Chapter 23: The 023

The atmosphere in the corridor froze.

At that moment, Jiang Cheng's gaze shifted to the person behind him.

Most people had taken a step or two back when the incident happened, forming a semicircle around the man.

But behind him, a girl who had initially helped him up hadn't managed to retreat into the crowd. She was now pressed against the wall directly behind the man, who had lost his composure and was about to snap. She didn't dare move.

Jiang Cheng's eyes landed on her.

She looked back at Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng gave her a look.

The girl's lips moved slightly.

Jiang Cheng stared at her steadily.

She knew she could do it. This girl had also taken part in the garden siege during the day, and she'd been nearby all the way to the supermarket. Jiang Cheng had already become familiar with her face.

She had also asked her name. Her name was Su Yu.

Su Yu had been brave in attacking the zombies during the day and had actively volunteered for the floor-sweeping operation. She just couldn't get over the mental block that the man hadn't turned yet—he was still human.

Jiang Cheng's gaze was very calm, and it calmed Su Yu down as well.

Su Yu pressed her lips together tightly and gripped her weapon—a frying pan.

She was someone who earned her own living and loved cooking. She had kitchen knives at home too, but the feeling of a blade cutting into human flesh was too unbearable; so she had chosen a frying pan as her weapon. Against zombies, whose "death" only came when the head was crushed, it worked pretty well.

The hysterical man was on high alert, tears and snot running down his face. He pointed his two fingers at both directions, his gaze darting frantically between left and right, terrified that these people would rush in and subdue him the moment he let his guard down.

He never expected a fish to slip through the net behind him.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Su Yu gritted her teeth, swung her frying pan, and brought it down on the back of his head.

Bang. The man dropped to the ground.

A crowd surged forward and piled on top of him, pinning him down.

Jiang Cheng said, "Check the room for something like a belt."

This man had been too traumatized; he wouldn't stay put willingly. His movements had to be restrained. They needed to tie him up.

Someone went into the room to search the owner's wardrobe, hoping to find a belt or a tie, but instead they turned up a bunch of sex toys—whips, handcuffs, ball gags, and the like.

The two zombies had been a boyfriend-girlfriend couple.

The handcuffs and ball gag fit this man perfectly, since he'd said himself that he would bite.

In normal times, people would've laughed at the sight of these things. But no one could laugh now.

There was a kind of darkly ironic sense of fate.

So many people in the hallway, yet it was quiet enough to clearly hear the "click" of the handcuffs locking, and even the rustle of clothes as everyone moved.

After they locked the handcuffs and fastened the ball gag, everyone turned to Jiang Cheng and asked, "Where do we put him?"

The property management's meeting room could no longer be opened.

Jiang Cheng had originally planned to coax this man into 0308 next door to her for quarantine, but now there was no need for that.

"Just leave him in this room. Find the key to this apartment."

The key was found quickly on the shoe cabinet by the door.

They threw the man onto the bed. The door was locked from the outside.

Many owners on this floor were watching from their open doorways.

"You, you, you, and you." Jiang Cheng called over several owners from the neighboring units and the unit across the hall. She handed the key to the one across the hall—the same person who had first suggested everyone check this apartment, so he was clearly fairly meticulous.

"You all keep an eye on him. If he starts turning, call me or Li Jiangbing. All the temp committee members' contact info is in the pinned post on the forum."

Jiang Cheng and Li Jiangbing always carried walkie-talkies on them; the other three were circulating. Contacting her or Li Jiangbing directly would be faster and more convenient for reaching others.

Jiang Cheng assigned this task to the owners on the same floor.

This was ultimately a matter that concerned everyone's safety. People couldn't rely on the temp committee for everything; everyone had to do their part.

Jiang Cheng let everyone continue the floor-by-floor sweep, and she turned her walkie-talkie to the all-channel frequency to report what had just happened and how they'd handled it to the temp committee.

"One reminder," she said. "No need to send food. People won't die from going hungry for a day or two."

If he still hadn't turned after two or three days, they could consider letting him out.

Song Jingshuo's voice crackled with static: "Understood."

Each building responded in turn: "Got it."

The call ended, and Song Jingshuo clipped his walkie-talkie back onto his belt.

He was also leading Building Four's sweep, reminding everyone, "Stay careful."

They all nodded in agreement.

Someone asked, "This Jiang Cheng... what does she do?"

Song Jingshuo said, "Li Jiangbing said she's a company manager."

Jiang Cheng had lied to Li Jiangbing, calling herself a "junior manager," but when Li Jiangbing bragged to others, he dropped the "junior" and just said "Jiang Cheng? She's a manager, pretty impressive."

Others nodded: "She does look like someone who can take charge."

Now, people said, "That Jiang Cheng..."

What about Jiang Cheng? Jiang Cheng hadn't done anything wrong.

But some would rub their noses and say, "Wouldn't dare date a girl like that."

No matter how pretty she was. Too intimidating.

Pathetic.

Song Jingshuo sneered inwardly.

Mercy cannot command troops, righteousness cannot amass wealth, kindness cannot hold office, sentiment cannot accomplish deeds.

Those with iron hearts who could make tough calls and hard decisions were indeed frightening.

But right now, they needed exactly the kind of people like him and Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng also ended her call and clipped her walkie-talkie to her belt. Turning around, she saw Su Yu holding her frying pan, back against the wall, staring blankly at the floor with unfocused eyes.

Jiang Cheng walked up to her and, just like Li Jiangbing had done, extended her fist to her.

Su Yu looked up at her, her eyes clearing, and extended her own fist to bump against Jiang Cheng's.

But she asked, "Jiang Cheng, in the future... I mean later, will we be held accountable?"

Jiang Cheng said, "If we can be held accountable in the future, I'd say that's something worth being happy about."

She said, "Come on. Let's keep going."

Su Yu nodded, gripping her frying pan tight.

The two of them caught up with the rest of the group.

It was already past 11:30 by the time the entire building was fully cleared.

Everyone came down to the first floor and pressed the elevator button. When the elevator arrived and the doors opened, it was full of corpses.

"It's too risky to go outside at night," Jiang Cheng said. "Stack them in the lobby for now. We'll burn them tomorrow."

Although the gardens had been swept during the day, it was still safer not to go out at night.

Among them were a few corpses of people who had been bitten to death by their cohabiting zombie partners. There was a common thread among those killed in the first wave by their own partners: their necks had been broken.

Li Ziqing's boyfriend was the same way.

Everyone stacked the bodies in the lobby and even pushed the security desk over to block the glass doors.

After this day, people had learned a lot more about zombies. Zombies had poor vision. Without living people or sounds to attract them, zombies would wander slowly and aimlessly, and they wouldn't actively damage the environment around them, like doors or windows.

They chased after flesh and blood and noise.

Jiang Cheng communicated over the walkie-talkie: "Building Two is clear."

"Building Six is clear too."

"Almost there. Building One—we're just about done."

"Building 4 is cleared."

"Building 3 has one injured, already under control. Hands and feet tied, mouth gagged, others on the same floor keeping an eye on it."

"Building 5 also has an injured one, uh..." The person in charge of Building 5 paused briefly. "Dealt with on the spot."

The person in Building 2 had only threatened to bite. The one in Building 5 actually went through with it. Luckily, the person who got bitten had protection—a magazine wrapped in tape around the arm. A conflict broke out, and the would-be biter died in the scuffle before he even turned.

After the Building 5 liaison finished briefing everyone, the lobby of Building 2 fell silent, and so did the walkie-talkie channel.

They had been killing zombies all day, but this was the first time a living person—one who hadn't turned yet—had been killed.

"Good work." Jiang Cheng raised her walkie-talkie, breaking the silence. "Next time, please try to capture them alive and isolate them if at all possible. Let's try to avoid a repeat of this."

In times like these, the ones who stepped up to take charge, who willingly became leaders, were usually clear-headed and sharp-minded. The voice on the other end replied, "Understood. I didn't control the situation well. It won't happen again."

Song Jingshuo's voice chimed in to smooth things over: "We're all doing this for the first time—it's inevitable. We'll have more experience next time."

Jiang Cheng: "Yes, everyone's worked hard. Experience comes from going through it. Rest up early, and stay in contact if anything comes up."

She cut off the walkie-talkie and swept her gaze across the people in the Building 2 lobby. "Good work, everyone. Get some rest—head back now."

Everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief, murmuring "Good work, good work" to one another as they filed toward the elevator lobby.

But Jiang Cheng called out to Su Yu: "Su Yu."

Su Yu stopped in her tracks.

Li Jiangbing glanced at them, figured they might have something to discuss between the two women, and wisely didn't stick around. The lobby was now left with just Jiang Cheng and Su Yu.

Jiang Cheng gave Su Yu an appraising look.

In most big cities, if a girl's family lives locally, her parents usually won't allow her to move out and live alone. Although young adults' apartments tended to have more men than women, most of the women living there, like Jiang Cheng, lived by themselves.

They were all women who had come to S City from elsewhere to make a living.

Girls like that were usually capable and independent.

Su Yu seemed like a textbook example of that kind of girl.

"What's up?" Su Yu asked.

Jiang Cheng said, "If you know any other women in the neighborhood—no, even if you don't, it doesn't matter. In short, if you run into other girls, try to encourage them to participate in the things the homeowners' committee organizes as much as possible."

"This neighborhood has more men than women," she said. "It's too easy for us to get pushed to the margins. You know what I mean."

Su Yu's eyes widened slightly—she clearly did know.

At a company, if you don't fight for yourself, you get sidelined. A girl like her, coming to a big city alone and fighting her way through, understood that all too well.

Being marginalized in a corporate setting gets you passed over at most. But in a situation like the current one—what would happen if they got pushed aside?

Su Yu remembered what Jiang Cheng had said upstairs earlier: "If in the future there's actually someone to hold us accountable, I'd consider that a good thing."

You needed a government, laws, and institutions with enforcement power for there to be accountability.

In other words, given the current situation, it was possible that in the future no one would be around to hold anyone accountable, which meant—

Su Yu still felt conflicted. "It won't get to that point, right?"

Floods and earthquakes in the past hadn't gotten to that point.

Jiang Cheng said, "Who knows? Up until yesterday, who would have thought people could turn into monsters?"

She continued: "All I know is that in ancient times, when war or disaster struck, the first things to be sold were wives and daughters. When famine hit and people resorted to cannibalism, women were the first to be eaten."

Why had Su Yu been so proactive in volunteering for all this, despite it being dirty, disgusting, and dangerous?

Because her instinct told her that if she didn't participate actively and put something on the line, then when things got worse, she stood to lose something.

She just hadn't turned that gut feeling into clear logic yet.

"When people don't take on responsibility and duty, what they lose in return is power."

Jiang Cheng's voice was soft, as if she didn't want the men in the elevator lobby to hear.

But to Su Yu, the words rang like a bell.