The situation was developing in a somewhat absurd direction.
For the past three days, the TV still showed that woman's unsightly face—but the announcements were becoming increasingly unsettling.
"Citizens, do not go outside. Keep your doors and windows shut. Wait for the situation to be brought under control. In the meantime, strictly isolate anyone who has been bitten, regardless of whether they are your wife, daughter, or parents."
"Please prepare enough food, secure all doors and windows, and wait for the situation to be brought under control…"
"We will do our best…"
But honestly, I didn't need their broadcasts to know.
For the past few days, those screams—sometimes distant, sometimes close—had been echoing into my ears almost nonstop.
I even clearly saw, just across the street on the third floor, the man of the household went completely mad and actually bit the woman of the house to death!
Such a bloody scene made my stomach churn every time.
I couldn't stop trembling all over.
And honestly, I had already predicted the kind of news they were broadcasting.
When I saw it, I even found it ridiculous. I wondered if people who had watched zombie movies would rush out to test it themselves—smashing in those creatures' skulls to see if they could really kill them.
But that thought reminded me—over the past three days, Yangyang hadn't eaten much, yet half the food in the fridge was already gone.
Water.
Right, water.
The water dispenser was nearly empty.
And there's no way I'd drink tap water—movies always show that water is the first thing to get contaminated.
No, I have to find a way to get more food and water.
Standing on the balcony, I looked out into the courtyard.
Not a soul in sight.
Good. Just ten meters to the left after leaving the yard, there's a convenience store.
I can get plenty of food and water there.
But as my gaze shifted back into the room, something suddenly hit me—
The woman downstairs—she was bitten to death inside the house!
That creature that killed her—was it still in that room, or had it already left the yard?
Damn it.
I just now noticed the front gate of the downstairs yard was half open!
But after taking a closer look, I didn't see any deranged killers—thankfully.
Thank heavens those monsters didn't know that Yangyang and I were here; they hadn't come in.
The most urgent thing now is to find food.
The water won't last past today.
I have to make sure I have enough strength to face whatever is happening: today, I must find clean water.
I walked into Yangyang's room.
He was sitting on the bed, staring blankly into the corner.
He wasn't playing on the computer—because it had already stopped working yesterday.
I walked over and patted his shoulder. "Hey, little man."
"Sis…" He forced a smile.
I was genuinely relieved that he could still smile at me, even at a time like this.
"How about doing something adventurous with your big sis? If we succeed, I'll reward you with a big bottle of cola."
I've never allowed him to drink that carbonated stuff, even though he really likes it.
"You're thinking of going to Old Wang's convenience store to get some food, aren't you?"
He was sharp—he'd already guessed what I was planning.
"Yeah. We're out of water." I frowned, showing my helplessness.
"You're worried the tap water's contaminated, so you don't dare drink it?"
"Exactly. That's why we have to leave this safe house for a little while."
Yangyang lowered his head and thought for a moment.
Then he got off the bed and reached under it, pulling out a dagger and handing it to me.
I frowned. "Why… do you have a knife hidden under your bed?"
"I saw it while we were out shopping one day. Thought it looked cool, so I bought it. I was scared you'd scold me, so I've never taken it out."
As he spoke, he walked into the kitchen and picked up the cleaver I always used to chop ribs.
He turned back and said, "Sis, when are we heading out?"
I looked at him, swallowing the urge to press him about the dagger.
Given the situation now, asking about irrelevant stuff seemed pointless.
Who knows—maybe in a little while, I'll have to teach him how to take down those disgusting monsters with his own hands.
We ate lunch at noon, but I couldn't taste a thing.
After confirming that the courtyard was safe, I changed into something lighter and more mobile.
I signaled to Yangyang that he had to stick right behind me, step for step—then, filled with anxiety, I stepped out of the safety of our home.
The stairwell was eerily quiet.
I didn't dare make a sound, afraid of attracting the attention of those monsters.
I slowed my pace and carefully made my way downstairs.
I noticed that the doors on the third and second floors were still tightly shut—it looked like no one was around.
I didn't bother wondering whether those two households had died outside or were hiding safely inside.
When I reached the first floor, I gripped the dagger tightly in my hand.
The door was still wide open.
I quickly glanced inside—the living room was empty, save for a pool of blood that had already turned black.
It was unbelievably silent.
My tightly wound nerves finally loosened a little—looks like they had already left.
If they were still here, there'd definitely be some kind of noise.
The courtyard was clear—just a few electric scooters scattered around, easy to check at a glance.
As I walked out the door, a few rotting intestines were still scattered across the ground, a grim reminder of the hell we were currently living in.
I forced down the wave of nausea, turning my head away so I wouldn't have to look at those revolting things.
I circled around them from the side.
The entire trip to our destination went surprisingly smoothly—no one was in the convenience store.
After checking the place thoroughly, I signaled to Yangyang to keep watch at the door and stay alert, while I quickly pulled out a few large plastic bags from behind the counter and started stuffing them with water, biscuits, and other supplies.
Lighters, toilet paper, a kitchen knife—whatever useful items I spotted, I tossed them all into the bags without hesitation.
And of course, I made sure to grab a big bottle of cola.
The whole time, my body trembled uncontrollably.
I had to push myself to the limit to suppress it—just so I wouldn't alarm Yangyang.
On the way back, I carried everything myself.
I couldn't guarantee we wouldn't run into anything on the way, so one of us had to keep their hands free—ready to fight back if necessary.
But it seemed like God was playing a cruel joke on me.
As soon as we stepped out of the convenience store, I saw—off in the distance—two slow-moving "people" walking right into the courtyard with the door still wide open!
"Goddammit!" I couldn't help but curse out loud, furious at myself for being so careless.
How could I have forgotten to shut the door?
"Sis… I'm sorry. I was standing inside the house just now—I didn't see them coming!" Yangyang was stunned, his whole body trembling.
Looking at his shaking hands, I set the plastic bags down on the ground and said firmly, "I'm going to take care of those bastards. Stay close to me!"
My face must've looked terrifying at that moment—why else would I have scared my dear little brother?
Saying I wasn't scared would be a lie.
My body trembled uncontrollably, and my chest ached from how tense I was, trying desperately to hold it all together.
Stepping lightly, I slowly approached the door and peeked into the courtyard.
The two creatures were wandering aimlessly inside, their movements sluggish and uncoordinated.
They looked almost identical to the zombies I'd seen in movies—tattered, bloodstained clothes, rotting flesh…
My hands started trembling again, but I knew this wasn't the time to let fear take over.
Yangyang was right behind me—he needed my protection.
Clenching my teeth, I gently tapped the door with the knife, just enough to draw their attention.
Sure enough, they let out low growls and began shuffling toward me.
Yes, just like that.
I pulled Yangyang back with me and told him to keep an eye on what was behind us.
Finally, the two monsters stepped out through the doorway, one in front and one behind, with about two meters of space between them.
Gripping the knife tighter, I clenched my jaw and forced myself to stop trembling.
Finally, I took a risk and charged toward the monster in front of me, shouting, "I'll fucking kill you!"
In an instant—
I drove the knife straight into the creature's head with all my might.
A foul-smelling, strange liquid—not quite blood—sprayed out violently.
The scene was absolutely horrifying.
But thankfully, it quickly went still.
After a brief struggle, it collapsed onto the ground.
For some reason, their skulls felt like they hadn't fully solidified—more like half-frozen clay.
Quickly pulling out the knife, I rode the wave of adrenaline and immediately lunged at the one behind it.
"You can die too!" I roared again, and just like before, I stabbed the blade hard into its head.
But to my shock, things didn't go as smoothly this time.
Maybe I hadn't used enough force—the knife didn't go in deep enough, and it could still fight back!
I was completely caught off guard.
This "person" actually roared with its mouth wide open—despite having a blade stuck in its skull!
I nearly forgot how to breathe from the shock.
With a scream of my own, trying to drown out the fear inside me, I yanked the knife out and stabbed it again—this time with wild desperation.
I didn't stop there—I kept stabbing over and over into its skull, until blood and chunks of flesh splattered everywhere, covering the ground, my clothes, even my face.
Fortunately, just as I was about to run out of strength, it collapsed to the ground.
Panting heavily, I quickly pulled the knife out and gave the two corpses a quick glance.
Strangely, they didn't seem as terrifying anymore.
When a person is pushed to the edge, their potential really does become limitless.
I thought to myself, maybe I've turned into some kind of psycho—but to survive, anything goes.
I wiped the knife clean on one of the bodies, then turned back to the wall, picked up the plastic bags, and handed them to the still-stunned Yangyang, snapping quietly, "What are you spacing out for? You wanna be that monster's lunch? Move!"
People do the most unthinkable things when their minds go blank.
Back inside the house, I washed my hands clean and stuffed everything we brought back into the still-working refrigerator.
Then, I slumped onto the floor.
Looking at my hands, my eyes were full of disbelief.
I couldn't believe that just a few minutes ago, these hands had actually smashed open the skulls of two "people."
My mind was a tangled mess, with scenes from movies and the grim reality before me flashing through it, nearly overwhelming me in an instant.
Heaven had no intention of giving anyone a chance to breathe.
"Sis, come look at this!"
Yangyang's voice called from the living room, full of confusion and alarm.
Taking a deep breath, I dragged my nearly frozen brain into the living room.
The TV was broadcasting even more damning news—and this time, it wasn't the woman from the past few days.
Instead, it was a middle-aged man in military uniform.
"We will do our best to stop the situation from escalating. However, we need the help of every citizen. Please take up arms and kill those walkers again and again, until the government can develop a cure."
"Attention, citizens: those walkers operate through brain activity. You must destroy their heads to kill them for good."
Walker? Heh… they really went ahead and used that name?
"Yangyang." I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.
"My's mind is a mess right now—I need some time to rest. Make dinner yourself tonight."
"Sis," he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, comforting me with a maturity beyond his years, "I know what's happening outside is really hard to accept, but we have to be brave and face it. Compared to the people out there, aren't we already way luckier? And don't forget, you used to be..." He stopped himself there.
Some things, even if everyone knows them deep down, just shouldn't be said out loud.
I opened my eyes and forced a weak smile.
I knew I needed time—to sort through my thoughts, and to find a way to calm myself down.