Unknowingly, the instant noodles were finished, and the time had passed 10 o'clock. Lin Yuan stretched his neck, which was sore from maintaining the same posture for a long time.
"I've been watching for so long and haven't found any useful information. Forget it, I'll just chat with my family and go to sleep. I have to work tomorrow!"
Saying that, Lin Yuan turned off the computer, wiped the bowl clean with waste paper, and put it on the table. Although the paper at home was newly bought, and there were still 12 rolls, it was better to use it sparingly. Not having paper to wipe your butt is the unhappiest thing in the world.
22:03
Lin Yuan: "Dad, is your fence finished?"
22:06
Lin's Dad: "Just finished. Your mom is still cooking. Your uncle is guarding the door with me. He still has a little granddaughter alive, only 8 years old. This child is quite sensible and didn't cry out along the way."
22:07
Lin Yuan: "Sigh, how many people are left in our village?"
22:07
Lin's Dad: "I'm not sure. Among the few households near ours, only your uncle and his granddaughter are left. The others have all turned into zombies. My uncle and I took down two with steel forks. The rest were blocked by the embankment and couldn't climb up. They don't seem to be able to climb with their hands, only pile up like a human tower, but there weren't enough of them. They didn't form one."
Lin's Dad: "How are you at home? Do you have enough food and drinks?"
22:09
Lin Yuan: "Enough, enough. If I'm frugal, I can last for a month and a half. I just don't know when the power and water will be cut off. The weather is like this, so cooked dishes won't last long. I plan to dry the meat in the refrigerator into jerky tomorrow."
22:11
Lin's Dad: "How can you dry it without an oven? Use a hairdryer?"
22:12
Lin Yuan: "I can blow it with a fan and sunbathe it. It should last longer. I'll check if I can get onto the rooftop in a couple of days."
22:12
Lin's Dad: "You should be able to. The rooftop is public. Some people grow vegetables, and some grow strawberries. They gave us some to eat. The rooftop door is often open."
Lin Yuan had been away at university for a long time and didn't come back often. He only knew that people grew vegetables on the rooftop, but now he knew that some people grew strawberries. It was probably done by the elderly in the community who raised flowers and vegetables when they were bored.
22:13
Lin Yuan: "Alright then, I'll play for a bit longer and then go to sleep. You guys be careful. Today really messed with my head."
22:15
Lin's Dad: "Who isn't? When I was killing zombies today, I felt a little uncomfortable. I'm really letting down my old squad leader. You must be careful when you go out. Also, these zombies' eyesight seems to recover a bit at night, and they can detect our activities. You must be careful. I only realized this now and am not very sure. I observed for a while before waking up."
Their eyesight recovers at night?
Lin Yuan scratched his head and sighed.
The survival difficulty increased by one.
22:16
Lin Yuan: "Understood, I will be careful. You guys rest well and be safe."
22:18
Lin's Dad: "Okay, remember to answer the phone tomorrow morning. Your mom misses you a bit."
After Lin Yuan agreed, he sat on the bed and thought for a while. Finally, he sighed again. He had sighed more times today than in his entire life.
He missed his parents too, but being able to contact them now was already a stroke of luck. He had to live well. As long as he lived, there would be a day to meet them. Only by living could he meet them.
He patted his face to cheer himself up and informed the people on his list who were still alive about the changes in the zombies at night.
Wang Xiaoxin replied the fastest.
22:32
Wang Xiaoxin: "Old Lin, what you said seems true. The wandering zombies outside seem to have red eyes. I magnified it with my phone camera."
Lin Yuan took a look and was also a bit confused. He walked to the window and looked, but couldn't see any red light, possibly because the distance was too far. He could only see distorted shadows.
He didn't dwell on these issues. Whatever it was, the national biological research group would figure it out.
22:35
Lin Yuan: "I just looked. The ones wandering on the street don't have red eyes either. It's too dark to see clearly. It's better to be careful. My dad's observation is probably correct."
Lin Yuan: "Have you sorted out your things yet? Is the water boiled?"
22:37
Wang Xiaoxin: "Uh, it's possible my camera had red-eye, hahaha. I haven't gone out yet, so I won't bother."
Wang Xiaoxin: "I've almost sorted everything out. My outdoor equipment isn't done yet. I'll observe for a day or two before deciding whether to go out, because there's one right outside my door. I'm quite scared. I can only pray it falls down the stairs by itself."
Wang Xiaoxin: "The water is all filled. The plates and two bowls are not filled, they are kept for dishes and eating. There is also a bucket, which is for collecting water."
What the heck, there's one outside Old Wang's door?
He knew that Wang Xiaoxin's living situation was different from theirs. In their building, the elevator was in the middle of each floor, with stairs on both sides. However, the corridors were sealed. You couldn't see from the outside, and only knew it was a staircase from the inside. The housing was on both sides of the staircase entrance. The housing on both sides faced the corridor.
In Lin Yuan's community, the elevator on each floor was on the sides, and the stairs were in the middle. Although the stairs had no light, the corridors had light. They were only half sealed, and a small part of this half was stainless steel railings.
Moreover, Wang Xiaoxin's building was not like his. The corridor lights were voice-activated, meaning it was difficult to ambush.
For a moment, Lin Yuan didn't know how to respond.
He considered carefully.
22:40
Lin Yuan: "Why don't you set a trap? Like, wrap a rope around the door, put some heavy objects to hold it shut, and then wedge something in the door crack, leaving a gap just big enough for a head. When that thing rushes over, it won't be able to grab you immediately. Then you can hit its head hard. Do you have any weapons at home?"
22:41
Wang Xiaoxin: "I understand what you're saying, but I can't adapt to it so quickly. I haven't even killed many chickens. How can you expect me to do it? And it's not certain I'll hit it, and even if I hit it, I might not kill it. At home, besides a boning knife and a hammer, I only have a small shovel, which my mom uses for digging and planting flowers."
That's right!
Lin Yuan also realized that it wasn't just Wang Xiaoxin, but even himself. He hadn't even killed a chicken, and up until now, it was just empty talk from reading too many novels. If it came down to it, he might not be as calm as Wang Xiaoxin.
22:43
Lin Yuan: "You make a good point. We are only talking theoretically now. No one can predict what will actually happen. Then you should try to research methods for making traps and diagrams for homemade weapons in the next day or two. I'll have to do some research too. Be careful."
22:44
Wang Xiaoxin: "Okay, I'll go research some materials and make a plan. The terrain in Yuzhou is complex, and the civil defense base that was activated is very far from me. It's likely I'll have to save myself for a long time. You be careful too."
The two didn't chat much longer and turned off their phones. As for the others on the list, they had already chatted with the familiar ones, and reminded the unfamiliar ones. Wasting more time was meaningless.
He ran to the door and looked through the peephole at the corridor. In the moonlight, there was nothing. In the dark places, it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. Lin Yuan locked the door from the inside and knocked on it. Instantly, the voice-activated lights turned on, and the entire corridor was still empty.
After locking the door, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know if there were any on the five floors above his, there were none on his floor.
His range of activity increased a bit.
As he was about to return to the bedroom, he suddenly stopped. Feeling uneasy, he went back and slowly piled the dining table and chairs in front of the door. His door opened outwards, so he could climb over the table to open the door and go out, which was not too inconvenient.
The solid wood dining table was very heavy. To prevent it from scratching the floor and making harsh noises, he deliberately placed small cloths soaked in dish soap at all four corners and tied them slightly with cotton thread, which made it a bit easier to move.
After doing all this, Lin Yuan returned to the bedroom. Before leaving, he checked if the water and electricity were turned off. His sense of safety suddenly became extremely clear.
He lay by the bedroom window, looking outside. The mosquito repellent on the windowsill was still emitting a somewhat pungent scent, mixed with the occasional smell of burnt things and blood in the air. The smell was very strange.
In the building next to his, only one unit had a dim light on, also on the 11th floor, just like his. He wasn't sure about his own building. In a building diagonally opposite, a few floors had corridor lights on, but they went out shortly after. Other than that, no other lights were on. On the street opposite, there were sporadic lights. He didn't know if there were still living people inside. He couldn't see clearly in the commercial center within the moat, and couldn't distinguish whether they were house lights or streetlights.
He lit mosquito coils and sprayed some floral water.
Lin Yuan lay on the bed, covered his stomach with the quilt, and fell asleep with his mind full of chaotic thoughts.