilated that it was impossible to tell whether they were male, female, old, or young.
I'm used to being free-spirited, so I wasn't used to killing zombies in a confined space for the first time. The zombies couldn't hurt me, but I bumped my hand and bruised it because of my big kicks and arm swings.
In the end, Zhang Yanhuang and I dealt with all the zombies. During the fight, we inevitably made noise, but there was no sign of human life in the closed rooms.
The seventh floor was surprisingly clean. There was blood and footprints in the hallway, and strange clumps of marks on the stairs, but all four doors were closed, and there wasn't a single zombie in sight.
Based on the location, the boy was in one of the two houses side by side in the middle. He looked normal and unharmed, perhaps locked in the bedroom by an adult. While Zhang Yanhuang was still gesturing and calculating the window's orientation, I had already kicked open a door without hesitation.
"Which room is the little brother in?" I stepped in, knife in hand, glanced inside, and without a word, turned around to block Zhang Yanhuang's view. "Not this room, not this room, let's go, let's go."
"What's wrong, Sister Qi?" Zhang Yanhuang asked curiously, standing on tiptoe. I pushed him away. "I told you this isn't the place. Go next door and open the door."
The more I tried to stop him from looking, the more curious he became. Suddenly, Zhang Yanhuang crouched down and peeked into the room from under my arm.
In the next ten seconds, his face turned as red as a boiled shrimp, his legs inexplicably went weak, and he couldn't open the door even after kicking it twice.
"I told you not to look, but you insisted. You'll get a sty when you get home."
A man and a woman lay naked on the floor in the center of the living room, piled together in an indescribable position. They were emaciated and already dead.
Completely disregarding the feelings of the living, this absurd scene left me deeply moved. What kind of mentality leads to preferring death to leaving the house? Is it like my dad said, that dying at home is a blessing? If you're going to die, then die properly, why put on this show of dying happily in despair...? This level of understanding is beyond the comprehension of most people.
Zhang Yan's face turned red, his legs trembled, and he didn't even kick the door open. He looked at me, speechless, and said, "Sister Qi..."
I knocked on the door: "That one has a wooden door, this one has an iron door. It would be a miracle if you could kick it open. Try prying it open."
I took out the screwdriver and just as I placed it in the keyhole, the iron door clicked open a crack. A round, bright eye peeked out from the crack, stared at me for a moment, and then a soft, sweet little voice asked, "Auntie, did you come to save me?"
This little guy wasn't locked in the bedroom at all; who knows how long he's been eavesdropping behind the door.
Meng Haoran, an eight-year-old boy in Class 3, Grade 1 of Xinhua No. 2 Primary School, nicknamed Little Star, has an oval-shaped head, a small body like a bean sprout, and is quite adorable with rosy lips and white teeth. His father's name is Meng Moumou, and his mother's name is Zhang Moumou. One day, his father went out and never came back. Later, his mother also went out, saying she was going to find his father. There are monsters outside, and he hasn't been to school for a long time...
Sitting on Meng Haoran's sofa, listening to him introduce himself while crying, I looked around and reflected on my unrealistic savior mentality. No wonder he only watched us from the window instead of desperately calling for help. Even without an outpouring of compassion today, this boy wouldn't starve anytime soon. The Meng family certainly has power!
Boxes of instant noodles, self-heating meals, and various cookies, cakes, and sausages were piled almost to the ceiling. A large basket of vacuum-packed braised eggs sat on the table, along with about a dozen unopened cartons of milk. While the little boy was crying, he politely handed Zhang Yanhuang and me each a bottle of Coke, then licked his lollipop twice. He was living a very sweet life.
"I want to go find my mother, but I'm too scared to go downstairs. Auntie, can you take me there?" Meng Haoran asked, tears streaming down his face.
How long have you been home alone?
"Ten days, fifteen days... I don't remember."
Even fifteen days ago, zombies were already roaming the city. Didn't the mother know that going out would be extremely dangerous? She left her young child alone at home to search for her missing husband. I don't know what she was thinking.
"Luckily you didn't go downstairs, there are zombies down there."
"Yes, I know. It wasn't there when my mom left. Later, the neighbor's grandma and brother turned into monsters and came knocking on my door. I was scared, so I led them downstairs. I... I was afraid you wouldn't come to save me if you left. I'm sorry, Auntie, I lied." The child lowered his head and told the truth.
"Forget it, we're already up here. You just said you'd lure us? How are you going to lure us?"
Meng Haoran moved a small stool to the door, climbed up, opened the small vent of the security door, took a marble out of his pocket, and threw it out forcefully. The marble rolled on the ground, its tinkling sound particularly clear in the quiet stairwell. After rolling for a while, the continuous rolling turned into a pattering sound.
Only after the sound of the marbles disappeared did Xiao Meng get off the stool, open the door again, and look outside. "That's how I lured them. Mom said the monsters are nearsighted and can only rely on their ears. I threw the marbles down the stairs, they heard them, and they rolled up to the sixth floor with a clatter. I stood in the corridor, but they couldn't come up."
I was shocked. It turned out that the clumps on the stairs were caused by zombies rolling down. He even dared to go out into the corridor to check things out. Xiao Meng, who lives alone, is truly a brave and thoughtful child. I praised him and criticized his mother for being irresponsible.
Xiao Meng defended his mother: "My mother is a Taekwondo instructor, she's really good at it. She can find lots of delicious food for me every day, and she even teaches me how to fight monsters."
"But she abandoned you." I'm never polite to people who lose their minds and can't distinguish between what's important and what's not.
Xiao Meng lowered her head: "My dad hasn't come back for a long time. My mom initially said she wouldn't look for him anymore, but one day she said she was going to look for him, and then she left very quickly. I... I don't know why."
"Because she was infected."
Yu Zhongjian's voice suddenly came from the doorway. He was leaning against the door frame with a cigarette in his mouth: "Are you planning to have dinner here? It's time to go back."
It's unclear whether the child understood the meaning of infection. He didn't argue or cry loudly; he kept his head down, tears falling drop by drop onto the lollipop.
Yes, a husband is certainly important, but how could a mother be so heartless as to abandon her living child in front of her and go looking for a vague hope when she knows that the chances of him dying are extremely high?
I immediately accepted this guess and was shocked. I looked at Xiao Meng with great pity: "Did your mother say anything to you before she left?"
"She said she was going to find my dad and told me to stay home, eat well, sleep well, and not go out. If someone came to rescue me, I could go with them. She said no matter where I was, she could find me."
Zhang Yanhuang and I both took a deep breath. Instantly, an image of a great mother who, upon learning of her infection, suppressed her grief, went home to see her son one last time, and then resolutely left. At that moment, looking at all the supplies in the room, they seemed to transform into two large words: maternal love.
My heart was pounding. I pulled Xiao Meng up. "Come on, take these things and come with me. I'll find your mother for you. Don't worry, no one can touch your things. You're the only one who can eat them. If anyone dares to eat them, I'll beat them up!"
Xiao Meng looked up with teary eyes and said, "Thank you, Auntie."
...What a smart, clever, well-behaved, and sensible child.
After seeing Meng Haoran downstairs to Gao Chen to watch over him, the rest of us went back upstairs to move supplies, making three or four trips back and forth. Once everything was moved, I stood in the Meng family home for a while, looking at the family photo hanging on the sofa. The kind-hearted man's hand was on the delicate woman's shoulder, the child nestled in their laps, the two adults and the little one smiling broadly, their smiles radiating happiness, contentment, and hope for the future.
I sighed and silently apologized to the woman in my heart. "I'm sorry, Ms. Zhang, I misunderstood you; rest assured, Ms. Zhang, Xiao Meng is in our care. I hope you and your husband can be reunited in the distance."
As they closed the door to the Meng family's house, they suddenly saw Li Tonggu and Yu Zhongjian standing in front of the door next door. Both of them were expressionless, and although their gazes toward the house were calm, they were fixed on it.
I stepped forward and said, "Get out of the way, get out of the way. What are you looking at? Show some respect for the deceased." As I spoke, I went to open the door.
Li Tonggu asked in a deep voice, "What are they doing?"
"I'm dying, I'm starving!" I rolled my eyes, closed the door, and pushed him downstairs. "Hurry up and go home. I heard the cafeteria is serving dumplings tonight, and I'm starving too."
"They're hungry, so they eat meat."
I punched him on the back: "Why don't you eat meat porridge? You've had too many good days in my house. You're too full to know the hunger of the starving. They don't even have vegetable leaves left, where are they going to eat meat!"
Whether Li Tonggu understood or not, he raised two fingers and pointed: "He eats her when he's hungry, and she eats him when she's hungry."
I abruptly withdrew my hand from his back, staring in horror at the towering figure before me: "You... what did you say? You can eat people when you're hungry?"
I knew this brute was cruel, but I never imagined he was this cruel. If one day it's just the two of us in a desperate situation, would he eat me if he got hungry? This is too brutal! A terrifying psychopath. I must stay away from him from now on, and I must also call on everyone to stay away from him!
Li Tonggu went downstairs. I stood on the stairs, feeling a chill run down my spine. Yu Zhongjian passed by me and said calmly, "What he said was a question."
Hmm? Which sentence? What's the question?
I stared at the back of Li Tonggu's head the whole way, repeating his words in question form several times until I finally figured out his logic.
Are they eating meat because they're hungry? Are you asking me if those two people hugging each other are eating each other's flesh?
He was hungry and ate her? She was hungry and ate him? It was Leonardo DiCaprio expressing his surprise, unable to believe that someone would eat another person when they were hungry.
As I got off the bus, I stood on tiptoe and put my arm around Little Li's shoulder, saying indignantly, "That's right! I can't believe that anyone would do something so shameless. Even if you're starving to death, you can't eat people! This is too perverted, too cruel, and too inhumane. Let's all condemn them!"
Little Li shook off my hand, looked at his shoulder unhappily, and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, don't touch me." With that, he picked up four boxes and strode away.
I was behind you, pouting and shaking my head. Who wants to touch you? You arrogant lunatic, and you have a terrible memory!
Zhang Yanhuang and I both carried boxes, and even Gao Chen, who was not fully recovered from his illness, carried hard-boiled eggs and milk. Only Yu Zhongjian still adhered to his usual empty-handed approach, carrying nothing, and strolled leisurely towards the administration building.
Xiao Meng followed behind Zhang Yanhuang, turning her little head to look around. After finishing one lollipop, she somehow found another one, her mouth never idle.
I stood side by side with Yu Zhongjian, and thinking about how they were looking at those two, I blurted out without thinking, "Hey, do you know what they're doing?"
Yu Zhongjian glanced at me: "What?"
"Those two dead men, do you know what they were doing?"
Yu Zhongjian stopped, turned to face me, and stared into my eyes for a long time without saying a word.
He understands! His eyes told me he understands! This is a little awkward. I laughed awkwardly: "I saw you studying it there and thought you hadn't seen it before... Look at Leonardo DiCaprio, he's never seen it before, hey! I was just asking casually, I didn't mean anything by it, as long as you understand, that's good."
I turned and ran, cursing myself for being so stupid again. I was only thinking that he and Little Li were both mentally ill, forgetting the difference in their intelligence. Little Li not only has mental problems, but his intelligence is also questionable; it's more reasonable that he's never seen anything like this before. Yu Yu isn't mentally challenged, and besides, how old was he when he had his episodes? How could he be so clueless? How could I have asked such a idiotic question! It's all Little Li's fault; his naivety led me astray.
At dinner time, Xiao Meng became the most popular person in the cafeteria. A group of adults surrounded him, asking him all sorts of questions and touching him affectionately. Several people were moved to tears by the Meng family's plight, especially those who had lost their children in the apocalypse. For example, Old Wang next door and a woman named Wei Ru, whom the auto repair shop had rescued, couldn't even eat their dumplings. They lay on the table and cried bitterly. After wiping away their tears, they volunteered to take care of the child.
Xiao Meng opened her mouth wide and ate a dumpling filled with pickled mustard greens and luncheon meat that my mother fed her. With a pouty little face, she sobbed and said, "Thank you, Auntie."
I turned my face away speechlessly, and then I found Yu Zhongjian sitting across from me silently, like a ghost.
"Why did you scare me to death? Let's go eat dumplings."
He looked at my hand and said, "It's bruised. Aren't you going to apply some medicine?"
I casually tossed it aside: "It's nothing, no need to make such a fuss."
He was silent for a moment, then said, "If I say I don't understand, will you teach me?"
Me: What?
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