Song Fei and the others told Lin Dilei about the dormitory situation and how they escaped. When Lin Dilei heard about her classmates jumping off the building one after another, her eyes reddened; when she heard the school song, she was angry at their irreverence. But after Song Fei and the others finished speaking, she fell silent, sitting there quietly with her instant noodle cup, lost in thought.
The supermarket had become quite warm, a warmth that felt somewhat stifling and made it hard to breathe. But compared to the cold, damp dormitory without heating, it was truly much better.
The six people were speechless for a moment.
As the intense tension gradually eased, reason returned. The predicament of reality and the hopelessness of the future unconsciously caused everyone's mood to plummet.
"Damn!" Song Fei suddenly exclaimed, as if struck by a thunderbolt, slapping his thigh. "A landline! There's a landline in the office!"
A single word awakened me from my dream.
All the colleagues were as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood, including Lin Dilei. At this moment, they didn't care about their aunts and uncles. They jumped up and down and rushed into the office area!
The office area has three separate offices and a staff break room. The former is for managers, finance personnel, supervisors, etc., while the latter is for cashiers, stock clerks, etc., to eat and rest. Employees need to change into their uniforms, so the entire break room is opaque. Song Fei and his team stored the three zombie corpses there, out of sight, out of mind.
Of the three offices, the supervisor's office was closest to the sales area, and it was also the first place the six people rushed into.
Song Fei ran ahead, grabbed the phone, and dialed 110, but all he heard was a busy signal.
Song Fei was unwilling to give up and tried to dial again, but after pressing the hang-up button, he realized something was wrong before he could redial—it wasn't a busy signal after dialing 110, but rather a busy signal as soon as he picked up the phone.
Seeing that Song Fei had stopped listening after making one call, the impatient Qiao Siqi snatched the receiver away and listened to it himself.
He reacted faster than Song Fei; after pressing the hang-up button and listening again, he understood what was going on.
"The line is down." Qiao Siqi wanted to smile bitterly, but ultimately didn't, only managing a bitter twitch at the corner of his mouth. He handed the still-sounding receiver to everyone, his meaning clear: anyone who wasn't giving up could try.
Everyone tried it.
At a time like this, who would give up without hearing the busy signal with their own ears?
In fact, in the end, the six people tried out all the landlines in the three offices one by one.
Without exception, they were all busy signals.
There is nothing more painful in the world than being disappointed. If you don't have hope in the first place, you might be able to turn the tide and survive. But if you start with hope and then that hope is extinguished, you won't even have the energy to look for a chance to turn things around.
The six people returned to their original spot, dejected.
The warm air felt even more stifling.
"Turn off the air conditioner!" Qiao Siqi shouted, it was unclear who he was addressing, or whether he meant it sincerely or was simply venting.
Song Fei was also in a bad mood and retorted without holding back: "You may not be afraid of the cold, but others are. The earth doesn't revolve around you alone."
Qiao Siqi was already irritable, and this retort made him lose control and blurt out a curse: "*!"
"Holy crap, who are you sending this to? Send it again... Damn! What the hell?!" Song Fei was about to engage in a verbal battle with Johns and display the might of Chinese cursing when a cold object suddenly poked his cheek, making him shiver and almost slip out of his mouth.
Turning around, I saw it was an old-fashioned popsicle in Qi Yan's hand.
Luckily, it was still in its packaging; otherwise, Song Fei couldn't even imagine the intense sensation of ice shards hitting his face directly. Perhaps only Sixgod could rival it.
"Where did you get this?" Song Fei asked as she took it and tore open the packaging.
"The freezer over there." Qi Yan gave the remaining four sticks to her companions, and then opened the last one and put it in her mouth.
The icy touch is a nightmare for the cheeks, but a sweet taste for the warm, stuffy tip of the tongue.
The irritability seemed to gradually cool down in the slight chill.
"Um, cough," Qiao Siqi took a big bite of his popsicle and turned his face away somewhat awkwardly, "If we're eating popsicles, we don't really need to turn off the air conditioning."
Song Fei raised an eyebrow with ill intent and said sarcastically, "That won't do, it'll be too hot. What if our Xiao Qiao gets sick from the heat?"
Qiao Siqi was speechless, and turned to face Song with resentment: "I've never seen anyone as petty as you!"
"Tch," Song Fei raised his chin and pointed at Qi Yan, "Ask him."
Qiao Siqi looked at Qi Yan, puzzled.
The latter shrugged sincerely: "I've never seen it either."
Joss threw his popsicle in a rage. Who the hell wants to find fellow sufferers?!
The scene of five male classmates eating popsicles together wasn't exactly pleasant. Lin Dilei had intended to endure it until the end, but she overestimated her abilities and had to interrupt midway to divert her attention: "There's no cell phone signal, the landline isn't working, and the internet is down. Does that mean things aren't looking too good outside either?"
Yes or no?
Of course.
Otherwise, people wouldn't be so depressed, so irritable, and so prone to picking fights that they need popsicles to cool down.
No one wanted to say it out loud; it was a fear of avoiding treatment and a self-deception of burying one's head in the sand.
"It doesn't matter whether I'm optimistic or not, I just want to know how things are outside. Even if it's bad news, just give me some." Zhou Yilu sat down helplessly, expressing everyone's feelings.
They can convince themselves not to be afraid and to face the zombies head-on.
They can endure harsh conditions, even when they lack food and clothing.
But they couldn't bear being completely cut off from the outside world. Like a small boat without power or direction, drifting aimlessly on a vast, uncertain sea, with no idea when it would end or where the shore would be. That feeling would drive a person mad.
"But there's still electricity, there's still water," Lin Dilei answered herself when no reply came. "Does that mean… it's not entirely hopeless?"
Yes or no?
Of course.
"And there's still smog." Luo Geng finally found an opportunity to offer the goddess a different kind of encouragement. "The presence of smog means there's still human activity, and it's even very likely that some industrial activities are still operating normally. The fact that the water and electricity haven't been cut off also shows that the city's related facilities are being protected!"
Qiao Siqi looked at Zhou Yilu with a puzzled expression, his eyes flickering. Why did he feel like he had heard this before?
Zhou Yilu raised an eyebrow at Song Fei, "Hey, man, do you want to claim copyright?"
Song Fei looked at Qi Yan pleadingly. Old Luo's first love was not easy. He was already two centimeters shorter than the girl, so he had to show off in the field of talent!
Qi Yan nodded almost imperceptibly, "I understand."
"Now that you mention it, it's true," Lin Dilei smiled at Luo Geng with some surprise. "These are all your deductions?"
Luo Geng swallowed hard: "Mmm."
Lin Dilei shrugged: "I don't believe it."
"puff."
"Hiss."
"Oh."
"Hahahahahahahahahaha—"
Luo Geng: "Song Fei, you're fucking laughing way too much!"
Even with his life hanging by a thread, Luo was still chasing after his goddess, and his actions greatly inspired his friends. As the saying goes, things will work themselves out; if they didn't try because they couldn't see hope, they wouldn't be here, but already trapped in their dorm rooms.
The revitalized group quickly divided the work, taking inventory of everything edible and usable in the supermarket, and finally sat down together to summarize everything.
Qiao Siqi, in charge of inventorying the food, exclaimed, "This is truly a feast for the senses! I doubt we can finish all this before we get rescue. Just listen to this incredible variety: puffed snacks, bread and biscuits, instant noodles and vermicelli, sausages and pickles, eight-treasure porridge, canned meat, canned fish, canned fruit, sunflower seeds, peanuts, dried tofu, beef jerky, shredded squid, duck feet, spicy strips, chocolate, jelly..."
The person in charge of compiling the information: "Stop—"
Qiao Siqi: "Why?"
The other four said, "Because we're already hungry from listening."
Besides food, there were two long rows full of drinks, all kinds of beverages and mineral water, a dazzling array, plus honey, soy milk, lotus root starch, and more—if you can think of it, you can eat it. And this was just the sales area. As for the warehouse, although they took the key from the accountant's drawer and opened it, all they could see were layers upon layers of cardboard boxes, making it difficult to take stock immediately.
In contrast, the tool area is rather barren.
Zhou Yilu: "Five folding fruit knives, five screwdrivers, four household scissors, ten utility knives, six small utility scissors, and a box of pencil sharpeners."
Song Fei: "There's no need to count the pencil sharpeners..." How big would they have to be to fit a zombie's head inside?
Qiao Siqi was somewhat disappointed: "No kitchen knife?"
Luo Geng was speechless: "Do you think the school will let you chop vegetables and cut melons in the dormitory?"
Lin Dilei wrote all of this down on paper, put down her pen, and summarized: "These are the only visual weapons we have right now, but we can also make use of many things that aren't weapons, like DIY. For example, Molotov cocktails—just put alcohol in a glass bottle, plug the opening, and tie it with a strip of cloth, and you're done. It's a pity our school supermarket doesn't sell alcohol, but following this line of thinking, we're sure we can come up with other better ideas."
Lin Dilei's eyes were bright and alert.
The four men lowered their heads in shame.
"Little landmine… Sister," Qi Yan felt she still needed to add a respectful title, "I've also taught you the other tricks, like the Molotov cocktail, which are really beyond our capabilities."
The little landmine pouted, its disappointed gaze searching back and forth across its comrades' faces—
Lin Dilei: "Didn't you hide such a sharp sushi knife in your dorm room?!"
Zhou Yilu: "I swear to God, it's all just for making sushi. I admit, I'm a bit bourgeois..."
Lin Dilei: "Your military dagger is a controlled weapon!"
Luogeng: "High-quality replica, purely for collectors..."
Lin Dilei: "You even have a Swiss Army knife!"
Qiao Siqi: "Other people's..."
Lin Dilei: "Your fan... no, your chopsticks... never mind, forget I asked."
Song Fei: "..."
You should ask him, I'm a man too!
In the enclosed environment, time seemed to lose its distinctness. It was dry and warm, and gradually, everyone felt drowsy. Song Fei and the others hadn't slept a wink last night, and Lin Dilei probably hadn't really rested in the washroom for the past few days. The temporary safety they now enjoyed allowed the exhaustion, suppressed by fear, to wash over them completely.
"Let's take a break. We've been working on this for so long, our heads are spinning. We'll think about it again when we're awake, maybe we'll be more alert then." Qi Yan brought over a few more packs of quilts, which looked like all the stock on the shelf. She opened the packages and laid them out one by one, which was quite a sight.
Josh went and got six pillows, some big, some small, some made of cotton, some of buckwheat, and distributed them to everyone.
The floor wasn't so cold anymore with the quilts on it, but the quilts had all become mattresses, so we could only use sheets as covers. Luckily, there were plenty of four-piece gift sets, and the six friends followed their hearts and chose from floral, checkered, cartoon, or solid color designs, unpacking them with great gusto and style.
"I've discovered it, this thing is free and looks just right." Qiao Siqi covered himself with the cartoon bed sheet, feeling a sense of contentment.
Song Fei was also eager to embrace her own floral print, but alas, nature calls.
"Where are you going?" Qi Yan asked instinctively when he saw Song Fei getting up and walking towards the back instead of sleeping.
"Going to the toilet." Song Fei waved his hand with his back to him.
Qi Yan was a little annoyed at her for asking such a pointless question, and awkwardly lay down.
The supermarket's restrooms are located in the office area and are only for employee use, so they are not spacious and are not separated by gender; there are only three stalls in a row when you walk in.
Song Fei had been studying here for almost a year and a half, but this was the first time he had used this toilet. The stalls could separate people, but they couldn't block out noise. Song Fei walked into the first stall closest to the door, and while unzipping his pants, he was lost in thought. He imagined that if the girl next to him was a female classmate, both of them would probably feel a lot of pressure.
Feeling completely refreshed after relieving himself, Song Fei couldn't help but whistle as he fastened his pants.
He was playing Qi Yan's favorite song, "Studying." Qi Yan had forced him to listen to this song until he was sick of it, so the more Qi Yan liked it, the more he hated it. He hated it so much that when Qi Yan went to lure zombies, he was the first to suggest using this song—he couldn't be the only one to get hurt; it would be good to take a few zombies down with him.
However, human memory has inertia. Despite the hatred, the whistling he unconsciously blew returned to that nightmarish melody. Song Fei also wanted to shed a tear of sympathy for himself.
"I love spicy food~ green spicy food~ green spicy food~~~ I love spicy food~ green spicy food~ red spicy food~~~ You should study hard in school~~ You must go to university in the future~~ Going to university means you'll get a job~~ With a job, you'll have a good life..."
The sudden sound startled Song Fei. It wasn't his whistling anymore; it was the original song, and the cheerful melody created an eerie effect in the cramped toilet space.
Song Fei slammed her hand on the partition in annoyance, reminding the source of the noise next door: "Qi Yan, turn it off right now!"
There was no sound from next door, only a high-pitched, almost shrill melody that kept looping.
Song Fei rolled her eyes, flung open the door, went to the second cubicle, and kicked it: "Are you deliberately trying to disgust me?!"
The door wasn't locked, and with a loud bang, it swung open.
Song Fei stood there, frozen, his blood running cold.
Cold air was whistling in through the ventilation window above the cubicle.
The zombie that was sitting on the toilet under the window has let go of the phone and pounced at lightning speed!
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you while you were using the bathroom or playing on your phone, help me!!!"