"Zhou Yilu?"
"Song Fei?"
Qi Yan didn't find any food, but brought back a mouth instead. Great, now we can have a mahjong game.
He just didn't expect that the person in number 640 actually knew the person in number 440.
Qi Yan felt that he and Song Fei might really be incompatible, so in such a perfect love story, the number of third wheels increased day by day, like zombies.
"What happened to your face?" Song Fei didn't care because the down jacket might have been rubbed off while they were running for their lives, but the injury on Zhou Yilu's face was definitely fresh.
"Sigh, don't even mention it." Zhou Yilu didn't want to recall it.
Qi Yan helped him out, saying, "Three people broke into his house and stole all the food."
Song Fei and Qiao Siqi remained silent. Even yesterday, they would have yelled that this was inhumane, but now, they really didn't know what to say.
Song Fei sighed and patted the other person's shoulder: "Are you hungry? How about I make you some instant noodles?"
This is the warmest moment in Zhou Lu's heart in the past three days.
Zhou Yilu didn't have much food left, and he understood this at a glance, so he didn't feel comfortable eating noodles in the end and opened a bag of shrimp chips instead.
Everyone says that puffed snacks don't fill you up, but Zhou Yilu really gets full after just one bite.
"What on earth is this...?"
"Shrimp chips, purely imported from Thailand."
"real?"
"Of course, it's the authentic Tom Yum flavor."
"..."
Hunger knows no borders, and Zhou Yilu eventually ate the bag of shrimp chips. As for how sour and refreshing they tasted, he said he didn't want to comment.
After returning Zhou Yilu to his home, Qi Yan went out again. This time, he ran into a mutant and fled back in panic, never daring to go out again.
As night fell, the 440's food reserves were almost depleted. The four dared not eat much, so each grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and ate them while lying in bed.
The dormitory area, once bustling during the day, has returned to its quiet state, a different kind of desolation and bleakness.
Zhou Yilu: "Qi Yan, I think you don't need to go out tomorrow. The food that can be found has probably been found by others. Even if you are Spider-Man, it will be useless."Department Store
Qi Yan: "Let's take a look."
Qiao Siqi: "So what if we found them? As long as there are still zombies outside, we're just waiting to die."
Song Fei: "Since the water and electricity haven't been cut off, does that mean there are still people in the city? Our university town may be remote, but it still has so many of our nation's future generations."
Qiao Siqi: "Are those outside also the flowers of our motherland?"
Zhou Yilu: "Yeah, man-eating flower."
Qi Yan: "Even the sun is probably struggling to survive, so let's, the flowers, save ourselves."
Qiao Siqi: "What do you mean?"
Qi Yan: "I'd like to check tomorrow and try to go to the supermarket."
Qiao Siqi: "Are you out of your mind?!"
Song Fei: "I agree with Qi Yan. Johns, didn't you say we're just waiting to die here? Then let's break out and get through this encirclement!"
Thump—
It was the same door-banging sound as the day before yesterday!
Song Fei immediately shut up.
The other three, being inexperienced, broke out in a cold sweat.
After holding his breath for a long time, until it seemed to be calm outside, Qiao Siqi lowered his voice and asked in a trembling tone, "Zombies?"
Song Fei responded almost inaudibly, "Yes, they broke down the door the night before last."
Qiao Siqi wanted to cry: "But it didn't happen last night!"
Zhou Yilu was also puzzled: "How come I've never heard of this before?"
Qi Yan looked at the energy-saving light above her head and suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Could it be that they are reacting to our voices?"
Song Fei: "But we talked all day long."
Qiao Siqi: "No, you were speaking very loudly just now."
"Wait a minute," Zhou Yilu recalled carefully, "I think I heard a similar sound when I was being beaten yesterday."
Following the conjecture, Qiao Siqi said, "So they only experience intellectual and physical deterioration, but their eyesight and hearing remain?"
"No," Qi Yan squinted. "His vision is uncertain, but his hearing must have deteriorated as well. Otherwise, he should have been able to hear us talking normally, and he wouldn't have had to shout before banging on the door."
Fear stems from the unknown.
The more you know about mutants, the less fear you will feel.
But when fear becomes too overwhelming, such reductions are merely a drop in the ocean. The discussion ended in silence, and the entire dormitory area became eerily quiet.
The dormitory lights go out promptly at 11 p.m.
The moment the light disappeared, the entire dormitory area seemed to truly die.
The room was dark and silent. Song Fei knew the other three were still awake, each lost in their own thoughts—perhaps pessimistic, perhaps optimistic, perhaps seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, perhaps contemplating carnage. But in any case, having someone by your side at a time like this was the greatest source of strength.
Loneliness is the cruelest accomplice of despair.
Song Fei couldn't remember which elective course teacher had said that sentence, and before that, he had completely forgotten it. But on a night like this, the sentence seemed to have a mind of its own, bouncing back like a ghost, whispering in Song Fei's ear.
"I might die if I rush out tomorrow," Song Fei thought. "I've spent my whole life studying, what a damn waste."
Clang—
The dull thud of a heavy object hitting the ground broke the deathly silence of the night, making it even more eerie.
The sound was coming from outside the balcony.
The four of them got up almost at the same time. Zhou Yilu, who was impatient, jumped to the ground and rushed to the balcony door, peering through the glass.
It was pitch black outside the dormitory building, and you couldn't see anything clearly.
Clang—
Another sound.
Zhou Yi blinked, unsure whether it was a hallucination or if he had really seen a figure.
The other three people also got out of bed and joined in.
"What's going on?" Qiao Siqi asked.
Zhou Yilu shook his head: "I can't see very clearly. How about... we open the door and take a look?"
Balconies are generally considered safe places, but nighttime is different from daytime. No matter how safe it is, being exposed to the dark outdoors can make people feel uneasy.
With a snap, a beam of bright light illuminated the entire 440.
Qiao Siqi turned around and was immediately blinded by the light: "Damn, what is that?"
Song Fei looked down at Ren Zhe's high-end product in her hand and regretted not using it sooner: "Flashlight."
Zhou Lu was speechless; even with his back to the bright light, he was almost blinded: "Is this some kind of searchlight?!"
With light came peace of mind. After confirming that the balcony was safe, the four of them carefully opened the door and stepped into the cold midnight.
No matter how strong Song Fei's flashlight was, it dissipated in the night. Fortunately, the windows of the opposite building's corridor were unaffected by the lights being off, reflecting the brilliant lights inside, which, along with the moonlight, illuminated the outline of the dark night.
My eyes finally adjusted to the night.
Another figure fell from the sixth floor across the street, tracing an arc in the air.
In the blink of an eye, the person landed on the ground with a loud crack, flesh breaking and bones shattering.
— Someone jumped off a building.
Four people stood on the balcony, seemingly oblivious to the biting cold of the night wind.
The mutants arrived again upon hearing the news and devoured the food without lifting a finger.Department Store
Just as the mutants were enjoying their meal, a fourth serving of food fell from the sky.
Snap—
All four of them began to tremble, and Zhou Yilu even covered his ears, never wanting to hear that sound again.
Many people had already come out from the balconies of the building across the street, and some were even shouting in a tearful voice, "Don't fucking jump!"
Despair is a more terrifying infectious disease than the zombie virus.
The series of jumps finally stopped after the seventh student landed.
But no one knows whether this is an end or a pause.
The dormitory area was quieter than before, but when you know that all the living people are standing on the balcony in the night wind, and imagine their faces as blank, wooden, fearful, or sad, but without making a sound, this silence is more unsettling than screams.
The wind blew between the two buildings.
Looking at the dark figures on the opposite balcony, Song Fei felt as if he were seeing himself.
The sliding door behind me was suddenly closed.
Song Fei turned around in surprise and saw that Zhou Yilu had brought Ren Zhe's guitar at some point.
Soon, the melody of a guitar filled the quiet night.
The mutants behind the balcony doors and dormitory doors might not be able to hear it, but the students on the balconies of both buildings could hear it clearly.
That's the sound you hear on countless boring nights. It might be a chemistry major, an artsy guy with a guitar and a raspy voice, daring to confess his love to the whole world. Or it might be a literature major, a Douban girl with a guitar and a high-pitched voice, pretending to be a sweet and innocent girl.
But at this moment, the melody swirling in their ears was neither artistic nor sentimental, but resilient and powerful—
Where exactly is the world filled with flowers?
If it really exists, then I will definitely go.
I want to stand on the highest peak there.
It doesn't matter if it's a cliff or a steep slope.
Live life to the fullest, love with all your might, even if it means sacrificing your life.
I don't seek anyone's approval, as long as I can be true to myself.
I have never chosen to give up on my ideals.
Even on the most gloomy days...
Zhou Yilu didn't dare to sing the chorus loudly because the song's climax was too intense, and he was afraid of attracting unwanted attention, which would truly lead to his death. But his deliberately lowered voice sounded even more resolute.
Run forward, facing cold stares and ridicule.
How can one truly appreciate the vastness of life without experiencing hardship?
Fate cannot force us to kneel and beg for mercy.
Even if blood is spilled all over my arms...
The song ended.
Qi Yan's tense face relaxed.
Qiao Siqi even hummed along in the second half.
Song Fei looked up and saw a sky full of stars, beautiful and dazzling.
Zhou Lu hugged his guitar tightly, playing this song for others and singing it to himself. His heart found peace in the melody; tomorrow was still there, hope was alive. But he didn't know how many people he could share this feeling with. His own building, and the building across the street, remained desolate and silent.
Song Fei suddenly leaned close to Zhou Lu and whispered in his ear.
Zhou Yilu was completely baffled.
Are you sure?
"Sing!"
Zhou Yilu was skeptical, but in the end, he plucked the strings and sang a second time: "Green mountains of Beishan~~By the shores of Baishui Lake~~My beautiful campus~~Self-reliance and hope~~Inclusiveness and openness~~That is me..."
A sudden gust of wind arose, plunging the world into darkness!
"stop--"
"Stop!"
"Who the hell told you to sing the school song?!"
"I'll fight you to the death!"
On the third night of the zombie siege, the survivors in the two male dormitory buildings finally got their first good night's sleep. Many who had been having nightmares for the past two days continued to have them, only now the content of their dreams had changed from the fear of being surrounded by zombies to the fear of being dominated by the repeated learning and chanting of the school song during the school anniversary celebration last semester.
But the latter gave them a real sense of being alive again, so vividly and passionately, that they didn't want to give up.