It wasn't until we were all sitting around the table eating that I got a good look at Qiao's sister, Qiqi. Turns out, she's a post-90s kid, just 19 years old. Very pretty, with big eyes and long eyelashes. She used to live with her parents at her parents' home.
But this time, her parents didn't come back with her. I guessed something had happened to them. Qiao and Qiqi didn't bring it up, so I couldn't ask. Looking at Qiqi's calm expression, she had already learned to face reality. What a strong girl! I pushed a large plate of steaming hot dumplings in front of her, and she silently started eating.
"Qiqi, do you like dumplings?" I chatted with her while we ate.
"I do, Sister Duo. Your knife is so cool. I want to learn from you how to kill zombies! I hate them!" Qiqi's tone was firm.
"I will definitely teach you. You'll become a good fighter, I believe in you!" I believed her, truly.
After taking the fever reducer, Seafood Sauce's temperature dropped, and he fell into a drowsy sleep. Strawberry Jam was also extremely exhausted. With three large zombies constantly banging on the door outside, I'm sure she couldn't rest at all. Now it was great; the siblings could finally get a good night's sleep!
Returning home to the 17th floor, my husband had already哄 (hǒng - coaxed) Shuai Shuai to sleep. No matter what, Canaan never neglects spending time and caring for our son. He's a super dad!
My parents had also gone to bed. After showering, my husband and I lay down. Every day when we get into bed, we feel utterly exhausted. Being able to sleep in your own bed is wonderful! I just don't know how long we'll be able to keep doing it...
"Can you tell me about what happened today? You didn't say much during dinner just now. Were you afraid Mom and Dad would worry? Is the situation outside not very good?" I asked my husband.
"It's worse than we imagined. Today, we almost didn't make it back!" My husband sighed deeply and pulled me into his arms.
"We chose to take the main road, not the side alleys. The alleys leading to Qiqi's place are easy to get blocked, probably hard to escape from. But the main roads connect in all directions; in an emergency, you can always find a way out," my husband began his story from the beginning.
"There were many abandoned vehicles on the main road. Heh, all kinds of nice cars. Pity the owners are gone. Luckily, there aren't an extreme number of cars in our city, otherwise, the roads might be completely jammed. These abandoned cars were all off to the side of the road, as if the drivers lost control. They were parked messily by the roadside. The center of the road was still quite clear."
"At first, we thought it would be like in the movies, with zombies swarming all over the main roads. Unexpectedly, it wasn't like that. There weren't many zombies on the main roads. We even thought their numbers had decreased. Turns out, they're all concentrated in the various small alleys and old residential areas. Our compound has a big iron gate. On the day of the incident, the living people downstairs were all killed. The zombies couldn't find food, so they wandered out on their own. The big iron gate was locked by someone—we don't know who. We've been using the underground garage to get in and out. Only today did we discover that Gates 1, 2, and 3 are all locked. To get in or out, you still need a key card to swipe. No wonder those things never got into our compound!" My husband paused here, thoughtful.
I was also very curious. Is our property management really that effective? I find it a bit hard to believe! But usually, the compound management is indeed pretty good. However, in such a harsh survival environment, what spirit is the property management company relying on to maintain the internal management of the compound? It's truly baffling! No matter how much you pay them, at a time like this, employees would probably just focus on saving their own lives, right? And the heating! This is provided by our compound internally. We were worried before; in such cold weather, if the heating were cut off, wouldn't that be adding frost to snow? (Idiom: making a bad situation worse)
Talking about heating, I have to introduce our compound's heating situation. Friends from the south, don't say I'm showing off. Even within the Northeast, heating varies from compound to compound. In our compound, it's underfloor heating. The rooms are kept very warm every day. Someone like me, maybe because I'm also physically strong, usually just wears a short-sleeved cotton T-shirt and sleep pants at home. I could even go barefoot, but to avoid catching a chill through the soles of my feet, I still wear a pair of cotton socks. Sometimes, lifting and holding the child to哄 (hǒng - coax) him makes me sweat buckets. So, our compound's heating is truly very powerful!
Many of my friends' homes still require thick pajamas or an extra down vest. The room temperature is relatively low, especially in some older compounds.
After the incident, I didn't even notice the room temperature dropping. That is to say, the heating has been maintained all along, and at the same standard as before!
This property management company is too dedicated! I really want to give them a commendatory banner!
Oh, digressed! I urged my husband to continue about the outside world.
"The road to Qiqi's compound was relatively smooth. We encountered zombies blocking the road in the center. To avoid damaging the car, we got out and chopped them down. But it attracted a few from nearby. It took quite some effort to deal with them. Oh, and on the way, we saw a very new Land Rover. Its gas tank was still quite full. Two of us went over and drove it back. This car has high ground clearance and is sturdy. We plan to get a few more. We won't drive the low-clearance sedans out anymore. Also, we want to outfit the cars, weld iron bars on the windows. Tomorrow, a few of us are going to the auto parts city. Liu Yuxuan has a company there; he specializes in car modifications. He said the auto parts city has a sea of parts; you can modify however you want. Also, there are many handy tools that can be used to kill zombies. Kitchen knives chip too easily, and the handles are too short," Canaan said.
"Great! I'll go with you tomorrow!" Since the main road isn't that dangerous, I refuse to just stay home waiting bored anymore!
"Okay. Taking the main road is relatively safe. And we've discovered the zombies' pattern: as long as there are no living people to attract them, they don't really linger on the main roads. Because it's harder to find traces of living people on the main roads. Zombies might not have thoughts, but they have instincts, like animals. They also know where to find food. I guess they stayed on the main roads before, but after ten days or half a month with no living people, they all wandered off."
"Continuing, Qiqi's home is in a high-rise compound, also gated. This highlights the strange thing about our property management. I originally thought all gated compounds were protected. But her place was different. The power was completely out. The compound gate and the unit doors were all wide open. Zombies were wandering all over the building, from the 1st to the 5th floor. Higher up, there were fewer. Probably zombies don't like climbing stairs much! Thankfully, Qiqi's home is on the 10th floor. Her food ran out several days ago. She had thought about risking going out to find food, but her elevator had stopped. She could only take the stairs. When she found zombies in the stairwell, she hid back in her home and didn't dare come out. If the phone signal hadn't been restored, Qiqi might have starved to death at home alone!" My husband said all this in one breath and then sighed.
"Did something happen to their parents?" I finally had a chance to ask this question.
"Yes. On the day of the incident, Qiqi's parents went downstairs for a walk and never came back," my husband confirmed my guess.
Sigh.I felt really sad for Qiao and Qiqi. Although they both acted very calm and composed during the day, I think no one can truly face the fact that both parents are gone with complete peace. They are really strong! But right now, when no one is watching, the siblings must be crying their eyes out together. Sigh.
"After chopping down so many zombies, my heart has become calmer and calmer. At first, I always thought, they are also someone's child, they are also someone's parents, they are also someone's husband or wife... These thoughts always troubled me. Although I wouldn't hesitate to strike, I always felt uncomfortable inside. Now I can finally adjust to be calmer, to stop seeing them as human anymore." What my husband said was actually what I had been thinking too, I just hadn't said it out loud.
But now, we have both quickly matured and grown stronger.
To protect the family we love, we must be strong. There is no room for any懦弱 (nuò ruò - cowardly) hesitation!
"Qiqi is a nurse. Her boyfriend is the head of internal medicine at her hospital. He's also trapped at home now, but currently safe. We plan to pick him up after modifying the cars. He said his food can last three more days." After my husband finished talking about the plans, we fell asleep.
The night was deep. Tomorrow, will the sun rise?