In February, the light snow also stopped.
The temperature continued to rise, reaching minus twenty degrees Celsius.
At noon, when the sun was strong, it could reach minus ten-something degrees Celsius.
Having grown accustomed to temperatures of over minus forty degrees Celsius, when everyone stepped outside, the wind no longer felt like a knife cutting through them.
Everything seemed to be changing for the better.
Many people died in this blizzard.
Actually, when the apocalypse first broke out, due to its suddenness, only one in ten people survived.
During the subsequent heavy rains, the zombies went wild, causing humanity to face even greater devastation.
During those heavy rains and repeated zombie tides, the human population dropped to the point where only one in a hundred survived.
Later, extreme weather conditions like droughts and blizzards caused many people to die not from zombies, but from starvation.
There were also many riots, conflicts, and human-to-human snatch due to food crises, causing the human population to plummet again.
Xin City.
This small southern city, which once had a population of millions, after enduring numerous hardships over the past year, especially after this blizzard, currently has a total population of less than 6,000 people.
Most people are scattered, in groups of a few or a dozen, distributed across hundreds of towns, deep mountains and old forests, or within cities.
In the new district of Xin City.
Small Commodities Wholesale Market.
Several people, bundled in thick coats, cautiously approached the main entrance here.
However, the entrance was blocked by snow, and the leading man frowned, looking at the snow-covered and sealed door. He called out to the man beside him:
"Wan Nian, get the shovel. This gate is blocked by snow."
Hearing the man call him, the person named Wan Nian took out a shovel from his backpack and handed it to a woman beside him, and together they shoveled away the snow.
The leading man vigilantly looked around, holding a crossbow in his hand.
Dong~
The man named Wan Nian, while shoveling snow, had the tip of his shovel directly hit the iron gate, making a loud noise.
"Keep it down," the leading man, wearing a hat, turned his head and whispered.
Wan Nian pouted and said, "I say, Wang Ge, the zombies are all frozen now, what are you afraid of? Do we need to be this cautious?"
The woman shoveling snow beside him, upon hearing this, scooped up half a shovel of snow and swung it, saying impolitely:
"Caution is the parent of safety, if it weren't for Wang Ge, we would have died long ago. Listening to Wang Ge is never wrong."
Wan Nian said disdainfully, "I say, we've traveled south all this way, through so many places, and we're still alive. What's there to be afraid of?"
The leading man glared at him, his eyes carrying a cold feeling, and Wan Nian's heart trembled slightly.
He then shook the snow off his body, grumbled a few words, but dared not say anything more.
He continued to shovel snow, and in a short while, the snow on the large iron gate was cleared by the two of them.
Wan Nian looked at the rusty iron lock and said, "Wang Ge, it's locked."
Wang Ge glanced at the iron lock, then looked at another man who was holding a long knife and vigilantly watching the surroundings, saying, "Xiao Ma, go open the lock. Quickly."
Xiao Ma, with a buzz cut and no hat, took off his earmuffs and asked, "Wang Ge, what did you say?"
Wang Ge said again, "Go open the lock, your expertise needs to be put to use."
Xiao Ma nodded, "Oh, alright, just watch me."
He stepped forward, Wan Nian and the woman moved aside, and Xiao Ma walked to the big iron gate. He somehow pulled out two thin iron wires from his person.
He slowly inserted them into the large iron lock, holding his breath, and concentrated on moving the wires.
One minute passed.
The lock still hadn't opened.
Wan Nian mocked him with an annoying tone:
"I say, Ma Ge, have you gotten rusty from not using it for so long? This isn't like you. Didn't you used to open locks in just a dozen seconds? Why is it taking so long now?"
Xiao Ma ignored him, his expression subtly shifted, and he said:
"Don't talk. This lock was probably soaked in water before and is a bit rusty. Don't make noise, don't disturb me."
Wan Nian was about to say something more, but Wang Ge stopped him: "Wan Nian, don't talk, hurry up and let Xiao Ma open the door."
His tone was a bit displeased. This Wan Nian, if he hadn't always followed him, though a bit mouthy, he was loyal enough. If not for that, he would have told him to get lost long ago.
Click~
With a faint sound, the large iron lock clunked open and fell to the ground.
"It's open, Wang Ge. Should we go straight in?" Xiao Ma turned and asked.
Wang Ge took a few steps forward and said, "Yes, let's go straight in and see. The door was locked. This place likely hasn't been searched, there might be a lot of supplies inside."
Wan Nian's face lit up with an excited smile when he heard Wang Ge say this, and he said, "Finally, we've found a good spot! Let's go, I'll open the door."
As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped forward and slowly pushed the gate upwards.
Just as the gate was pushed open to one-third of its height, a man ran over from about ten meters away. The man said hurriedly, "Someone's coming."
Wang Ge frowned upon hearing this and whispered, "How many people?"
"Three, two men and one woman."
Wang Ge quickly said, "Wan Nian, put the gate down, we'll hide."
After speaking, he walked towards the pillar next to the main gate.
Behind the pillar were two abandoned vehicles. Wan Nian and the others also didn't waste words and directly followed Wang Ge.
The man walking at the very end cleared the footprints they had just made as he walked.
Soon, they heard the voices of several people approaching.
A voice that sounded very young, with some resentment, said, "Xiao Kui, you're sleeping with me tonight. Da Yong got to yesterday, and it's my turn today. Didn't we agree that I get Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and Da Yong gets Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday? Da Yong had yesterday, so it's my turn today."
Immediately after, a young girl's voice came: "Da Yong gave me a pack of bear biscuits yesterday. You know, I love bear biscuits the most, and you don't give them to me, so why should I sleep with you?"
The man who had just spoken spoke again: "But, but we agreed, didn't we? If we're talking about that, I bought you a car and a house before. Those are much more expensive than bear biscuits."
The girl named Xiao Kui sighed and said, "Yuan Zhong, I know you're good to me. But that was before the zombie outbreak. Look, are cars and houses still useful now? I do have feelings for you, but Da Yong is good to me, and I can't possibly not reciprocate, can I? You're making it difficult for me."
Another man said, "Exactly. If you hadn't met Xiao Kui first, I would have kicked you out long ago. It's only for Xiao Kui's sake that I tolerate your existence."
"What did you say? Do you want to fight? I'm tolerating your existence! I can't stand you!"
"What, afraid of you? Come on. You come over here."
"Nima."
The two people's arguing grew louder and louder, looking like they were about to come to blows.
Xiao Kui, standing between the two, suddenly shouted, "You two stop! We came out to find supplies, not to argue! If you keep this up, I'm really going to get angry!"
The two men sullenly stopped talking. Xiao Kui took both their hands and said:
"Both of you, I love you both so much, you've filled my heart completely. My heart can't hold anyone else. In my heart, you are equally important. Please don't argue anymore, okay? I just hope that the three of us can survive well in this apocalypse."
As she spoke, tears began to well up in Xiao Kui's eyes.
"Xiao Kui."
"Xiao Kui."
The two men looked at the woman in the middle with eyes full of love, feeling guilty for a moment. Xiao Kui was under so much pressure now, caught in the middle she had it the hardest. And now they were making it even more difficult for her.
So Da Yong said, "Yuan Zhong, forget it. For Xiao Kui's sake, let's stick to the rules tonight. You sleep with Xiao Kui tonight."
The man named Yuan Zhong glanced at Xiao Kui, and to show his generosity, he also said:
"It's also because I didn't give Xiao Kui bear biscuits. I can't give her what you can, as long as she's happy. Let's go with Xiao Kui's idea, I'll come tomorrow."
"Tomorrow was already my turn."
"Then the day after tomorrow, okay?" Yuan Zhong's face flushed red as he said.
Suddenly, both men felt their hands being pulled.
It was Xiao Kui. Xiao Kui looked at the two of them affectionately and said, "Actually, the three of us can be together. It's warmer."
The two men exchanged glances, a hint of excitement flashing in their eyes.
This was a good idea.
Less than 20 meters from them, behind the abandoned vehicles next to the pillar.
Five people were hiding.
Xiao Ma lowered his voice and said, "Young people sure know how to have fun."
Wan Nian: "I really want to join their happy family."
The woman next to him looked at him with disdain: "You people, seriously, what time is it, and you're still thinking about that? You won't be satisfied until you're hung on a wall."
Wan Nian: "Heh heh, you're so 'safe' looking, what do you know?"
Woman: "You bastard."
Wang Ge, who was nearby, said, "Don't talk."
The three people in front were getting closer, and Wang Ge and the others peeked at them through the car window.
They had initially thought the girl named Xiao Kui would be very pretty, but she turned out to be a fat woman with a beard, estimated to weigh around 160 jin.
It seemed this woman was truly fortunate; in this apocalypse, she could still be so plump.
After seeing Xiao Kui's appearance, Wan Nian suddenly fell silent, like a wounded puppy.
His eyes held a sense of being insulted.
The woman next to him, seeing this, couldn't help but mock him: "Wan Nian, do you still want to join them?"
Wan Nian: "..."
The three people in front were walking towards their direction. Wang Ge made a throat-slitting gesture to the others beside him, and everyone nodded.
They had developed a tacit understanding on this journey.
They waited for the three people to approach.
Just then, the man named Da Yong in front suddenly discovered something.
He looked at the large iron gate, took two steps forward, and said in horror, "How did the lock on this iron gate open!"
"What!" Yuan Zhong, on the other side, also seemed to remember something important and quickly took a few steps to confirm.
The large iron gate was still there, but the iron lock had disappeared.
There were also traces of snow being shoveled nearby.
