“David?” Arnold’s eyes were empty as he looked up at David. David was slightly taken aback by Arnold’s gaze.
In the previous life, Arnold had always been in the same state as he was now. “What happened?” David asked.
Before Arnold could answer, Sally opened the door and walked excitedly towards David. “You’re back.”
As Sally approached, preparing to embrace David, she accidentally locked eyes with Arnold and shuddered.
David sighed. He had a rough idea of what had happened. He patted Sally’s shoulder and whispered, “Take Little Black and Cola back first.”
Sally didn’t hesitate and immediately agreed. As David listened to the sound of Sally closing the door, he took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. It was the same pack he hadn’t finished the last time he gave one to Arnold.
In the midst of the apocalypse, he was either on the road collecting supplies or hunting zombies. The pressure was overwhelming, and he thought, why not give it a try?
Arnold also looked at the cigarette David handed him, hesitated for a moment, and then approached. He had choked last time due to nervousness, but this time he wouldn’t embarrass himself.
The two leaned against the fence. Arnold put the cigarette in his mouth, glancing at David cautiously before taking a puff. This time, he didn’t choke on the cigarette.
David exhaled a puff of smoke and turned to look at Arnold, who also exhaled smoke. “Tell me.”
Arnold took a drag from his cigarette, recalling the scenes from earlier. “David, you were right. This disaster has come, and no one can be trusted. I… I killed that man and his child with my own hands!” As he spoke, Arnold’s voice grew quieter.
Arnold hadn’t intended to harm the family. They were about to let them go. But the man fought desperately, insisting on keeping Arnold. The man was no match for Arnold, and by the time Arnold knocked him down again, the man was already half-dead. He even called his son to hold onto Arnold tightly.
Arnold had wanted to pull the little boy away, but the man’s next words shocked him. “Brother, I can’t even feed my son with the little food we have. Can I trade my son for food?”
Upon hearing those words, Arnold exploded. He forcefully pulled the little boy away, approached the man, and put an end to his suffering. Such a father, even if the little boy had stayed with him, would eventually abandon him. Arnold had initially thought of adopting the little boy with Sophie, but when he dealt with the man, the little boy rushed towards his own blade.
Arnold finished recounting the events and exhaled a smoke ring slowly. “David, that’s how it happened.”
David nodded and gently patted his shoulder. “It’s alright. Just rest well. There will be many more incidents like this in the future.”
David lifted his foot and walked towards the room where the man resided. Arnold followed him closely. Upon entering, David saw the bodies of the man and the boy. He frowned at the sight of blood scattered on the floor. “Zombies will come soon. You should go back.”
With those words, David bypassed the corpses and walked into the room. Arnold didn’t leave, nor did he respond to David’s words. He stood guard at the door with his machete in hand. David paid no attention to Arnold’s choice and carefully searched the room. It didn’t take long for him to discover a large box of food hidden inside. The box contained various eatables and drinks. With a wave of his hand, David stored them all in his space.
[You obtained 30 loaves of bread. Critical hit bonus: 100,000!]
[Congratulations! You obtained 300,000 loaves of bread!]
[You obtained 5 cans. Critical hit bonus: 100,000!]
[Congratulations! You obtained 50,000 cans!]
The voice of the system kept ringing in David’s mind. He didn’t stay in the room for long and quickly left the place with Arnold. Less than a minute after they left, a dozen zombies rushed in and devoured the two corpses in the room, leaving only bare white bones behind.
After finishing their meal, the zombies roamed around the entire building for a while before eventually leaving. David stayed in the room where Arnold and his wife were. He raised his hand and released a considerable amount of food and drink.
Both of them stood there in astonishment. “David, with so much food, we won’t have to worry about eating and drinking, right?” Arnold exclaimed.
However, David shook his head. “These things are only temporary. The disaster has just begun. It’s good to collect as much as we can now. But in a month, the zombies will undergo a complete mutation. By that time, it will be extremely difficult to find food. There isn’t much time left for the 100,000 critical hit bonus, so he must collect everything he can during this time.”
Suddenly, the sound of pounding came from outside the door. Sophie trembled and hid behind Arnold. Arnold was about to go and check, but David stopped him. 𝘦𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘦𝑙．𝑜𝑟𝘨
David looked at him and shook his head. At this time, the zombies had just finished devouring the father and son. Whoever was outside the door might not be human, but more likely a zombie.
But the next second, a voice filled with age came from outside the door. “Is… anyone there?” The voice was extremely eerie, sounding like an old man’s voice, but within each word, there was a hint of a young woman’s voice. The two voices intertwined, giving a chilling sensation.
Arnold looked at David, about to say something. But David calmly raised his index finger and placed it in front of his lips. If they made a sound, whatever was outside would rush in the next second, exposing them.
David had encountered talking and communicative zombies before, but it was something from the previous life and hadn’t appeared this early. It increasingly felt like the situation was beyond his understanding. If these zombies appeared so early, who knew what even more terrifying things might appear in a month?
After a while, the sound outside gradually faded away. David cautiously walked forward, confirmed that there was no one through the peephole, and then breathed a sigh of relief. “Remember, if someone else knocks on the door, don’t open it.”
After leaving those words behind, David departed and returned to Sally’s home. As soon as he entered, Sally rushed towards him and tightly embraced him.
David gently stroked her beautiful hair and carried her to the couch. “How was it? Did you absorb it well?”
Sally smiled proudly, stood up, and extended her hand. Lightning coiled around her fingers, obediently forming various shapes as she pleased. The lightning was highly responsive.