Chapter 11

After moving the items back home, Zhou Yun carried Guan Yuanfeng’s goods and placed them in his house.

Guan Yuanfeng opened the door, his face expressionless: “The neighborhood just made an announcement over the loudspeaker. The city is conducting an emergency drill. They’ve asked everyone to stay indoors and report the household member information.”

Zhou Yun nodded: “Yeah, I saw the notice in the property group chat.”

But Guan Yuanfeng said, “Something doesn’t feel right. I saw in the veterans’ group that retired soldiers were urgently recalled to report in.”

Zhou Yun asked, “Are you going back?”

Guan Yuanfeng shook his head: “I don’t need to.”

His face looked grim as he reached for the items Zhou Yun was holding, stacking them heavily in a corner of the living room. Zhou Yun then helped him sort out the food and medicine that needed to be refrigerated, putting them in the fridge, and also helped organize the canned dog food and other supplies.

Seeing that Guan Yuanfeng was deep in thought, looking once again as gloomy and serious as when Zhou Yun first met him, Zhou Yun understood that he was upset about not being able to go back during an emergency.

In both their past and present lives, they had not spent much time together, but Zhou Yun knew what kind of person Guan Yuanfeng was.

After the apocalypse, this retired disabled soldier had volunteered for an ability experiment, enduring excruciating pain from the side effects to awaken his abilities. However, he had never been able to merge well with the ability core inside his body.

He had fought against the pain for a long time, yet still took on heavy responsibilities, guarding the base in the apocalypse, leading the special forces in countless rescue missions. Until his death, he had truly lived as a righteous man.

Zhou Yun knew that Guan Yuanfeng didn’t need comfort at this moment, and wasn’t the type to open up about his wounds to others. He needed solitude to quietly heal. After asking if he had taken his medicine, Zhou Yun left, returned to his room, and went online.

The sudden emergency drill caught the residents off guard, and even schools were closed. Only essential workers like doctors, police, military personnel, and communication/electricity workers still had to report for work, while public officials were helping with community management.

Roads were restricted, and even the internet was being controlled. Many large forums were temporarily shut down, and news websites had disabled their comment sections. The scope of this emergency drill was so vast that everyone began to realize the seriousness of the situation.

There was a lot of discussion in the neighborhood group chat:

“Is this a flood drill?”

“They said it’s not a war, but it looks a bit like one… Is a world war coming?”

“Be careful not to spread rumors.”

“Our community is distributing things door-to-door, emergency medical kits, food, and water.”

“Our neighborhood is reinforcing the iron gates and cleaning the air raid shelters. Cars have been cleared out.”

“The international situation doesn’t seem to have changed, though? It seems like international news hasn’t been very eventful recently.”

Some people, who had relatives abroad, couldn’t reach them these past few days and began speculating in the group chat:

“It seems like there’s some virus abroad. The internet is down.”

“Earlier, we had an industry forum held overseas, but it was also suspended. We haven’t been able to contact anyone for days.”

“My child is traveling abroad, and I can’t get in touch with them. I’ve already reported it to the embassy.”

“My child is studying abroad, and I haven’t been able to contact them for the past few days.”

Zhou Yun recalled that this had been the same situation in his past life. At first, everyone suspected it was just the start of an unexpected war.

Later, it was discovered that the zombie wave was too rapid. Originally, foreign communities were loosely organized, and order was quickly lost. The internet went unmaintained, and although many videos were uploaded, various data centers, network hubs, and infrastructure soon collapsed due to failures.

Domestically, after realizing the panic caused by the outbreak, which could lead to chaos, authorities took swift action by instituting community controls, but in the end, it was ineffective.

Zombies are fearless, and large hordes began to invade from the borders. Combined with the rapid spread of infections within the country and the arrival of the critical red fog, the zombies became uncontrollable.

However, people still don’t know the truth and believe that strict defenses and unity will be enough to control the situation.

But, besides the zombies, human nature is indeed the most dangerous.

Once people realize that the apocalypse is coming, all moral and legal constraints will cease to exist, and all evil and greed will be unchecked.

At this moment, the last peace under control is the final chapter of civilized society.

Zhou Yun saw that the group chat had shifted its topic to the weather:

“The weather abroad seems to have been unusual lately. This rain has really lasted too long.”

“Maybe it’s because of the many days of rain, causing network issues. Don’t worry.”

“The weather forecast says it’ll be sunny tomorrow.”

The next day, it indeed cleared up. After almost half a month of rain, residents in the community, seeing the sun, busied themselves with drying clothes and bedding.

Zhou Yun, living alone, didn’t mind that his summer clothes were dried in the dryer. He went up to the rooftop early, checking the drainage system and the rainwater filtration equipment. The purified water seemed fine, and after boiling, it should be drinkable. The rest could be used for watering plants, cleaning, or raising fish without any issues.

The weather was clear, and the sunlight was particularly bright. Zhou Yun checked for soil erosion, the growth of vegetables and fruits, and the condition of the animals, including fish, rabbits, sheep, and pigs.

Fortunately, his preparations had been early. Even though it had rained for so long, the animal pens remained dry and clean, and the animals were in good condition.

While he was checking, he suddenly heard a dog barking. He looked up and saw Guan Yuanfeng on the rooftop. The dog, Comet, happily ran over to sniff the chickens and ducks. The chickens and ducks, which had grown a lot in the past half month, flapped their wings as the dog chased them. The rooftop became lively.

Zhou Yun smiled and said, “Why didn’t you come for exercise today? It’s sunny now. I’ll set up a mobile target, and you can practice from a distance.”

Guan Yuanfeng replied, “I went downstairs to check on the situation at the villa and also looked at the air raid shelter routes.”

“If there’s an airstrike, the rooftop won’t be safe. If that happens, you can come downstairs to stay at the villa. There’s a basement there. I’ve already stored some food and water down there this morning.”

Zhou Yun felt a bit touched, but Guan Yuanfeng, after looking at the chickens, ducks, sheep, pigs, and other animals, thought for a while. Then he glanced at the rooftop where Zhou Yun had installed wind turbines, solar panels, rainwater purification systems, and iron doors… and the sausages, cured meats, and alcohol being made in the scorching heat.

Guan Yuanfeng thoughtfully asked, “Do you have some internal sources of information? From the hospital?”

Zhou Yun answered, “The hospital is under martial law now. There seems to be a virus. Before I left my job, my superiors had already asked me to try to persuade families to cremate deceased relatives. I’m a bit worried. Since I’m already home after leaving my job, I’m just preparing.”

Zhou Yun explained calmly under the sharp gaze of the former soldier.

Guan Yuanfeng nodded. Many people had hoarding habits, especially since they came from a farming background where people were used to planting and stocking up.

He soon shifted his attention back to the shooting: “Where’s the mobile target?”

After retiring, he thought he had already accepted the fact that he would never return to battle, but now he realized he was unwilling to let go. He desperately wanted to have skills to prove he wasn’t useless.

Zhou Yun took out the mobile target. The rooftop was much wider, and after opening the door on the opposite rooftop, they connected the two, creating a greater distance for the practice.

Guan Yuanfeng used his wheelchair to bring over the bow. From a far distance, he raised it and aimed at the target. Whoosh! He shot a practice bamboo arrow, hitting the bullseye.

Zhou Yun praised him: “You’re really talented. You weren’t a sniper, were you?”

Guan Yuanfeng didn’t respond. With the unclear situation and his family unreachable, he felt anxious, and the feeling of helplessness made him a bit depressed, losing interest in small talk.

Zhou Yun picked some fresh vegetables from the rooftop garden: “You practice for now. I’ll go make breakfast. When you’re done, come down. How about rice noodles for breakfast today?”

After the apocalypse, it would be hard to enjoy these. Just a few days ago, Zhou Yun had butchered an entire pig and preserved it. There were still plenty of pig intestines left, so he decided to cook pig’s offal rice noodles.

Guan Yuanfeng nodded: “Sure.” He pointed to the peppers nearby: “Make a dish of garlic chili paste. It’ll go well with the rice noodles.”

Zhou Yun picked a large handful of peppers, then looked up at the increasingly bright sun. The soil in the garden, which had been soaked by the heavy rain, was now beginning to dry out under the sun, and the temperature was rising.

He reminded Guan Yuanfeng: “The sun is getting stronger, you should come down soon.” The upcoming weather would bring long-lasting heat, and the zombie virus would spread rapidly with it.

Guan Yuanfeng nodded, focused on the target, and released another arrow.

Zhou Yun went downstairs to boil water. Since Guan Yuanfeng would practice for a while longer, Zhou Yun took out some pig bones from the previous day’s stock and selected a few pieces of pig intestines, throwing them into a pressure cooker along with some radish and pumpkin for Comet to eat.

Next, he took out pig offal from the fridge, such as pig intestines and liver, and marinated them. He boiled the pig intestines first, and after they were cooked, added the pig liver and thin slices of pork. Then he added the rice noodles, boiled them, and served them.

He finished with garlic chili paste, drizzled with onion oil, sesame oil, vinegar, and crushed peanuts. The sizzling sound released a delicious fragrance. Zhou Yun nodded in satisfaction. Looking at the peppers, he thought he should pick them all soon to make chili sauce.

However, what they would face next would be high temperatures, so it was time to start drying some vegetables.

Earlier, there had been rain, and many of the vegetable greenhouses were flooded. He had specifically gone to the market to buy some cheap, storable vegetables. He had already pickled some of them, and now the remaining sweet potatoes, taro, eggplants, green beans, and shiitake mushrooms could all be cut and dried.

His giant pumpkin could also be harvested now. After drying it for a while, it would become sweeter and more powdery due to the sugar content inside.

As he thought about this, his hands didn’t stop. He fried a plate of peanuts and then used the leftover oil to stir-fry some tender goji sprouts.

Finally, he opened the pressure cooker and poured the cooked dog food into a dog bowl on the side.

Guan Yuanfeng was finally attracted by the aroma. He came downstairs with Comet and asked, “Fried peanuts? It smells so good.” Comet had already rushed over to the dog bowl, excitedly sniffing the scent.

Zhou Yun poured some broth over the bright green goji sprouts and was very satisfied. This was a special variety of goji with large leaves, planted on his balcony. The leaves were larger and more luxuriant than regular goji leaves.

He scooped the goji leaves from the pot and placed them on the table, smiling at Guan Yuanfeng. “Time to eat.”