Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 67: Chapter 63: Team Member +1

The rooftop was right above the 32nd floor.

It was normally kept locked year-round, but one night before the apocalypse, Zhao Youcai had transported several truckloads of planting soil and materials for building a greenhouse, breaking the lock in the process.

Now, the small door, only wide enough for one person to pass through, was closed. However, it could be opened with a gentle push from the inside.

"Ye Ye, check the situation on the rooftop."

"Roger!"

Liu Ye’ye’s drone flew up to the roof. After another careful, close-up scan... it finally discovered something amiss.

"Senior, there seems to be something inside the plastic tarp... I didn’t notice it before."

"Yeah, I know."

CREAK~

Yu Dong pushed open the small rooftop door with his long spear.

After a quick glance confirmed there was no danger, he gave a hand signal, and the group filed out from inside.

"Over there."

Yu Dong pointed to a bulge under the large plastic tarp.

ROOOAR!!!

As if it had heard the noise, a furious roar erupted from under the tarp. It thrashed around but couldn’t break free from the plastic’s constraints, instead tying itself into knots.

Hearing this sound, Zhou’s nose tingled and his eyes welled up.

"Mei..."

"I’ll go put her out of her misery."

Yu Dong raised his spear, but Zhou Jian Country grabbed his hand.

"No... don’t, Captain. Spare her. What if... what if there’s a cure someday?"

This was the second woman he had ever loved in his life. In the end, he couldn’t bear to let her be killed.

Yu Dong sighed.

"Zhou, zombification is irreversible... there’s no chance. Don’t let her suffer."

"Who says? I don’t believe it!"

"The government said so..."

Yu Dong patted Zhou on the shoulder, then walked over and thrust his spear viciously at the head-shaped outline under the plastic.

SQUELCH!

The yoga-pants zombie, deceased.

Zhao Wenjie, who had been quite annoyed that Yu Dong hadn’t participated in the fighting all morning, saw the spear pierce straight through the tarp... and felt glad he had held his tongue earlier.

That single strike... Anyone on the receiving end would have been toast.

’How is he so strong...?’

After killing the yoga-pants zombie, Yu Dong looked down toward the property management office.

He had once shared Zhou’s fantasy, hoping for the day the government would develop a cure and help his good brothers, Xufeng and Ding Ming, return to normal. But in his past life, he had listened to the national broadcast every day, and one day there was a special report... a report from medical scientists on zombie autopsies.

After turning, a person’s brain undergoes severe mutations. They lose all memory, intelligence, and the capacity for human thought, becoming a monster controlled by the virus.

This change was irreversible.

He... couldn’t save Xufeng and Ding Ming.

Zhou couldn’t save Mei, and Liu Ye’ye couldn’t save her father.

The moment they turned, everything was already lost.

Zhou dragged Mei’s body out from under the plastic tarp and cried for a long time...

After a while, the group helped him bury her using the planting soil, making a small grave mound.

"Mei... when the world is peaceful again, I’ll take you back to your hometown."

Zhou’s second chance at love was thus forever buried on the roof of Building 1.

"Zhou is really a devoted man... I thought he was just a simple lecher like me."

Huang Zhiqiang remarked with some emotion as he watched Zhou’s back.

Zhao Youcai, however, felt nothing. He was dismissive of such emotions.

"All men like young women in their twenties. When I get older, I’ll get myself a young one too..."

Before, he only dared to think such things but never say them. Now... Zhao Youcai felt he had a head start in the apocalypse and could be a big shot wherever he went in the future.

After speaking, he looked worriedly at the rooftop, covered in planting soil and a large amount of greenhouse materials.

"Growing vegetables is a huge project... by the way, how do you build a greenhouse again?"

He looked at the group, and they looked back at him. All six of them were clueless.

Four bright-eyed college students, one chemistry professor, and one high schooler.

Yu Dong’s expression darkened as he asked, "Youcai, you... didn’t learn how?"

"Ah, I was too busy dealing with the Energy Bricks back then and forgot. It’s fine, I’ll just find a couple of tutorials online."

He opened his phone, only to see the signal was gone.

Everyone else took out their phones as well. There was no internet at all.

Yu Dong knew that widespread internet outages had begun on the second day of the apocalypse. The network in the Xiangti Bay area had gone down very early.

Zhao Youcai: "..."

"Haha~ It’s fine! We can do it without tutorials. There are so many of us, how could we not build one simple greenhouse? It’s a piece of cake, a piece of cake."

Yu Dong looked at Zhao Youcai, speechless.

His greenhouse preparations had hit a major snag. With no tutorial, they were just a bunch of amateurs trying to build it from scratch...

"Looks like we won’t be eating any fresh vegetables this year."

Seeing that Yu Dong was a little unhappy, Zhao Youcai quickly changed the subject.

"Dongzi, how do you think this zombie got up to the roof? It’s strange, isn’t it..."

Hearing this, Yu Dong suddenly thought of something. He walked a lap around the rooftop, starting to search through the nooks and crannies.

"What are you looking for, bro? I can help you look."

Yan Yikai eagerly came over.

Everyone else watched Yu Dong, puzzled.

After searching for a while, Yu Dong finally heard a faint noise from under a solar water heater pipe covered by the plastic tarp. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"TSK TSK TSK~"

...

「Building 1, Apartment 501.」

Seeing that the rooftop was clear and Liu Ye’ye was using the drone to cover the team’s return, Shen Xinyi was no longer worried. She turned and glanced at the people in the room.

Yang Yi was sprawled on the sofa playing a tile-matching game on her phone. The old lady was still glaring at them, looking puffed up with anger. The pregnant woman, Qiao Ping, was writing something at the table.

So, she stood up and went to the kitchen to start cooking.

Just as she put the water on to boil, Qiao Ping came over.

"Dr. Shen, let me do it. I’ll do it."

"You’re pregnant, go sit down."

"It’s fine, I don’t feel anything right now. You all are working so hard dealing with the zombies. Let me handle a small thing like cooking. Really. Otherwise, being protected by everyone... I’d feel too guilty."

Shen Xinyi couldn’t win against Qiao Ping and was afraid of accidentally hurting her if they argued, so she put down the pot. It was just a matter of steaming a few Energy Bricks anyway.

But when she saw the old lady and Yang Yi acting as if nothing concerned them, she let out a cold snort.

"Some people are perfectly able-bodied but do nothing all day except think about freeloading. They have no shame."

Yang Yi rolled her eyes when she heard this. "Aren’t you just standing around too? It’s enough that my boyfriend is out there killing zombies."

Shen Xinyi, a truly independent modern woman who was already disgusted by Yang Yi’s attitude, felt her anger flare up.

"Is relying on your boyfriend the only way you know how to survive? What would you do if something happened to Zhao Wenjie? Just jump off a building and die?"

"Tch~ Don’t act like I’m the only one. Aren’t you the same? The only reason you can stand here criticizing me is because you’ve latched onto a strong backer, right? Oh~~ no, wait. It seems you have four men and two women in your group. You must have to latch onto two backers. Tsk tsk~ You must be pretty tired at night, huh?"

Now that only women were left in the room, Yang Yi, who had kept her mouth shut until now, finally opened it.

Hearing this, Shen Xinyi was so angry she walked right up, pointed at Yang Yi’s nose, and cursed:

"You parasite! Your mind is full of filth. We never should have saved you."

"Heh~ Looks like I hit a nerve! You’re getting defensive!"

Yang Yi pointed at Shen Xinyi and laughed at the others.

SLAP!

A palm print appeared on Yang Yi’s face.

She clutched her reddened cheek and looked at Qiao Ping in disbelief.

"Qiao Ping? You... why did you hit me???"

Shen Xinyi also stared at Qiao Ping in surprise, not having noticed when she had walked over.

"Because you have a foul mouth and deserved to be slapped."

"You’re one of us! Why are you hitting me?"

"Remember, besides Zhao Wenjie, no one is ’one of you.’ With that foul mouth of yours... you’d better pray nothing happens to Zhao Wenjie. Otherwise, you’ll be thrown out the very next day."

Qiao Ping said coldly, her face stern and her voice as authoritative as a principal’s, stunning Yang Yi into silence.

Seeing this, Shen Xinyi felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

In her daily work, she had to deal with all sorts of strange patients and was used to it. At most, she would offer a few sharp words but would never get physical. Qiao Ping’s slap was just so satisfying!

It was as comforting as drinking a bowl of piping hot brown sugar water during your period, warming her right to her core!

"Hmph, I don’t know how Zhao Wenjie could be so blind as to fall for someone like her... Sister Qiao, let’s go. We’ll cook together. If she doesn’t like it, she can just not eat. Ever."

Yang Yi clutched her face and watched the two of them walk away, her eyes brimming with tears and filled with hatred.

The room was buzzing with conflict, but the old lady was completely lost in her own world, indifferent to what was happening. She just muttered to herself:

"My son... my dear son... please be okay... If anything happens to you, Mommy won’t want to live anymore."

She looked at all the strangers in the room, feeling that if they hadn’t suddenly burst in... she could still be taking her son out for a walk with her husband.

PATTER PATTER~

A flurry of footsteps sounded from upstairs.

Yu Dong and the others had returned.

The old lady stood up, raised an eyebrow, and twisted her mouth, preparing to confront the people who had ruined everything...

WOOF!

WOOF WOOF WOOF!

The moment the door opened, a small brown Teddy poodle came bounding in excitedly. It zipped over to the old lady’s feet, running circles around her, jumping up to lick her fingers with incredible affection.

"We found your son. Just a heads up, you can keep him, but you should probably move to a different room. Not everyone can tolerate your son’s smell. Here’s the key to 502."

Yu Dong handed her a key.

The old lady hugged the little Teddy. She looked at the ever-calm university student, Yu Dong, her lips trembling a few times before she pressed them together firmly and took the key.

"My son... is not dirty."

She turned her head away, hugged the little Teddy, and went back into her room. A moment later, the sound of uncontrollable sobbing burst forth.

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