21

Yan Fei until now had not known that the power had been cut – including in Luo Xun's home. The soldiers from before had spoken to Luo Xun about the blackout however Yan Fei did not hear since his injury was being checked.

Food was not an issue, it was not just congee and Luo Xun consumed most of what had been used. He made a bunch of simple rice cakes more preservable in the current climate. In a few days, the initial base should be established, people would go out to work. By then he could bring some food out, save some base currency and exchange for something useful.

Luo Xun looked at Yan Fei and estimated two or three months of required bed rest. He could only keep the other for this period...the more he thought the more it seemed like a loss.

If Luo Xun had been unable to make a weapon and get a room of his own would it be cheaper for him to work, cook and serve Yan Fei instead? His life could already be counted as secure.

After dinner, he tidied up the kitchen and the dishes. Luo Xun gently padded into the room after washing and lowered himself into bed, not too far from Yan Fei.

This morning's experience had made him a little nervous. Holding hands had prompted such a prominent reaction, what would happen if there was other intimate contact accidentally while not paying attention?

Alas life could be bitter, no way to control bodily instincts.

"Will the army come tomorrow?"

"Well it's been said they're distributing food and water. They officially launched the broadcast of the security zone. The military first calmed the residents who are now patiently awaiting rescue. Then announced a number of distribution sites near cleared up junctions."

"Are you going tomorrow? Isn't it dangerous outside?"

"No way otherwise. I should be able to pick up our supplies, any zombies in the area should have been cleaned out. I heard if everyone went, it would take two days to build a wall. You and Puppy stay at home, I will bring back food..."

Yan Fei was silent for a while before opening his mouth. "Sorry..."

Anyway he was currently a burden. Even if Yan Fei had abilities and might be promising in the future, right now Luo Xun had to shoulder the cost of supporting two peoples' food and living.

Yan Fei had never felt so dependant on others, especially since he was an adult. The feeling may have left a person feeling depressed but at the bottom of his heart a trace of satisfaction rose. He savored the feeling.

Yan Fei thought of the uncomfortable feeling in his heart this morning when Luo Xun advised him to leave, and now felt the opposite feeling.

"No matter, you rest for now, when you're better you can repay me. Just don't strain yourself." Luo Xun turned and spoke to him.

Anyway even if Yan Fei ended up running and leaving, Luo Xun would accept the room next door as sufficient repayment.

"Well, go to bed early."

Yan Fei stared at the dark ceiling. "Your cooking skills are good, the rice was very delicious."

Luo Xun paused then smiled, mostly joy with some melancholy. In his past life he could only use what had and gradually increased his skill to slowly improve the taste, to strive for deliciousness. However at the time even if he wanted to eat with others, there was noone to share with.

Now, he may have only accompanied Yan Fei for a short time, but Luo Xun felt heartfelt joy at the praise. It was nice to have someone to share results with, one to praise them sometimes.

The announcer on the solar radio relayed the elimination method of the current zombies, the way to find hel, results of rescue work etc.

In addition there was information on areas to be cleaned up, preparation of a safe zone and the location of material distribution.

Luo Xun made breakfast for two people with some vegetable meat congee. He would have liked to put some shredded egg but did not dare in fear of contamination. Luo Xun had been unable to use the network since two days ago and now wanted to find a hub to double check.

The breakfast garnish was replaced with Yan Fei's leftover egg soup.

Yan Fei hesitantly looked at Luo Xun after swallowing the custard. "Your home has a lot of eggs?"

"Quite a few and some more."

Two big, full bamboo baskets from the nearby village when he bought the puppy. The eggs would go bad if left aside for too long, this was him simply using up the food efficiently.

Yan Fei seemed to have a relieved tone then ate some more custard – was he afraid the eggs were bad? It was fine so long he did not entertain bloody thoughts. In a real fight, the winner was not clearly certain.

He glanced at Luo Xun's lithe arm, although he was slim and thinner his limbs were in fact well-proportioned. Yan Fei did not notice anything wrong with closely analyzing another's body. He stayed silent and ate mouthfuls of egg instead.

After eating breakfast and leaving some water and emergency food on the bedside table Luo Xun went downstairs to let Puppy wander around. He felt the Yan Fei is his current state had little combat capacity. Luo Xun went out carrying a backpack and his equipment.

Of course before going out he checked last night's video feed. The corridor was quiet as ever and no one came through, very good he could go out now!

The building elevator came to a stop, Luo Xun was all the way downstairs. The area was finally becoming popular, many people had gone out of their houses, ready at the food and water distribution points.

Luo Xun secretly observed a bit and found more than a few student faces in the area. They had likely fled like Yan Fei and should be with the army in a few days. Some trapped people were rescued by the army and unable to return to their original homes would be placed in nearby empty homes.

After this the population would only increase since people were the primary source of labor. As long as there were enough people in the safe area to find food and supplies, some stopped factories could be reopened.

There was a flow of people forward to the designated location, reassured by military vehicles driving by time to time. Luo Xun was quite curious, who had inflicted such a heavy injury on Yan Fei? He had not asked before and the other party's characteristics were unclear so no guesses.

Material distribution point was to the west of the area's junction corner. There were two other districts nearby, one was old with six-storey buildings The old residential area was densely built and populated, one of the hardest areas to clear.

Luo Xun overheard while in line that the old area had not been completely cleared up. The army had only cleared up the corpses. Still need a few days before families could move in.

The crowd would riot upon hearing any sounds remoting resembling zombies. People would squeeze forward to get the things quickly then hurried home, in case a zombie appeared. What if one got attacked? What if one ended up bitten?

Luckily the situation was not out of control since there were a lot of armed soldiers around to keep order.

It was Luo Xun's turn – name of district, ID number, name and confirmed that there was an injured cousin at home. He received ten bottles of 550 mL mineral water, packages of instant noodles, two bags of biscuits – the amount for two people for five days.

The staff who had finished work and handed out items also gave Luo Xun a leaflet. The military had already divided the perimeter and was recruiting people for construction.

Carrying his backpack, Luo Xun did not immediately look at the contents of the flyer but rushed back and along the way avoided walking in unsafe areas. He hid the baseball bat inside the backpack – no iron nails, the regular version.

Luo Xun would not forget his life experience after the apocalypse and would not forget that Yan Fei's injury had been caused by someone. In this chaotic world, people could sometimes be more fearful than zombies.

Luo Xun sped up towards building seven hearing some sounds. The zombies had been cleared, at night there would be an army patrol, any danger would not be from zombies!

Sure enough it was not long before a man with a scarf and sunglasses suck in and out of view.

Luo Xun hurried into the corridor, all the way up the stairs. He felt relieved when he reached the door and Puppy reacted excitedly. He changed his shoes and quickly checked the surveillance video, fortunately nobody passed by outside.

He placed the supplies down and took the flyer to the second floor.

Yan Fei did not need to sleep to long each day but could not move around. He looked at the bedroom door to see the puppy curled around Luo Xun's legs.

"How was outside?"

"Okay."

Luo Xun came in with the flyer and sat down on the bed. "The distribution point was just east of the intersection but there was a robber in building three before I got back."

"Robbery?" Yan Fei raised an eyebrow.

"Well, wearing a hat, scarf, mask and sunglasses. More covered than when I went out to kill a zombie."

Luo Xun shrugged and took a look at the flyer.

22

Yan Fei wanted to ask about the robbery, but had to press down any questions since Luo Xun was reading attentively. He neared the tail end of the leaflet and breathed a sigh of relief.

"See? This is today's flyer, to build a wall for the base."

Yan Fei took the flyer and saw that the leaflets were printed roughly and in a hurry.

The picture on top was a simple map to indicate the fence perimeter, which included the barracks, a wide view of the district with a number of areas such as the southern farmland, western flower field and some functional buildings. In addition there was the initial scope of the wall construction.

The flyer called on all survivors to join construction work, each person involved would get two meals, water and so on. If a person did not need provisions then the food would be exchanged for points – three points for a meal. Points could be used to purchase food, water, medicine and other supplies at logistic points.

"The work time everyday is rather long." Yan Fei's brow wrinkled.

"Of course, even now the area has not been completely cleared of zombies. If more people flee here how would they be covered? Thus there is overtime to fix the wall."

Luo Xun refused to be complacent, now the paid points were fairly generous, wait until a few years and all would be different. The construction work in the safe area would need less and less people as parts got completed. It was good that each day he could save half his earned points.

"Are you ready to go?"

Yan Fei could not move at the moment, naturally did not know the amount of inventory at home. He could only helplessly let Luo Xun care for him.

"Well the fence was built a day earlier to secure the safe zone. Without any other incidients, this will be everyone's home."

So now it's necessary to be preoccupied with things needed to be done. Not to mention the fact that the points were generous – the payment was the point.

"These days go out and come back with safety in mind."

Seeing Luo Xun not mind, Yan Fei temporarily did not say anything. Some things did not need to be said, Luo Xun was not a stingy person.

"Wait I forgot to ask you." Luo Xun hurriedly asked, reminded of security issues.

"What does the person who hurt you before look like?"

Yan Fei quirked a brow. "Why do you remember to ask now?"

"I don't know why they were so stiff with you, just the situation at the time..."

If he had not climbed into the building, he could have been wiped out by the robbers like others wandering around here. If there was not a dog in the home with the feral dog recording, those people may have been broken into the home, found and killed the both to loot all the resources.

"I don't want to know that there are careless, dangerous people around. As an early precaution we should at least know a description."

Yan Fei's mouth changed into a chilling charming smile. "Let's see, the leader should be a man named Xu, older than 30 and very burly. There were 22 of them; four women, two college students in their early twenties, another younger than 30 and a forty something year old." He paused.

"One of the two female college students was named He Lanlan, very innocent. The less than thirty lady had a nice body and was also rather flirty."

Luo Xun was silent for a while. "You joined the group because of the women."

Yan Fei shrugged and stretched. "I did not want to, they pasted themselves on me."

He had an ability, height, looks and strength these factors attracted the opposite sex like bees to honey. Moreover he had a gun that implied he was a competent person.

Yan Fei thought the women were annoying but could also understand their thoughts. In these troubled times there were zombies everywhere, who knew how long one would live. Suddenly a man with great power appears, also very handsome. What part is not eye candy?

Ordinary words were forgotten, at most a few glances. The most daring came to ask for a mobile phone number with fluttering eyes. It was human nature to take action in these precarious situations.

However the rest of the group other than the four women were all older men. Envy and jealousy could not be contained since the few women were not interested in them in the slightest.

Luo Xun could not help but look disdainful. "I will trouble you to wear a mask when you go out for something. I do not want people to stare daggers at me!"

This kind of person could recruit men or women without problem.

"Don't worry, I found the right mask to wear."

Yan Fei did not continue to maintain his innocence. He had worn the mask too late, those with the group already knew what he looked like.

"Mask, hat, sunglasses...I'm going to give you my helmet to wear."

Luo Xun was homosexual, he had already planned changing arrangements for the future. Anyway, he seemed to have completely forgotten that he was ready to get Yan Fei out of the house? Oh well, he did not seem like he would drive away, take off with all he could carry.

Luo Xun sorted out the contents of the room to calculate food supplies for the next few days. There were pancakes and pieces of guoba, items resistant to perishing. It was cold now and it would not go bad anytime soon.

The vegetables, meat and eggs to supplement nutrients. There were many eggs at home which could be fried or boiled.

In addition to the things Luo Xun wanted to bring out, he also had to prepare lunch and dinner for Yan Fei. After thinking about it, Luo Xun decided to move the microwave oven to the bedroom table. Add a small side table to that Yan Fei could heat his meal at noon. As for the handsome man, who could control his moves out of sight? It was better to not get involved.

As long as Luo Xun cooked something in advance, like congee or something, it would be enough for the patient to eat. Once done thinking, he took out some pig feet from the freezer along with soybeans, onions, ginger and other ingredients to boil.

Luo Xun held the soup pot and went back to the living room ready for the microwave oven on the second floor. Suddenly he heard car sounds through the northern window, when Luo Xun hurriedly looked at the situation he saw a few trucks, likely escorting some private cars.

He slightly frowned and thought, sure enough these should be the people who came after hearing the broadcast. There seemed to be some residents of the southern district, the planned safe zone that ended up outside the security zone. Most carried all their belongings as luggage.

The number of residents in the Hong Jing district was relatively small and this was the best time to rehouse these people. Now they could still place people in the empty houses, wait until later when people could only live in the basement like Luo Xun's previous life.

The houses in the older neighborhood were not completely cleaned and naturally unable to accomodate the people. So they were sent here to relatively new homes in the west side.

Luo Xun breathed a sigh of relief, these things had long been foreseen. He just did not know how many people would be left after the zombie virus contaminated both food and water sources.

"You moved this up..." Yan Fei trailed off seeing the microwave oven from the open bedroom door while reading a novel on the laptop.

Before the internet crashed, Luo Xun downloaded many novels onto his computer. These things would soon be out of print but would instead be saved on a hard drive. In addition to the novels, he downloaded recipes on spices and semi-finished food products as well as manufacturing methods.

"I'm going to work tomorrow. You can use this to heat lunch at noon."

"..." Yan Fei was temporarily speechless.

This man was too careful, thoughtful and considered any unexpected issues in advance. In all fairness, it seemed impossible to think as meticulously as Luo Xun.

"If anyone comes, don't open the door either. Tomorrow when I leave, Puppy will be downstairs watching the door. Now it is impossible to know when someone would come back to investigate."

Luo Xun set the microwave oven beside the bed.

"Just now a lot of strangers entered the area, it should be the rescued people from two days ago. There may be some people not going to the house during the day and knocking on the door. If someone comes in without permission, you're welcome to deal with them permanently."

Luo Xun's thoughts would not change, if someone clearly heard the dog barking and exerted a lot of effort to break in, then such people deserved to be killed.

Yan Fei silently looked at Luo Xun, if someone threatened his own security he would naturally counterattack. It was just Luo Xun looked to calm and did not seem like a normal person.

But.."Yes, no problem." The corners of Yan Fei's mouth ticked up.

He did not mind why Luo Xun would say that and behaved so calmly towards killing. Until now, the guy had seemingly shown he had little malice. Though he did want Yan Fei's abilities to help him.

The district was in disarray, a stream of people moved to get supplies. Perhaps the day before a few people still dared to commit robbery but today with so many people, a person may not follow kindness but dared not loot brazenly.

New arrivals were divided by family, friend etc by the military men. Over the course of a day, the military changed the locks of unoccupied houses and managed them uniformly.

The arrivals were organized in order of arrival, families with elderly people took some of the lower housing. The younger would be divided into higher places.

Of course some people tried to pay lip service to the military distribution people to get better floors but it was in vain since they could end up in a home not near the majority of people instead.

23

The delicious scent of stewed pig feet soup wafted into the building through the exhaust fan. However no one could tell whose home the smell came from. They could only smell the mouth watering deliciousness, drooling and cursing who could eat so well during the apocalypse.

Luo Xun carried the food upstairs after he finished cooking the soup and side dishes. On the second time down, he vaguely heard sounds in the corridor. His heart raced, he vigilantly stood in the small entranceway.