Shao Ming loaded the bullets into the magazine and inserted it into his handgun. He needed to figure out what to do in the coming days.
Li Long was injured, the district was sealed off, there was a horde of starving mutated creatures downstairs, and an unfriendly neighbor lived next door.
"We'll make it home," Shao Ming said to Li Long. "There's always a way. You just focus on resting for now."
"Where are you going?" Li Long asked as he saw Shao Ming getting up.
"To check the situation," Shao Ming replied. "Maybe I'll figure out a way to get you to the airport."
Li Long didn't know what to say. He nodded and answered, "I'll keep trying to contact the embassy to see if they have any solutions."
"Alright," Shao Ming said, tucking the gun into his waistband. "I'll check the main door first, then take a look at the rooftop."
Shao Ming walked to the door but turned back to say, "I'll bring the keys and be back quickly. If anyone knocks, send me a message."
"Stay safe," Li Long said. "I don't want you to die before I do."
"You won't die, and neither will I," Shao Ming replied. "We'll go home together."
Leaving Li Long's room, Shao Ming took out his phone to check the time. It was almost 7:30.
He quickly thought through the options to get to the airport. Given Li Long's current state, they definitely needed some kind of transport. But even if they had a vehicle, would it be safe to drive with the current situation on the road?
Moreover, there was still the problem of the mutated creatures downstairs. Should he try to lure them away, or figure out a way to take them all out?
More importantly, how could he accomplish all this in the next six hours?
Shao Ming felt his head pounding.
He descended the stairs carefully, reaching the corner of the second floor. Peeking out, he saw the mutated creatures still gathered by the main door, clawing at it.
But luckily, the door was still intact, standing firm as it had been before.
Shao Ming sighed in relief and quickly retreated, returning upstairs.
When he reached the top floor, he found the door to the rooftop—normally kept locked—was slightly ajar.
The key to the rooftop door was supposed to be kept by the building manager, but since the manager had been absent for a long time, the key was left in the security office on the first floor.
If it had been under normal circumstances, Shao Ming might not have paid any attention to this small detail, but in these times, he couldn't afford to be careless.
He moved quietly, pulling the gun from his waistband. Although he had Li Long's baseball bat with him, Shao Ming still felt that the gun was a more effective tool in his hand.
With his left hand holding the bat and his right hand gripping the gun, Shao Ming carefully approached the rooftop door.
He slowly pushed the door open, only to be met with an unexpected scene.
On the rooftop, a makeshift shelter had been set up, with various household items like pots, bowls, and bedding scattered around. A man was kneeling beside the bed, tightly holding the hand of a woman lying on the bed. The man seemed entirely focused on the woman, unaware of Shao Ming's arrival.
"Hi?" Shao Ming spoke up.
The man jumped in surprise and quickly moved to shield the woman behind him. "Who are you? How did you get in?"
The man's face was haggard. Shao Ming glanced at the woman behind him. She appeared gravely ill, pale, and breathing laboriously as she lay on the bed.
Noticing Shao Ming looking at the woman, the man hurriedly said, "She's fine, she's fine, she's just a little unwell…"
"Why are you here?" Shao Ming asked.
At first, he assumed they were homeless or something similar, but their clothes were relatively neat, and their belongings didn't look like things they had scavenged from the streets.
"We…" The man seemed hesitant, then changed the topic. "You first answer me—who are you, and how did you get up here?"
"I live downstairs. Why can't I come up?" Shao Ming replied. "Now it's your turn to answer me."
"We… we…" The man, seeing the gun in Shao Ming's hand, stammered. In a low voice, he said, "She's sick, we were… we were kicked out…"
"Roommates?" Shao Ming asked.
"No, my parents…" the man replied.
"What's wrong with her?" Shao Ming asked.
The man hurriedly explained, "She's fine, really. She's just sick, it's nothing serious…"
Before Shao Ming could speak again, the man suddenly dropped to his knees.
"Please, don't kill her! I heard the gunshots, were you killing people downstairs? Please, don't kill her… I'll give you anything…"
Shao Ming looked at the gun in his hand and realized the man had misunderstood him. He paused for a moment, then said, "Uh… I also heard the gunshots. I'm just here to check if everyone's okay."
"Alright… alright," the man said, relieved. "I hope everyone is alright…"
"Mind if I take a look?" Shao Ming asked.
The sudden appearance of two people on the rooftop made him curious. He also wanted to see if they might interfere with his plans.
"No, no… no problem," the man quickly said. Then he added, "Just don't look at her…"
"Do you need help?" Shao Ming asked, his hand tightening around the gun.
It was a habitual question, but in these times, the world had changed so drastically in just two days that it felt like a dangerous inquiry.
After asking, Shao Ming regretted it slightly, not knowing how he would respond if they really needed help.
"She's sick, she's sick! I told you, she's sick!" The man suddenly shouted, then immediately lowered his voice. "Sorry… sorry… it's just… she's just sick… I can take care of her… it's fine, I can take care of her…"
Although Shao Ming didn't know what illness the woman had, he couldn't help but think the worst—she was likely a survivor with symptoms of the mutation.
A thought flashed in his mind: to pull out the gun and kill her.
But Shao Ming shook his head, dismissing the thought from his mind.
For now, the woman was still alive.
Besides, the crazed lover in front of him seemed harmless enough. If he attacked the woman, he would just create another desperate enemy.
The man hunched over and returned to the shelter, gazing blankly at his beloved, swaying slightly as if trying to comfort her like one would a child.
Shao Ming moved closer to the rooftop's edge.
Across the street, the campus, once bustling with life, now lay silent, while in the distance, the city was covered in thick smoke, with occasional gunfire echoing through the air.
However, he did notice that from the rooftop, it was possible to climb up to the building next door. This would allow him to move across rooftops, which seemed much safer than navigating through the zombie-filled streets below.