After settling the residents in our compound, I called my best friend Qiqi again. Ever since the phone signals were restored, I'd been trying her number constantly, but both she and her husband Aze had their phones switched off. I was worried sick! But I stubbornly kept trying once a day.
Thank God—it finally went through! The moment Qiqi answered, I felt like strangling her! If you're alive, girl, why keep your phone off?!
"Duo! Duo! Ah, the signal's back! Honey, honey—Duo's calling!" Qiqi was practically incoherent. What was going on?
"Qiqi, calm down!" Sigh, why did I always have to say that… Well, it was hard for anyone to stay calm under these circumstances.
"Qiqi, why were your phones always off?!" That was the first thing I had to ask. I'd been so anxious!
"The signal cut out before and we didn't think it would come back! We never charged them. It was only yesterday when I was so bored I charged my phone and turned it on—and you called right away! Oh my god, Duo, it's so good to hear your voice! We're barely hanging on—starving. There's only one pack of biscuits left at home. Aze won't eat it, and I won't either. We've been at a stalemate. If you hadn't called, you might never have heard my voice again…" Qiqi's voice sounded weak. Silly girl! And her silly husband! They'd given up on contacting the outside world so easily. Sigh!
But it's in desperate times that you see true love. With one pack of biscuits left, each wanted the other to have it! I was genuinely touched.
"You silly thing! The signal's been back for ages! I thought you two were dead! Luckily, I'm stubborn and called every day! I would've called even if you were ghosts! Wait there—I'm coming to get you! Our compound is completely safe, fully stocked with daily supplies and food. Don't bring anything except maybe your expensive lingerie!" I was both angry and heartbroken for her.
"Can I bring Baozi? His cat food is all gone too—I can't leave him behind!" Qiqi's fat cat was named Baozi—he was her absolute joy.
"The virus didn't affect Baozi? Amazing! Of course, bring him! Get him into his carrier. Have everything ready—we'll leave as soon as we arrive." After hanging up, I quickly gathered the Action Team with my husband. We had a mission.
Speaking of Qiqi, I should reintroduce her. Of everyone I know, she lived the most comfortable life—a happy, beautiful little woman.
If anyone was "raised in a honey jar," it was Qiqi.
After getting married, Qiqi simply moved into a new honey jar, continuing her charmed life. Her husband adored her; she never knew what hardship meant.
It made the rest of us green with envy! But we all loved her.
Every day on WeChat, she'd show off her baking, new clothes, or little trinkets she bought.
Beautiful, happy Qiqi had a very likable personality—unusually forthright for someone so delicate.
I remember once when she posted some cups and plates from IKEA, I commented that I liked a particular dark coffee mug. She immediately mailed it to me—a pair, in fact: one dark brown, one cream white. Her reason: "How could I separate the couple?"
That's how adorable Qiqi was. How could anyone not love her?
The drive to Qiqi's place was quite far. We were intercepted by zombies three times on the road. Main roads usually had fewer zombies, but once we turned into side streets, their numbers increased. Sometimes we couldn't get through and had to clear them out on foot.
These zombies were more aggressive now—probably made fiercer by hunger. We were exhausted!
While fighting one zombie, I found it particularly disgusting.
It must have been a starving human who'd recently turned after being attacked. In the dead of winter, its freshly torn-out intestines were still steaming with a foul stench, mixed with the smell of feces—its colon hadn't been empty! It definitely hadn't gone to the bathroom that morning!
When it lunged at me, I nearly choked! This thing literally lived up to its name—disgusting!
As I swung my long knife, its intestines swung too. Thud—I sliced through them! Yellow-black filth sprayed out. I couldn't take it anymore—I turned and hid behind my teammates, vomiting violently.
The others finished off the stinky zombie, then teased me: "Sis Duo, can't handle it? Too much of a clean freak for this job!"
"Get lost! Who's as insensitive as you guys? This damn thing is too fucking gross!" I felt better after vomiting, though a bit embarrassed.
If I ever die, it won't be from a zombie bite—it'll be from being utterly disgusted to death by them!
I rubbed my long knife repeatedly in clean, thick snow, still feeling it was dirty. Sigh. Surviving in this world with obsessive cleanliness wasn't easy. I had to adapt fast. Think of Michonne from The Walking Dead—she went a year without bathing or changing clothes and still lived freely! Could I do that? The answer was no—at least not yet.
I still insisted on showering and changing at the unit opposite after going out, whether I'd killed zombies or not. I still disinfected my long knife after every fight. It wasn't just because I was clean—I couldn't let any germs near my son and parents.
Protecting them was my greatest purpose and reason for surviving!
Qiqi's compound was also gated. The vehicle entrance was locked, but we had bolt cutters and snipped it open. The convoy drove slowly inside.
As we entered, we realized the situation here wasn't good. There were zombies inside the compound!
We could see about a dozen—who knew how many were out of sight. Qiqi's building was deep inside the compound. We had to fight our way in! Detours wouldn't work.
Calling Qiqi, I asked, "Is your elevator out?"
"Yes. The day before yesterday, we went out to ask neighbors for food. The hallway was empty; no one was across from us. We saw the elevator light was off. It must be out of service," Qiqi replied.
"Sigh, then we have to take the stairs to get you. I wish you lived on the first floor! Why did you have to choose the 16th?…" I complained pointlessly. My family lived on the 18th floor—if the power went out, we'd suffer.
"Listen, Qiqi—there are many zombies in your compound. We just entered through Gate 1 and saw about ten. You have a good view from upstairs. Go to the window and check for me: from our position to your building, how many obstacles are there?" I said.
"Okay! Wait… Yeah, I see your vehicles! One, two, three… eight, nine! Wow, a Land Rover convoy, Duo! Did you strike gold in the apocalypse?" Qiqi's voice was full of amazement.
"Sis, be serious! I asked you to count zombies, not our cars! These are daredevils here to rescue you! We're about to be surrounded by your nasty neighbors. Can you hurry?" I said impatiently.
"Oh! Sorry! Let me see… One, two, three… four, five, six, seven, eight, nine… There are 15 heading toward your convoy! And around the corner near my building—one, two… five, six! Ah, they're moving, they're moving!" Qiqi was as focused as a sports commentator.
"Saw them! No time to chat! Get ready! Wait for me and the team to come up!" After that, I quickly announced the enemy count over the walkie-talkie. Then, all 30 of us got out, raised our weapons, and charged at Qiqi's hostile neighbors.
We had 30 people; the zombies numbered 15. But unfortunately, the noise attracted the other 6 zombies.
So now it was 30 vs. 21. We still had the advantage!
Group fights always come down to numbers. Movies often exaggerate individual heroism—one super-powered person wiping out an army. I never believed that.
Human strength is limited. Even with training, we're flesh and blood—we tire, we get injured. Against these fearless, relentless, pain-ignorant zombies, our strategy was always to outnumber them and finish quickly.
In just seven or eight minutes, all the zombies were down. Except for one with both legs chopped off, still clawing defiantly at us, the others were all head-shot.
"Whose work is this?" We looked at the legless zombie crawling desperately on the ground—it was bizarre.
"This is my experiment!" It was Fatty! He loved stirring up trouble!
"Watch this!" Fatty said, then went over and swiped a few times, cutting off the armless zombie's remaining limbs. Now it was just a torso.
"Are you Empress Lü? That's fucking cruel!" Not just Liu Yuxuan—we all recalled the tragic historical figure of Lady Qi, mutilated by the vicious Empress Lü and left in a cesspool.
Fatty ignored our collective glare. He went over and sliced off the zombie's jaw—its dark, rotting tongue lolled out grotesquely. It looked terrifying and pitiful.
Everyone gasped. Zombies were scary, but they weren't toys—they were once human too! We started feeling uneasy with Fatty.
"Look—when a zombie loses all its means of attack, it seems to lose its aggression or even its desire to attack," Fatty said, pointing with his knife, ignoring our disapproval.
Sure enough, the zombie stopped thrashing and lay dormant—but its dead fish eyes still stared at us. It wasn't dead.
"Hey! Little Fatty, I think they did this in The Walking Deadtoo—I'd just forgotten!" I suddenly remembered Michonne cutting off two zombies' arms and jaws, using them as pack mules.
"Right! I've been wanting to test if that actually works," Little Fatty grinned. This guy—he'd never mentioned it before.
"Alright, put it out of its misery. We have people to rescue!" I said, then led the team toward Qiqi's building.
Under normal circumstances, climbing five flights of stairs would leave me breathless. But after a month of intense training, I was transformed. I refused the suggestion to wait downstairs.
We didn't all go up—the stairwell would have zombies, and some needed to stay below for support.
So, 15 of us went up. The other 15 stayed on guard below.
We encountered nine zombies in the stairwell—all Qiqi's transformed neighbors. Some had been wandering aimlessly near their doors but gathered when they heard noise. We cleared each floor from the first up to the sixteenth.
Qiqi couldn't wait any longer. Hearing my voice outside, she flung the door open and threw herself into a fierce hug. Ah, poor thing! Aze stood behind her, his face thin, smiling at me. We were friends—no words were needed.
"You ate that pack of biscuits, right? I think you should've saved them for me," I joked with the couple. Teammates took their bags, surrounding us as we headed down the stairs.