Zombie Siege: The Road to Survival Begins at School - Chapter 18

Zhang Wei had never actually planned to eat a cat. If anything, what he missed was the dog meat hot pot he’d once had during a freezing winter.

After the apocalypse, even having food was a luxury.

Without proper seasoning, the two packs of salt he’d bought were already considered gourmet level.

In his memories from his past life, salt had become a luxury item.

Once all the supermarkets and malls were looted during the first few months of the outbreak, it became nearly impossible to find anything edible in the city.

Zhang Wei wanted to scavenge as much as possible and turn the entire dorm building into a base.

Adapt to survive—that was the principle.

The three of them continued searching the remaining dorms. The rooms that had nothing left worth taking were shut, while those that still had useful items like quilts and down jackets were specially marked.

Once winter came, those supplies would be essential.

In the year or two after the world fell apart, a lot of things could be used for barter.

Money was worth less than toilet paper—even the latter was sometimes considered too rough to use.

That was why Zhang Wei had spent all his money in the beginning to stock up on survival supplies.

When they tried to open the door to Room 608, Zhang Wei sensed something was off.

Something was bracing the door from the inside—just like how he had done with his own room, 511.

Knock knock knock… Zhang Wei tapped on the door three times using the back of his hand. The sound was dull enough to be heard inside but not loud enough to attract anything—or anyone—outside.

Creak… The door opened just a crack.

A pale, skinny guy with dark circles under his eyes peeked out.

Zhang Wei noted that this guy wasn’t very cautious. If it were him, there’s no way he’d have opened the door.

The guy glanced around warily, and when he saw three unfamiliar boys standing outside, he immediately tried to shut the door.

But Zhou An jammed his hand gripper into the gap, stopping it from closing.

Zhou An might seem dopey, but he had his moments of cleverness.

Without waiting for permission, Zhang Wei pushed his way inside, and the other two followed.

He looked around the dorm and noticed cigarette butts scattered all over the floor.

So this guy was a smoker.

Must’ve been one of those troublemaker types. The school had a strict no-smoking policy.

Even someone like Xu Long would sneak off to the bathroom when he needed a smoke.

“You survived just by smoking?” Zhang Wei couldn’t help but ask.

The guy didn’t seem like he had prepped food in advance. After all, school let out right after the final exams.

If he still had enough energy to open the door, he must’ve eaten something.

“Grapefruit. I survived on one grapefruit,” the guy with panda eyes replied. “I’ve seen you before. You’re from the fifth floor…”

“Oh? Where did you see me?” Zhang Wei didn’t recall him at all.

“In the men’s restroom in the classroom building. You were being bullied by Xu Long… uh…” the guy trailed off when he noticed the watermelon knife in Zhang Wei’s hand.

“Xu Long bullying me… that’s in the past now. I never wanted to stir up trouble. I just wanted to quietly finish high school like my grandma wanted,” Zhang Wei murmured to himself.

If Xu Long tried anything again now—

Then he’d show him what it meant to go in with a white blade and come out with a red one.

“What happened to the rest of the grapefruit?” Lu Renjia had been searching the room but found nothing edible.

At a time like this, even the thought of fruit was a powerful temptation.

“I finished it two days ago…”

“Not even a tiny bit left?” Lu Renjia didn’t buy it.

“Nope. Even ate the peel,” the panda-eyed guy said.

“Geez, you really are a reincarnated starving ghost,” Zhou An said in disbelief.

“Don’t underestimate how desperate someone gets for food when they’re on the brink,” Zhang Wei said, stopping Zhou An from mocking the guy further.

“What’s your name?” Zhang Wei was scanning the dorm while he spoke. He noticed that this guy had smartly painted the windows black with ink—there were some split brushes and an empty ink bottle lying nearby.

That kept the zombies from noticing him, but it could also attract other survivors.

Still, the guy had opened the door anyway—not realizing how dangerous other people could be.

But for now, the world hadn’t completely collapsed yet. The law still held some weight.

“I’m Zhao Zhenxiong.”

“Alright, then we’ll just call you Panda,” Zhang Wei said, pulling out a small pack of dried sweet potatoes and handing a handful to him.

Zhao Zhenxiong took them gratefully and started devouring them.

“I haven’t eaten in days,” he explained.

But Zhang Wei noticed that his lips weren’t that dry and cracked, so he asked, “Where did you get your water?”

“Uh…” Zhao hesitated.

Zhang Wei walked into his bathroom and turned on the tap—nothing came out.

Then he checked the balcony and found a bucket in the corner with some clothes soaking in it.

“On the morning of the exam, I filled that bucket to soak my laundry. I planned to wash them after the test. But then… everything happened,” Zhao said, his voice still shaken.

“Good thing I had just run out of detergent. Otherwise the water would’ve been too soapy to drink… I’ve been surviving off that laundry water for four or five days now.”

“Smart move. That water’s cleaner than anything outside—and probably better than drinking piss,” Zhang Wei said. In his past life, he’d survived by drinking his own urine before.

Zhou An handed over the half-finished bottle of water he’d been holding. Zhao took it with a grateful “thanks.”

“Here, take some spicy sticks too,” Zhang Wei offered, pulling a pack of spicy snacks from his backpack.

Zhao scarfed them down, his mouth burning as he panted for breath.

“Are you the only one on this floor who survived?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t gone out since I got back to the dorm. But I did peek out the window sometimes… I saw a lot of people get torn apart. Until I see real rescue coming, I’m not going out. I was half-asleep just now and thought the knock might be the rescue team—so I opened the door.”

“You know, even if you didn’t open it, we could’ve come in. As long as the door wasn’t locked,” Zhang Wei said, holding up a key labeled 602.

He looked around and realized that what had been bracing the door earlier was just a computer desk.

“You have keys to all the rooms on the sixth floor?” Zhao was shocked.

“Yep. I can open every door on this floor. Got any suggestions?”

“Do you have the key to Room 612?”

“Of course.” Zhang Wei found it and held it up.

“That’s great! There’s food in there!” Zhao said, almost trembling with excitement.

The whole group was instantly hyped—nothing was more exciting now than the prospect of food.

They rushed to Room 612 and opened the door.

“This is the food you meant?” Zhang Wei asked, pointing at the large bags of dog food on the floor.