The zombie that crawled across the tabletop didn't choose Zhou Yilu, but went straight for Qiao Siqi. The latter trembled all over when the zombie stared at him, and almost reflexively drew his longest-time and most reliable partner—a Swiss Army knife—and started wildly swinging it in the air.
The zombie seemed to have been caught off guard by its prey's sudden madness. Whether it was a lingering nerve in its body or a biological instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm, its attack hesitated for half a second.
Just half a second!
— Clang.
Qiao successfully threw the Swiss Army knife to the ground.
The zombies had completely figured out the prey's strength and pounced like tigers!
Without his weapon, Qiao Siqi panicked and ran to a corner. Seeing that there was no way out, he finally broke out in his desperate situation, bent down and grabbed the trunk of the dead money tree in the flowerpot, and pulled it out with all his might!
The money tree was tall and imposing, with a trunk as thick as an adult man's arm. Qiao Siqi used all his strength but couldn't pull it out!
The zombies were closing in on the corner. Qiao Siqi was frantic. He gritted his teeth and stamped his foot: "Hoo-ha—"
With a loud shout, Johns finally straightened his back, and the money tree sprang up, its roots swinging towards the zombie!
Bang!
A heavy, dull thud—the blow had struck the zombie squarely in the head!
Whoosh!
The flowerpot shattered into countless porcelain shards upon impact.
Just as Lu Zhishen uprooted a willow tree in ancient times, Qiao Siqi swung a tree with a flowerpot in it.
Teacher Wang collapsed to the ground with a thud, motionless. Dark red blood flowed from his ruptured head, staining the marble floor.
Zhou Yilu had been trying to attack from behind to help his comrade the whole time, but he couldn't find an opportunity. His comrade had already taken care of the zombie single-handedly. Just as he was about to praise him, he noticed that his comrade still seemed to be in combat mode, and was still swinging the money tree wildly at the back of the head of the zombie lying on the ground.
Without the flowerpot, only clumps of soil remained at the base of the money tree. When it was smashed, the soil shattered, sending sand and stones flying everywhere. Zhou Yilu was about to speak up to stop it when he got a mouthful of dirt. After spitting it out with great difficulty, it got into his eyes again, leaving him utterly desperate.
Finally, Qiao Siqi, having had his fill of smashing, regained some of his senses and noticed his comrade squatting by the water dispenser washing his eyes. Looking down at his "weapon," he understood everything and was immediately filled with remorse: "Hey, are you alright...?"
Zhou Yilu wiped his face one last time, turned around, and said with gentleness and tolerance, "It's nothing."
Qiao Siqi looked at his comrade's eyes, which were as red as a rabbit's, and his face twitched awkwardly: "It doesn't look like it...."
Zhou Yilu smiled, his tone becoming increasingly gentle: "Then come here and let me stab you."
"…" Qiao Siqi took a half step back. "Uh, what did you just say?"
Zhou Yilu rolled her eyes at him: "I said come here and let me stab you."
Josh shook his head: "No, before that."
Zhou Yilu frowned, recalling for a moment: "Nothing?"
Qiao Siqi nodded vigorously: "I've decided to believe you."
Zhou Yilu: "..."
[Thump.]
Zhou Yilu: "What's that sound?"
Josh: "Huh? No."
Zhou Yilu: "Oh, never mind."
Qiao Siqi: "What? Why are you so jumpy?"
Zhou Yilu: "You wouldn't understand even if I explained."
From the moment this guy risked his life to come to Luban Tower to be with him, the gears of their fate began to turn. However, they didn't seem to mesh very well.
[Thump.]
[Crunch.]
[Thump thump.]
No, it didn't even bite together!
Qiao Siqi collapsed to the ground, finally managing to throw away the money tree. Zhou Yilu hesitated for a long time, but then hardened his heart and delivered another blow to the corpse's head. However, this was his familiar teacher, and Zhou Yilu's first blow missed, but he managed to land the second.
Afterwards, Zhou Lu dragged the zombie under the dean's desk and blocked it with a chair, thus providing a temporary resting place for the corpse and preventing him and Qiao Siqi from constantly facing bloodshed and tragedy.
While pulling out the corpse, Zhou Yilu accidentally discovered bite marks on the zombie's wrist and realized that Teacher Wang had probably escaped here while fighting with the zombie, but had been infected and eventually the virus took effect, trapping him here.
While Zhou Lu was settling the body, Qiao Siqi, having finally regained his senses, got up and went to the light switch, pressing it a few times on a whim.
Sure enough, no call came in.
Upon hearing the sound, Zhou Lu looked up and, seeing the situation, was speechless: "What kind of time is this? You still expect someone to repair the circuit?"
Qiao Siqi pouted, but he was still not completely resigned: "What if the power outage was caused by one of our surviving classmates, like us, for the convenience of fighting or something, and then they turned the switch back on after they were done!"
"..."
"It's not impossible, is it?"
"Let us pray that this battle, which has lasted for more than two hours, will end soon and that the surviving students will emerge victorious."
Too lazy to continue the pointless conversation with Qiao Siqi, Zhou Yilu got up, opened the office window, and peered out to check the surroundings and the environment below. After a moment, he suddenly shouted, "Song Fei—"
Zhou Yilu shouted with all his might, and even the starry sky seemed to tremble in response.
Long, long afterward, the last faint echo finally dissipated completely on the distant horizon, the ripped night returned to tranquility, and the campus was still the same campus.
"No news at all." Qiao Siqi leaned weakly against the wall, summarizing the current situation.
Right now, their greatest wish is to get in touch with their comrades and keep up with the latest news from the radio battle, but obviously, the attempt has failed.
Zhou Yilu was still gazing out the window, as if hoping for a miracle, his lonely figure exuding such desolation.
Qiao Siqi sighed, feeling both sorry for his comrades and himself, and a little annoyed: "Actually, we shouldn't have run here. What if they've already found the radio? We should have run down, or just gone straight back to the canteen."
Zhou Lu turned around, his expression serious and earnest: "We can't go back to the cafeteria."
Qiao Siqi was stunned, puzzled.
Zhou Yilu continued, "The reason we chose this office, besides its safety, is that it faces the only route back to the cafeteria. If they find the radio, we'll definitely spot them on their way back and can then go downstairs to meet them and escort them. If they don't find it, or if they encounter danger, they'll definitely try to send a signal. Even if there's no signal, if we haven't seen them return after two nights, then something's definitely wrong, and the two of us will have to go to the Gewu Building to provide support. In either case, we're required to stay here and be on standby."
"What you're saying is based on the premise that they haven't found a radio yet."
Qiao Siqi doesn't like to use his brain, but that doesn't mean he's slow-witted. On the contrary, he's very quick-witted when he really needs to use it. So when Zhou Yilu explained it, he understood the principle and also discovered the loophole.
He glanced at his phone and said bluntly, "It's been almost three hours since we parted ways. How do you know they haven't succeeded in those three hours? Maybe they've already gotten the radio and are having a good time."
"I'll emphasize this again on behalf of all my comrades: unless you're an ABC, mixing English into Chinese is really annoying. Also," Zhou Yilu raised his eyes and stared at Qiao Siqi, "if you were Song Fei, would you think we went straight back to the cafeteria after luring the enemy?"
Qiao felt aggrieved and reserved about the first part of the accusations. She was upset, but she didn't say anything for the time being because the second part of the problem was obviously more important.
Silence, for a long time.
Qiao Siqi thought about it very seriously.
Zhou Yilu noticed this, so he patiently gave him time to think it over.
Finally, Qiao Siqi broke the silence and slowly said, "If I were Song Fei, I would think those two idiots are still peeking out of some window in Luban Tower, waiting to meet up." At the end, he even rolled his eyes with genuine emotion, as if he could already see Song Fei's hate-inducing face.
Zhou Yilu couldn't help but chuckle and continued, "What if you go back and find that none of the windows are there?"
"Then I'll shout from downstairs." Qiao Siqi had already put on Song Fei's cosplay and blurted it out without thinking.
Zhou Lu shrugged with satisfaction, everything understood without saying a word.
—Having lured the enemy until now, they have not received any message from their comrades to rendezvous, whether through singing, shouting, or any other means. And since they are certain that their comrades will send such a message on their return, the only conclusion is that the revolution has not yet succeeded and their comrades are still working hard.
Having fought side by side until now, Qiao Siqi, like Zhou Yilu, believes that they, as classmates, have developed an unbreakable tacit understanding and trust. But what if something unexpected happens? "What if they called out at some point in the past, and we happened to be somewhere where we couldn't hear them, like in the break room, or in the heat of battle, so we neither showed up nor responded?"
Without hesitation, Zhou Yilu said, "Then I'll rush in and find someone."
Qiao Siqi sighed: "You can, but Song Fei might not."
Zhou Yilu frowned: "You don't have confidence in him?"
Josh: "I'm afraid he doesn't have confidence in your college's buildings."
Zhou Yilu's face darkened: "..."
At this point in the discussion, the two had essentially reached a consensus. Any further rambling was merely a way to pass the time.
"It seems that it's not just Luban Building that's out of power," Zhou Yilu looked out the window again and realized something was wrong. "The streetlights are out too, and it's dark all around Yixin Building and Gewu Building."
Can you be sure?
Qiao Siqi leaned over worriedly, squeezing in with Zhou Yilu to look outside.
The Luban Building, Yixin Building, and Gewu Building are basically in a straight line from west to east. Their windows face the road to the south, so they can only lean out and look to the east.
There was still some distance between the three buildings, so they could only get a general view.
"Hopefully things aren't that bad," Zhou Yilu said quietly, facing the cold wind.
"If there's a real power outage, how will they get up to the twelfth floor?" Just thinking about that scene sent chills down Qiao Siqi's spine.
Zhou Yilu wasn't too worried: "Didn't we also sneak up to the tenth floor in the dark?"
The tragic Lu Ban journey, which had been almost forgotten, has resurfaced. Qiao Siqi sighed in despair, "Then let's wish them to find a cardboard box that can hold six people."
Zhou Yilu had been holding back for a long time against Qiao Siqi's constant attempts to discredit his college building. Just as he was about to lash out, the night wind suddenly carried a few scattered notes into his ears.
Zhou Yilu froze, forgetting everything else, and strained his ears to catch what was happening—
"Companions in the mortal world... carefree... riding a horse... the splendor of human life..."
"Drinking wine...joy...excitement...youth..."
Qiao Siqi had mentally prepared himself for a retort, but the other person suddenly fell silent, making him want to be retorted instead: "Hey..."
"Shh." Zhou Yilu made a shushing gesture.
Seeing his serious expression, Qiao Siqi became unusually obedient.
Unfortunately, Qiao's patience only lasted two minutes.
"What did you hear?"
"It sounds like someone is singing."
What song?
"Uh... damn it, it's right on my lips, but I just can't remember it!"
"What content?"
"That really classic TV series, it aired every summer vacation, it was set in ancient times, and it was about several men going through all sorts of hardships..."
"Oh, Journey to the West!"
"...help the two girls recognize the emperor as their father."
The plot twists too fast, like a tornado.
Qiao Siqi was speechless: "Can't you just say 'Father Emperor'?"
"Oh right, Princess Pearl!"
"Congratulations." Qiao Siqi felt that if he and Zhou Yilu spent a few more days alone together, they would dislike each other to death without even encountering zombies.
Zhou Yilu suddenly understood, and then realized that he had been misled by Qiao Siqi: "The point is not what song they were singing, it's that someone was singing!"
Qiao Siqi swore he couldn't hear anything except the wind, and he wondered if wearing headphones while watching movies had damaged his hearing. But Zhou Yilu wouldn't joke around like this: "Can you tell who it is? Where are they?"
"It sounds like the Gewu Building area. As for the voice," Zhou Yilu frowned, wishing he could fly out an ear and broadcast it live, "it doesn't really sound like Song Fei."
"It doesn't matter who it is," Joschi declared definitively, "the one singing this kind of song is definitely one of ours."
Zhou Yilu looked pleased: "Indeed."
The song, like music falling from the sky, completely reassured the two. Their teammates were still fighting; they hadn't missed anything. The next step was to take turns keeping watch at the window to ensure they could spot their teammates returning immediately and set off to rejoin them.
Taking turns monitoring sounds easy, but it's actually quite tedious. Especially at night, the wind is strong, and after half an hour, it becomes unbearable. The two of them can't wear gas masks all the time; they don't keep them warm and they feel stuffy. So when the wind blows, their faces get cold and their heads get chilly.
Fortunately, Zhao He, who usually has an artistic style, brought a cashmere scarf he had scavenged from a courier station for this trip. So, facing the window, he buttoned up his coat and hat, tied the scarf, and managed to keep warm.
The two took turns every hour. When it was Qiao Siqi's turn, he asked Zhou Lulu for a scarf, but instead of a scarf around his neck and face, he wrapped it around his head, claiming it was to ward off evil winds. The look was quite Indian.
Even so, the man kept complaining of feeling cold every now and then. At first, Zhou Lu was worried, but later he found that the man was getting more and more energetic as he complained, so he became numb to it.
The endless night, the tedious surveillance, both of them were exhausted but unable to sleep. It was like driving at night; the passenger had to be alert and chat with the driver every now and then. If the passenger was yawning or even sleeping like a log, the driver wouldn't be far from falling asleep.
Fatigue is contagious.
Zhou and Qiao could only make small talk to pass the long night.
Zhou Yilu: "Speaking of which, when we were deducing whether our comrades would send us a signal on their way back, why did we all assume that 'you are Song Fei'? Logically speaking, Qi Yan should be the one with the highest overall combat strength. He's smart and skilled. If anyone should be leading a team, it should be Qi Yan."
Qiao Siqi: "There's nothing wrong with Qi Yan leading the team, but Song Fei is leading Qi Yan."
Zhou Yilu: "Sigh, the one who falls in love first or loves more deeply is always the weaker party."
Qiao Siqi: "Student, please tell your story."
Zhou Yilu: "..."
—The conversation ended.
Qiao Siqi: "By the way, in this power outage situation, will our combination locks stop working?"
Zhou Yilu: "What if it didn't work? Were we just opening a fake lock?"
Josh: "Battery?"
Zhou Yilu: "Finally, I'm smart this time. That thing is super energy-efficient; it should last for months without any problems."
Qiao Siqi: "What if a zombie pries out the battery? Would the combination lock then become invalid?!"
Zhou Yilu: "First of all, removing the battery will only keep the door locked. Secondly, if we encounter a zombie with such a mind of its own, I think we can open the door and have a talk about life with each other."
Qiao Siqi: "..."
—The conversation ended again.
Zhou Yilu: "By the way, have you considered getting a new pair of shoes?"
Joschi: "Don't these shoes look good? They're limited edition Jordans!"
Zhou Yilu: "The style is fine, but are you sure this isn't a pair of figure skating skates?"
Qiao Siqi: "..."
—The conversation ended there.
Qiao Siqi: "By the way, what style is your design?"
Zhou Yilu: "What design?"
Qiao Siqi: "You mean that one you crushed earlier, was it for a model assignment?"
Zhou Yilu: "Ahhh, I completely forgot it was my painstakingly crafted work! The teacher hasn't even given it a grade yet!!!"
Qiao Siqi: "Uh, I don't think your teacher would care about this anymore, really."
Zhou Yilu: "The same goes for the CET-4 exam. If I can hand in the paper smoothly, I'm sure I'll pass this time!"
Qiao Siqi: "Uh, I think the examiners probably don't have time right now either, really."
Zhou Yilu: "Why is the path to education so difficult?"
Qiao Siqi: "Why don't you look for the reason within yourself? For example, are you perhaps a little too ambitious?"
Zhou Yilu: "..."
—The conversation ended in its final moments.
For the sake of world peace, the two remained silent for the rest of the night. When they got bored, they would just glance at each other for a moment of comfort.
They persevered in this way until dawn.
Zhou Yilu didn't know if he was too tired or if his comrades in the Gewu Building had entered a new phase of the battle, but in any case, he could no longer hear the singing. Looking into the distance, all he could see was the brilliant sunlight.
Daytime was much better than nighttime. Firstly, the temperature had risen, and even with the windows open, the sunlight felt wonderful. Secondly, the chances of their comrades returning during the day were slim, so their nerves weren't as tense, and they could finally catch up on sleep. Moreover, Zhou Lu had pulled the curtains outside, and on the unfolded fabric, he had carved the letters "Johns" in openwork. In case a comrade suddenly decided to return home during the day, anyone who was thinking of them could see it just by looking up—more effective than SOS.
A calm and peaceful day.
Nothing happened, neither good nor bad, and no one appeared, neither comrades nor alumni.
The two men didn't know whether the entire faculty and department building area was completely devoid of survivors, or whether the survivors were still quietly guarding their unknown strongholds, unwilling to show themselves. In any case, after a whole day of surveillance, they had only one feeling—dead silence.
If it were spring, summer, or autumn, at least there would be flowers, grass, and trees, but now, even the grass and trees are withered.
Qiao Siqi suggested moving some of the pine trees from the south teaching building over, at least to give it some life. Zhou Yilu agreed, saying that once this was over, he could post an appeal on the school forum. Qiao Siqi hesitated for a moment and asked, "After this is over, can we still continue our studies?" Zhou Yilu thought for a moment and said, "Absolutely, we haven't received our graduation certificates and degree certificates yet."
Qiao Siqi was impressed by his comrade's dedication to learning, and after a while, he also gained a strange sense of peace from this dedication.
The dean's office had a private bathroom and a sofa for guests, the happiest thing for the two of them since entering Luban Building. The ample food in their backpacks added another layer of brilliance to this happiness. But people aren't made of iron; while the mind can be infinitely strong, the body cannot. By the second night, Zhou Yilu was still managing, but Qiao Siqi was completely exhausted.
It was Zhou Lu who discovered this.
When Qiao Siqi changed shifts, he was visibly unsteady and pale. Although he didn't say anything, his body language betrayed him. Zhou Yilu pulled him over without a word and touched his forehead. Fortunately, it wasn't too hot.
Qiao Siqi readily admitted, "It's nothing serious, just a bit dizzy, probably from being exposed to the wind."
Zhou Yilu's first reaction was, "You're all bundled up like an Indian guy, how can you still have your hair blowing?" But seeing Johns looking so sickly, he swallowed back the sarcasm he was about to utter. After all, he had been staring out the window for a whole day and night. Let alone blowing air, he must have been eating a lot of drafts. It's understandable that some of the weaker students caught a cold.
"Alright, stop spying on me and go back to the sofa to rest. Oh, and turn the sofa around so it's not facing the wind, so it's sheltered from the wind."
"No way! I can't let you spend the whole night alone!"
"Did I tell you to rest for the night? If you can't hold on any longer, I'll definitely pull you up. Don't worry."
"..."
With a complex mix of warmth and a urge to complain, Qiao returned to the guest sofa, but ultimately didn't move it. She could still see Zhou Yilu's direction as soon as she opened her eyes, so she lay down and curled up.
Looking at Zhou Yilu again, I felt that my comrade's back seemed inexplicably more imposing.
Qiao Siqi's eyelids gradually grew heavy, but he didn't want to sleep. He felt that since he couldn't help with the guard duty, he might as well talk to his comrades: "Zhou Yilu."
"Okay." His comrade didn't turn around, but his tone clearly meant, "Go ahead and say it, I'm listening."
"Do you think we might be the only two living people left in the entire Luban Building?"
"I don't know. Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
"No, I just feel that this feeling is very similar to 'I Am Legend'."
"Movie?"
"Yeah, Will Smith played it. It's about how the whole city is infected and mutated, leaving only him and a German Shepherd. He fights against loneliness while trying to preserve the last hope for humanity. That feeling is so similar to what I'm going through now, I even feel like I am Will Smith!"
"Does that mean I don't have a choice of roles?"
"..."
"Josh?"
"Good night!"
Given that his interactions with Zhou Yilu, whether well-intentioned or not, were always a trap, Qiao Siqi decided to choose a safer way to get along—sleeping.
He just didn't expect that he would sleep until dawn.
To be precise, it was just as a sliver of white appeared on the horizon, a dim, barely luminous dawn.
Through his sleepy eyes, Qiao Siqi saw Zhou Yilu's back as he stood by the window, as resolute and upright as a pine tree on a mountaintop.
His phone was dead, but looking at the sky and assessing his own energy, Qiao Siqi knew roughly how much time it was. He felt instantly guilty and quickly sat up with a sprawling motion. But he jumped too abruptly, and his head started spinning again. Without waiting for a moment, he ran to Zhou Yilu's side and, without asking for his opinion, pulled him back, saying, "Change shifts!"
Zhou Yilu was also completely bewildered by the hype that night. Seeing that Qiao Siqi was in good condition, he readily agreed and stopped being polite to him. He went straight to the place where his comrade had spent the night and rested while the air was still warm.
"Nothing happened during the night?" Qiao Siqi asked quickly before his comrade went to sleep.
"No." Zhou Yilu was so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open, but his mind was still working. "If there's still no movement during the day, the two of us will go to Gewu Building tonight."
"Okay." Qiao Siqi replied crisply.
Thump thump thump—
The thunderous sound of drums suddenly shattered the tranquility of early morning.
Qiao Siqi was stunned.
Zhou Yilu suddenly opened his eyes.
Thump thump thump thump—
Qiao Siqi opened his mouth wide.
Zhou Yilu had already arrived at the window.
The thunderous drumming came suddenly and left without warning.
After a brief silence, the sound of the flute began to wail.
Qiao Siqi and Zhou Yilu exchanged glances, their expressions both indescribable.
"Little Apple?"
"It should be."
"Our comrades?"
Absolutely.