The three children were overjoyed to be together! They didn't understand what was happening; they were just frustrated that the adults wouldn't take them downstairs to play.
But having playmates made things much better. Companionship is powerful! Especially after we gathered all the toys from every apartment in the building for them—they instantly became super-rich kids!
My dad, adhering to his philosophy of "never give up on good food as long as you're alive," always cooked us delicious hot meals. You have to understand, eating canned food all the time is unbearable! My personal favorite, of course, is steamed rice! Super fragrant, glorious steamed rice! To eat rice every day, I'd give up going abroad!
Combined, the entire building had over 30 bags of rice. That's just the taste preference of Northeasterners—can't be helped. Northeastern rice is incredibly fragrant; when it's cooked, it even has a shiny, oily gloss. So aromatic! I have a Sichuanese friend who said he could eat two big bowls of it plain, no dishes needed.
But we also have many mouths to feed. So, we made several more trips to Carrefour. We basically treated the floors below the 11th as warehouses, piling supplies into the empty apartments. Over a hundred bags of rice, and we refilled all the refrigerators we found too.
The Carrefour cold storage had quite a lot of frozen meat and fish. Shan Qi Er Shi Yi and his group hadn't taken much; their habit was to go get some daily, probably because No. 18 High School didn't have many fridges or freezers. He'd never imagine how much we were hoarding—we're like a bunch of hamsters!
Since each family had at most one refrigerator, but for some reason I can't even remember, our house had two standalone freezers. I even suggested we go to the Hei Tian E (Black Swan) store next to Carrefour and bring back several large freezers, placing them in different empty apartments to freeze meat and perishable foods. I'm such a genius!
The time had truly come to just take things without paying, but it didn't feel as thrilling as one might think. After all, if it weren't for this catastrophe, we wouldn't need any of this stuff!
A surprise! Mobile phone signals and TV signals were restored. All TV channels broadcast only one thing: reassuring the nation. I shouldn't mention the name of the person speaking, but he kept comforting everyone, saying the military had now brought the situation under control, urging residents to stay home and not venture out unnecessarily. He said the outbreak was a global simultaneous event, that the situation abroad was always worse than ours, and asked everyone to believe that a solution would definitely be found. But most importantly, do not go out! The cities are not yet fully back under human control!
Once the phones worked, my husband first called his mother, who lives alone on the farm. Before the signal was lost, he had only managed one call to her. After the signal went down, we couldn't contact her again, worrying us sick, but there was nothing we could do.
To our joy, Mom told us the farm was still very safe. Someone in charge had already organized protection for the farm. She knew what had happened in the world, and not being able to contact us had worried her to death these past days. Hearing we were all safe set her mind at ease.
Although the farm situation sounded good, we still told her to stay put at home, not go out easily, and to stock up more on food, water, and daily necessities. For now, we couldn't go get her or go to her, so we could only check on each other's safety daily by phone.
When we had nothing to do, we observed the situation outside from the windows. Our building is the one on the very edge of the compound, with no other high-rises around it, so we have an unobstructed view of the streets outside. Beyond our compound is an area of older, low-rise residential buildings. Some of those buildings even have broken unit doors. It seemed there were few survivors inside. I truly felt sorry for them!
When danger strikes, new facilities and new buildings make a difference. Sigh, thankfully we moved to this newly built high-rise a few years ago.
The number of those hungry zombies had increased. They constantly caught humans who, driven by starvation, ventured out to find food, then turned them into even hungrier members of their own kind!
And we are the food for this species. Ah! Just thinking about it still sends chills down my spine. After all, I'm just an ordinary person!
But human potential is truly limitless. Last month, I was just an ordinary stay-at-home mom who liked watching horror movies online. This month, I've become a zombie killer. The change was sudden, but there's no other way. If we don't learn to adapt to the environment, we can only wait for death. The environment will never adapt to us.
Not only did my husband and I adapt quickly to our changing roles, but our neighbors also transformed very fast. Probably most of us watch this kind of movie often, so we unconsciously got used to the existence of the zombie world.
On days we didn't need to go out, we exercised hard to strengthen our bodies. And every day, we gathered to discuss how to handle worse situations.
After the phone signal returned, we faced new problems and tasks.
Originally, my husband, I, and the neighbors didn't hold much hope for the survival of our friends and relatives. But to our surprise, many had indeed survived, though some of them needed help.
Not everyone was lucky enough to have stored enough food.
We had to go to farther places, to other residential areas, to pick some people up and bring them back.
First, preparations!
There's a gas station next to Carrefour. Because it's open, getting out to refuel would be very risky, but there was no choice; we had to go. Our cars were almost out of gas.
This time, we had to bring guns. My husband had already taught everyone how to use them, but no one had practiced yet. To save bullets and avoid attracting those undead monsters to our compound, we hadn't fired a single shot.
Plus, there were sharply sharpened large knives of various types, and the fire axe. We were fully armed.
Usually, when going out, I was the only woman; the other women and the elderly stayed home with the children. This time, however, my husband didn't want me to go. He said the distance was far, and we didn't know what might happen. He was worried that if everyone went out and something happened preventing their return, none of the remaining women would be able to protect themselves, the elderly, and the children. He believed I could protect everyone. He said I was a strong woman.
Even though I protested vehemently, the thought that if the worst really happened, there would be no one to look after Shuai Shuai and my parents made me stay behind.
Watching my husband and the group of men enter the elevator, my heart was tied in knots. But, thankfully, with the phone signal back, we could stay in touch at any time!
My optimistic dad started thawing meat and mixing flour. He planned to make dumplings for the new members about to join us. He was convinced those people probably hadn't had a decent meal in a long time.
Guarding a Carrefour, with daily necessities readily available, and water, electricity, and gas still supplied, our lives hadn't changed much apart from losing our freedom.
The biggest change was the internet being completely down. Before, aside from taking care of my kid, I just surfed the internet online and absolutely wouldn't go out unless necessary—a true homebody!
Now, in my free time, I work out to increase my arm strength. For me, this is the most important thing. Wielding a long sword to chop zombies is satisfying, but if your arms lack muscle, they quickly get sore and you can't lift them anymore. And then I'd be close to done for.
My husband and I don't work out in our own apartment; the movements are too big. Our apartment only has one living room, and my parents and Shuai Shuai need the space. So we cleared out a space in the living room of the apartment across the hall and turned it into our gym.
Today was the first time my husband went out without me, so I had to exercise alone.
Before, when there was no pressure, I thought I could never do fifty push-ups, even during the toughest training at the dojang. But now, with the shadow of death constantly looming overhead, I've become stronger. Sometimes, when I really can't persevere, I put a photo of my son on the floor and stare at it while pushing through. Large drops of sweat fall on the photo. Sometimes I even feel like the bones in my arms are about to break.
But human potential can be tapped, and you never know how deep it goes. Now I can do two hundred push-ups in one go. I'm thinking of adding weight next. Facing zombies that feel no pain and have the advantage of numbers, you can never be strong enough!
After my workout, I drank a bottle of water, rested a bit, and planned to review that article again: The Chinese Zombie Survival Guide.
It was an article that went viral online. Since my husband and I are zombie movie fans, we had downloaded and saved this article on our computer. Never thought zombies would really break out.
However, we didn't follow the guide's advice to immediately get a car, pack up the family, and leave the city for less populated areas. After all, actually implementing that would have been very difficult. In the situation at the time, dragging my parents and son into the zombie-infested outside was a risk we weren't sure we'd survive. I think the best decision we could make under those circumstances was to stay home. Our home was still very safe!
Life is full of choices. What job to take? Who to marry? Whether to get married? Have children or not? We grow up constantly making choices. Of course, there are many choices we regret. I'm sure on many nights, people ask themselves, what if I had chosen differently? I've certainly had moments like that.
Fortunately, there aren't many choices I truly regret, and I prefer to always look forward. My favorite saying is, "Everything happens for the best."
So, I still believe that staying home and quickly replenishing supplies was the best arrangement!
At least so far, we are both safe and lacking nothing. Of course, this safety is relative.
I'm also a very optimistic person. I keep telling myself, at least this didn't happen when you're seventy or eighty and can barely move, when you can't protect others and would only be a burden needing protection yourself! Being able to protect my family personally is my greatest happiness!
I've moved the computer to the apartment across the hall. In fact, that apartment has now become part of our home. The stored water and food have been moved into its two bedrooms and kitchen, plus the natural freezer: the north balcony.
The living room, as mentioned, was cleared out and became my and my husband's gym. Sometimes our allies in the building hold meetings and potlucks here.
Sitting on the floor, discussing matters while eating good food and drinking beer, it sometimes really feels like we've been transported back to peaceful times.