Chapter 25: Sweeping the Building (1)
On the seventh day, just as dawn broke, Lu Weiyi woke up. After eating breakfast, he sat on the sofa waiting for Zhuang Mingxu to arrive.
The moment the door was knocked, Lu Weiyi jumped up and quickly walked to the door. He quickly pulled it open, then froze, frowning.
Several strong men stood crowded at the door. Some looked sturdy and fierce in security uniforms, while others were fat and sluggish, seemingly unable to move easily. Each of them held various weapons, some a kitchen knife, some even just a metal table leg. What they had in common was the bits of red and white bloodstains on them. Lu Weiyi could recognize at a glance that it was the product of headshots. Several large bags or backpacks were placed in the corridor, with some food faintly visible inside.
Such a group appearing at the door looked a bit like a robbery.
“Hello, we are residents of this community,” a man in his thirties said with a smile, taking the initiative to speak. His fat cheeks and squinting eyes easily lowered vigilance. He sized Lu Weiyi up and down, recognizing him as the teenager who had single-handedly killed several zombies in the community yesterday. He said friendly, “My name is Liu Jie, I live in Building 4. What’s your name, young man?”.
“What is it?” Lu Weiyi looked at the group warily.
Liu Jie’s smile didn’t change. “Little brother, you’ve seen it too, the world outside is chaotic. There are man-eating zombies, and if you get hurt, you’ll be assimilated into one. The residents of our community are discussing checking each floor to see if there are any infected people, and while we’re at it, clear out the zombies on each floor and temporarily close off the community. That way it’ll be safer, right? Look…”
At this early stage, zombification wasn’t complete yet, so clearing the community now was basically useless.
In his previous life, someone had also come to say they wanted to clear the community together. Zhuang Mingxu went at that time, and Lu Weiyi didn’t know if this was the same person leading. But he still had to stay in the community for a while and didn’t want to fall out with them for the time being. Besides, he was planning to look for bead cores anyway, and it was the same no matter where he killed zombies.
“Okay.”
Liu Jie’s eyes darted towards the house, but before he could ask if there were any other people inside, Lu Weiyi had already agreed, and the unsaid words were directly blocked in his throat.
“Wait a moment.” Lu Weiyi picked up his watermelon knife, quickly scribbled a note, and stuck it on the door. “Let’s go.”
Liu Jie looked at the simple “Going out for a bit” and the date and time below, and asked tentatively, “What’s your name, little brother? Are you waiting for someone?”
“Lu Weiyi, and yes, I’m waiting for someone.” After saying that, Lu Weiyi took two quick steps, stopping him from trying to get closer, and caught up with a tall, sturdy man who seemed to be in charge. “Where are we going?”
The tall, sturdy man had a half-smile on his face, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a triangular knife. He looked casual, but every move had a unique rhythm, as if he had been specially trained. He glanced at Lu Weiyi and replied, “Upstairs.”
Lu Weiyi nodded and continued to look at the man.
The man noticed his gaze, turned his head to look at him, his half-smiling face like wearing a mask, not changing its curve for a long time, as if deliberately not intending to continue speaking.
Waiting for him to continue explaining, Lu Weiyi didn’t know what to say for a moment. The man seemed very happy, narrowing his eyes as if waiting for him to ask again.
The two seemed to be silently competing. If you didn’t ask, I wouldn’t speak; if you didn’t speak, I wouldn’t ask. In the end, Lu Weiyi couldn’t help but look at the people on the side, asking them to explain. The man seemed to have won, chuckled softly, and walked towards the stairwell.
Several of them were residents of Buildings 1 to 5. They had been gathered since yesterday afternoon to clear zombies according to the building order. They were divided into two groups and had already cleared the first five buildings. Every household had to send one person to join, otherwise they would be driven out.
Lu Weiyi raised an eyebrow, looking around at the expressions of the people. Many looked resentful, obviously unwilling to go out, but they probably had to come out due to some threat. Following their gazes, he saw the nonchalant man walking at the front, not hurrying at all. It seemed they were not strong enough and had to obey.
In the early days of the apocalypse, people who dared to have such thoughts were either low-level thugs who were ignorant and fearless, thinking of becoming a local tyrant at the slightest sign of chaos, or they had both background and strength.
It should be known that the housing prices in this community were among the highest in Wutong City. The people living here were either rich or powerful. Society hadn’t completely fallen apart yet, and they dared to force the residents here. Either they hadn’t considered how to deal with retaliation when things stabilized one day, or they simply weren’t afraid of these people’s retaliation.
Lu Weiyi wasn’t sure and didn’t care either.
