Exiting the residential area led to a road flanked by shops on both sides, with a turn to the left leading to a market six hundred meters away that had everything one normally needed for groceries.
"It's so quiet."
The market used to be bustling with activity, filled with elderly men and women selling vegetables and city dwellers carrying baskets to shop.
He entered the market.
The distinctive smell of the market hit him full in the face.
It brought a different sense to his tranquil heart.
It was as if everything had returned.
"What a waste."
The vegetable stalls on either side were knocked over, vegetables strewn all over the ground with footprints crushing them. It must have been chaotic yesterday; otherwise, how could anyone have treated food so recklessly?
He reached the familiar meat stall where he usually bought his meat.
The owner was a decent guy, plump and slightly greasy but generous and not fussy. He never shortchanged his customers on weight and even threw in a bit extra.
Everyone called him Pork Rong.
"Boss, are you there?"
He stood in front of the meat stall. The meat in front of him was still quite fresh, and he wanted the owner to pick a fresh piece of pork for him, but there was no response. He had to choose himself; living alone, he knew plenty about grocery shopping.
He saw a piece of fresh pork lying there quietly, the color looked great, and he liked it at first sight.
He knew the price. Since the owner wasn't around, he'd have to pick it out himself.
Suddenly.
From beneath the stall came a snarl, and a zombie crawled out. Even though its face was ferocious and black blood dripped from its mouth, he recognized immediately that this was the stall owner, Pork Rong.
The zombie twisted its head, snarling, trying to bite Chu Chen, striving to climb onto the stall and lunge, but its corpulent body couldn't support such an action; it could only flail about with its claws and teeth.
"The boss sure loves selling meat. Even as a zombie, he guards his stall and waves his hands, trying to attract customers."
"Too bad it's just me now."
Lin Fan picked up a piece of meat, placed it on the digital scale.
"Boss, this is hind leg meat, three pounds in total. I know the price, nine per pound, three nines make twenty-one, no, twenty-seven, sorry, I'm not good at math."
He scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, took out his phone, and made a payment via QR code.
Ding!
Payment successful.
Even now, in these end times, he insisted on paying. After all, even the owner, now a zombie, stood professionally in front of his stall selling meat. What reason did he have to take things without paying?
"Goodbye."
He waved his hand and left with his bag.
He then moved to the vegetable stall to pick out fresh vegetables.
He chose quickly.
Two tomatoes.
He paid by scanning a QR code.
He would have liked to buy more food, but he was just one person, and his appetite wasn't big; buying too much would only be wasteful.
More importantly… he was somewhat poor.
Of course, he never felt bad about his poverty; instead, he was quite happy because he owned his apartment in the old district of Yellow City, and that was enough for him.
He left the market feeling pleased.
"Lunch is sorted."
An own effort enriches the wardrobe and the meal, not to boast, but the skills were there, always delicious.
Casually, he walked back on the road to his home.
The storefronts were silently close on both sides, with cars on the road sides damaged from collisions.
A breath of wind came, blowing up a wisp of dust, scattering it between heaven and earth.
The silence was discomforting.
He didn't know how long this life would continue.
When would everyone return?
When would the bustling streets buzz with life again?
But he believed that as long as he made the most of each day,
the former Yellow City would return.
Back at the entrance to the residential complex.
Next to it was a small shop.
The shop's glass door was shattered, as if something had rammed into it.
"Huoqing, I'm here to buy a bucket of water." Lin Fan was a regular customer and called out as he entered the store.
The shop owner, Wang Huoqing, a young guy, was running the store with his girlfriend Xiao Fang.
"Hmm?"
There was someone in the store, a zombie swaying in front of the shelves, who upon hearing Lin Fan's voice, instantly awakened and roared fiercely as it lunged at him.
Lin Fan raised his cleaver and split the zombie's head with one strike before kicking it down and pulling out the blood-stained cleaver.
Huoqing and his girlfriend, who had also turned into zombies, rushed over with their sticky, blood-drenched mouths, but Lin Fan dispatched them with two swift cuts, a brief yet intense affair.
Throughout, Lin Fan's expression remained unchanged, always eerily calm.
After dealing with three zombies, he earned three points.
"Ah, what kind of world is this, even zombies should have some manners," Lin Fan remarked as he went to the counter to scan and pay.
After a moment's thought, he also bought some instant noodles and sausages.
"Huoqing, I've paid the bill. I'm leaving now."
Lin Fan glanced at the slain Huoqing before turning and leaving.
Outside the small shop,
he looked into the distance where zombies were wandering slowly, staggering about. These were false movements; if prey appeared, they would move as fast as dogs.
There had been none just before, so why did they suddenly appear?
He soon found out why, as a bus sped toward him.
The sound of its engine attracted a group of zombies, but they were crushed under the wheels of the bus, turning into chunks of flesh.
"Hey, asshole, want a ride? If not, just wait to be emptied by zombies and die," shouted a blonde man from the back window of the bus, laughing wildly across the street.
"Idiot, shut up! Do you want to attract all the zombies over here?" scolded a bespectacled man beside him.
They were all people who had boarded at the bus terminal, and when Huangshi suddenly turned into a living hell, they had to leave the city in search of new chances to survive.
"You damn four-eyed toad, I'll kill you," the blonde roared as he pulled out a dagger and slashed the bespectacled man's throat.
"Now that the world has changed, is there anyone left who can control me?"
A homicide occurred inside the bus. The blonde man had hurt people and been to jail, was always idle, committing robbery among other things. With the world in chaos, he was more irascible than ever.
Many cars were stopped on the road; the bus rammed straight through them, the crashing and endless car alarms making continuous sounds.
These noises immediately alerted the zombies hidden in buildings.
Bang!
Bang!
Zombies shattered glass as they jumped down one after another from buildings. Some broke their legs but still roared and staggered towards the bus.
At the intersection, zombies flooded in from all directions, blocking and chasing the bus.
"It's over," said the driver, his face turning ashen as he looked ahead. The frenzied creatures frightened and despaired him, but as long as the vehicle was moving, it was his only hope for survival.
The screams and the homicide behind him didn't matter; he only wanted to survive, to escape this hellish city.
The bus collided with the zombie wave; crushing noises were constant as the tires rolled over their bodies, with black blood spraying everywhere.
"What a vicious bus," Lin Fan noted silently as he carried his groceries and water bucket.
The nearby zombies were attracted by the noise over there.
Who would notice his insignificant presence?
Carrying his items, he prepared to head home.
"Help, help..."
In the distance, the bus was blocked by the zombie horde, turning into a wall of flesh under its wheels that made it difficult to proceed.
The zombies surrounded the bus, ferociously climbing it, layer after layer, and under such circumstances, it wouldn't take long for the bus to be completely covered by zombies.
The blonde scrambled to the roof through a vent, frantically waving the dagger in his hand. Surrounded by zombies, he was terrified; he didn't want to die, with the beautiful world outside still awaiting him.
Inside the bus, men and women were screaming in panic.
But such sounds were music to zombies' ears; the louder the screams, the more excited and passionate they became.
"As expected, those who take joy in disaster often do not end well, just like mocking and insulting others, eventually bringing calamity upon themselves,"
Lin Fan remarked, carrying his items and turning to leave.
As he watched, the zombies completely engulfed the bus, swarming into it with constant screams and crunching sounds.
And the desperate howl of the blonde man echoed,
"My fate is my own, not dictated by the heavens."
"All of you fuck off..."