11:34 AM.
"Zombie infection is highly likely to spread through bodily fluids." Shen Xia used tape to secure books onto Xiang An's arm. "This makeshift arm guard can effectively defend against scratches and bites. If necessary, you can even shove it into a zombie's mouth to jam its jaw."
Xiang An's gaze fell upon the cowhide notebook Shen Xia held.
"Spiked mace, tire shoulder pads, rubber band crossbow..." he murmured. "What are these?"
Shen Xia bit the tape between her teeth and said indistinctly, "Design sketches I drew, survival gear modified from everyday items."
"You knew the apocalypse was coming?"
"Just novel settings," she bit off the tape, wrapped book armor around her left arm as well, opened a page, and pointed. "For example, this mace—sharpen a table leg, embed it with nails, and reinforce it with tape to prevent them from falling off."
"This whole book is like this?" Xiang An couldn't hide his surprise.
Shen Xia nodded, saying seriously, "A writer's professional quality."
Xiang An suddenly understood the origin of the "Apocalypse Theorist." Even if it was just theorizing on paper, if every design was as practical as the book armor, her value would be immeasurable.
"I checked the supplies in the house. Other reserves are quite sufficient, but drinking water must be addressed quickly."
Shen Xia pointed to the water dispenser in the living room.
"There's about 15 liters left. In extreme circumstances, that's only enough for two people for ten days. Plus the box of milk in my room won't last long either."
Hearing this, Xiang An turned his head to look at the kitchen.
"According to the current situation, municipal water supply could be cut off at any time," Shen Xia continued. "So I filled all containers in advance. But unless absolutely necessary, I don't recommend drinking it. We don't know if the virus can spread through water."
Xiang An frowned slightly. The previous day's shopping was limited by vehicle space, and he had indeed overlooked the drinking water reserve, which now became a serious hidden danger.
"There's a convenience store on the ground floor facing the street. It probably has a large stock of bottled water," he mused.
"We must act quickly," Shen Xia lightly tapped her arm guard, saying seriously, "The longer we delay, the more likely it is to be contaminated by zombies or taken by others. Let's deal with the one at the door first, then figure out how to get to the convenience store."
Xiang An hadn't expected Shen Xia to be so decisive in action, but since she volunteered, there was no reason to refuse.
Looking through the peephole, Yang Zhiping was still pacing in front of the door.
"Conventional methods are unlikely to kill a zombie. The safest method is decapitation," Shen Xia reminded in a low voice.
The clear tone of the young woman's voice contrasted subtly with the bloody instruction, causing Xiang An to look sideways.
Although it seemed out of place, in a post-apocalyptic world, this ability to adapt quickly was perhaps the most needed quality for survivors—Shen Xia was clearly ahead of most people.
"Get ready."
Xiang An picked up the entrenching tool, his left hand on the doorknob.
Shen Xia didn't speak, just gripped the bone cleaver tightly and nodded forcefully.
Click.
The door opened.
The zombie suddenly raised its head, its cloudy eyeballs reflecting Xiang An's figure.
Xiang An had been building momentum for a while. The entrenching tool immediately swept out with a whoosh, slamming the zombie to a halt, its cheekbone clearly dented by the heavy blow.
Xiang An took advantage of the momentum to turn the shovel blade, precisely cutting into the gap between the cervical vertebrae at a 45-degree angle.
Corrupted blood splashed. Before he could wipe the blood from his face, he used the shovel blade stuck in the bone gap to pull downwards forcefully, making the zombie stagger.
Shen Xia circled behind the zombie, kicked with her leg, the muffled thud of her Martin boot kicking the lumbar vertebrae exploding simultaneously with the sound of bones cracking. The zombie crashed to the ground.
Seeing the zombie fall, she let out a small breath, stepping forward to completely suppress it.
"Careful!"
Xiang An's pupils suddenly contracted. He pushed Shen Xia hard!
The zombie, which should have lost its ability to move, arched its body backwards, its fangs just grazing Shen Xia's ankle.
Mottled wall dust drifted down. Shen Xia leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, watching Xiang An swing the entrenching tool and smash the zombie's head into a bloody mess.
"It..." Her voice trembled, clearly still shaken.
"You do the decapitation." Xiang An's arm ached from smashing, but luckily the zombie was even more miserable. Its entire face was already a bloody pulp, and the wound on its neck was deep enough to see bone.
Shen Xia pushed herself up from the wall, her legs went weak again, but she didn't fall. She gritted her teeth and stepped forward, stepping on the zombie's back, and half-squatted, placing the bone cleaver on the zombie's neck.
"Scared?" Xiang An frowned.
Pfft!
As soon as the words fell, the bone cleaver had already cut down with a whoosh.
Xiang An wiped the splashing black blood from his cheek, took two steps back, and quietly watched Shen Xia work.
The fear on her face had not yet dissipated, but the movements of her hands were quite frantic.
The bone cleaver swung incessantly at the zombie's neck until the blade was nicked and only a thread of skin and flesh remained connected to the neck. Only then did she stop swinging the knife, breathing heavily.
The zombie was completely still now, at most, the nerves in its body were still twitching slightly, but it could no longer make any aggressive moves.
Xiang An silently extended his left hand.
At first, she was just squatting on the zombie's back to suppress it, but later she was sitting directly on the zombie's back, like a hunting female leopard, not allowing the prey any chance to fight back.
Shen Xia didn't react, just looked down blankly at her blood-soaked hands.
After a long while, Xiang An said in a low voice, "You did very well. You should rest now."
With that, he forcefully pulled Shen Xia up, then pushed her into the house, turned, stepped over the headless corpse, and walked downstairs.
The smell of rust floated in the stairwell, and dark red bloodstains snaked across the steps in a broken stream.
There were already signs of zombies downstairs in the unit building.
They were pacing restlessly about ten meters away, separated by the van.
Xiang An observed from the stairs for a long time, found an opportunity, and immediately rushed out of the unit building, pulling open the car door.
The silver box body shone with a cold light. Xiang An grabbed it, its weight of about twenty kilograms making his arm sink.
The zombies smelled the scent of living people and slowly approached the van.
After slightly adapting to the weight of the box, Xiang An quickly got out of the car and retreated back.
In the few seconds the zombie horde was briefly blocked by the vehicle, he had already sprinted back into the unit building.
He held his breath and waited at the stair landing for three minutes. After the zombie horde's attention had completely shifted, Xiang An opened the toolbox at the stair landing.
He first took out a few tools and placed them aside, then fumbled inside the empty box, quickly finding the hidden compartment.
The moment the inner hidden compartment of the toolbox popped open, a faint blue light pattern seeped out from the cracks in the box. Xiang An tapped the bottom of the box with his finger. A hexagonal button array floated up in response, and a tingling electrical vibration came from his fingertips—this was clearly no ordinary engineering equipment.
Xiang An placed the toolbox in front of the unit building and solemnly pressed the button inside the box.
【Recommended construction at current location: Double-layer composite protective door】
(Materials: Abandoned security door × 2, car chassis steel frame × 1, rebar × 10)
【Build defensive structure "without consumption"?】
"Yes," Xiang An silently said.
A few more mechanical arms popped out from the hidden compartment, extending like spider legs, vibrating rhythmically in mid-air.
【Please place raw materials in order (Completed)】
【Construction in progress, please ensure the process is safe and stable (Estimated time: 50 minutes)】
Xiang An thought for a moment, took out some binding straps from his pocket, and used the landscaping tree in front of the unit building to make a simple tripwire.