Shao Ming wrapped Li Long's body in a clean sheet and dragged it to the rooftop, where he placed it alongside the corpses of the young couple. As for the soiled sheets, he simply threw them off the roof.
He stood on the rooftop, gazing out toward the city center. The clouds had cleared, and visibility was good enough to see as far as Manchester's train station. The sun was slowly setting, and the city remained bathed in the glow of lights—though, under these brilliant lights, it was unclear whether the figures standing in the streets were humans or mutated creatures.
Raising his rifle, Shao Ming looked through the scope at the distant horizon. Since there were still helicopters flying overhead, it was likely that the military or some other organized group had survived.
The apartment was located in the city center, and seeing anything beyond the city was still difficult. He wasn't expecting to see anything specific; it was just that his mind felt chaotic, like everything was out of place.
He lowered the rifle and forced himself not to look back at Li Long's body.
For two years, Li Long had been his roommate, his friend. His death felt more like something Shao Ming couldn't accept than sorrow. Perhaps not being able to accept the reality of his death was its own form of grief.
Leaving the rooftop, Shao Ming was about to close the door when he glanced back one last time at Li Long's body.
While cleaning up Li Long's room, Shao Ming found a letter sealed in an envelope on the bedside table. It appeared to have been written a few days earlier. Li Long had likely written it as soon as he suspected the aftereffects of mutation.
The envelope had a note written on it:
"Ming, if I die, please give this to my parents."
Shao Ming didn't open the envelope but instead tucked it into his backpack.
Looking at the empty bed, Shao Ming felt as though he was in a dream. Just yesterday, Li Long had been lying there, lively and talking to him despite the wound on his leg. Now, by evening, that same bed was occupied by a wrapped corpse.
He had to survive, at least long enough to return Li Long's letter to his family. After all, his own parents were still waiting for him back home.
Shao Ming pulled out his phone to send a message to his family, assuring them that he was safe. However, he didn't mention anything about Li Long's death.
From the messages he received, it seemed that things were becoming chaotic back in China, but overall, the situation was still under control. It was far less apocalyptic compared to what was happening abroad. It seemed that China might be the last remaining safe haven.
For both emotional and practical reasons, he needed to find a way to get home.
Outside the window, the sun had completely set, and Shao Ming had no appetite for dinner. Instead, he took out his phone and started browsing online again.
One video that was uploaded showed a military gathering site on the outskirts of town. Hundreds of mutated soldiers stood there, and armored tanks that hadn't even been deployed were already reduced to piles of scrap metal.
On Twitter, the "Manchester Survivors" thread had far fewer replies than before—only a few hundred people were still participating. Shao Ming scrolled through, noticing that some survivors in the Northern District were meeting up and preparing vehicles to escape to the outskirts. In the Brindleley District, a group of survivors had cleared out a neighborhood, barricading it with debris and abandoned vehicles, using wooden planks to seal doors and windows.
Shao Ming realized it was time to leave. Even though Li Long was gone, and food could last a few more days, staying in the apartment was just waiting to die.
But none of these places were his destination.
His first priority was to reach the consulate. If the consulate had fallen, he would find another means of transportation—whether by plane, ship, or car—there had to be some way to get home.
Shao Ming grabbed Li Long's notebook and opened his email, but the consulate hadn't replied yet. Given the current situation, the chances of the consulate still being intact were slim. Nevertheless, he decided that when he left, he would still check there.
He checked the international student chat group, but since yesterday, no one had posted anything. He wondered whether everyone had managed to get home safely or if they had already turned into mutated creatures.
As he was about to plan his route, the lights in the room suddenly went out.
The power indicator on his laptop lit up, signaling a power cut.
Shao Ming put the laptop down and walked to the window. It wasn't just his apartment—everywhere in the city had plunged into darkness.
The power had gone out.
It happened earlier than Shao Ming had expected, though it wasn't entirely surprising. The mutation process had sped up, and it was hard to say how many people were still alive, let alone whether the power plants were still being maintained.
In fact, the workers at the power plant had fought until the last moment. A few of them had refused to leave their posts—perhaps because their families had already mutated, or maybe because their homes were within a quarantine zone. A handful of workers had stayed behind to keep the power running, hoping to buy a little more time for others. They stayed until they either turned into mutated creatures or were torn apart by them.
Shao Ming pulled out his phone and checked—the network signal was still up. The power was out, but the signal towers were still working, though how long the batteries at the base stations would last was uncertain.
Shao Ming quickly grabbed his tablet and connected it to a portable charger. He needed to download electronic maps of the world. Power could be found easily—starting a car would supply power to electronic devices, and a diesel generator or wind turbine could provide some electricity—but who would maintain it? The internet could be up for a while longer, but it was hard to say for how long.
He downloaded several survival guides from the internet—everything from water collection to vehicle repair, gun maintenance, and more.
Li Long had downloaded a TV series earlier, so Shao Ming took the opportunity to download several novels as well.
Now, Shao Ming was very grateful he had bought the tablet. Finally, it was proving useful.
However, for Shao Ming, electricity had become a scarce resource—used up little by little.
There were still a few problems to deal with. First, it was unlikely that the power would return, and if he didn't consume all the frozen meat in the fridge within the next couple of days, it would spoil. Second, the apartment didn't have candles or any other emergency lighting tools, and the only flashlight was the one Shao Ming had scavenged earlier that day.