At noon,Arnold was sweating profusely as he lay on the floor. He felt sore all over and had no strength left in his body. He had been exercising at home all morning, and now his stamina was almost depleted.
If it weren’t for his spontaneous decision to exercise today, he wouldn’t have realized how much his physical fitness had declined. In the past, running ten kilometers was a breeze for him, but now doing a few push-ups and sit-ups felt like a matter of life and death.
Sophie, seeing Arnold exerting himself so much, looked at him with concern and wiped his sweat with a towel. Arnold gasped for breath and sighed, “Ah, I’m getting old. I can’t compare to how I used to be.”
Sophie chuckled, “You’re only 23. What do you mean by ‘getting old’? You’ve just been lazy and gained some weight in the past couple of years.”
Arnold felt embarrassed by Sophie’s blunt comment, and his face turned red. “Enough, can’t I have some dignity?”
While the two were chatting, they suddenly heard a knocking sound at the door. Arnold immediately became alert and asked, “Who is it?” He swiftly got up from the floor and picked up a long knife that was placed on the table. The knife was given to him by David yesterday, along with a set of armor for self-defense.
A voice of a stranger came from outside the door, “Hey, brother. I’m your neighbor, living on the same floor. I mean, the one across from the unit that Angus broke into.”
Arnold suddenly realized that this floor had four households. The unit Angus broke into was vacant, but there was someone living in the opposite unit. However, that family had always kept to themselves and showed no intention of interacting with David and the others.
David and the others also had no desire to proactively get to know the neighbors, so they were surprised when the person suddenly came knocking on their door. “What can I do for you?” Arnold’s voice carried a hint of caution.
As he spoke, Arnold looked through the peephole of the reinforced door. He saw a well-dressed man standing at the door. Though he appeared well-groomed, his disheveled hair and weary face indicated that he was in a poor mental state.
Accompanying the man was a timid little boy hiding behind him. “I’m sorry to disturb you, brother. I didn’t want to be so shameless as to ask for your help, but my son hasn’t eaten anything for a long time. I’m afraid he’ll have problems if he continues to starve. Could you please give my son some food? I don’t mind going hungry myself; I only beg you to give my son something to eat.”
Arnold immediately understood the man’s purpose. If his assumptions were correct, this man must have been at home on the day of Angus’s betrayal and heard about the whole incident. Obviously, he had learned about David’s household having a considerable amount of supplies.
If it were just the man alone, Arnold might have refused without hesitation. However, seeing the pitiful little boy standing outside the door, Arnold’s thoughts wavered. After a moment of contemplation, he sighed and said, “Buddy, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. I’m just a guest here, and nothing in this house belongs to me. I can’t make that decision. You should try asking someone else.”
Arnold still chose to refuse the man. After experiencing what happened with Angus, he found it difficult to trust others completely. Moreover, the man in front of him was a stranger. Unexpectedly, the man knelt down in front of Arnold’s door. With tears and snot streaming down his face, his voice trembled as he pleaded, “Please, brother, if you can give my son something to eat, I’m willing to do anything for you. I can transfer all the money from my card to you.”
Arnold looked at this man several years older than him, calling him “brother” while begging to feed his own son, and he felt uneasy. The man wore a branded watch and was dressed in upscale clothing, indicating that he was once economically well-off before the apocalypse. However, after the apocalypse, the money in his bank account became meaningless digits. In order to provide a meal for his son, he was willing to abandon his dignity and kneel before Arnold’s door, pleading desperately.
Sophie’s heart softened, and she tugged at Arnold’s sleeve. “Honey, why don’t we share some of our food with them?”
David allocated a lot of food to Arnold and Sophie every day, more than they could consume. “Sigh, these are David’s provisions. Although they are allocated to us daily, we can’t just give them away freely.”
Arnold was torn inside. Outside the door, the sight of his father crying made the little boy start crying as well. “Daddy, I’m not hungry. Let’s go back.”
The man hugged his son tightly. “Son, it’s Dad’s fault. Dad is sorry for letting you go hungry.” Hearing the conversation between the father and son outside the door, Arnold felt a lump in his throat.
Suddenly, he recalled his former sergeant in the military. After he retired, the sergeant was stabbed multiple times while trying to do a good deed. The criminal escaped, and the girl he had saved also disappeared. The sergeant was left disabled for nothing.
But when Arnold visited him once, the sergeant said he had never regretted it. He thought to himself, “Ah, how did I become like this? Oh well, let me give them my food. I can endure hunger for a day.” Arnold walked into the living room and grabbed some cookies, canned food, instant noodles, and other items.
The strange man is outside the door,When the man saw no response from inside the room, disappointment appeared on his face. He was about to get up and leave when the door suddenly opened. Arnold stood at the doorway, handing him a bag of food. “This is the only time. I can’t help you next time.”
The man’s face lit up with excitement. He quickly said, “Thank you, brother! Thank you so much! You’re my savior!” Arnold felt somewhat uncomfortable with the man’s demeanor.
“No problem, just go back quickly and don’t attract any zombies.”
“Yes, yes, you’re right, brother.” After the man left, Sophie noticed the heaviness on Arnold’s face and grabbed his hand.
“Honey, I’ll give you some of the food later. I have a small appetite.” Arnold smiled helplessly. “It’s not about that. I’m thinking about how to explain this to David.” The two looked at each other, sighing deeply.
Meanwhile, Sally, who had been watching the man and his child leave through the peephole, finally breathed a sigh of relief. She witnessed the whole thing but didn’t intervene or stop Arnold. 𝑜𝘷𝑙.𝘰𝑟𝑔
Sally was just following David’s instructions to protect the safety of Arnold and Sophie. As for the matter of Arnold giving food to the man, she planned to tell David the truth later. Just as Sally was preparing to return to the kitchen to continue cooking, she heard familiar footsteps in the hallway.
Sally looked through the peephole and a flash of surprise appeared on her face. It was David who had returned. David had just reached the door, took out his keys, and before he could open the door, Sally opened it in advance. She embraced David tightly and gave him a big hug. “You’re back!”