My husband and I both looked out the window at the big supermarket downstairs. Inside, there were always hundreds of cases of clean bottled water.
But how could we get some back? Those crazies down there showed no sign of thinning out.
"Remember how to deal with them?" my husband asked. "Of course—headshots are the only way!" I replied firmly.
Foreigners are always adorably clueless, wasting stacks of bullets on them before getting torn apart amid their screams.
When a knife could've done the job!
We pulled out every knife in the kitchen. The heaviest and sharpest was the big boning knife. It was quite heavy, but my husband wielded it effortlessly. "This one!" he declared.
I picked a new kitchen cleaver. Wondered if this meat-chopping blade would pack a punch against skulls. How many could it take down?
Then we geared up, dressing light and agile—our favorite running shoes essential. When zombies attack, running's always the top priority!
Suddenly, our phones started ringing, scaring the living daylights out of us! Ever since the outbreak, my family had been silent. Only Shuai Shuai babbled to himself—yes, he still couldn't speak properly.
It was my bestie Qiqi! Her terrified voice told me she was alive and well—what a huge relief! I'd been so busy dialing emergency numbers and preparing for safety that I hadn't had time to call my friends to check on them!
"Duonuo! Our building is swarming with infected people! They attack anyone they see, and the police lines are dead! My husband tried his work number and colleagues' phones—nothing! The news says not to go outside. My husband and I are too scared to leave! Is it the same where you are?" Qiqi lives in another complex, but hers is also high-rise. If she stays put, she should be safe for now.
Qiqi's husband, Aze, was a detective at the city police department. If he couldn't even reach the police station or his colleagues, it meant the police were now useless.
"Qiqi, listen to me, calm down! Did you lock your doors tight?" I interrupted her.
"Locked tight! We're afraid those crazies will break into our place!" Qiqi finally slowed her tone.
"You and your husband must have watched zombie movies, right? Don't tell me you only watch feel-good romances and fluffy chick flicks!"
"We have, but I get scared, and I don't let him watch them either... You're not saying those patients are... No way! That can't be!!!!" Qiqi screamed, as if suddenly realizing something.
"Calm down! Calm down! Your screaming might attract them! Even though you're on the 23rd floor, there's no guarantee your neighbors below haven't mutated!" I quickly stopped her. I wasn't just talking nonsense. Based on what I'd learned from those movies, these people, though turned into zombies, still retained their hearing, vision, and even their sense of smell.
"Duoduo, you think they're zombies? I thought so too, but I didn't dare tell Qiqu—didn't want to scare her! "The voice on the phone turned out to be Aze. Our families are friends; he and his wife know our little quirks well.
"Aze, you should know that what's on TV is just to calm people down, to avoid panic. As a government official, you understand this best. But listen to me—you must believe now that these aren't patients, they're flesh-eating zombies! If you don't believe how dangerous they are, you won't survive! Okay, how's your food stockpile at home?" It was such a relief to finally talk to someone who understood! I could still hear Qiqi's sobs—the poor girl must be terrified!
"Qiqi loves snacks, so we still have quite a bit of food at home." As expected of a veteran detective, Aze's voice remained calm.
"Bottled water? How much do you have?" I pressed on, my own worries mounting.
"We're too lazy to boil water, so we have a few cases of purified water and several large bottles of Coke. It's not a huge amount, but I don't know how long it'll last. I wanted to go out and check the situation, but Qiqi absolutely refused! Do you have any plans?" Aze was truly admirable! Most people would have broken down by now.
"Things aren't looking good at our place either. With the elderly and kids, we don't have a single bottle of water. We'll have to figure out a way to go downstairs and get some." I sighed. This healthy lifestyle, in this moment of crisis, had turned into a disadvantage! You see, our fridge almost never had any drinks, especially unhealthy ones like Coke!
"Are you sure you can handle it? It's probably best not to go out right now!" Aze's tone suddenly grew tense.
"Don't worry! We may not have eaten pork belly, but we've watched fat pigs walk by. Forgot we're the Devil Couple? Just protect Qiqi and keep her from freaking out. Also, ration the food—who knows how long it'll be safe outside... Maybe it'll never be safe again... Stay in touch if anything happens!" To conserve phone battery, we kept it brief. After all, how long the power and water would last was our biggest worry!
While I was on the phone with Qiqi, Canaan called his grandmother, who lived alone at Taoyuan Farm. His father had passed away early, leaving only his mother at the family farm. Grandma assured him everything was normal there, though she'd seen the news about the outside world. Canaan urged her to stay safe and stockpile food and water at home just in case! He even lied that everything was fine here, afraid she'd worry about us!
I wanted to call other friends, but Canaan stopped me: "Don't waste time. If we need to get water and food, we have to go now! We can go without water, but Mom, Dad, and the kids can't!"
Canaan was right—priorities mattered. The most urgent task now was securing drinking water!
My husband and I peered downstairs again. Huh? In just a moment, the zombies below had dispersed. Probably finding no living prey, they'd all wandered outside the complex!
But this was our chance! Even from the 18th floor, we could see the supermarket door was open!
"Let's go!" My husband gripped his boning knife tightly, and I picked up the kitchen cleaver!
"Are you going out? Don't you dare leave! It's swarming with those things out there!" Mom had just snapped out of her daze when she saw us heading for the door. She rushed over to stop us. Though she refused to believe it, she at least understood how incredibly dangerous it was outside now!
" Mom, don't be scared. We'll be perfectly safe. We know how to handle them. They lose consciousness and move slowly—nothing compared to our reflexes and speed. Just blow their heads off, and they're dead! Lock both iron doors securely from the inside with Dad. If we don't return, don't open for anyone—not even the couple next door! Trust no one now! Promise me, Mom!" I instructed my mother sternly. This was our moment to protect our parents and children!
"What are you going out for? Can't you just stay? Let's wait for the police!" Dad firmly opposed our plan.
"Mom, Dad, those things out there will only multiply. If we pass up this chance now, it might never come again. There are still few monsters, and many people aren't infected yet. Besides, the police probably can't handle this situation immediately—we can't rely on them. Adults can go without water, but Shuai Shuai needs clean water. We don't know if the tap water is safe anymore—it's undrinkable now, though it's still okay for flushing toilets. We have to go! Trust us! Have you forgotten what we trained for? Even grown men can't beat me, and several men couldn't take down Shuai Shuai's dad. Those slow-moving lunatics? We won't hold back. We'll strike first. Trust us!" I assured my parents.
I knew mentioning Shuai Shuai would be the deciding factor—they'd let us go.
Finally convincing them, my husband and I left the house under their panicked stares. The elevator still worked. We called it, and it slowly ascended from the basement level.
My husband and I stood tense before the elevator doors, knives raised from both sides, ready to fend off any zombie that might emerge!
Though I'd seen countless scenes of zombies getting their heads blown off, it didn't seem that difficult. But facing such a terrifying monster in real life made my calves twitch. Yet whenever I saw my husband's calm expression, my nerves settled. Strength gathered within me as I pushed fear from my mind, waiting with the resolve of someone confronting a criminal. I just had to frame it as a villain coming to kill my family! That rage and unforgiving fury made my strength surge!
Ding! The elevator finally reached the top floor. The doors slowly opened—empty inside! Apparently zombies hadn't learned to ride elevators! My husband and I breathed a sigh of relief, stepped inside, and pressed the button for the second floor.
Why? Because the first floor was likely swarming with zombies. Who knew if the unit door was malfunctioning? Even though the power was still on, the unit door was electrically controlled.
Going down from the second floor was safer! At least we'd have a buffer.
The elevator reached the second floor. My husband and I held our breath again, knives raised! The door opened. An old woman stood with her back to us at Door One, seemingly unlocking it.
But we weren't about to be like those overconfident idiots in the movies, casually walking up to say hello only to get bitten to death by a mutated old lady turning around!
We immediately stepped out of the elevator, knives raised. If she was a zombie, at least this floor only had one! Taking it out quickly was far more reliable than getting to know it or having a little chat!
The old woman seemed to hear the elevator and turned her head in confusion. Holy shit! Definitely not human! That face was already rotting to pieces! Spotting us, it let out a low growl and shuffled slowly toward us. Whether it was because she was already elderly in life or all zombies were this clumsy, my husband and I actually felt a sense of "no big deal."
But actually swinging a broadsword at the head of a humanoid monster really tested my nerves. Still, it was just a split second—my husband and I swung our blades simultaneously at its shaggy head, striking its left and right temples. Thud! It was dead.
Goddamn disgusting! We pulled our blades out while retching! That bizarre, foul stench! Thank God we hadn't just eaten!
Taking down the first one, I felt myself calm down. The panic faded, my legs stopped cramping, and I felt power coursing through my whole body! I glanced at my husband—he seemed even more composed. I knew he felt the same way I did. I didn't quite believe he hadn't been nervous at all—he just didn't show it. If he had, I might have lost it.
My husband wiped his knife on the old woman's clothes. I didn't bother—it felt pointless. We'd just get covered in that disgusting stuff again soon enough!
How lucky were we to encounter only one?
"It really does live here. See the key in the door? It just didn't have time to get inside." My wife noticed the key on the door.
"Put the key away. We'll need it later." My husband quickly slipped it into his pocket. Then he pulled me along as we quietly made our way down the stairwell to the first floor.
How unusual! Zombies roamed the second floor, yet the first floor was completely empty—not a single one. It was thrillingly fortunate!
The explanation was simple: the building entrance door still worked. Even if zombies wanted in, they couldn't get through—the door was thick and sturdy.
After peering through the thick glass window of the entrance door and confirming no one was outside, my husband and I pressed the switch and stepped out.
The neighborhood was eerily quiet, but the ground was splattered with blood and bits of flesh. Those flesh-eating monsters! How disgusting! I felt a tiny pang of disappointment—I'd hoped to encounter a few more to practice my knife skills.
My husband seemed to sense my thoughts and chuckled. "Don't worry," he said. "The supermarket won't be so clean! Be careful!"
The supermarket door stood open. It was clear chaos had erupted here recently—boxes and items were overturned everywhere. Yet surprisingly, little seemed missing. Few humans must have passed through recently.
We cautiously scanned the entrance, confirmed it was clear, and slipped inside.
The neighborhood supermarket wasn't large, just one floor, but it stocked an impressive variety of daily necessities. Shopping carts were available too, several haphazardly parked near the entrance. Bottled water was stacked in two massive rows right by the entrance. Food supplies were further inside.
My husband quietly assigned me to watch for threats while he handled the looting.
He swiftly loaded several cases of Nongfu Spring water into a cart.
I held my knife and moved slowly deeper into the store. Though compact, I remained within his line of sight.
After filling four carts with water, my husband swiftly followed me inside, pushing an empty cart too. He had the same idea as me—we needed to find as much food as possible!
The canned goods section was in the outer aisle—no danger there! I kept watch while my husband quickly loaded all the cans into the cart.
"Honey! All the bread and cookies!" I whispered. Shuai Shuai was still young—canned goods were too salty for him. Normally, I wouldn't give him too many sweets like cookies, only healthy foods. But in this situation, as long as there was safe food and Shuai Shuai could eat his fill, that was enough!
I scanned each aisle. In a supermarket this large, not a single zombie or human was in sight! It felt eerily strange. After all, in movies, supermarkets always have a few flesh-eating monsters lurking, waiting for the protagonists!
But perhaps our neighborhood supermarket was too small to hold these crazed beasts. They must have all ventured outside the community to hunt for living prey.
This was an absolutely perfect opportunity! I silently rejoiced once more at the wise decision my husband and I had made!
My husband kept loading the carts nonstop. It seemed he wasn't just gathering food—he added many other items too. We filled every single shopping cart in the supermarket, eight carts in total.
Next came the task of pushing these carts home. That meant several trips back and forth!
My husband and I worked fast, quickly pushing all eight carts back to our building. The moment the building door locked behind us, I felt drenched—sweat soaked me through!
The elevator was still stopped on the second floor. No one had come or gone since we'd been out. The entire building was dead silent.
We couldn't fit all eight carts into the elevator at once. Only two could squeeze in at a time, plus the two of us. We didn't leave anyone behind to send things up separately. We insisted on sticking together—never splitting up!
Because in movies, the ones who split up are the ones who get killed!
Finally back home, Mom and Dad were nearly frantic. But they could see us through the window, watching us scurry back like two hamsters hauling our stuff, so they didn't go completely crazy with worry!
After four trips back and forth, we finally got everything home. The carts couldn't all fit inside—they took up too much space—so we stacked the empty ones in the stairwell to deter any mutated neighbors from the building coming up to bother us.
Looking at the living room filled with water and juice, I finally felt secure!
Then I started checking the food: over 200 cans of meat, fish, and fruit; more than 20 bags of bread; over 50 packets of cookies; over 30 bags of pastries; over 40 bags of chips; countless chocolates and Snickers bars; plus tons of candy packs and seven huge boxes of instant noodles! My husband is amazing! He didn't bother with the loose noodles on the shelves—he hauled back the whole boxes!
And he even brought back all the batteries and candles from the supermarket! Plus a bunch of weird stuff. Things that seemed totally unrelated to women. Like: a power drill. A steel hammer. And some other things I couldn't even name.
But I was sure these things would definitely come in handy!