19th Building, 2nd floor.
Mr. Wang looked at the supplies scattered across the floor, the vast room illuminated only by the faint light of a flashlight.
Silence enveloped him, not a sound to be heard, and an overwhelming sense of loneliness washed over him.
Closing the door, Mr. Wang dusted off the sofa, tidied up briefly, then spread out the bedding he had brought with him.
Without even taking off his clothes, he lay down.
The flashlight was turned off, and the entire room instantly plunged into darkness.
“Finally… sigh…” Mr. Wang opened his eyes, his gaze flickering in the darkness.
He thought about how his current predicament was all caused by those people from Xin City; the continuous escape had left him mentally and physically exhausted.
Now reduced to living in such a place, those people were the culprits.
Before long, in the quiet environment, he, who had been on edge, finally succumbed to drowsiness and fell into a deep sleep.
Outside the Safe City, in a dilapidated civilian house, the Toothless Man, after his fortunate escape, clutched his injured arm and returned to the entrance of his temporary residence.
His right arm, having been shot, hung limply like a noodle.
The sky had already darkened.
The Toothless Man released his left hand from his arm, adjusted his emotions, and knocked on the door: three long, two short.
Creeeeak~
The room door opened, and a little girl, less than ten years old, rushed over: “Dad, why are you only coming back now?”
The Toothless Man smiled dotingly, stroked the little girl’s hair, and said, “Tuantuan, Dad went to find food.”
Enduring the pain in his arm, he used his left hand to feel the four soda crackers in his pocket.
After thinking for a moment, he handed one to the little girl.
The little girl, smelling the aroma of the cracker, quickly took it.
Just as she was about to bite into it, she suddenly looked up and said, “You eat first.”
The Toothless Man smiled and said, “I still have some here.”
He pulled out another cracker, thought for a moment, and broke it in half, putting one half back into the bag.
The little girl gently bit into the cracker.
The difficulty of obtaining food made her cherish it immensely.
She took a tiny bite of the small cracker, held it in her mouth, allowing it to slowly expand as it softened in her saliva, and only swallowed it after a while.
She ate the cracker bit by bit, taking tiny mouthfuls, and in the end, the little girl still left a small half.
She wasn't full; such a small piece of cracker certainly wouldn't fill her up, at most it would just tide her over, but she was afraid of running out of food again, so she wanted to save it for when she had nothing left to eat.
Seeing this, the Toothless Man’s heart ached as if it had been cut by a knife: “Eat it all, I still have some here. If you eat that, I’ll give you another one.”
Hearing her father say this, the little girl’s expression was a little conflicted.
“Oh.” The seven- or eight-year-old girl, who had struggled to control her desire to eat it, finally couldn’t resist and ate the last bit of cracker.
In the darkness, the Toothless Man endured the pain, tearing two strips of cloth to bind his injured arm.
It was dark now, and there was no light source, so he couldn't treat the wound; he could only wait until tomorrow.
Given the current situation, he didn't know how to treat this wound; he hoped he could make it through.
He tightened the worn-out cotton quilt, pulling it snugly over his daughter, and the Toothless Man wondered what his daughter would do if he were no longer around.
“This damn apocalypse,” the Toothless Man cursed in his heart.
The next day.
Mr. Wang woke up from his sleep, sunlight spilled onto the floor, reflecting onto his face, and he sat blankly on the sofa.
He was a bit groggy from sleep, but at least he had slept well.
It was the best sleep he had gotten in days.
From the second floor, through the window, he saw very few pedestrians outside.
Yesterday, he had only taken a cursory look.
He was in Zone C, and it seemed there were several more zones behind him.
“I can go take a look,” Mr. Wang thought as he went downstairs, intending to wander around.
As soon as he reached the first floor, he saw a gaunt man opening the door and coming out of the first-floor entrance.
The man had some scars on his face and looked expressionless when he saw Mr. Wang.
Mr. Wang remained calm and walked directly out of the 19th Building.
It was officially December now, Mr. Wang looked at the mechanical watch on his wrist.
It was a bit cold.
He walked a short distance and saw a row of villas.
This might be the bright area he saw yesterday.
A wall separated these villas from the surrounding buildings, giving a sense of strict hierarchy.
Mr. Wang gave a self-deprecating smile, then walked further into the deeper parts behind, as he hadn't seen the situation behind yesterday.
The cold wind whistled, burrowing into people's necks and carrying away body heat.
He walked to Zone D but didn't see anything different.
He arrived at the bottom of a building and saw “Pink Peach Blossoms” written on the wall.
Mr. Wang didn't look closely and then left, as he wasn't very interested in such things.
There were very few people on the road.
In such cold weather, almost no one was out.
Mr. Wang walked around outside for a while and felt there was nothing interesting.
This Safe City was not much different from a typical residential community.
The biggest differences were a taller and more solid wall than ordinary communities, and it was slightly more luxurious.
Within the community, several rivers wound through it, all of which were now frozen over.
Just as he was about to return to the 19th Building, he saw a corpse by the roadside.
The corpse was extremely emaciated, like a mummy.
Nearby were some people who looked like Patrol Team members, dealing with the body.
“Another one starved to death?”
“Yeah. They don’t go out to scavenge for supplies early, insisting on waiting until they have no energy left before going out, damn it.”
“In this cold weather, he probably wanted to go out early in the morning and then fell.”
“First one this month.”
“Yeah, it’s fine, there are always new people coming.”
Listening to the Patrol Team members' conversation, Mr. Wang eavesdropped for a while.
The Patrol Team members didn't guard against him, seemingly completely unconcerned if Mr. Wang heard them.
After all, their job was only to ensure their safety, not to let them fight or rob within the Safe City.
Whether they starved to death due to lack of food was not within their scope of duty.
Mr. Wang returned to the 19th Building, looking at the bright room and the supplies piled on the floor, his eyes flickering.
These supplies could last for a while, but what if they ran out? Even if some were stored outside, simply consuming them was not a long-term solution.
As someone who had been a boss and a base leader, his mindset had always been about how to leverage power, how to reach a certain position, and then let others do the work.
According to the Toothless Man, there were four factions within the Safe City, and they all had some conflicts.
Perhaps, this was his opportunity.
As for the people from Xin City, a trace of resentment flashed in Mr. Wang’s eyes.
He had been reduced to a stray dog.
Those people from Xin City, this grudge, he would settle it sooner or later.
