At the stairwell, there were bloodstains, long since dried, turning into clumps sticking to the wall.
Reaching the second floor, the security doors on both sides were ajar. Peering through the gaps, it was very quiet and messy inside.
He carried the corpse, stepping on the stairs, and quickly arrived at the fifth floor.
Thump thump!
He knocked on the rusty security door. The resident inside was the man from before.
Inside the apartment.
Hearing the knocking, the man reflexively sat up from the couch, puzzled.
Who could be knocking at the door?
Zombies?
Although he had been living carefree and comfortably, he was terrified of zombies. But as long as he didn't open the door, nothing would happen.
Approaching the door.
The man peered through the peephole and recognized the person standing outside. It seemed familiar, and he suddenly remembered; wasn't this the idiot who was picking up corpses downstairs just now?
Knowing who was outside, he wasn't scared at all, and even felt emboldened.
"What do you want?"
"Open the door."
"Fuck off, you lunatic. Are you looking to get killed?" the man cursed from behind the door.
Without fear, even if his loud voice attracted zombies, it would just be the idiot outside who got bitten to death.
"Open the door. You've done such a thing; you should be responsible for your actions. I hope you can cooperate," Lin Fan said, standing at the door, not yet taking any action.
Though he believed in taking action rather than talking nonsense.
Violence wasn't the solution to problems, and he wouldn't resort to it unless absolutely necessary.
"Are you fucking crazy? Get lost, don't make trouble out of nothing," the man cursed, so angry he thought about going to the kitchen to grab a knife and kill the bastard.
"Open the door."
Lin Fan slapped his hand against the door, the loud banging acting as a deterrent to the man inside.
"Damn it, wait for me. I'll go to the kitchen now and come back with a knife to kill you," said the man furiously, turning away to actually go and get a knife to prepare to kill Lin Fan.
The world had already ended, what else was there to fear?
Lin Fan stood outside, his brows slightly furrowed; breaking in was not ideal, but under the current circumstances, not doing so would just be wasting time.
The man's actions were unbearable, and if he didn't bring him to justice, the woman he carried would not rest in peace.
Creating a harmonious society is everyone's responsibility.
Having realized this, he didn't consider waiting for the man to open the door voluntarily. Instead, he took a small step back, lifted his foot, and kicked hard.
Boom!
The man, knife in hand and fresh from the kitchen, had intended to come out and kill Lin Fan with an imposing stance.
But in his view.
The security door was suddenly kicked open with a bang and fell to the ground with a thud.
He was stunned.
Holding the kitchen knife high, he didn't know what to do next.
"You… you…" The man was at a loss; the turn of events was completely unexpected and to him, there was no difference between this and seeing a ghost.
A perfectly good security door, how could it have been kicked open?
The first thought he had was that the security door was a fake, and the man who sold it was a fraud.
Lin Fan walked into the mess of the apartment, with its odd smell, and saw various binding tools.
He gently set the woman down, letting her lean against the wall.
"Exactly who are you?" the man, upon seeing the woman with her eyes open, as if staring daggers at him, felt a chill in his heart.
Lin Fan picked up a rope from the floor, presumably the weapon used for binding earlier.
Approaching the man, he pulled the rope around in a circle, ready to tie him up.
The man, in a daze, didn't react in time, but when he came to, he brandished the knife in his hand with a fierce look and yelled.
"You're fucking asking for it."
As he finished speaking, he made a move to chop Lin Fan to death with the kitchen knife.
Bang!
Screams.
The man's arm was pressed against the wall by Lin Fan. With a clang, the kitchen knife fell to the ground, easily gripped firmly in his hand.
"I'm taking you to the police station," Lin Fan said.
"Are you crazy?" the man struggled. But in the blink of an eye, he was tied up tight, completely immobilized.
Police station?
Fucking police.
"How am I crazy? Don't you have any idea what you've done? Is there a problem with me tying you up and taking you to the police station?" Lin Fan asked.
He always felt that evil people, when hindered by others, like to accuse them of being crazy.
To this, he was somewhat displeased.
What kind of mentality could make them turn out this way?
"It's the apocalypse now, do you understand what that means? Have you seen movies, have you read novels? You lunatic, can't you be a bit more sensible?" The man knew the crazy man in front of him was incredibly strong, and quite mad.
"I understand what it means, and I don't need you to tell me," Lin Fan replied.
The man's chest heaved, clearly enraged by Lin Fan to the point of nearly exploding on the spot.
"You understand shit. Have you ever watched American TV shows? Have you ever seen various zombie movies? If you had, you'd know how to live in an apocalypse, what you should do. Don't you think doing whatever you want feels really good?"
The man was engrossed in the joy of the apocalypse, liking such a world. Even if he felt guilty, it would transform into a perverse thrill.
"I've seen them, but are you stupid? Novels are novels, movies are movies; they're all fictitious. Can't you tell the difference between fiction and reality?" Lin Fan said.
"Let me go." The man didn't want to argue, at a loss for words, he just wanted to be released.
He really didn't expect to encounter a madman.
Oh heavens, save me.
Lin Fan tied him to the doorknob, then searched the house and found a set of women's clothing. Although it was a bit dirty, it was clear that it belonged to the woman before she died.
He tidied it up, shaking off the dust.
Then he returned to the doorway, where the woman's naked body lay.
She had suffered greatly before death, with no dignity left.
He could only do what he was able to do, dressing the woman.
Dressed neatly, she would also leave clean.
Clatter!
There were keys in the pocket of the clothes.
"Which floor did she live on?" Lin Fan looked at the man with a bit of anger.
He despised and looked down on people like this man the most.
A man can be poor, lack ambition, or even become a gigolo, but he should never force others into unwanted acts to satisfy his own desires.
This was a violation of a woman's will.
"You motherfucker..."
"She lived on the third floor."
The man had wanted to burst out in anger, but seeing Lin Fan's furious gaze, he was too scared to lie.
Lin Fan carried the woman, left the house, and walked downstairs.
"Fuck! Where did this lunatic come from?" The man was nearly driven insane. This person was a maniac, an utterly terrible maniac.
Third floor.
Lin Fan opened the door and went in. He didn't know where to bury the woman, so he could only take her back to her home.
To give her a final resting place, a last belonging.
He placed the woman on the bed, arranging everything properly.
"Miss, this is all I can do. It's not that you weren't good; the apocalypse is simply unfriendly to you now. I hope you can rest in peace."
He could only let the woman leave with some dignity.
Standing at the door, looking inward with some helplessness, he slowly closed the security door.
It was just a door.
But for her, it was the last, and best, resting place.
PS: Begging for monthly tickets, for favorites, for anything.