36: Chapter 36 The Current State of the Apocalypse

Another day passed in the blink of an eye.

Song Yang had just woken from his sleep, his consciousness still a bit hazy, when he felt something unusual beneath him.

Something was gently tugging at his pants.

He opened his eyes.

What came into view was Xiao Xue.

The woman was wearing only a black lace bra, the fabric so scant it barely covered her key areas, exposing large swaths of fair skin.

Since obtaining food, Xiao Xue had understood.

If she wanted to stay in this safe house, she had to do her utmost to please Song Yang.

Since obtaining food, Xiao Xue had understood.

If she wanted to stay safely in this safe house, relying on her past looks and occasional obedience wasn't enough.

She had to show some real skills and do her best to please the man who held her lifeline for survival.

As for how to please a man, especially in this kind of environment, she knew it like the back of her hand.

...

On the other side of the city, in a safe house.

Zhang Xinmei and her niece Zhang Yu sat on the sofa, taking stock of their remaining supplies.

Zhang Xinmei counted carefully, her brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

She looked up at the worried-looking Zhang Yu, her voice somewhat dry:

"Xiao Yu, I'm afraid our remaining food will only last us three weeks."

There was no other choice; Zhang Xinmei picked up the phone on the table.

The signal was intermittent, but it was their only hope for now.

She found the number saved as "Song Yang," took a deep breath, and pressed the dial button.

Unexpectedly, this time, the call actually went through!

"Beep... beep..."

After a few rings, the call was connected.

However, what came through the receiver wasn't Song Yang's voice, but a series of suppressed, intermittent, strange sounds.

It was also mixed with a woman's panting.

Zhang Xinmei froze.

As a mature woman, she understood almost instantly what was happening on the other end of the line.

She subconsciously wanted to hang up, but her fingers were frozen there, unable to move.

Zhang Yu, seeing her aunt's strange expression, curiously leaned over and whispered:

"Auntie, what's wrong? Why isn't he talking? What's that sound inside?"

Zhang Xinmei snapped back to reality and frantically tried to turn off the phone's speaker, but it was already too late.

Those ambiguous, unclear sounds were transmitted, without missing a beat, into Zhang Yu's ears.

Zhang Yu blinked her pure, large eyes, her face full of confusion:

"Hmm? It sounds like someone is groaning? Are they sick?"

Looking at her niece's ignorant and innocent appearance, Zhang Xinmei's face burned, and she coughed awkwardly twice.

"It's nothing. Mr. Song might be busy doing things that only adults do."

"Things that only adults do?"

Zhang Yu repeated, tilting her head to think, but still didn't quite understand.

Zhang Xinmei steadied herself, "Song Yang, I have something to tell you."

The chaotic sounds on the other end of the line quieted down a bit, but the woman's faint, fragmented panting could still be heard.

"It's like this: Xiao Yu and I calculated, and our remaining food might not be enough; it can last at most three more weeks."

Zhang Xinmei stated the situation she was facing.

"Three weeks?"

Song Yang's voice didn't sound surprised, "A bit faster than I imagined."

"Yeah, we didn't expect the consumption to be this high."

Zhang Xinmei explained awkwardly; she couldn't exactly say that she and her niece both ate a lot, could she?

"How about this: I'm also considering moving. I'll probably set off in about two weeks, and I'll bring supplies with me then."

Moving?

Zhang Xinmei was a bit stunned; she never expected Song Yang to suggest moving.

"There are monsters everywhere outside right now; isn't that too dangerous!"

In her view, the safest way now was to stay in the safe house and minimize going out.

"The current safe house is only temporary."

Song Yang explained:

"The preparation time was too short, and there are hidden dangers in many places. The world is getting more chaotic now, and people are more terrifying than monsters. No one can guarantee that one place will be safe forever."

"The fact that I have large amounts of supplies will sooner or later reach the ears of some factions. When that time comes, the safe house I temporarily built won't necessarily be safe."

Zhang Xinmei's heart jumped sharply.

She understood the deeper meaning in Song Yang's words.

He wasn't worried about ordinary intruders; the reinforced concrete might be able to withstand them.

He was worried about enemies having explosives? Heavy weapons?

If someone didn't care about the cost, they could completely blow up the whole building! Burying him alive inside!

Thinking of this possibility, Zhang Xinmei felt a chill run up her spine.

In the apocalypse, there really is nothing that is impossible.

A safe house is only a relative concept. The safe house Song Yang built cannot guarantee absolute safety.

Moving is imperative.

Not for Zhang Xinmei and Zhang Yu, but for himself.

No matter how safe a safe house is, it's only temporary.

He needs a more hidden, more sturdy new stronghold.

His gaze swept over the chat interface, and several pinned group chats were particularly conspicuous—"XX Community Owner Group," "XX Community Mom Group," "XX Community Rental Group"...

After the sun went out, network signals became intermittent, and with the internet cut off, the owner groups became a rare place for information exchange in the apocalypse.

He opened the "XX Community Owner Group."

The group was more active than he imagined, avatars flashing, and messages scrolling.

"Does anyone have water left? Seeking to trade, one bottle of mineral water for one bag of pickled vegetables!"

"I have rice at home, trading for meat cans, if you have any, private message me!"

"Is there any kind-hearted person? My child at home has a fever, seeking some fever medicine!"

...

Song Yang was browsing quickly when, suddenly, a few messages caught his attention.

"Offering wife, young and beautiful, guaranteed wet and good at it, trading for food, highest bidder gets her!"

"Top-grade young woman, still charming, absolutely great value, half a bottle of water for one time!"

"Brothers, can't hold on anymore, selling cheap, dirt cheap, first come, first served!"

...

Song Yang's fingertips swiped across the screen, the notifications for friend requests almost bursting the notification bar.

Clicking to look, they were all unfamiliar avatars, and the attached verification messages were even more straightforward and explicit.

"Brother Song, look at my wife, just in her early twenties, absolutely clean, just trading for a box of instant noodles, I really can't hold on anymore!"

Following that was a photo of a woman in heavy makeup and revealing clothing.

"Brother Song, please take me in, I'm really about to starve to death, I can do anything."

The attached picture was a woman wearing pajamas, posing in a seductive manner.

"Brother, my wife, and her younger sister, a pair of sisters, sensible and obedient, just need a bite to eat, what do you think?"

In the photo were two young women huddled together, with expressions of terror.

Messages like these came one after another, and the attached photos became increasingly explicit.

Under the apocalypse, morality is lost, human nature is distorted; he had long expected such scenes, and one could even say this was just the tip of the iceberg.

He closed the friend request interface and reopened the owner group.

The new messages in the group had become very few, only five or six.

"Damn it, there was still movement at old Wang's next door yesterday, why is there no sound at all today?"

"Who knows? Maybe they starved to death."

"I heard what sounded like fighting in their house, could it be that someone..."

"Don't talk nonsense! In this world, mind your own business!"

"Exactly, it's good enough to take care of yourself; who has time to care about whether others live or die."

Just as Song Yang was reading these messages, "knock, knock, knock," a knocking sound on the door rang out.

Song Yang reached out and picked up the surveillance tablet on the table.

The screen lit up, and the scene outside the door was clearly presented.

It wasn't one person, but four or five.

The leader was a thin, middle-aged man. Song Yang had a slight impression; he seemed to be a resident living upstairs, though he forgot his surname.

At this moment, he was leading the few people behind him, kneeling straight in front of Song Yang's door.

Their condition was not much better than that of zombies, perhaps even worse.

Their cheeks were sunken, cheekbones protruding high, eye sockets hollow like a skull's, and sallow skin tightly wrapped around bone.

Their lips were chapped and peeling, and they wore dirty clothes whose original colors could no longer be discerned, hanging loosely on their bodies as if a gust of wind could blow them over.

The middle-aged man raised his head, his turbid eyes looking at the camera at Song Yang's door, his mouth opening, as if he had used all his strength to emit a hoarse voice:

"Song Yang, I beg you, please have pity on us."

The few people behind him also followed by kowtowing, with very small movements, seemingly because they were too hungry.

"We are starving to death, we really can't hold on anymore."

"As long as you give us a bite to eat, a drink of water, you can make us do anything!"

"Yes! Anything! We will be your beasts of burden! We only ask to survive."

Song Yang looked at the screen with no expression.

Beasts of burden?

In the apocalypse, the least valuable things are human life and so-called promises.

He remembered his death in his previous life, how those Neighbors who were kind on ordinary days, for a few bites of food, viciously smashed open his door and how they carved up his corpse.

On the screen, those people were still kowtowing, their heads broken and bleeding.

Song Yang knew that once this opening was made, the people who would come to his door next would be endless.

Sympathy?

That is the cheapest and most fatal thing in the apocalypse.

Even if they look pathetic to the extreme.

A few minutes later, the begging sounds outside the door gradually lowered.

After another while, the figures on the screen moved and stood up from the ground.

"Damn it, this guy just wants to watch us starve to death."

A young man roared in a low voice, and these words were like a spark, instantly igniting the suppressed despair and resentment in the hearts of the others.

"Why does he have food?!"

"We are all about to starve to death! He's just watching behind the door!"

"Open the door! Song! Open the door!"

"We know you're inside! Open the door! Give us food! Otherwise, we'll smash the door!"

The young man lunged forward and kicked the door with all his might.

"Bang!"

With a dull thud, the security door didn't budge.

The man's ankle seemed to twist, causing him to grimace in pain, but it only further incited his ferocity.

"Everyone together!"

The others also turned red-eyed, starting to pound with their fists, kick with their feet, and some even picked up half a brick someone had left in the hallway, smashing it forcefully toward the door lock.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

"Bang! Bang!"

But after smashing for a while, realizing they were just wasting their energy, the few stopped, cursed a few times, and turned to leave the hallway.