Chapter 006 It’s not our turn


    “Global outbreak…”


    Zhang Su’s expression froze. At first, he thought it might be some country deploying biological weapons. Now, it seemed... that possibility still couldn’t be ruled out. But whoever opened Pandora’s box might not escape unscathed themselves.


    The comfortable life they once knew was undoubtedly gone forever. There was no point in delving into the cause of the disaster. All he cared about was the situation in Qin City—or closer to home—his own survival!


    “Forget about overseas for now. We probably can’t even leave the neighborhood. Check the homeowners’ group chat—did you join it?”


    Zhang Su rubbed his temples and shook his head helplessly.


    “Yes, I joined.”


    Zheng Xinyu opened the Shengqin Garden homeowners’ group chat. There weren’t too many unread messages, but there were still over seventy, including a few from previous days. She scrolled to messages from today.


    6:37 AM, 8-2-702: “Good morning, September 27th, X023, Wednesday, the 13th day of the 8th lunar month. Morning brings new hope. Wishing everyone a day filled with sunshine in your heart and a smile on your face. May good fortune embrace you warmly. ????”


    “The first message was around 6:30. Looks like nothing had happened at that time?” Zheng Xinyu asked.


    Zhang Su didn’t comment and gestured for her to keep reading.


    6:45 AM, 11-1-201: “Whose car with plate number XC·XXXXX is blocking mine? Come move it immediately. I can’t get out. Quickly, @everyone.”


    6:48 AM, Just This Style: “@11-1-201, girl, you’re not an admin. Tagging everyone is pointless. Try asking the group owner instead.”


    6:50 AM, 11-1-201: “Thanks for the tip. A kind guy helped me move it.”


    7:03 AM, Happy and Joyful: “@7-1-601, could you please keep it down in the morning? My old man just had surgery and is recuperating at home. Let’s be considerate of each other.”


    7:06 AM, Fruit Sister Ling: “Hey friends, I’ve ordered—” Sёarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    (An unfinished message.)


    7:07 AM, 301: “Guys, I just heard an explosion! Whose house is it? Scared the h*ll out of me!”


    7:10 AM, Better Tomorrow: “Everyone, there’s a fight downstairs! It’s bloody, go take a look!”


    7:11 AM, Seafood Brother Wang from Building 10: “People are going crazy on the streets, biting others! Cars are crashing everywhere, and Haibin Road is completely blocked. No way I can deliver seafood on time today!”


    7:13 AM, 3-1-402: “Who’s shouting in the garden this early? Seriously, next time just call the police!”


    10:55 AM, Winter Plum Blossom: “Murder! There are monsters biting people to death!”


    Same time, 12-3-1101: “Voice message, unreadable.”


    The following ten or so messages were all voice notes. Though they couldn’t be played, the general gist was clear.


    Zhang Su took Zheng Xinyu’s phone and scrolled through the chat. “It looks like the zombie virus outbreak happened around 7 AM. Within half an hour, the internet was cut off…”


    The group chat had almost no useful information. Only the timestamps provided clues about the outbreak’s timing, which didn’t help them much.


    “Seven o’clock…” Zheng Xinyu pressed her lips together. “That’s rush hour, isn’t it? Adults going to work, kids going to school... my god, I can’t even imagine.”


    “There are about 700 apartments in this neighborhood,” Zhang Su said. “When I paid for the parking spot, I learned the occupancy rate is about 60%. That’s roughly 400 households. Assuming three people per household, there should be around 1,200 residents here. Who knows how many are still alive?”


    He didn’t mention infection rates because it didn’t matter—being uninfected didn’t mean you wouldn’t be killed by zombies. Survival was all that mattered.


    Thinking of the scene downstairs, Zheng Xinyu shook her head sorrowfully. “Maybe half at best.”


    “Half…”


    Zhang Su thought to himself, Judging by what he’d observed, he figured only 10-20% of the residents might survive—if 200 people made it, that would already be remarkable.


    Suddenly, he thought of his two employees.


    The 24-hour convenience store’s shift change was at 8 AM, but the day-shift girl wasn’t like the night-shift guy, Wu Lue. She usually came in early to prepare meticulously.


    If...


    Zhang Su stopped himself from thinking further. It was pointless. Better to save his energy for something useful.


    “Xinyu, let’s think carefully about our next steps.”


    “Mm, okay, Su-ge. I’ll follow your lead!”


    While the two of them strategized in the room, occasional eerie wails drifted from outside. Thankfully, the excellent soundproofing kept the noise at bay, and both tacitly ignored it.


    However, a sudden explosion shattered their calm. They exchanged a heavy look, their faces full of tension.


    An unusual sound followed, cutting into their thoughts.


    “What’s that?”


    “A helicopter!”


    Zhang Su reacted immediately, darting to the bedroom window and pulling back the curtains. He first noticed thick black smoke rising in the distance—likely from the earlier explosion. Ignoring that, he looked up and saw three helicopters in a triangular formation flying across the sky.


    “Type 11 helicopters…”


    “Su-ge, are they from the military?” Zheng Xinyu asked, her voice filled with hope.


    In times of disaster, ordinary people naturally pinned their hopes on the military, government, and the nation.


    Zhang Su shook his head. “They’re police helicopters.”


    Even from a distance, he could tell from the paintwork that they weren’t military.


    “Police? That’s good too! At least the police force is still functioning. They’ll come to rescue us, won’t they?”


    Zheng Xinyu clasped her hands tightly, her face filled with fervent hope, like a devout believer praying for salvation.


    “Think about how many people there are in Qin City,” Zhang Su replied, looking at her with a complex expression. “When do you think it’ll be our turn?”


    No longer a naive student in an ivory tower, Zheng Xinyu had seen plenty of harsh realities online. Trolls and hate comments had already given her a dose of life’s cruelty.


    Her earlier hopeful thoughts stemmed from panic. Now, Zhang Su’s words snapped her back to reality. She understood the point.


    “You’re right, Su-ge. Even if there’s rescue, we have to survive until they get here…”


    Wiping her tears and sniffing, Zheng Xinyu quickly regained her composure.


    “D*mn it!”


    Zhang Su suddenly cursed through gritted teeth.


    Zheng Xinyu looked at him, puzzled.


    Frustrated, Zhang Su muttered, “I should’ve brought up all the stuff you bought last night!”