Zheng Minghui got up and tiptoed towards the shelves along the wall in the deepest part of the supermarket. After reaching there, he crouched down hastily, using a vacant carton box dropped on the floor to cover himself. Seeing no zombies in sight, he drew a breath of relief and continued walking on the other side of the shelf.
Just as Zheng Minghui approached, he saw a zombie standing still in the aisle with its back to him. The sight frightened him, causing him to shrink back immediately.
"Huh?" He peeked out again after comprehending that the zombie hadn’t seen him.
It was a male zombie in sportswear. A door was slightly open not far from the zombie. Zheng Minghui guessed that it must have been a supervisor’s office in the supermarket before the apocalypse.
An idea hit him – entering that office would mean safety!
But first, he had to eliminate that zombie! Zombies have various behaviors. Some sit in one place, contemplating, others wander around aimlessly, some even fake death, lying on the ground. Zheng Minghui had also seen a fair share of those who stood stationary.
Looking around, he noticed that other zombies were still at a distance. Calming down, he picked up his knife and stealthily approached the stationary zombie.
"Face the wind! Hazzak! Thump, thump...thump, thump, thump!" Zheng Minghui roared the catchphrase of a game character with all his might, aiming his knife towards the vampire’s neck.
Whoosh! Thump, thump...thump.
The zombie’s head fell to the ground. Zheng Minghui immediately rushed into the office through the open door. Luckily, there were no zombies inside!
He shut the door in a hurry, not caring whether the noise would attract attention from the undead. For now, he was safe. Upon surveying the office, he found the place smeared with dried, blackened blood, chairs and desks haphazardly scattered on the ground, all covered in a thin layer of dust.
Looking out the window, Zheng Minghui saw what seemed to be a courtyard outside – a zombie-free courtyard. He wanted to get out through the window, but it was protected by iron-meshed burglar bars, which landed him in quite a quandary.
"Damn it! What moron put up these burglar bars! As if there’s a surplus of thieves to worry about. What am I supposed to do now?" Zheng Minghui cursed inwardly, noting the office had no food, and his pockets only held a packet of compressed biscuits he had picked up when he was gathering food earlier.
"Damn it, am I going to starve to death here?"
With zombies all around, finding a way out seemed highly unlikely. He was merely hoping to keep his body from being torn apart. God-knows-what superfast mysterious zombie was lurking out there!
Suddenly, a strange sound echoed, sending a shiver down Zheng Minghui’s spine. He looked around, unable to identify the origin of the noise. As precaution, he picked up his knife.
Suddenly, a plank fell from the ceiling, raising a cloud of dust. Zheng Minghui dashed into a corner, his body trembling again. He noticed a shadow on the ceiling, unsure whether it was a human or a zombie, his heart filled with fear of the unknown.
The shadow from the ceiling peeked down into the office, seeming to have confirmed the absence of zombies. It then jumped down.
"Huh?" As the figure descended, Zheng Minghui became increasingly fearful. However, in the next second, he found the figure familiar.
"Ah! Old Liu! Is that you?"
This was undoubtedly Old Liu. Startled by Zheng Minghui’s voice, he swung his knife wildly towards the direction of the source.
"Bloody hell, what are you doing?" Zheng Minghui shouted in alarm.
Old Liu paused, finally recognizing Zheng Minghui.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"No, the question is why you are here. Zhu Hongfan and I got out to scavenge for food, but we were surrounded by zombies and wiped out. I think I’m the only survivor. What about you? Are you alone? Where are the others?"
"I’ll tell you, we all were out looking for food a few days ago. Then, that damn dog, Zhu, crashed our ride. I also had to run for my life alone. He and the others are probably zombies by now. Starving, I had to come back here through the ducts to scavenge for food!"
Zheng Minghui nodded understandingly. Old Liu was someone he had come to know during their survival struggles in early post-apocalypse days. They were both hidden in a small building, along with the bunch of Zhu Hongfan’s followers. The group had been peaceful at first until scarcity compelled them to elect a leader. Old Liu had his own faction, as did Zhu, but being fewer in number, Old Liu decided to leave on an adventure with his flock, leaving the building behind.
"There’s no hope for food here. The place is swarming with zombies. There’s another one I’ve never seen before. Fucking hell, I saw it kill Zhu Hongfan with my own eyes!" Zheng Minghui voiced his fears. However, though as afraid as he sounded, his pupils flickered with delight at mentioning Zhu Hongfan’s death. He had long been suppressed by Zhu, and couldn’t help but feel pleased at his death.
"What? Zhu is dead? Serves him right! I couldn’t stand that guy. Saved me the trouble of doing it myself! But tell me, was that zombie you mentioned green-faced and about this high?" On hearing of Zhu’s death, Old Liu was evidently joyous. He asked about the dwarf zombie, gesturing a rough height.
"Not sure, I was hiding beneath the shelves and saw only his feet. But it was certainly a pint-sized one!"
"That must be it! It’s an evolved zombie. We encountered it just a few days ago, right here in this supermarket. Three Sticks was bitten to death by it. Damn that thing; it even runs faster than a car. If our food wasn’t exhausted, I wouldn’t have dared to come here. Old Zheng, you got any food on you? I’m famished."
"N...no... Where would I get it? I’m hungry too. A zombie had already started chasing me when I was gathering food; I didn’t even get a touch of it." At this, Zheng Minghui unconsciously patted the packet of compressed biscuits in his pocket. How would he admit to having food? Two possible options were left. One, remain in the office, occasionally venturing out to bring food in, but the zombies outside made it too risky, let alone the fast-moving dwarf zombie.
The other alternative was to take the ventilation duct Old Liu had used to get in, which apparently led away from the zombies and was safe. But that meant an empty stomach! He saw the packet of biscuits as life-saving!
Disappointment dawned on Old Liu’s face at Zheng Minghui’s response. But he wasn’t too worried. He still had some food in his hideout; he had come for more, just in case.
Earlier, he had pretended to be food-stricken in the hope of extracting some benefits from his comrade, Zheng Minghui.