After much hesitation, Lu Chuan made a bold decision.
He decided to adopt the baby.
Only when the little one fainted did he realize.
The little one probably hasn't eaten for a long time.
The zombie apocalypse has been raging for over a month. Judging by the bloodstains outside, the original owner has been dead for at least two days.
"I must get some milk for this little guy first."
This baby, only seven or eight months old, is too young, and other foods can't be digested; only some formula milk will do.
The milk powder can on the bedside table is already empty; he has to go out to find some.
With this new hope of life, Lu Chuan suddenly felt his month-long despair lifting, reigniting his spirits.
For the first time in a month, his blood-red eyes showed a vision of a hopeful future.
Lu Chuan silently left the bedroom and re-sealed the door he had pried open.
He then moved the heavy sofa in the living room in front of the door to securely block the bedroom entrance.
At least, before he returns, it could temporarily hinder zombie movements.
Other zombies don't have his wit; they only act on instinct and would likely be stalled by the sofa for a long time.
Lu Chuan entered the kitchen but was disappointed to find no food there.
It's understandable, it's been a month, and the food would surely have been eaten.
Perhaps the parents of the little one went out to get food and met their fate.
With no options left, Lu Chuan could only check the upper floors.
On reaching the third floor, perhaps in their desperate escape, the security door was left open.
The dim hallway was strewn with blood, drying over time into black-brown patches coagulated on the surrounding walls and ground.
The floor was littered with visible pieces of broken limbs and human organs.
Clearly, when the zombie crisis broke out, the apartment door couldn't be closed in time, and as zombies flooded in, these fleeing people were all attacked.
Corpses that were eaten down to mere skeletons and even torn apart human remains lay scattered.
Even with the unit door wide open, the stench of decay permeated inside.
Though Lu Chuan detested this smell, being a zombie for some time now, he could adapt to such harsh environments.
If it were his former self, he'd probably have run out and vomited uncontrollably.
Roar! Roar!
Ascending a few steps, Lu Chuan spotted a zombie slumped in the hallway corner.
This zombie had its chest and stomach wide open, its guts long gouged out, limbs gnawed away, leaving it to sit slumped despite being transformed.
Looking up from the stairs, Lu Chuan could hear a rustling sound and low zombie growls from above.
Most of the zombies in this hallway had incomplete bodies, either slumped on the floor or crawling continuously on the staircase.
Any humans faced with this hellish scene would be horrified, but Lu Chuan had become accustomed to it.
He ignored the zombies entirely and began to loot boldly.
Lu Chuan entered a house and headed straight for the kitchen; after all, in this apocalypse, money had no use, especially considering he was a zombie.
But formula milk was scarce, and Lu Chuan checked several places without finding any.
Instead, he found some meat in the kitchen that was not completely rotten.
However, due to the widespread power outage, there wasn't much.
Bam!
Reaching the fifth floor, Lu Chuan smashed the door lock with a pry bar and pried open a security door, and was stunned by the scene inside the room.
He saw a female zombie in a white dress long stained red with blood.
Upon hearing the noise, she quickly ran towards the door but hesitated upon seeing a fellow zombie outside.
Inside, Lu Chuan observed bloodstains on the living room floor and a human skeleton barely a meter long.
Apparently, after the zombie outbreak, the female owner turned into a zombie, and her beloved child became food swallowed into her belly...
Lu Chuan stood motionless, engulfed in silence, thinking about the little one he encountered earlier.
If that baby hadn't been locked in the bedroom, it would likely face the same fate.
Perhaps it's a silver lining amidst the misfortune; the little one was born in this apocalypse but at least met a zombie, himself, who doesn't eat humans.
Going to the kitchen, Lu Chuan finally found two sealed cans of formula milk and two pounds of unspoiled meat.
The household must have turned into zombies early in the apocalypse, so the food remained.
Packing these into his backpack, Lu Chuan glanced at the zombie still pacing in the doorway.
After a moment of silence, Lu Chuan approached the zombie's back.
Thwack!
With a decisive thrust, the pry bar pierced the zombie's skull, granting it a release.
...
Ji Ruxue, who had fainted, felt a sweet aroma wafting into her mouth in a daze.
The rich milk fragrance intoxicated Ji Ruxue momentarily.
Meanwhile, her long-hungry body instinctively sucked in response to this sweetness it missed.
With a bit of energy replenished, Ji Ruxue managed to open her eyes with difficulty.
She was amazed to find she hadn't died in a zombie's mouth.
Even more shockingly, a grotesque horrific zombie was feeding her with a spoon!
Am I dreaming?!
Or is it just a hunger-induced hallucination?!
Ji Ruxue's bright eyes were filled with astonishment as she skeptically gazed at the zombie seemingly acting as a wet nurse.
In Ji Ruxue's past life memories, zombies were mere mindless Bloodthirsty Monsters.
After the zombie crisis broke out, many of Ji Ruxue's friends and companions fell prey to zombies.
Even Ji Ruxue herself dealt with several companions bitten by zombies and driven insane.
So at the moment of seeing a zombie, Ji Ruxue knew her end was looming.
This ruthless horde of Bloodthirsty Monsters wouldn't spare her just because she's a baby.
Yet she never expected that instead of being devoured, this zombie was feeding her?
Could it be that the zombie plans to raise her then eat her?!
Seeing the little baby's eyes reopen, Lu Chuan felt relieved.
Noticing the bright eyes of the baby fixated on him, Lu Chuan curled his lips, managing a not-so-scary smile.
Little one, from now on, in this apocalypse.
I will be your family.