Zombie Siege: The Road to Survival Begins at School - Chapter 41

“What could possibly go wrong?” Pei Wu was puzzled.

“Eating dog meat for five or six days straight shouldn’t be a problem.”

“No, I mean, they haven’t come looking for you all this time—that is a problem.”

“What do you mean?” Pei Wu still didn’t get it.

“They’ve always seen you as their savior, but it’s been six days since you showed up. If you were one of those seven people in that family, wouldn’t you come upstairs to check, or at least try to find the cat?” Zhang Wei patiently explained.

“Yeah, I’d definitely be too anxious to sit still.”

“Exactly. That family must’ve run into trouble,” Zhang Wei speculated.

“Boss, should we go down and take a look?”

“Not sure yet. No rush. Let’s take a proper rest today and go together tomorrow. I just don’t know if the commotion from sliding over from the boys’ dorm earlier tipped them off… Pei Wu, when you were in the bathroom, did you realize we came over from the boys’ dorm?”

“I… I didn’t really notice, but I did hear the same noise as a few days ago. The sound of zombies hitting the ground.”

“Uh, that was a sports student jumping off the building,” Zhou An explained.

“Pretty much the same thing. I figured there was something going on in your dorm, and it sounded like there were other survivors arguing about why there was no water.”

“Oh? So you are the landlady!”

“What landlady?”

“It’s from that line!”

“Ohhh, that’s from a comedy movie I watched! The internet was already down, but the power hadn’t been cut yet in those first three days. I had that movie saved on my laptop. I was bored out of my mind and ended up watching it over and over—at least seven or eight times. I basically memorized all the lines…”

“Oh oh, sou dao si le…” Zhao Zhenxiong chimed in.

Zhang Wei: “What did you say?”

Zhao Zhenxiong replied, “That’s another line from the movie. I’ve got another one too—ya mai die. You ever heard of it?”

“No idea. Never heard of anything like that,” Lu Renjia said, ears turning red.

“Alright then, let’s get some rest tonight. Zhou An, Zhenxiong, and I will stay in Room 317. Lu Renjia, you’ll stay with Hu Die in Room 316. Pei Wu, go back to your own room.”

“Boss, how about I stay with you guys instead?” Lu Renjia said nervously.

“What are you saying? It’s Hu Die’s birthday today. Be a good boyfriend and stay with her,” Zhang Wei said, pulling Lu Renjia aside and slipping something into his hand.

Lu Renjia’s face turned pale. “Boss, I’m still a student!” He looked even more nervous.

“Cherish the present. Who knows? You might die for no reason tomorrow. This is the apocalypse…” Zhang Wei muttered cryptically.

Lu Renjia didn’t argue anymore. He stuffed what Zhang Wei gave him into his pants pocket.

“I’ll save it for later,” he said with a red face, then took Hu Die’s hand and walked into their room.

“Boss, what did you give him?”

“Just chewing gum. You want some too?”

“Yeah, give me one!”

“No can do. I only had ten pieces. One was used for sealing a phone, and I just gave him one. That leaves eight. I’ll give you one when you actually need it.”

“Alright, alright, everyone break it up! Go back to your rooms, go find your mamas!” Zhang Wei waved his hand and headed into Room 317.

Just as he entered, he turned to Lu Renjia and said, “Us three sleep like the dead. We’re wiped out today, so no one’s standing watch tonight.”

“Got it!”

“Boss, you didn’t give him chewing gum, right?” Zhao Zhenxiong leaned in, eyebrows wiggling.

“What do you think?”

“How should I know? You’ve been secretly scavenging all kinds of stuff from the dorm.”

“I actually found something real nice. Want me to give it to you?” Zhang Wei whispered in Zhenxiong’s ear.

“What is it?” Zhenxiong rubbed his hands excitedly.

“Indian herbal oil.”

“You seriously found that kind of thing?” Zhenxiong’s eyes lit up.

“Of course.”

“Let me see!”

Zhang Wei placed his backpack on the bed, rummaged through it, and pulled out a plastic container to hand over.

“What the heck is this? Indian shoe polish?” Zhenxiong pointed at the label, which showed a turbaned Indian man that looked suspiciously like Modi the Mystic.

“Yeah. Did I say anything wrong?”

“But you clearly said… wait, did I mishear?”

“Shoe polish? Let me borrow it to shine my shoes,” Zhou An said, walking over.

“Use it sparingly,” Zhang Wei said, suddenly stingy.

“Why save it? You planning to switch to dress shoes? Those are way worse than sneakers for running—they’ll just get you caught by zombies.”

“No, this shoe polish is good for preventing rust on weapons. Eventually, we’ll have to upgrade our gear. You really think we can survive in this world with nothing but screwdrivers and mop handles?”

“I don’t know,” Zhou An shrugged. “But I believe I can survive as long as I’m following you.”

“What about you, Lao Zhao? What do you think?”

“Me…? I’m just a salted fish. I want to see my mom and dad. I don’t even know if they’re okay.”

“My home is here, but my parents work in another city, about 800 to 900 kilometers away…”

“I don’t know if they’re worried sick because they can’t contact me, or if they’re even still alive… or if they’ve turned into zombies.”

“Honestly, maybe it’s better if I never see them again. That way, I can at least hold onto the hope that they’re still out there.”

“During those first few days of the apocalypse, I didn’t sleep a single peaceful night. I used my calligraphy ink to black out the windows so sunlight wouldn’t come in. That way, I could pretend it was always night, and everything was just a bad dream I hadn’t woken up from.”

“Sometimes, when I felt tired, I’d smoke a cigarette I had stashed away. When I got hungry, I’d eat a section of pomelo. When I coughed, I drank the dirty water we used to soak clothes. Eventually, I even ate the pomelo peel…”

“And then one day, Boss, you opened my dorm door with a key and pulled me out of that dream.”

“You really went through a lot. Makes me think… maybe being an orphan like me is actually a kind of mercy from heaven,” Zhang Wei said, pulling a photo of himself and his grandmother from his wallet.

If time could go back, what would I do? Would I do what you wished for, or what you wanted?

…Thinking about “if only” is the most painful kind of emptiness.

It was a lyric from a song—Shin Band’s If Only.

Zhang Wei quietly hummed the tune.

“Let’s get some sleep.” Zhou An grabbed a handful of dog food, munching it like it was crispy noodles.

“Man, we really are eating dog food,” Zhao Zhenxiong sighed.

“What?”

“I mean the three of us.”

“Sleep. We leave at dawn.”