The desire to make contact with the outside world temporarily surpassed the allure of the pork stewed with cabbage for Luo Xingyu.
Under Luo Xingyu's gaze, Gao Yuan took out the biscuit tin again, carefully sealing the lid after retrieving a cell phone from it. Only then did he turn the phone on.
This iron biscuit tin also functioned as a Faraday cage, housing not only walkie-talkies but also flashlights, chargers, and all the electronic devices Gao Yuan could fit inside.
With an expectant look on her face, Luo Xingyu heard Gao Yuan speak in a low voice, "I know you won't be at ease until you make this call. My phone isn't broken, but all the fundamental communication infrastructures were damaged in that Electromagnetic Pulse, so don't get your hopes up too high, and be prepared."
Just one glance at the phone after taking it was enough to confirm the outcome because the phone had power, but no signal whatsoever.
But Luo Xingyu still couldn't help but press the numbers and dial out, and naturally, the result was just as anticipated.
With her hand holding the phone succumbing to despair, Luo Xingyu's arm drooped weakly. However, suddenly she seemed to remember something and lifted the phone again.
Gao Yuan sighed, "Stop hoping, the Electromagnetic Pulse destroyed all electronic devices. If you can't make a call, then naturally, you won't be able to go online either."
Luo Xingyu let out a helpless sigh, looked at the phone, and asked, "Was the electromagnetic storm released by the aliens?"
"Yes."
"How much do you know about the aliens? Can you tell me?"
As Luo Xingyu gave him a reluctant look, Gao Yuan put away the phone, nodded toward the wild boar beside them, and said, "Let's talk while we work. Now, let's go slaughter the pig for meat."
The four words "slaughter the pig for meat" were more comforting than anything else.
After dragging the wild boar aside, Gao Yuan took off his coat. He drew the long knife at his waist and, after sizing up the boar for quite some time, he finally made a cut at its neck.
Having eaten pork but never having slaughtered a pig before, Gao Yuan wasn't sure how to kill it. However, getting meat to eat was not going to be a problem.
As he was gutting the wild boar, the scent of blood filled the air. Gao Yuan couldn't help but hold his breath. But when he turned his head to look at Luo Xingyu standing beside him, he was surprised to find a look of excitement and anticipation on her face.
"Aren't you scared?"
"I would have been before, but not now. All I'm thinking about now is how to eat."
That made sense, starving till one's face turned green, what use was there in fearing blood and gore?
Gao Yuan first took out the pig's heart and said, "When the aliens first arrived, I might have been one of the first people to witness them. I was working in Ji City at the time. I saw a smaller spaceship suddenly appear over the city, then the spaceship dropped many canister-like objects. I guessed those were containers for releasing the virus. Hm, one of those canisters fell not too far from me."
Luo Xingyu tensed up, her voice filled with urgency, "Ji City is so big, and there were so many people. How did you manage to run out of Ji City?"
Gao Yuan sighed, "Like I said, I am a survivalist. I have always been preparing for calamities, such as earthquakes, wars, economic crises, and even car accidents in everyday life. I have always lived in fear of my own imagination, so my preparations were better than others."
Luo Xingyu nodded, "I've always known about survivalists, I just couldn't quite understand them. But now it seems that fearing death really does have its benefits. You have so many things now, and you live like a rich man."
Gao Yuan shook his head, "Let me correct you on one thing: survivalists are not afraid of death, but rather of living without quality. If I had died when the disaster struck, there would be nothing to say. But if I hadn't died when the disaster came, then I need to have enough resources to ensure that I survive. And not just survive, but live well, at least better than you unprepared people. That is the ultimate pursuit of a survivalist."
After a moment of silence, Luo Xingyu spoke in a low voice, "You're right. I am nearly starving to death while you are well-fed and warm. That's the benefit of being prepared."
"It comes with a price. For instance, you might be considered a lunatic by others. The term 'overly anxious' is coined for people like us."
"That's a price I can accept."
Gao Yuan smiled, "That's because the disaster has actually happened. Otherwise, you'd find that the cost of being laughed at is not trivial. I know this because I've been laughed at for many years. Fortunately, I never gave up my hobby."
"Hobby?"
"Yes, preparing for an imagined doomsday is a hobby for me and many others. Since nobody knows if the doomsday will actually come, we can only treat this preparation as a hobby."
Pausing for a moment, Gao Yuan suddenly sighed, "I thought a doomsday-level disaster might be a world war, or perhaps a planetary collision with Earth, and I even considered the invasion of Earth by aliens. But it never crossed my mind it would be zombies, because the existence of zombies is unscientific. But never did I imagine that the first step in an alien invasion would be to create zombies…"
Luo Xingyu spoke softly, "They're not zombies, just people infected by a virus."
"No consciousness, cannot die, wandering all day, although they don't rot, they chase after the living and won't stop until they have bitten them to death. Further, those bitten will get infected. Tell me, how is that any different from the zombies in the movies?"
Luo Xingyu looked at Gao Yuan and answered, "There is a difference, they eat grains."
Gao Yuan was taken aback, "What did you say?"
Luo Xingyu asserted firmly, "I've seen it, those... zombies eating corn, eating cabbage. That's different from the zombies in the movies, right?"
Gao Yuan was skinning the boar but at this, he stopped and looked at Luo Xingyu with a shocked expression, "Are you sure? You're sure you saw zombies and not normal people?"
"There's a village not too far from where I lived, everyone there was infected. I noticed they were always wandering around the village, but about a week after the virus outbreak, I saw some zombies gnawing on the corn that hadn't been harvested from the fields. They looked like wild animals, but they were indeed eating the corn."
Gao Yuan desperately needed information from the outside world because since hiding in this abandoned mountain village, he hadn't seen a single zombie.
The information Luo Xingyu brought completely overturned Gao Yuan's understanding of zombies. He thought zombies, like in past movies or books, were an illogical, perpetual motion-like existence; hence, zombies were unscientific.
But now, the zombies are caused by a virus released by aliens, so the term 'zombie' is just a name out of habit. Hence, the appearance and existence of zombies are reasonable and scientific.
Since zombies are now a rational and scientific fact, Gao Yuan naturally expects that zombies can starve to death too.
However, if zombies actively look for food and still maintain an omnivorous instinct, that's going to be a problem—it's not about whether to call those infected by the virus patients or zombies.
Gao Yuan looked shocked, which made Luo Xingyu nervous.
"Zombies... let's just call them zombies. Is it important that zombies eat plants?"
Gao Yuan helplessly said, "I planned to hide in the mountains for three months before going out to observe the nearby villages to see if all the zombies had starved to death. But if the zombies still know how to eat, and can eat plants, then the zombies won't starve to death."
Luo Xingyu spoke with residual fear, "I advise you not to get near the villages. Zombies are nothing like the slow-moving creatures in movies. The ones I've seen do move slow ordinarily, but if they spot prey, their actions can be very fast, extremely fast."
"And they're very strong too. Even if they're injured, as long as it's not fatal, their actions are almost unaffected."
After speaking, Gao Yuan and Luo Xingyu sank into silence, and after a moment, both sighed simultaneously.
"Have you seen them?"
Luo Xingyu nodded, biting her lip, "I have; have you seen them too?"
"Yes."
Human nature is to rehash the obvious, repeating the same pointless chatter, and once again, they fell silent.
After a while, Luo Xingyu said in a low voice, "Let's talk about something else."
"Okay."
They couldn't go on, because both of them were reminded of unimaginable scenes, and if they continued talking about zombies, they wouldn't even want to eat this wild boar.
Let's change the subject to distract ourselves, but in such an environment and situation, it's hard to find a topic that's pleasant.
The only topic left that both could accept, without being offensive or nauseating and without bringing sorrow, was probably food.
It was cold, and Luo Xingyu, who sat still, shivered from the lack of warmth—she was seriously short on calories.
After thinking, Gao Yuan rubbed the blood on his hands into the ground, opened his waist pouch, and pinched out a piece of chocolate.
"Chocolate is for emergencies, but... go ahead and eat. Just this once."
Luo Xingyu took the chocolate, slowly tearing the wrapper, gazing at it devoutly, and then gently licked it.
Tears started to streak down Luo Xingyu's cheeks, carving two paths across her face.
She took a small bite, then another small bite, appearing very solemn while eating the chocolate.
The chocolate wasn't big, divided into three segments, and although Luo Xingyu's stomach continued to rumble, she still didn't finish the chocolate. After eating just one segment, she carefully put the remaining two segments back into the wrapper.
"So delicious."
Unable to help herself, she licked her lips and, not knowing what else to say, Luo Xingyu repeated, "It's really delicious, I never realized chocolate could taste this good!"
Gao Yuan felt a twinge of pity and gently said, "Finish it, I still have more."
Luo Xingyu shook her head and whispered, "I'm really scared of being hungry, and... I still can't believe we can ever eat our fill again, just like before. Um, can I keep the chocolate?"
"Yes."
Luo Xingyu placed the chocolate in her pocket.
At this point, Luo Xingyu's gaze towards Gao Yuan became a bit strange. She focused on Gao Yuan and suddenly said, "I now believe you're a good person, you really are a good person. Thank you, Brother."
"Don't hand me a sympathy card, and don't call me Brother, call me Brother Yuan."
Luo Xingyu smiled, then spoke softly, "If I find my dad, if he's still alive... I will make sure he properly repays you."
Gao Yuan smiled and said, "All right, I'll remember that."
Luo Xingyu hesitated before saying, "My dad is Luo Guodong."
"Oh, eh? Luo Guodong?"
Gao Yuan suddenly felt the name sounded familiar. After pondering for a moment and putting together Luo Xingyu's expression and the context, he was startled by the name he remembered.
"I only know one Luo Guodong, the Stonegate tycoon, what's that group called... You're not talking about him, are you...?"
"That's right, the Chairman of Tiancheng Group, Luo Guodong, he's my dad."