Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"The store has got a new batch of goods; I've come to deliver dog food for Xiao Fu," said the middle-aged man outside with a friendly and kind smile.

There was no movement behind the door.

The man next to him glanced at the untouched breakfast and lunch on the floor and said, "He hasn't even taken his meals; could it be that he's gone out?"

"Impossible," the middle-aged man asserted with certainty. "If he had left, it would rain red from the sky. He's definitely at home."

"So he just doesn't want to open the door for us, huh?"

A flicker of displeasure crossed the man's eyes before he banged on the door forcefully, "Xiao An, I'm the pet shop owner. Is something wrong? Do you need our help? Just open the door, will you?"

His words sounded concerned, but the pounding on the door was anything but gentle; the black security door shuddered with each hit, and so did Lin An's shoulders inside.

The food he had longed for was just beyond the door, but Lin An panicked, stumbling toward his bedroom.

As if by instinct, he dashed into his bedroom, opened the wardrobe, climbed inside, shut the door, and curled up in the back, hands covering his ears.

Xiao Fu, the dog, looked up at the door, barking fiercely, trying to intimidate the intruders outside.

"Listen, the dog's inside; the kid has to be there too."

"Big brother, what if he doesn't open the door? I specifically stocked up on new goods, and if I can't sell them, they'll be wasted on me."

"Yeah, this kid never goes out. If he doesn't open the door, we're really out of options."

The pet shop owner, clearly irritated, said, "I told you to be more discreet. You sold so much stock last time, and now you've gathered more in just a few days. This isn't how you shear a sheep. Everything was fine when I sold him the dog food before, but you had to mess it up, huh!"

The other men didn't dare argue, only asking uneasily, "So, what do we do now?"

The boss picked up the meal boxes from the ground and handed them to the others: "Lin An orders his three meals a day from this place; he can't eat anything else. You two stay here for the next few days, and as soon as the delivery is dropped, take it immediately. I refuse to believe he won't open the door after a few days of hunger."

The boss and another left, leaving only two men to keep watch.

They hadn't had lunch either, so they naturally helped themselves to Lin An's breakfast and lunch.

"Which restaurant is this from? It's quite tasty," the man with blonde hair savored the meal, admiring the beautifully packaged box with its appetizing array of dishes that tasted several times better than anything he had eaten at other restaurants.

The other man, with a scar at the corner of his eye, looked fierce as he ate a meat bun and snorted coldly, "This is home-style cooking, not available without a reservation, and you couldn't afford it with a day's earnings."

The blonde man clicked his tongue, "Where does this kid get all his money from? The boss said he never goes out or works. A second-generation rich kid, perhaps?"

Scarface gulped down another bun in two bites: "I don't know, and it's none of our business. Once this kid can't hold out anymore, we'll sell him the goods. It doesn't matter to me whether he's rich or not."

With only two buns and a cup of soy milk for breakfast, Scarface felt even hungrier after devouring both buns. He eyed the food in Blondie's hand and suddenly snatched it away.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Blondie tried to grab his meal back instinctively but found Scarface wolfing down the food with a desperate ferocity, his eyes bloodshot and terrifying at a glance.

They weren't close, just card game acquaintances. Seeing that Scarface was trouble, Blondie rolled his eyes and muttered, "Eat, eat, eat, eat yourself to death for all I care."

Afterwards, the two men continued their stakeout at Lin An's doorstep, with Blondie alternating between checking his phone and smoking, utterly bored.

Scarface, on the other hand, sat against the wall, his head down, breathing heavily, appearing very uncomfortable.

Although Blondie noticed something was off with Scarface, he didn't pay him any attention, still resentful about the midday food scuffle.

As dusk fell, Blondie's phone battery died, and he paced the corridor restlessly, glancing towards the stairwell now and then.

"It's past seven, where's dinner? Don't tell me it's been canceled," Blondie grew more anxious by the minute, suspecting that Lin An had figured out their scheme and canceled his meal order online.

That's it! He remembered the canned and dehydrated foods included in the last batch of goods they sold to Lin An; there was quite a lot.

Damn, there was no point in keeping watch then.

The more Blondie thought about it, the angrier he got. He marched over to Scarface: "Stop guarding, the last batch of goods we sold him included dozens of cans and dehydrated meals. Lin An could last for months without starving. That old fool's out of his mind, sending us to guard the door. For all we know, Lin An might never come out even if someone drops dead here."

Scarface sat motionless in the shadow.

Still fuming, Blondie kicked Scarface: "Why aren't you talking? Are you dead or what?"

Suddenly, a hand shot out from the shadows and fiercely grabbed Blondie's leg.

"What are you doing!" Blondie jumped back trying to retreat, but the grip was so strong it felt like his bones would crush.

Scarface was dragged out of the shadows by the struggle, and under the dim light, his ashen hand, veined and taut, showed his eyes cloudy with hunger and madness. He slowly opened his mouth, his sharp fangs piercing into Blondie's thigh.

Blood spurted out, a piece of warm flesh was violently torn from Blondie's leg.

"Aaaah!" Blondie fell to the ground, trembling with pain, horror-struck as he watched Scarface emotionlessly chewing on his flesh.

Blood was everywhere—on his face, mouth, and clothes—yet Scarface remained eerily calm, his murky eyes still fixed on him, as if contemplating where to bite next.

"Help me!" Blondie scrabbled on the ground, a trail of blood marking his path, tears and snot streaming down his face as he bellowed, "Help! There’s something evil here!"

The neighborhood was secluded, rarely frequented by passersby. His cries for help lingered long in the air, unanswered.

A glimmer of hope sparked in Blondie's eyes as a thought struck him. Dragging his injured leg, he hobbled to Lin An’s door.

"Save me, Lin An, I know you're in there—open up!"

Scarface swallowed the flesh in his mouth, but the scant nourishment only intensified his hunger, gnawing at him even more fiercely.

He rose stiffly, his limbs rigid and uncoordinated like a marionette losing its strings, lurching towards his prey.

"Lin An!!!" Blondie's voice broke with desperation, but only the dog’s barking responded; no one came to the door.

As Scarface approached, Blondie had no choice but to drag himself towards the stairs.

One was hampered by an injured leg, the other by stiffened limbs; both were slow.

Enduring excruciating pain, Blondie staggered down the stairs, only to hear the sound of a body tumbling behind him. He turned to see Scarface rolling past him, crashing into the wall at the stair’s turn.

The crisp sound of breaking bones echoed through the stairwell.

Scarface lay twisted grotesquely, head facing Blondie, his crimson eyes unfocused and still.

He must be dead, contorted so unnaturally.

Not daring to relax, Blondie limped downstairs, bypassing the body. His phone was dead; he needed to find people, to get to a hospital. Yes, and he had to call the police.

As he cautiously made his way past and continued downward, a shadow loomed from behind.

Blondie was tackled by Scarface, and they tumbled down the stairs together.

An endless flow of blood spread across the stairwell, accompanied by a ceaseless, muffled chewing.

Night, usually a time for rest and revelry, was shattered by screams and moans throughout Dawn City; bloodshed and death lurked at every corner.

The once tranquil and serene city had become a veritable hell on earth.

*

Lin An had been hiding in the closet for a long time, only daring to peek out after the sounds of the boss's voice had vanished.

The scent of food lingered just outside the door.

He moved slowly towards the security door, resting his head against it, frozen in that position.

Recent memories taught him that banging his head against the door would hurt, but he also knew that standing there long enough would eventually lead to it opening.

Lin An stood sentinel at the door like a hunter awaiting his prey, while his dog, tilting its head, mimicked its master’s actions against the wall.

A zombie and a dog began their vigil against the wall.

By evening, Xiao Fu was hungry again, but with his master still facing the wall, the dog had no choice but to tug at his master’s trouser leg, dragging him towards the dog food. Lin An might have seemed clueless, but he had become quite adept at this routine.

Without any need for paw-pointing, Lin An, once pulled to the dog food bag, automatically started pouring food into the bowl.

After filling the bowl, Lin An was drawn back to the door by the scent, but as he approached, a strong smell of blood wafted through the cracks.

The smell was provoking, and Lin An's hand instinctively reached for the doorknob, almost wanting to open the door.

“Aaaah!”

Startled by the screams from outside, Lin An scurried back into the closet in a panic.

Unmoved by the desperate and fearful calls of his name from outside, Lin An was indifferent; he didn’t even remember who he was, let alone understand what was being shouted.

Soon, the noises from outside ceased, and the smell of blood drifted away.

Disappointed, Lin An emerged from the closet, rubbing his stomach, and then his eye caught a dog hair sticking to his trousers.

Lin An: ...the discomfort started again.

While the diligent young zombie Lin An was busy cleaning, the pet shop owner, with a ferocious expression, was chopping off a zombie's head with an axe.

The foul, dark blood splattered on his face, and he breathed heavily, his eyes filled with unstoppable panic.

“What is this thing?!” The owner's companion, a tall, burly man, had been cowering behind a shelf. He only emerged, trembling, after seeing the zombie fall and cease to move.

The owner wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve: “I don’t know, but let’s get out and call the police.”

They were drinking at a pet supply store when a zombie stumbled in, biting anyone in sight. Had it not been for its slow speed, they might have truly died.

Stepping over the motionless zombie, the two left the shop.

The pet store was secluded, only frequented by residents from the opposite residential complex. As they exited, screams and cries for help from the complex were starkly audible.

The owner attempted to call the police with his phone, but the line was perpetually busy, impossible to get through.

The man behind him was panic-stricken: "What on earth is happening, and what should we do?"

Just then, someone emerged from around the corner, startling them both; the owner quickly positioned an axe in front of himself.

A trembling, tearful female voice called for help, getting closer to them.

They relaxed a bit, content that it wasn't one of those flesh-eating zombies.

The woman's steps were slow and uneven as the pet store's sign began to illuminate her face.

Her once fair and lovely face was covered with red swellings that spread at a visible pace, not just on her neck, arms, and shins, but also in areas hidden by her clothes. The swellings bubbled up like blisters, growing larger and denser.

The woman was still conscious; her face, now unrecognizable from the swellings, was streaked with tears: "Please, save me."

The two were goosebumped all over with hair standing on end.

The owner reacted quickly, turning to run in an instant, while the taller man's legs gave out, and he fell: "Don't leave me behind! Brother, save me!"

The woman, bloated and with skin turned a transparent red as if something was inflating her from the inside, cried as she approached the fallen man.

The tall man, watching his companion flee into the distance, could only desperately scramble away.

The woman reached out a swollen, shiny red hand, her mouth submerged in the swellings, leaving behind just one last plea: "Save me."

In the next instant, she lost all human form, turning into a puddle of flowing red flesh that engulfed and drowned the screaming man...

The middle-aged man heard the cries for help behind him but never looked back.

Though terrified, his mind was remarkably clear.

With the emergency lines unreachable, the entire city was probably fallen. He needed to find a safe place, free from zombies, with a guarantee of supplies.

The store owner quickly thought of Lin An.

Lin An's home was not far from here, secluded with few nearby residents.

Most importantly, they had previously forced a sale of a batch of goods on Lin An, which included a variety of canned and compressed food in substantial quantities, enough to last him several months.

And Lin An, if he had turned into a zombie, then a single axe blow would suffice to deal with him.

If not, the man's eyes darkened as he recalled the face he had seen before.