Chapter 307: #Side Story: Series Completed but Continued for Personal Reasons (2)

The city they arrived at was as quiet as a graveyard. The buildings stood tall like tombstones, bearing the scars of looting and arson.

The man cautiously looked around the area, before approaching an abandoned car. Except for the broken front window, it was still in fairly good condition. He reached through the broken window and opened the car door. Thankfully, the car keys were lying on the floor. Desperately, he tried to start the car, but to no avail.

“Damn it!”

He threw the car keys down in frustration, checking the gas meter. There was about half a tank left. From his backpack, he took an empty plastic bottle and a hose. Attaching the hose to the gas tank, he sucked hard on the other end.

After spitting the gasoline into the plastic bottle, he inserted the end of the hose into it.

The girl stared blankly at the man. He filled two bottles with gasoline and put them into his backpack. Scanning the city, he found a supermarket with half its signboard torn off.

Creaaak—

The man opened the entrance slightly, watching the girl’s reaction. The girl sniffed the air inside like a hunting dog. He tensed up, gripping the axe in his hand tightly, ready to swing it at any moment. However, even after a while, the child showed no other reaction.

“

Phew

.”

Relieved, the man relaxed and entered the building. It was both quiet and dark inside.

Click—

He turned on his flashlight. There were dusty, collapsed shelves, empty snack bags scattered on the ground, and piles of rat droppings all over the place. The man searched the store patiently. After about two hours of rummaging, he obtained a pair of batteries with a hint of red dust, three cans with mouse marks, and a few cigarette butts.

The meager loot made him feel dejected, and he left the supermarket with the child.

From the apocalyptic scenes in the media, I recalled that places like supermarkets were the first targets for refugees. It’d probably be better to search through residential homes instead.

Seemingly having the same idea, the man began looking for nearby residences. Before entering any of them, he would always bring the girl to the entrance to check for any signs of danger. She’d tremble in fear like puppies at half of the residences, or stand dazed outside the other half. Of course, the man stayed away from the first half.

The sky soon grew dark, not because of sunset, but because a storm cloud had rolled in without warning.

Ruuuumble!

It wasn’t just any cloud, but a demonic, death-bringing cloud that stretched for tens of kilometers.

Swoosh!

Black rain poured down like sewage water.

“Damn it!” The man cursed, his twisted with fear.

They quickly took shelter in one of the buildings they’d scavenged. Warily, he drew the curtains, looking outside the window. Due to the torrential rain, the zombies that hadn’t been around during the day were now active.

-

Krrrrr!

-

Roooooar!

The zombies gazed up at the sky, soaked by the rain. As the rain came down on their dry, withered bodies, the zombies began to regain their vitality. And as the prey, it wasn’t a welcoming sight to see their predator grow stronger.

“We’ll have to hide here until the rain stops.” The man shook his head, clearly exhausted.

The girl stood in front of the man and stared at him intently. He handed her the rusty can he had found.

“Eat it.”

The girl stared at the can for a while, then brought it to her mouth. “

Nyam

.”

“Hey! At least open the lid before eating!” I shouted, but the child showed no reaction and continued to bite the can.

Naturally, she couldn't possibly open the can with her teeth alone. I grew anxious. Was her reaction when we first met just a coincidence?

Meanwhile, the man sighed and opened the can, then handed it back to her. While the girl munched on the canned food, the man rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a cigarette butt.

For the first time in days, his clouded eyes lit up. Tearing a page from his notebook, he sprinkled dismantled tobacco into it. Piling up the leaves like small sandcastles, he carefully rolled up the paper. Finally, moistened his finger with saliva and sealed it. The man put the roughly-shaped paper cigarette in his mouth and lit a lighter.

Click!

“

Cough cough!

”

The poorly made paper cigarette seemed too strong, causing the man to cough, but he soon got used to it, and a satisfied smile spread across his face.

In a world overrun by zombies, the man relished the fleeting moment of happiness, while the girl enjoyed her canned food. The sight warmed my heart.

***

“Hey. Can’t you hear me? Stop pretending that you don’t know me. Look at me.”

I kept talking to the girl whenever I had time, but she never responded.

Haa, at this rate, will I ever be able to work on that resurrection quest?

Meanwhile, the situation was getting worse with the passing days for them.

One day, two days, three days.

Swaaaaa!

Even today, ten days later, the rain of death hadn’t stopped. Their food supply had run out long ago. And today of all days, their water also ceased.

The man stared out the window with bloodshot eyes. Zombies covered the city. They stood motionless under the rain like they did ten days ago.

-

Grrrrrr!

Unlike the man, who was shriveling up, the zombies seemed to be full of life.

The man cussed, “Damn it. Filthy corpses.”

He turned to the girl lying on the blanket. Her face seemed white, and her lips were dry as a parched field. They wouldn’t last much longer at this rate.

Just as I was starting to feel more anxious, the man bit his lip until it bled, then pulled out a black raincoat from his backpack and rushed outside. I was worried that he’d go where the zombies were, but fortunately, he headed for the railings on the roof instead.

His arms were filled with odds and ends he had picked up while circling the building. As he put them down carefully, he picked up a flower vase with a broken spout. He threw the vase toward the west with all his might and quickly ducked below the railing. However, he didn’t catch the sound of the vase shattering. A few seconds later...

Whoosh!

The zombies turned their heads toward the west all at once. That grotesque sight sent chills down his spine!

Thud thud!

He could even hear his own heart pounding in his ears. Despite being blind as a bat, the zombies’ hearing and sense of smell were so sharp that no humans could escape them. Clenching the glass cup tightly, he struggled to suppress his ragged breathing. Had he dropped it even once, it’d be the end. His hands trembled.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

He repeatedly threw the random items several times in a row, then cautiously peered over the railing. All the zombies nearby had disappeared. He hurried back to the room, cradling the dying girl and securing her tightly with a rope to prevent her from falling.

Clack clack!

He pulled out several yellow alarm clocks from his backpack, then loaded batteries into them like bullets. After setting them to go off in ten minutes, he placed the clocks high on the wall protruding slightly from the building entrance. Even a tall man had to stand on tiptoe to reach it, let alone the zombies.

Click click!

As the timer started, the man gripped the axe tightly in both hands and moved cautiously, like a baby taking their first steps. He tried to avoid any parts of the ground where even a drop of water would pool, careful not to make a sound. Glancing at the watch on his wrist, the man hid in a pile of trash in a secluded alley.

Beep beep beep beep beep—!

The faint sounds of the alarm clocks echoed through the downpour, and the aftermath was terrifying.

-

Kyaaaaak!

-

Grrrrr!

The howls of starving beasts and the deafening sound of wild footsteps poured in from all directions. They were heading to the building we had just left from. The man covered the child's mouth, burying them deeper into the pile of trash.

Confirming that the zombies had disappeared inside, the man stood up in a hurry. However, he had starved for too long, carrying a backpack and a child made him stagger. However, there was no time to waste. They had to get as far away from this place as possible while the alarms were still ringing.

Carefully, making as little noise as possible, he made his move. Every single one of his nerves were on edge. He stood before a building seemingly without any zombies. As he shook the girl in his arms, her unfocused, blurry eyes opened slightly.

“Are there zombies in here?”

She didn’t respond due to being in poor condition, likely because of malnutrition.

He bit his lips.

-

Kyaaaaaa!

More zombie cries could be heard in the distance. He had no choice but to enter this building. And the very first thing he did was to hook a pipe to the door handle, preventing it from opening.

“

Huff! Puff!

”

With a tense look, he held an axe and a lantern. He shone the lantern around, scouting the interior. There was a living room with a couple office machines and tables, a bedroom with twin beds, and a kitchen. It was an office studio apartment. Thankfully, there weren't any zombies around, and neither was there the foul stench of rotting corpses.

There wasn't much food left, but there was still some loot. Beside the water purifier was a sealed bottle of drinking water, and small baskets filled with spice bottles. The man opened the water bottle, sniffed, and cautiously took a sip from it.

“Good.” The man picked up the bottle of sugar from the basket, poured it into a bowl, and dissolved it with his fingers.

Lifting the child gently, he carefully fed her a small amount of the water mixture. The girl still did not wake, but drank the water instinctively.

Phew, what a relief.

He thought they had escaped a crisis for now, but his face turned deathly pale the next moment.

His eyes were fixed on the blood on his fingertips. The blood came from the child’s pants, which were soaked in blood.

Was this menstruation, or from an illness?

“Oh my god. Why now of all times...”

He shone the lantern on the ground. Drops of blood fell at regular intervals.

“It’s alright, the rain will wash it away...” the man muttered to himself as he gazed out the window. Then, his face fell in despair.

Clang clang!

He could see zombies crawling on the ground through the cracks on the windows, their noses pressed tightly like hunting dogs. There were over hundreds of them.

-

Krrrrr!

-

Roooooar!

The starving zombie horde surrounded the building, charging toward us.