The scene I saw during the day had quite an impact on me.
Perhaps it was because of what I had been thinking all day, or maybe it was just a dream caused by those thoughts.
I actually dreamt ridiculously that I was still in an elementary school classroom, teaching a group of little walkers with broken arms and legs how to read.
I stood on the podium, terrified, explaining the story of the little photographer and Maxim Gorky.
In the dream, I even thought the scene was absurd and laughable...
The little walkers below me were howling, their decaying heads nodding off bit by bit.
Suddenly, a noise pulled me out of the dream and back to reality.
Struggling to open my eyes, I saw Rongrong's face getting closer and closer.
Before my brain could process, I was startled by the snot about to drip from her nose.
I quickly dodged to the side, crawled to the edge of the bed, grabbed some tissue, and wiped her nose clean.
"You dirty little thing, your snot is all over the place. Don't you know you should ask your big brother to wipe it for you?"
Rongrong sniffled, then grinned foolishly. "Auntie, your hair is so messy..."
"Do you know why Auntie's hair is so messy?" I said with a mischievous grin as I grabbed Rongrong.
"Because Auntie is a monster!! And now, I'm going to eat Zheng Rongrong, the little friend!"
Rongrong was laughing uncontrollably from being teased by me, and a bubble of snot even popped out of her nostrils...
I paused, grabbed another tissue, wiped her nose clean, then stood up and walked out of the bedroom, calling towards the living room: "Why hasn't anyone given Rongrong some cold medicine? Look at how much snot is pouring out of her nose."
The living room was very quiet, with no one around.
Had they not gotten up yet?
Wait a minute... who dressed Rongrong?
I was about to go check each of their rooms when my eyes swept over the balcony and I saw several people standing there...
"I said, what are you all doing gathered on the balcony this early in the morning?"
Upon hearing my voice, they all turned to look at me.
"Xiao Xue, Rongrong seems to have caught a cold. Where do you keep the cold medicine?"
"Oh, I can't believe I forgot about that! I was just thinking about getting her some medicine, but as soon as I saw the commotion, I completely forgot," Shen Xue quickly ran back into the living room, rummaging through the drawer under the TV cabinet to find the medicine.
"I don't want to take medicine," Rongrong pouted and hid behind me.
"You have to take it. If you don't, and your condition gets worse, we'll have to take you to the hospital for an injection," Mei Jing said, walking in from outside.
She picked up Rongrong and sat down on the sofa, softly coaxing the little one who had started to sob.
"Chen Yang, come over here and take a look," Suo Tian motioned for me to come over on the balcony.
I wrapped myself tighter in my pajamas and walked over.
It was getting colder, and I realized I would need to get some warm clothes soon.
The privately developed houses didn't have heating.
If the power stays on, it's okay—we can use the air conditioning.
But if the power goes out… then we'll have to tough it out through the winter.
When I reached the balcony, Suo Tian nodded towards Li Jianguo's direction.
Actually, I had already noticed it.
There were a lot of people standing by the gate of Li Jianguo's yard, and they seemed to be arguing about something.
It looked quite intense.
They didn't seem to care about the wandering walkers gathering around them.
After roughly counting, there seemed to be more than twenty people.
This should be everyone from their building.
What could they be arguing about so early in the morning?
"What's going on with them?"
"I'm not sure… they've been arguing for a while," Shen Feng shook his head and glanced at me, "Chen Yang, your look is pretty unique."
I awkwardly laughed and said, "Wasn't this wild style popular before?"
I then roughly gathered my hair and tied it up behind my head.
Suo Tian glanced at my hair for a moment, quickly turned his eyes away, and continued staring at Li Jianguo and the others: "It's probably about the disagreement from yesterday."
I froze for a moment, then quickly realized.
Yesterday, when the topic of the shelter came up, the two sides had already been sharply divided.
Based on their attitudes yesterday, it made sense that they were arguing today.
"So, they're probably arguing about whether the car by the gate should go to the shelter with the group planning to leave, or stay with those who are staying behind," I said.
"Yeah," Suo Tian nodded.
"What's there to argue about? There are plenty of cars on the road. Just find another one," Yangyang said with a dismissive sneer.
"You don't get it," I tapped his head.
"A big business van like that isn't so easy to find."
In the distance, the scattered walkers were quickly cut down to the ground.
That's when I noticed Sister Sun standing next to Li Jianguo.
If I wasn't mistaken, she and Li Jianguo had decided to stay here temporarily.
There were about seven or eight people standing by the car, two of whom were women.
Judging by their nearly frenzied body movements, I could tell just how intense the argument must have been.
The two sides remained locked in a deadlock.
It was too far away to hear what they were saying, but it was clear they were all fighting for that van, which could carry a lot of things.
Surrounding them were constantly approaching walkers, who were repeatedly chopped down.
Shen Feng cursed, "A bunch of reckless fools! Yelling at the gate like that, as if they're trying to get noticed, blabbering nonsense."
To be honest, I felt a strange sympathy for these people.
But what's that saying again?
"There's always something to hate about the pitiful."
They were part of such a large group, and if they had just united properly, their fighting strength wouldn't have been weak.
At the very least, they wouldn't have ended up troubling us just to find something to eat.
But judging by how they were fighting over every little thing, it was obvious that getting them to cooperate was probably harder than getting them to eat shit.
The argument continued for nearly two hours, and in the end, those seven or eight people were defeated by the cold, intimidating knives of the dozen or so people across from them.
A few of them, with backpacks in tow, gave up on the van and walked away on foot.
Watching them leave, I felt a sense of helplessness rise within me.
At this point, people still acted selfishly, and it was still a world where the weak were prey to the strong.
Little did they know, at this moment... humanity was no longer at the top of the food chain.
If, after all these days, they still hadn't realized the true nature of this chaotic world, then I could only pray for them, hoping they could live a little longer.
Back in the living room, Rongrong had taken the cold medicine, and was wrapped in a thick coat.
The bright red color, with a big hat that had two bear ears, made her look even cuter.
As soon as Suo Tian sat down on the sofa, she hurried over, wanting him to pick her up.
"See, I told you this little one is ungrateful, but you didn't believe me. As soon as her eyes open, she either looks for Brother Tian or Brother Feng, in any case, she doesn't want me," Yangyang said, sitting next to me with a tone of feigned grievance.
"She only looks for me when she want to get some treats," Shen Feng shrugged helplessly.
Rongrong snuggled in Suo Tian's arms, her little face full of happiness, smiling so much that her eyes were nearly shut.
Ignoring everything around her, she whispered loudly into Suo Tian's ear.
After lunch, Shen Xue took Rongrong back to the room to sleep.
The rest of us sat in the living room, preparing to discuss matters.
The TV was on, but the signal hadn't been interrupted; however, there were rarely any new news updates, mostly just reruns of previous broadcasts.
Occasionally, there would be some information released, but it was usually useless.
These news broadcasts were only for the survivors like us, offering hope that the world still had a future.
No matter what, at least for us, these broadcasts were always a great source of encouragement.
"Everyone, what are your thoughts on whether we should go to the shelter or not? Feel free to speak up," I took the lead and asked the question we needed to discuss today.
"You all saw the situation with Li Jianguo and the others earlier. If you have something on your mind, just say it out loud. That way, we can unify our opinions and decide what to do next."
"Sis, I'll follow your lead. Whatever you think, I'll agree with it," Yangyang spoke up first.
I patted his head with a sense of relief.
After all, no matter the situation, blood relatives are always reliable.
"I don't have much of an opinion either. Before, I thought going to the shelter was a good idea, since it's a formal place with military protection, real guns and bullets. It's definitely safer than us holding a few broken knives and guarding this small house. But after living here for a while, I feel it's better to stay here for now, and only go to the military shelter when it's absolutely necessary," Shen Feng said, looking around before adding, "I can represent Xiao Xue's opinion."
"I agree with Shen Feng's view. This small county, small in size and with few people, should still be quite safe to stay here," Mei Jing added.
It seems that Mei Jing also thinks it's better to stay.
I nodded and looked at Suo Tian...
He could be said to be the most powerful fighter in our team, with his sharp mind and agile skills, all essential for survival in the apocalypse.
At this moment, his decision would, in some ways, determine our future fate.
When I realized this, I felt a bit helpless.
Looking at it from another angle, this was also a form of survival of the fittest in a certain sense.
Suo Tian remained silent for a while, scanning the room before locking his gaze onto my face.
"Chen Yang, what do you think?"
For some reason, after hearing Suo Tian's question, I almost instinctively looked at Mei Jing.
Seeing that she had no special expression, I sighed with relief and then responded to Suo Tian, "I definitely think it's better to stay. Like Shen Feng said, we don't need to leave unless it's absolutely necessary. And... Shen Xue, Yangyang, and Mei Jing all still need to build up their strength. Heading out rashly wouldn't be good for us."
Suo Tian nodded, "We share the same opinion."
"Since that's the case, we all agree to stay," I announced, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Then, should we consider getting the essential things for our survival?" Shen Feng asked.
"Yes, and it'd be best to stock up in bulk. We've been constantly running out for food and water; it's too risky," Yangyang said with concern.
"Right. Now that we know where the key to the warehouse in that shopping mall is, we should go again and bring back more supplies. At worst, we can make two trips with the cars," I said, looking out the window and suddenly remembering, "The weather is getting colder, so we should also bring back some clothes."
"If that's the case, to avoid any delays, we should go tomorrow. Who knows, someone else might have already thought about the warehouse. If it's emptied out, we'll be at a disadvantage," Shen Feng said, looking at Suo Tian with a questioning tone.
"Mm, we'll leave after breakfast tomorrow," Suo Tian replied, then pointed at Mei Jing,
"You should come along too, get some exercise."
"Ah..." Mei Jing froze, her expression a little hesitant.
"Don't worry, just stick close to us."
Suo Tian said, rare words of reassurance coming from him.