As the clock hit two, Leyan had finally finished cooking lunch. But seeing no one was in the living room, she headed upstairs.
"Lunch is ready!" Leyan yelled as she stood in the hallway.
All of the doors opened except for Xiaoyun's office room.
"Where's Xiaoyun?" Leyan wondered as the three walked out of their room, looking a little exhausted despite only being the middle of the day.
---
When Xiaoyun arrived at the kitchen, the whole room turned dead silent. But it was quickly resumed by Leyan's question.
"Ahem, Yueyue, what were you talking about earlier?"
"So I just called to Ningjing earlier."
"Sister Ningjing? Is she okay? Where are they at?" Nami asked curiously.
"She's doing fine for now. She and Mingxu are in the official air-raid shelter. But they are currently running out of food, so people are going to the city to search for food." Yueyue explained.
"Going in the city? That's so dangerous. What are the military doing?" Yuqi asked.
"I heard from Sister Jingjing that the military seems to have lost contact with the government and is following their last order to protect as many people as possible.
But they are too tied up to protect people that they can't really send soldiers out to search for food, I think."
Yueyue paused to take a bit of her food, then continued.
"Also, the zombies in the city are apparently mutating. Some of them can jump high, climb walls, or be bulletproof."
The four of them fall into shock, as their mind had only thought of zombies as running fast and going up walls.
"What! I thought the zombies themselves were already bad enough." Nami's pointed out.
"Yeah, I thought so too, but that is just reality now... But their head is still their main weak point."
Yueyue tries to offer some hope to comfort them, but just like earlier, none of them are confident.
"Hey, Mom, is it fine that I am going for a run with Xiaoyun and Yuqi later——"
"Huh? When did we——Ahem, yeah, we were planning to go out later."
Xiaoyun quickly changed his answer after Yueyue put up a threatening face and stepped on top of his left foot underneath the table.
"But isn't it still too dangerous outside? And you even just talked about those mutating zombies." Leyan raised her concern.
"We're just scouting near the Luoping community. It's not like we are going into the city or anything. It's just going to be around the block." Yueyue clarified.
Seeing Yueyue giving him a constant eye signal to say something, Xiaoyun reluctantly spoke up.
"We really should scout our surroundings. The last thing we want is to find out that a zombie horde is already heading in our direction, and we don't have any time to prepare.
Also, when I was coming back from the city, Yuqi and I didn't see any zombies in Luoping's street. So it should be fine if we go out to check." Xiaoyun added.
Seeing the two both arguing back against her, Leyan looked over to Yuqi to back her up. But Yuqi sat in silence as if she was thinking about something in her mind.
"Fine... but you guys better stay safe when you are out there." Leyan backed down as she couldn't think of a reason to argue back.
"I want to go too!" Nami chimed in, not wanting to be left out.
"I don't think that is safe for you, Mimi. Yueyue, don't you think so?" Leyan asked as she turned to Yueyue, who nodded in agreement.
"But I really want to go! I promise I will listen to brother!"
As Nami finishes her sentence, she suddenly kicks Xiaoyun in the knee to signal him to say something.
"Ouch... Ahem, I don't see why we don't let her go. I mean, we are just running around the block to get some fresh air. The scouting part is just extra." Xiaoyun argued.
Yueyue looked at Xiaoyun confusedly. She had never intended to let Nami go, but seeing him in full support, she didn't double down on Leyan's statement.
"Alright, fine. I guess I will stay home alone to watch over it."
Leyan backed down again as Yuqi still looked preoccupied with her thoughts and refused to answer her eye signals.
---
Thirty minutes later...
As Leyan was cleaning the dishes, all four of them sat at the lunch table, discussing where to run.
"If we run here... Then, we can see if any zombies are coming from the city while at a safe distance.
This will be the perfect running trip for some nice exercise as well," Yueyue says, pointing to the location on her iPad.
"Is that a little too long? We are going to spend an entire afternoon just getting there... That's not including the way back."
Yuqi was finally out of her thoughts as she pointed out the destination distance and time, which was way too late.
"You're right... How about we readjust from here... To here. Now it's half the distance, and we still get a somewhat good view of the road down the city."
Yueyue's quick thinking modified the route so that it was only halfway to a smaller hill rather than directly to the entrance.
"Actually, why don't we investigate the nearby mansions? We will have a higher angle to view down the road, and we will be able to search for things we need." Nami suddenly suggested.
"No, it's too dangerous! Remember what happened when Xiaoyun went to get Yuqi? There are too many corners that could be hiding zombies." Leyan immediately intervened as she stepped into the living room.
Both Yueyue and Yuqi nodded, agreeing with Leyan's argument as they realized the risk as well.
"Ahem, I think Nami's suggestion is pretty good... We will be able to see if anyone is trapped and help them.
And since it's the same path, we can still check if zombies are coming from the cities. Two birds with one stone right there."
Xiaoyun supported Nami's idea after she gestured both Leyan and Yuqi's names with her lips.
"Fuck... I'm getting blackmailed." Xiaoyun thought to himself as an awkward silence ensued.
Suddenly, Yuqi switched sides, breaking the silence once again.
"Actually, I think Nami's idea is very good. Like, think about it. If we don't have medicine, sooner or later, we will need to find it.
And I doubt Xiaoyun could create something like a painkiller if he never used those before."
Xiaoyun nodded in agreement as he proved her point by showing an empty hand.
"Here's another example. If a car breaks down, none of us can repair the car. That's like the whole tool we can use to escape the community.
And imagine if we got so sick that we needed surgery. No offense to you, Mom, but you're just a nurse, not a doctor.
The fact is, we will need to work with other people if we want to survive this apocalypse. And the sooner we do it, the more people and items we can save.
If we take too long, who knows how many people will still be out there and alive for us to save?"
As Yuqi finished her argument, all four of them instinctively clapped.
"Darlin——Yuqi is the boss for a reason. That was such an amazing speech." Xiaoyun quickly changed his words as he almost slipped up.
"Thank you, thank you." Yuqi thanked everyone as she sat back down.
"But what if they are dangerous? Now that there is no one to enforce the law, how can we tell that they are genuine, good people?
I am not going to trust a stranger living in the house. That's not happening no matter what." Leyan argued.
"We can test their character. You know, like a company hiring people. Obviously, it's not just going to be hiring people, but with time, I'm sure we can figure out a way.
Besides, we don't actually need them to live here. We can just let them take one of the mansions that no one lives in." Yuqi argued back.
Leyan fell into silence as she agreed with Yuqi's plan in her head, but she didn't want to admit it.
"Well, then, I guess that's the plan if nobody is objecting to it. Let's meet in the living room in twenty minutes." Xiaoyun decided.
---
Just as the other three went upstairs to prepare, Leyan held Xiaoyun back.
"Wait. When you go explore later, you need to skip the house with 301 on it, okay? If I remember correctly, there used to be a lot of rumors that the person living there used to be an arms smuggler." Leyan warned.
"Okay, I will avoid it."
After hearing Xiaoyun agree to it, Leyan lets him go.
"Why do I always have a bad feeling? Is it because I'm worrying too much?"
Leyan stared at the empty kitchen as everyone had gone upstairs to prepare.
Fifteen minutes later...
Yueyue was wearing a white T-shirt and track pants, as well as a backpack and a cap.
Meanwhile, Yuqi was dressed almost the same way Yueyue was, except she was wearing blue jeans.
The two were ready to go, but Xiaoyun and Nami were still not done preparing. After sitting on the sofa for five minutes, Xiaoyun finally came down.
Xiaoyun dressed almost like Yueyue, except he was carrying a hiking backpack that he took from the mall.
"Just in time. Where's Nami?" Xiaoyun asked as twenty minutes had just passed.
"She's still preparing," Yueyue replied.
Another five minutes passed, but Nami still didn't come down.
"Why is Nami taking so long? It's been ten minutes."
As soon as Yueyue finished complaining, Nami finally came downstairs.
Nami looked like a little girl preparing for a spring field trip, wearing a knee skirt and a double ponytail on the back with her small backpack.
"Xiaoyun, are you sure this is a good idea to bring her?" Yueyue questioned.
Both Yuqi and Leyan expressed serious doubt on their face, agreeing with Yueyue's statement.
"It's fine. Let's just get moving now..."
---
Originally, the four of them were running to get a light exercise, but Yuqi was tired from just running for three minutes.
"Qiqi, your stamina is so poor," Yueyue complained as everybody was now forced to walk.
"Yeah, I'm just a high schooler, and I can run longer than you," Nami adds fuel to the fire.
"Where am I supposed to exercise every day in the office?" Yuqi argued, panting heavily as she could barely walk without Xiaoyun supporting him.
"Not to mention a certain someone going that hard for my first time... You idiot," Yuqi whispered, making Xiaoyun scratch his head awkwardly.
After ten minutes of walking, the four finally reached their first mansion. Xiaoyun took out a map that Leyan had given to him before he left.
"This building is 302... Um, the map says it's a mansion with an elderly couple... Where the hell did Mom get this map?" Xiaoyun asked curiously.
"I think it was from Mom's friend or something," Yuqi replied.
As Xiaoyun approached the entrance, a padlock locked the gates together.
"Should we ring the doorbell first or go indirectly?" Xiaoyun asked as he turned over to the three.
"If we want to show that we are friendly, we probably should ring the doorbell, right?" Nami suggested.
Seeing the other two nodding in agreement, Xiaoyun rang the doorbell. But after a few minutes, no one answered.
"This doorbell seems to have run out of batteries. Did you guys hear any sound?" Yuqi asked.
"Nope." All of them responded.
"Maybe we should just skip this one," Yuqi suggested, as she got a little scared by the mansion's complete darkness inside.
"Wait, let me do it."
Nami headed over to the padlock and then took off some sort of clip from her backpack. With a few moves and clicks, the padlock was unlocked easily.
"Okay, now we can go in," Nami stated as she pulled the padlock down and pushed the iron gate.
"This skill... when did Nami learn this? Does mom know?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.
"I don't know either. I have never seen her do this," Yueyue replied, with Yuqi nodding in agreement.
As the four walked past the gates, the front yard was full of dead leaves. A bunch of creaking sounds appeared as they walked over the leaves.
"It seems that no one has lived in it for a long time, or the people inside are too lazy to clean it," Yuqi commented.
The four of them stopped at the front door of the house. Nami looked back at her sibling as she put her hand on top of the doorbell.
They all nodded in response, so Nami pressed it. To their surprise, a ding came out from the inside.
But after waiting for a few minutes, a banging door sound could be heard for a second from the second floor.
"You guys back away first. Let me breach this door open."
As Xiaoyun walked up to the door, Yuqi suddenly stopped Xiaoyun.
"Wait, what if it happens like last time?" Yuqi raises her concern.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to fall for it again."
This time, a fire axe appeared in Xiaoyun's hand. He raised the fire axe all the way up into the air and chopped it down as hard as he could.
With a loud banging sound, a small gap was bashed open.
"Man, this door is pretty tough."
Xiaoyun continued to hack the door vigorously until the gap was big enough to peek inside.
"Huh, nobody is behind the door," Xiaoyun commented after taking a few more peeks, so he decided to turn the doorknob to open the door.
After the door swung right open, there was no sign of anyone inside at all, with everything pitch black.
"Nami and Yuqi, I need you guys to guard outside. Yueyue and I are going to check what is inside... Yuqi, do you still have the gun I gave you?"
"I have it. You can take it back."
Yuqi took out a police pistol from her backpack, but as she tried to hand it over, Xiaoyun rejected it.
"You should keep it. I already have one in my pocket," Xiaoyun said as he pulled out the pistol he had made last night.
"Also, if there are people outside, call us, okay? Try not to use the gun unless it's an emergency, okay?" Xiaoyun instructed.
After seeing Yuqi and Nami both nodding in agreement, Xiaoyun and Yueyue slowly entered the house.
"Yueyue, take this baseball bat. I'm going to use this axe."
---
As the two walked inside the living, they were faced with a pitch-dark with a slimmer of light from the window.
Yueyue took out her phone and turned on the flashlight. After looking for a while, they found a light switch on the wall.
With a short flick, the house was finally lighted up.
"The power is still here, so they have paid their electric bills," Xiaoyun commented as they began looking around.
It was a living room with a dusty 4K-screen TV, a CD player on the side, and a white sofa.
As Xiaoyun walked to the TV and looked at the CD, it had opened CDs with an animal documentary cover.
"The CD player has no dust on it. Someone had used this recently." Xiaoyun pointed out as he held up the CD.
"There seem to be a few empty potato chip bags. It's empty with not a single crumb possible." Yueyue added as she walked over to the trashcan.
Seeing the signs that the house was occupied, the two got a little nervous. But they continued after finishing checking the living room.
The next room had a split end. One was to go up the stairs, and the other was to continue forward.
"We probably should search the first floor first." Xiaoyun nodded in agreement.
The first room they walked into after the split end was a kitchen.
Xiaoyun opened the fridge and saw that it was empty. Yueyue meanwhile rummaged through the cabinet and found only kitchen utensils and knives.
The two kept walking. The next few rooms were storage rooms with old furniture.
They finally reached the end as they arrived at the backyard that was connected to the front yard outside the house.
The two walked back to the split end at the stairs.
"I'll go up first. You follow me," Xiaoyun whispered and walked up, with Yueyue following right behind.
---
The second floor is just a long corridor, with three rooms on the left and two rooms on the right. And at the end was a balcony that could see people on the outside.
As Xiaoyun walked to the end of the balcony, he could see Yuqi and Nami talking to each other on the bench.
The road they came from is still empty in the distance.
Unfortunately, the road to the city was slightly blocked by trees, so it wasn't possible to get a clear view of Luoping's entrance.
The two headed back to the corridor and then knocked on the first room on the left.
But Suddenly, the third room and the second room on the left side started banging on the door from the inside.
"There should be zombies in those two rooms for sure. Just stand back and watch."
Xiaoyun walked up to the front of the third room and tried to turn the doorknob. But it was locked as expected, so Xiaoyun raised the ax and hacked towards the door.
A massive hole appeared in the door, and the zombies inside the room instantly rushed towards the hole.
Xiaoyun immediately took a step back, only to see the zombie's body stuck in the doorway.
The hole was too high for the zombie to move through. So he raised the axe and easily chopped off the zombie's head.
"Don't be afraid, okay? You are going to do the next one."
Xiaoyun warned as he noticed Yueyue kept staring at the blood that splattered all over the ground.
Yueyue nodded, but the expression on her face revealed that she was still frightened from the gore.
"Okay, let's go inside and have a look inside first."
Xiaoyun kicked the headless corpse to the side and opened the door from the inside.
The room was an office, with a family photo showing a face similar to the zombie Xiaoyun had chopped.
After the two looked around and found nothing valuable, they walked to the second room on the left.
"Okay, it's your turn now. When I break the door open, I am going to back off."
As Xiaoyun hacks the door open, Yueyue walks up and aims her bat at the zombie's head as it tries to rush out.
With a loud crack, the zombie's head was crushed. But it crushed way too hard as the brain instantly exploded into pieces, with blood flying everywhere.
"You don't have to hit it that hard... Their head is usually very fragile." Xiaoyun commented.
"Yeah, right..."
Yueyue seemed still in shock, and her face was slightly uncomfortable as if she wanted to throw up.
"Remember, they are zombies. Not human. If we don't kill them, they kill us." Xiaoyun gently patted Yueyue's back.
"You're right... I need to get over this."
Yueyue took a deep breath to hold herself together as the uncomfortable face disappeared.
"Do you want to go downstairs and take a break? I can clear the room myself." Xiaoyun suggested after noticing her shaking a little.
"No, let's keep going," Yueyue replied, her eyes looking determined to stay.
The next room was an empty bedroom with a photo of an old couple that matched the same face that they had just killed earlier, with no locks.
The room after was another empty room with nothing in it at all. But Yueyue was starting to get nauseous from the smell of the corpses.
The other two rooms on the right were restrooms, and the first room on the left was just a storage room with a bunch of cleaning products.
"Finally, the last room..." Xiaoyun murmured as he turned the doorknob.
With a clunk sound, it was locked.
"Hello? Is there anyone inside? I'm here to help." Xiaoyun asked as he began knocking on the door.
But there was no response, so he put his ear on the door. Still, there was not a single sound from the inside.
"Hello? This is your final warning. If you don't answer the door, I am going to assume there is no one in there." Xiaoyun yelled again, but no response.
Xiaoyun raised his ax and hacked it down lightly, making a small hole big enough for a peek inside.
"What's inside?" Yueyue curiously asked.
"A pink room, with a girl lying in the middle of the bed and a blanket that covered most of her lower body."
Xiaoyun quickly raised the ax again, making the hole big enough for his hand to move and open it from the inside.
As the two entered the room, they were able to get a close look at the girl.
The little girl's face was extremely red, and when Xiaoyun moved his hand to check her pulse, he could feel a heartbeat.
"She is definitely still alive... Her heart is still beating. But why doesn't she wake up?" Xiaoyun murmured.
Yueyue walked to the other side of the bed and removed the blanket, only to see the girl was wearing pajamas.
The girl's body was so thin to the point that their whole body mostly consisted of bones, showing signs of starvation.
"I am pretty sure she is starving. It adds up with the empty fridge and chip bags. Her lips also look very dry." Yueyue stated as she connected the dot in her head.
Seeing the dry lips, Xiaoyun took out a bottle of water from his backpack and slowly fed it into the girl's mouth.
The girl coughed several times as the water slipped into her mouth, but she still didn't wake up. So Yueyue pushed her hair aside and touched her forehead.
"She has a fever. Can you create some medicine?"
After creating a bottle of aspirin and taking one of the pills out, he gently fed into the girl's mouth along with some water.
"Maybe we should bring her to mom. I don't think she can stay here safely." Yueyue suggested.
Xiaoyun nodded in agreement and wrapped the girl in the blanket, carrying her out of the room.