Chapter 35

When the gathering broke up, the temporary committee had also arranged for someone to stay and watch the fire pit.

Master Luo was personally on duty there. He didn't really trust these young homeowners, even though the young men were brave enough, when it came to putting out fires and preventing them, it took trained property staff like them to put people's minds at ease.

Anyway, with Master Luo standing guard there, Jiang Cheng felt reassured.

Everyone dispersed and headed home.

Jiang Cheng returned to her apartment, set Mo Li down on the bed, and hurried to take a hot shower.

She was now carrying the responsibility of leading the temporary emergency committee for the youth apartment building, and there was no telling when some emergency would come up that needed her, so even her shower was quick.

Sure enough, she had barely finished drying her damp hair and stepped out of the bathroom—just after finally tossing her "battle uniform" of two and a half days into the washing machine—when the walkie-talkie crackled:

"Miss Jiang, Miss Jiang. This is the west gate. A few homeowners want to drive out. Should we open the gate?"

Jiang Cheng was a bit surprised. She picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Ask them if they're going out for errands temporarily, or if they're leaving the complex for good?"

The security guard went to ask, then came back: "They say they're leaving to go elsewhere, and at least won't be back for a few days."

Jiang Cheng understood. "Take a look outside the gate—are there any zombies around?"

The guard replied, "I don't see any right now by the gate. A couple wandered by during the day, and we stabbed them through the neck through the iron fence."

"Let them through," Jiang Cheng said. "Everyone remember: people inside the complex are free to leave. We don't have the right to stop anyone from leaving."

"But people from outside are not allowed in."

"The youth apartment must be completely sealed off from the outside—no people, no zombies get in."

Their call was on the full channel, so everyone could hear.

This time, not just the west gate guard, but the east gate guard, Master Luo, a few property staff holding walkie-talkies, and even Song Jingshuo and all the building block leaders replied in unison: "Understood!"

Sealed off. No zombies. Every homeowner had a certain stockpile of food and supplies.

Given that the entire city was overrun with zombies and most people had been trapped in their homes for two days already, everyone understood just how precious the current state of the youth apartment was.

And for it, they'd lost more than twenty homeowners.

Some had been locked in their own homes; more had been locked in the property management meeting room in the basement. The door to that room had been welded shut, the surveillance cameras destroyed—no one knew what was happening in there now.

They were all brave, kind-hearted, responsible homeowners.

These were terrible, painful costs.

This safe zone—so stable, so united—had been hard won.

This was their own home! They had to defend it!

Someone couldn't help but say, "What are they thinking? Leaving at a time like this?"

Everywhere out there was unsafe, not even the roads were safe.

Someone replied, "Maybe they're worried about their parents?"

At that, everyone suddenly understood.

"Ah, that's true. Sigh..."

"Is everyone here local?"

"I am. I called home—my family is safe. So I'm not worried."

"I'm not local."

"Me neither. But I talked to my family—they're fine."

Seeing that there was a danger of starting a group chat over the walkie-talkie, Song Jingshuo stepped in: "That's enough. If you want to chat, go to the group chat online. Don't waste the walkie-talkie battery."

The walkie-talkies ran on rechargeable batteries, and there were only a few chargers, all kept at the property office where you had to take the device to recharge.

It was a bit of a hassle.

Everyone clicked off their walkie-talkies right away, afraid of draining the power.

Song Jingshuo was truly useful.

He wasn't afraid to manage people. He didn't hem and haw; when something needed to be said, he said it.

And because he hit the nail on the head, the people being spoken to were willing to listen, or at least couldn't argue.

Jiang Cheng blow-dried her hair, thinking, not bad—she liked this person.

A useful person.

After her shower, she felt light and easy.

She reached out to touch Mo Li. During the day, his body had felt warm, but by evening the temperature seemed to have dropped again. He looked listless too.

When she put her hand on him, he only gave her a glance without even a single "meow."

It was like he ran out of battery the moment the sun went down.

"What's going on with you." Jiang Cheng had no choice, so she tucked Mo Li into her chest to keep him warm.

With Mo Li tucked inside her clothes, she sat down at her computer desk and went online.

The forum was buzzing. The posts had a kind of crying-for-joy feeling to them. With the complex cleaned up, everyone seemed to have relaxed.

Just now in the courtyard, had the fire not been burning corpses, some people might have been ready to dance around the bonfire.

Beyond the forum, the group chats were buzzing too.

This was just the temporary committee's communication group. You could imagine how many groups had already been formed across the whole complex through the homeowner forum.

Right now, no one in the complex was asleep. They were all online, chatting heatedly.

People could be so short-sighted, settling into the comfort of the moment.

In reality, beyond the youth apartment, the whole city—or the whole country—had no good news to report at all.

The TV was still looping the old announcements.

There was nothing new on the major forums across the country either.

Things like "went out," "grabbed rice from the supermarket," "kicked the door in" were everywhere. The same things were playing out in different places starting Monday.

But the youth apartment was ahead of all that—they'd already stocked up on Sunday.

Apart from those households that had hoarded supplies beforehand, if everyone else only went out to find supplies when they ran out of food, then with the current situation outside, they'd only search near where they lived. No one would go far. Crossing into another district to hit a big supermarket was too risky.

Nor was every neighborhood so lucky as to have a big supermarket like BuyDuDu nearby.

So for now, the youth apartment's hoard should surpass everyone else's—they were among the most well-supplied people around.

Suddenly, someone in the temporary committee group said: [The neighboring complex is stirring up trouble again.]

There were several residential complexes near the youth apartment, but when someone said "the neighbor" without any prefix, it always meant Jixiang Jiayuan.

Everyone asked: [What now?]

[I read their forum. Turns out someone who was supposed to be isolating at home didn't isolate properly—no idea how they got out—and then they turned and bit several neighbors on the same floor.]

[The turned one was beaten to death, and then the newly injured had to be quarantined. Family members started fighting over it, and some people ended up killed—living people.]

[Uninfected ones.]

The group went silent.

Killing zombies was fine. Even killing an infected person who hadn't turned yet was becoming acceptable.

But killing an uninfected, perfectly normal living person...

Every single person in every room—every member of the temporary committee sitting at their own computer—stared at their screens in silence.

No one wanted to admit or face it: the bottom line was being broken through, layer by layer.

How long had it been? The zombies broke out Saturday night, and it was only now—Monday night.

Just forty-eight hours.

The ordinary homeowners were still online celebrating with neighbors they'd gotten friendly with over the past two days that the youth apartment had become a safe zone.

But the members of the temporary committee felt nothing but grief and dread at the news they'd just received.

A new message popped up in the group.

Jiang Cheng: 【Everyone, get some rest early. These past two days have been too exhausting. Tomorrow at 9:30 AM, all members of the interim committee should meet up for a discussion on what to do next.】

Everyone's spirits lifted.

Right—although the area outside the compound looked bleak, their youth apartment had a backbone.

There was still an organization. Still strength.

Over a thousand able-bodied young people. In ancient times, that would have been enough to raise a rebellion and start a kingdom.

【Got it!】

【Received!】

【Sleep time, sleep time.]

Although the stench of burned corpses still hung thick in the air, that night they slept more soundly than on Sunday evening.

On Sunday night, everyone had still been on edge, terrified that a zombie might leap out from some corner of the compound. They slept lightly, even plagued by nightmares.

After being told by the interim committee that the entire compound had been cleared out, many people finally slipped back into deep sleep.

Jiang Cheng also fell asleep holding Mo Li.

During the day, Mo Li had thought he was recovering, because in the sunlight he could feel energy accumulating. But come nightfall, the energy gathered in his body stopped increasing—it wasn't even enough to sustain this body's consumption.

Luckily, there was still cat food to eat, offering a small supplement.

Then the girl held him close as they slept together.

Her body was warm, and energy seeped through her skin into him.

Mo Li fell asleep in Jiang Cheng's arms too.

...

The sun rose.

Jiang Cheng had drawn the curtains before sleeping, and sunlight couldn't penetrate the blackout curtains. But even so, the moment sunlight hit the other side of the curtains, Mo Li's eyes snapped open.

In the darkened room, his pupils were large and round.

He lifted his neck and turned to look at the window.

It had been the same yesterday morning—that pull toward energy, a craving from deep within his fur, his blood vessels, his very cells.

Mo Li slipped quietly off the bed.

The floor-to-ceiling window was a protruding bay window. The bean bag sofa sat in that protruding space.

Last night, before sleeping, Jiang Cheng had drawn the curtains, sealing the bean bag sofa on the other side.

Mo Li pushed through the curtains and slipped inside.

The moment sunlight fell on him, it felt like every strand of fur unfurled.

Energy seeped through those open hairs into his skin, and his whole body basked in comfort.

The little cat's small mind couldn't process much, only quietly feeling his body slowly mend, waiting for the girl on the bed to wake in the morning.

When Jiang Cheng woke up and found Mo Li gone again, she rubbed her eyes, walked over, and pulled back the curtains. Sure enough, the black cat was curled up on the bean bag sofa, soaking in the sun in an extremely contented pose.

"You really love sunbathing, huh." Jiang Cheng stroked Mo Li and found his body temperature much better than last night. "So it really comes down to sunbathing. It actually works."

Just one session in the sun and his temperature was back up.

Jiang Cheng thought about leaving Mo Li at home to sunbathe, but by the time she got ready and was about to head out, the little cat bit at her again.

Wherever she went, he had to follow.

Jiang Cheng still put him into her crossbody bag.

That bag was his designated seat.

Tuesday morning, the interim committee members gathered for a meeting.

Since the property management's meeting room was already occupied and welded shut, the meeting was held in the vine-covered pavilion by the small plaza. That way, everyone had somewhere to sit.

The air still carried the stench of corpses, but the sunlight was great, and this was the most relaxed everyone had felt since Saturday night.

Even on Sunday and Monday, meetings had been tense affairs, with Jiang Cheng, Song Jingshuo, and others rapidly discussing, arranging, and assigning tasks. Everyone was wound tight, grabbing their assignments and rushing off.

Now, finally, they could sit down and discuss things at a leisurely pace.

Everyone felt like they were finally seeing daylight again.