This time, scavenging in apartment 101 could be considered quite a haul.
There was too much stuff, and Wang Tao couldn't carry it all by himself, so he called for Ding Yuqin to help.
"Chives!"
After Ding Yuqin arrived at 101, seeing those lush green chives, she immediately looked on with envy.
Although there weren't many chives, it was enough for an occasional treat.
She had the urge to ask Wang Tao for two pots of chives. After all, there were twelve pots; missing two wouldn't be a big deal, even one would be fine…
Just as Ding Yuqin was thinking about how to ask, she suddenly spotted two corpses in the corner.
"!"
She instinctively hid behind Wang Tao and clamped her hand firmly over her mouth.
Ding Yuqin hadn't really seen zombies before; she had only come across them on the internet before it went down. As for real life, there were some downstairs, but she didn't dare look. Besides, Wang Tao had already cleared those inside the building.
But now, suddenly facing corpses with brains splattered, and inhaling that nauseating stench, her legs were about to give out…
Wang Tao turned back and saw Ding Yuqin's terrified face, then explained,
"They're dead, no need to worry."
The apartments on the first floor had security windows, and with zombies outside, they couldn't dispose of the two bodies, so for the time being they just had to leave them there.
"Hmm..."
She quickly turned her head away, not daring to look any longer.
The idea of wanting two pots of chives was instantly abandoned.
She didn't think Wang Tao would just give away his spoils, obtained through life-threatening danger, for free. If she asked for it, she feared it might annoy Wang Tao and that would be more loss than gain…
After packing up the loot, Wang Tao and Ding Yuqin moved stuff back and forth three times before finally getting everything back to 501.
On the way, a bald man who had heard the commotion came out to look and watched with envy.
Wang Tao gave him some food. After all, the information about the number of people in apartment 101 had come from him, and it wasn't a false tip, so giving him some benefits was fair.
The door to 401 cracked open as well, but before Wang Tao could get a clear look, it was shut again. He only caught a glimpse of a young man with glasses and a health bar above his head [50/100].
Wang Tao had thought about reaching out for a talk, since they were among the only four survivors in the building. But the man showed no interest in communicating, so naturally, Wang Tao didn't bother.
It was already noon, and Ding Yuqin had started cooking lunch for Wang Tao, who was somewhat worried about the twelve pots of chives.
There was no space left in his apartment, and chives needed ample sunlight, but his balcony was too small. If all the pots were placed there, he wouldn't get any sunlight himself.
"No, I need to move. There are plenty of empty apartments in this building anyway..."
After some thought, Wang Tao found apartment 602 above quite nice.
The layout of 602 was three bedrooms and two living rooms, much larger than his two-bedroom place and clean, making it suitable for living.
The apartment directly below, 402, would be fine too, but Wang Tao felt that living higher up felt safer. Plus, he might be able to move the chives to the rooftop to grow...
The rooftop was accessible, where residents would go to sun their bedding, usually locked, and you would get the key from the property management when needed - now it was unclear who had it. But Wang Tao knew how to pick locks and make keys, so the absence of a key wasn't a big issue.
"Wang Tao, lunch is ready!"
By this time, Ding Yuqin had finished preparing lunch.
"Okay."
Lunch wasn't extravagant, as most vegetables were depleted, but there was plenty of meat.
Ding Yuqin served Wang Tao a small bowl of rice before sitting down and speaking:
"Wang Tao, when I opened the fridge just now, I noticed that the outdoor power supply is almost out of charge..."
"Almost out of charge? I understand."
Wang Tao frowned.
The meat at home needed to be preserved in the refrigerator; once there was a power outage, he would switch to the fully charged outdoor power supply to keep the fridge running.
Although it was an energy-saving refrigerator that didn't use much electricity, only about one kilowatt-hour per day, the capacity of the outdoor power supply was limited. After using it for a few days, it was nearly depleted.
Unless he could eat all the food that couldn't be stored at room temperature in the next few days, he would need to find diesel fuel to run the generator.
Wang Tao had planned to clear out the zombies in room 102 tomorrow, since it was the last room in the building with zombies. The day after, he intended to see if he could move to another place, and then look for diesel fuel the day after that.
But now he had to move up his plans—clean out room 102 this afternoon! Move tonight, and go searching for diesel fuel tomorrow!
In fact, Wang Tao didn't expend much physical strength killing zombies; he only went out once a day not because he was scared, but as a precaution. That way, if an unforeseen crisis arose in the future, he'd be able to respond immediately.
But given the current circumstances, running out of electricity was a crisis—a threat to his food supply.
So, he'd have to take a bit of a risk...
After the meal, Ding Yuqin took the initiative to wash the dishes, and after finishing them, she went to wash Wang Tao's clothes as well. Wang Tao had previously told Ding Yuqin she didn't need to wash his clothes, but now that the washing machine was unusable, he wouldn't say much since she was willing to help.
As for the water issue, although water was now very precious, water that wasn't circulating would spoil if left standing for too long... So, they would use it as needed and find a solution when it ran out.
After finishing with the clothes, Wang Tao had also rested enough.
"Wang Tao, are you going out again?"
Ding Yuqin was somewhat surprised since she knew Wang Tao used to go out only once a day.
"Hmm, I'll go clean out the zombies in room 102."
This was the last room in the building that still had zombies. Once room 102 was cleared, building number 4 could be considered completely safe.
"Then you must be careful!"
Worry was written all over Ding Yuqin's face.
The only time she witnessed Wang Tao fighting zombies was during his first battle, and due to the limitations of the peephole, she didn't get to see the full extent of it.
So Ding Yuqin wasn't very clear about just how strong Wang Tao was.
But judging by the fact that Wang Tao only went out once a day before, she thought the fight with the zombies must be tough... Now that Wang Tao was going out twice, it made her even more worried.
"I will."
Wang Tao nodded his head.
With Ding Yuqin's help, Wang Tao was quickly fully armed. He asked Ding Yuqin to go back home while he went to the outside of room 102.
According to the bald Uncle, room 102 contained a family of three—a couple in their thirties and a child attending elementary school.
Wang Tao wasn't sure how many zombies were inside, but he prepared assuming there were three.
Click~
After fiddling with it for a while, Wang Tao unlocked the door to room 102.
But as soon as he opened the door a crack, he was hit with a strong smell of blood and decay.
In an instant, Wang Tao's mind assessed that a fight had taken place inside!
Clutching the Long-handled Sheep's Horn Hammer in his hand, he then flung the door open with force!