Chapter 034 I leave it to you two


    "Brother Su, he’s probably afraid we’ll steal his stuff..."


    Zhong Xiaoshan whispered into Zhang Su’s ear. After all, that’s what she would have thought in his position.


    Zhang Su shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Taking a step forward, he said, "Big brother, we’re looking for food and water. Do you have any to spare?"


    No one responded from inside the door, only faint rustling sounds could be heard. Moments later, with a , the door cracked open slightly, followed by a loud as it quickly shut again.


    The sudden noise startled the three of them.


    "There are a few packs of instant noodles and some canned food. Take them and leave. Don’t come back!"


    The man inside spoke, his tone calm, revealing no emotion, whether joy or sorrow.


    Zhang Su cautiously pulled the door open, only to see another door behind it. A double-door setup, designed for better soundproofing and security. Some residents would choose to add this feature.


    The space between the two doors was no more than 30 centimeters. To one side stood a tall shoe rack, neatly arranged with about a dozen pairs of shoes. On the floor lay a large opened pack of instant noodles and a can of yellow peaches.


    Zhang Su picked up the instant noodles. There were four small packs inside, and the canned food was large—one of those big jars weighing about seven or eight hundred grams.


    "This guy’s pretty generous," Zheng Xinyu said as she looked at the items in Zhang Su’s hands.


    Zhong Xiaoshan nodded in agreement. In such a desperate environment, it was rare for someone to share food and water. If it were her, she wouldn’t be able to do the same.


    "I think he probably hasn’t realized how bad things are and believes this is just a typical disaster. He’s likely waiting for official rescue..."


    Holding the instant noodles and canned food the man had offered, Zhang Su hesitated to put them in his bag. He had intended to test the man’s response, but the man had been unexpectedly generous. This made Zhang Su feel reluctant to take the items.


    "Why haven’t you left yet? Get out, go, and don’t come back!"


    The man’s exasperated shouting suddenly came from inside, his tone agitated. The sudden change in mood left the three of them exchanging bewildered glances.


    "Big brother, this disaster isn’t simple. Things are a mess outside, and no one is coming to help us. I’ll leave these here for you. Thank you!"


    Zhang Su decided not to take the man’s supplies. He gently set them down, closed the door, and left with the two women, heading down from the twelfth floor.


    Inside apartment 1201, a disheveled man stood by the door. Behind his glasses were hollow eyes, his hands trembling slightly from his emotions. Watching Zhang Su and the others leave through the peephole, he turned away with a strange smile and walked back into the room, ignoring the items on the floor.


    "Xiaomin, they’re gone. It’s so quiet. The room is so quiet. The hallway is so quiet. The whole world is so quiet. But why are you so quiet too? Can you wake up and talk to me?"


    The man sat down on the floor, cradling his wife in his arms. Her skin was ashen, her head covered in blood, with a fruit knife still lodged in it.


    The three returned to the eleventh floor. The zombie in apartment 1101 had stopped pounding on the door. It was as if it were programmed to enter energy-saving mode when it couldn’t sense prey for a certain amount of time.


    "I’m guessing there are quite a few people like that guy on the twelfth floor, sitting at home waiting for official rescue. We’re lucky to have reacted and acted quickly as survivors," Zhang Su remarked, reflecting on the brief encounter earlier.


    "Definitely! On the first day, you were like a madman, dragging me along to kill zombies. Looking back, it still feels unreal. What were you thinking?"


    Zheng Xinyu exhaled deeply, her tone carrying a hint of grievance as she looked at Zhang Su.


    Instead of opening the door immediately, Zhang Su lit a cigarette and said, "Isn’t it better to adapt early? Everyone gets their information differently. If they knew how chaotic it was outside, they’d muster the courage to face it, no matter how scared they were."


    Dependency and trust are double-edged swords. They can provide hope in despair but can also make one lose the will to fight if overly reliant.


    "Brother Su... you said the outside world is completely messed up. Just how big is this ‘outside’?"


    Zhong Xiaoshan asked somberly, still unaware of the true scale of the disaster.


    Zhang Su exchanged a glance with Zheng Xinyu and replied gravely, "Human civilization."


    Hearing this, Zhong Xiaoshan’s face filled with disbelief. She wobbled slightly, nearly falling over. Just as she was about to ask further, Zhang Su motioned for silence and did something peculiar.


    Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, Zhang Su then blew smoke through the crack in the door of 1101. After a moment of no reaction, he repeated the process four or five times.


    "Looks like these things don’t have a special reaction to smoke. Maybe it can even confuse their sense of smell. Once they’re disoriented, you two can take care of them!"


    Zhang Su instructed before inserting a key into the lock.


    "What the hell! Couldn’t you have warned us earlier?"


    "Ugh, didn’t you say we’d lure it to the stairs...?"


    Despite their complaints, both Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan instinctively followed Zhang Su’s orders. Fear aside, they gripped their weapons and prepared for battle. There was no way out of this fight.


    Turning the key gently, Zhang Su carefully lifted the door as he opened it, preventing the hinges from creaking under pressure.


    The smoke diluted the scent of blood and seemed to hinder the zombie’s ability to detect living beings. As the door opened wider, they saw the stiff figure of a zombie standing with its back to them. Its upper body swayed slightly, its neck turning mechanically in small motions, remaining relatively still.


    Judging from its build and clothing, it was a female zombie. The long hair draped over its shoulders had become brittle from mutation, resembling a botched perm from an unskilled stylist.


    Having been through this before, Zheng Xinyu didn’t hesitate. Her shadow-like movement created a gust of wind as she swung her bat directly at the zombie’s head.


    The metal bat landed with a heavy thud, eliciting an enraged howl from the zombie as it turned around. Before it could fully face them, another blow came straight at its face.


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    A heavy wrench slammed into its head at an angle, forcing the zombie to stagger.


    Zheng Xinyu remembered vividly how tough it had been to kill a zombie the first time, knowing it wouldn’t go down with just one or two hits. She immediately prepared for another strike after her initial attack.


    Under the relentless pounding of the metal bat and large wrench, the female zombie couldn’t fight back and was quickly knocked to the ground.


    "Haah!"


    With a sharp cry, Zhong Xiaoshan swung her wrench down hard, smashing the zombie’s face. Its body twitched violently as if electrocuted, before its movements finally ceased. The red glow in its remaining eye faded away, slowly returning to a normal pupil.


    "That was brutal, but effective..."


    Zhang Su, who had been gripping his axe hammer tightly, was prepared to intervene if anything went wrong. To his surprise, the two women had handled the situation better than expected, unleashing hidden potential when faced with danger.