Chapter 43

Mo Li showed no sign of wanting to go back inside.

Direct sunlight outdoors was far more effective than sun through a window indoors.

And within his range of perception, there was no sense of danger either.

Jiang Cheng now recalled how Mo Li had tugged at the hem of her clothes earlier, insisting on coming out with her. He must have sensed something.

Now that the youth apartment complex, the adjacent Jixiang Jiayuan, and the Jixiang West Street between them were all clean, Mo Li no longer had that tense feeling.

He now looked like an ordinary little cat, lounging lazily in the sun, as if all was well with the world.

Since that was the case, Jiang Cheng didn't push it. She went home by herself.

Turning on her computer, she picked a few major forums and posted the same thread: [Has anyone seen cases of animal infections?]

To avoid causing panic, she added: [Just curious. So many people keep cats and dogs—have any cats or dogs been infected with the zombie virus?]

After posting, she turned on the TV.

As it happened, there was fresh content on the news: [A reporter from our station at the Emergency Management Command brings word: rescue forces have advanced into the S city urban area, currently reaching the Chaoqing District, where intense cleanup operations are underway.]

[The first batch of relief supplies is following close behind.]

[The on-site emergency command has stated they will adopt a "district-by-district sweep, not missing a single household" approach, going all out to ensure the safety of the people's lives.]

[Please firmly believe that the nation stands with you, sharing the same breath and the same fate.]

[Stay confident, and be sure to take shelter and self-rescue measures.]

[We will surely get through this together and rebuild our homes!]

Intense cleanup operations.

Usually, the word that follows "intense" is "battle." Using "intense" with "cleanup" felt a bit odd.

But you could read between the lines: although the authorities still hadn't used the term "zombie" and continued to refer to them as "mutants," they clearly no longer regarded them as human.

If they were still human, it would have been called a battle.

It was because they were no longer human that it was called cleanup.

Jiang Cheng watched the segment several times on a loop, then opened the forums again.

The major internet companies that were well known had already come under the leadership of the government's emergency committee. In the past couple of days, every major forum had set up local sections for netizens to coordinate and share information by region. The internet company employees were still coming into work, or possibly working remotely. Either way, they had adapted to the times, giving people exactly what they needed—it was indeed very convenient.

Jiang Cheng opened the S city section of a major forum, and sure enough, many people were already analyzing the new announcements.

[When they said yesterday they would rebuild the order of life, I already felt pessimistic. Today they mentioned "ensuring the safety of lives"—in past earthquakes and floods, they always said "ensuring the safety of lives and property." The tone is clearly different. Sigh.]

[It basically means "as long as you're alive, that's enough," right?]

[Starting from Chaoqing District—that's far from us. When will they get to Guangxiu District?]

[From Chaoqing heading north, the next stop will definitely be Gaotang District. You're still far from Guangxiu.]

[Does "district-by-district sweep" mean administrative districts or residential complexes?]

[I was wondering about that too. Then he said "not missing a single household," so the unit is the household. That means the "district" mentioned earlier refers to residential complexes. That makes much more sense.]

[The person above has a point. You have to treat zombies like an infectious disease or a virus to understand it. If you want to clean up a virus, you have to thoroughly clean an entire area. Otherwise, if you leave a few spots unclean, won't it multiply and spread rapidly? Don't forget the zombie virus is infectious. And now everyone knows that getting scratched or bitten means infection and mutation. There are bound to be people who got infected and stay silent, trying to hide. Then they silently turn, come out, and bite a bunch of people. Even if each zombie bites three people, and those three turn and each bite three more... then you see the point clearly. So not cleaning up completely is the same as not cleaning at all.]

Jiang Cheng switched to her own residential complex's owners' forum, and true to form, someone had already copied over the discussions from the big forums.

The festive mood from yesterday when they first heard the government was launching rescue operations had faded.

Now it was all worries about "how long until they get to the new development area over here?"

As noon approached, when Jiang Cheng was about to start making lunch, the walkie-talkie crackled: "Miss Jiang? Miss Jiang, can you hear me? The interim committee?"

Jiang Cheng immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie: "Copy, this is Jiang Cheng. Who is this?"

The other side said: "This is the east gate. A dozen or so people have shown up, saying they're from Maiduoduo Supermarket, and they're looking for you. Hold on, he wants to talk to you."

The voice on the walkie-talkie changed, this time a man: "Miss Jiang, right? My surname is Dong, I'm the guy from Maiduoduo, we've met several times, it's me."

Jiang Cheng recognized the voice right away—it was the guy at Maiduoduo called Brother Dong, the little supervisor: "I know you, I remember. What's the matter?"

Yang Xinyan usually stayed at the property management center, because she was the one responsible for communicating with the residents.

The walkie-talkie was on the all-channel frequency, so she had heard the conversation between the east gate guard and Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng suddenly called out: "Property management center, is anyone at the property management center?"

Yang Xinyan quickly replied: "I'm here, I'm here!"

Jiang Cheng: "Xinyan, broadcast over the loudspeaker for the interim committee members to gather at the east gate."

Wednesday morning counted as one of the rare relaxed moments these past few days. Some people were lying in bed, playing games; others were strolling in the garden or sunbathing. Suddenly the loudspeaker crackled to life, and the property girl's voice rang out: [Interim committee members, gather at the east gate. Interim committee members, gather at the east gate. Right now, immediately. I'll repeat: interim committee...]

Clearly, something was up. Interim committee members who had been lying down got up, those playing games pushed away their keyboards, and the ones strolling downstairs turned and started running.

Not just the interim committee—many residents in the garden also followed along to the east gate to see what was happening.

Jiang Cheng met Brother Dong at the east gate.

Brother Dong had brought his supermarket employees to beg for medicine.

Jiang Cheng confirmed once more: "You're sure it's not the zombie virus?"

"Positive," Brother Dong cursed. "It was the people from Yujing Xiangyuan who did it."

East of Jixiang Jiayuan was Yujing Xiangyuan.

The people at the youth apartment complex looked down on Jixiang Jiayuan, but at least Jixiang Jiayuan had someone step up to organize them, even if the organization was loose—it was still something.

Yujing Xiangyuan had gotten nothing organized at all. Some residents had run out of supplies at home and couldn't just hide inside and starve, so they had to risk their lives going downstairs.

Some were bitten to death on the way, but others managed to make it to Maiduoduo Supermarket.

They had risked their lives to sprint to the supermarket, only to find the food shelves completely empty. Even the food section in the warehouse was cleaned out.

That was absolutely devastating.

Brother Dong told them: "Everything was emptied out by the people from the youth apartment and Jixiang Jiayuan. Look at the front door—they smashed it. It's all gone. Nothing left. Take a look around and grab whatever you need."

He was trying to shoo them away.

But some people were quick on the uptake. Looking across the supermarket, there were roughly a dozen or so staff members, and none of them looked panicked.

Why weren't they panicking? Because they must have food stocked up!

Those who saw through this demanded that Brother Dong and his crew share some of the food. Their families couldn't hold out any longer—there were kids and elderly at home, all with stomachs growling from hunger.

But Brother Dong and his people had witnessed firsthand how the folks from Jixiang Jiayuan and the Youth Apartment had stripped this very supermarket bare. They'd seen with their own eyes how people brawled over a single bag of rice.

They knew all too well how vital food was in these extraordinary times.

So naturally, they flat-out denied having anything.

Nobody believed them. Not a single person in front of them looked like they were starving—everyone seemed well-fed and full.

These people had crossed through life-and-death situations to get here for their families. Their emotions were already teetering on the edge of collapse, ready to ignite at the slightest spark.

Not to mention they were armed. They'd already bashed in skulls and sliced through necks.

Seeing the supermarket staff's evasive glances and perfunctory words, anger rose from the depths of their hearts, and vicious thoughts surged from their guts.

The two sides clashed.

Fortunately, the people from Yujing Xiangyuan had come in scattered groups and weren't united. The Maiduoduo side was solidly united in protecting their food, and their weapons were handy, too. In the end, they drove off the Yujing Xiangyuan people.

There were injuries on both sides. Some had black eyes and swollen faces; others were bloody and battered.

The bloody ones had suffered external wounds. A bunch of rough men weren't too careful about such things, and their wounds weren't properly treated.

By nightfall, they started running fevers. This morning, when everyone discovered it, the fevers were already high. If this continued, they'd be in trouble—they needed medicine.

Everyone basically knew that a few pharmacies were scattered around the supermarket area. The nearest and safest one was the shop on Jixiang West Street.

Why was it safe? Because that street had been swept back and forth by the Youth Apartment people multiple times, cleared out thoroughly.

It was probably the safest stretch of road in the vicinity.

After assessing the risks, Brother Dong still decided to lead people out to get medicine. When they arrived at the small pharmacy's door and saw the smashed-in entrance, they knew it was bad. Going inside, they found it completely empty.

Jiang Cheng and her people had taken a good chunk of the important categorized medicines. The old men and women who went in after they'd left grabbed whatever was left, not caring about categories at all—they hauled everything away.

Only birth control pills and male enhancement pills remained. Even the health supplements were gone.

There were other pharmacies, but getting to them wasn't as safe—there would definitely be zombies on the road.

One bite, and it was death.

Though they had some camaraderie with their colleagues, that bond wasn't strong enough to die for them. Nobody was willing.

But Brother Dong could figure it out: "Those bastards from the Youth Apartment are sharp as foxes—it must have been them."

It was also a young woman from the Youth Apartment who'd been the first to smash open the supermarket's main gate. Brother Dong had a gut feeling that this pharmacy had a high chance of being busted open by her too.

That young woman definitely had medicine on her. Even if she didn't, since she was a leader at the Youth Apartment, she'd surely find a way to get some.

So Brother Dong came knocking on their door.

And since he was already here—a bit late, but still—Brother Dong and his crew had finally realized they needed to stock up on some medicine too. So they also wanted to get some other meds.

He stated his purpose. Jiang Cheng spoke into the walkie-talkie: "We've only got a little medicine here, and there are so many people in our compound. We can't just give it to you for free."

Brother Dong thought to himself, See? Called it. A young thing, but sharp as a tack.

The two negotiated over the walkie-talkie. Brother Dong took his people back to the supermarket once, and now, they were back again.

This time, they weren't empty-handed. They pushed several carts full of drinks: "Come on, let's trade."