Apocalyptic Disaster: Stockpile Supplies for Free and Make a Comeback

Chapter 9 Bath Center 2
The boy's mouth was open, his face was pale, and he was making a continuous wheezing sound in his throat, having difficulty breathing.

Most of the private rooms in the bathhouse have no windows, resulting in poor air circulation. The continuous heavy rain has left the blankets in the rooms damp and chilly. Coupled with the lingering stench of decay that permeates the city and the drop in temperature last night, it's even more difficult for people with health issues.

"Sister Zhou, where would we get asthma medication right now?" said the person wrapped in an ill-fitting old coat. "The nearest pharmacy is across the street, and there are so many zombies down there. It's not that we don't want to help, but going out would just be throwing our lives away."

Some people started to worry, saying, "I heard that people turn into zombies when they die, Sister Zhou. How about this, you take the children to the fire escape first, and we'll let you know if you need anything."

Sister Zhou interrupted him excitedly, "My child is already like this, how could you say such a thing! It's too much!"

"It may be harsh, but there are doctors even if there's no medicine. It's only a matter of time. You can't be so selfish as to put all of us in danger."

“That makes sense. My neighbor was fine at first, and even went out in the rain to buy medicine. That night, he died and came back to life, and he even bit his whole family to death! We understand how you feel, but you should also think about others.”

Hearing these words, the couple's eyes reddened again and again. They wanted to say something in rebuttal, but seeing their child's distress, they didn't say anything. People who were usually on good terms with them stood there without saying a word.

At this moment, Cheng Yan pushed through the crowd to check on the boy's condition and quickly helped the boy sit up to change his breathing position.

Seeing his professional demeanor, hope ignited in the couple's eyes. Sister Zhou hurriedly asked, "Are you a doctor? Please save my Xiaoyang."

Cheng Yan paused, his expression grave, "In this situation, without aerosol spray, someone could die."

Sister Zhou collapsed to the ground, her eyes dimmed, and tears streamed down her face.

"I have a bottle of medicine, but you'll have to exchange it for something, like rice, noodles, or other food," Song Jinhe said as she walked in and looked at Sister Zhou.

She doesn't have many of these special drugs on hand, mainly just in case.

"Is one bag of noodles enough?" Sister Zhou asked anxiously.

“Okay.” Song Jinhe used her pocket as a cover, took out the aerosol can from her spatial storage, and squeezed the outer cardboard packaging twice before handing it over.

Sister Zhou hurriedly took the medicine and gave it to the child. Seeing that the child's breathing had calmed down, the couple thanked her several times as they handed over the noodles.

Song Jinhe packed the noodles into a bag and turned to leave, and soon whispers arose behind her.

"How could she possibly ask someone for something that was meant to save her life? Isn't that taking advantage of someone's misfortune? If I had the medicine, I would have given it to Sister Zhou long ago," said the woman who was on good terms with Sister Zhou.

Someone nearby chimed in, “They’re carrying such big bags, treating us like thieves. How could they possibly be missing even this little bit of stuff?”

"Keep your voice down. Yesterday, this little girl took that stick she uses to fight zombies and scared Wu Dayong so much that he didn't dare to say a word. She's really fierce to him."

-

Yang Minghao pulled Cheng Yan aside to inquire about the zombie virus.

Cheng Yan didn't mention that they came from the hospital, but only shared what he knew.

He didn't know much, except that he had personally witnessed the process of a human going from a high fever to becoming a zombie.

Most infected people did not survive more than 16 hours after developing a high fever, and the longest survival time was no more than 48 hours. After they died, they would 'revive' in just 30 seconds to 5 minutes.

"Do you have asthma here too?" Yang Minghao asked casually, seemingly out of curiosity.

"They're family, but we don't need them now." Song Jinhe lowered her head to hide the lack of sadness in her eyes. Yang Minghao didn't press further. After hearing that they were going to put out the rainwater in barrels, he said a few words and left.

Four people carried eight marked plastic buckets to the terrace, looking at the gloomy sky and the zombie-infested streets, and the wading area in the distance with various items floating in the water. Even breathing felt oppressive.

Upon learning that Song Jinhe was going out to find supplies, the three of them said they wanted to go together. However, considering that someone needed to stay at the bathhouse to prevent someone from blocking the entrance, Peng Zhixue stayed behind after discussing it.

Before leaving, Song Jinhe picked up a few empty soda bottles from the floor of the self-service restaurant when no one was looking.

They hadn't searched many areas of the mall yet. The first place they reached was the restaurant on the 10th floor. They searched separately, keeping a distance from each other, and were ready to support each other at any time.

In half a day, Song Jinhe had accumulated quite a few things in her space; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she had made a fortune.

Two unopened barrels of cooking oil, three cases of beer, half a case of empty bottles, five cases of mineral water, and one barrel of purified water.

The package includes 15 bags each of 10-kilogram rice and flour, dried goods such as macaroni, sweet potato flour, and buckwheat noodles, as well as pre-made hot pot base, milk, tea, sweet potatoes and potatoes with mud on them, and various seasonings.

A clean pot, a small cleaver with a blade about 16cm long, a toolbox, two fully charged flashlights, and some other useful items.

I also took some disposable lunch boxes, which will make it easier to store cooked food in the future.

If they really couldn't bear it any longer, they would follow the stench of corpses to find lone zombies.

A dull thud sounded, and another zombie fell.

"What are you doing?" Cheng Yan, who had been holding back all morning, finally couldn't help but ask.

While others would run away at the sight of zombies, she actively went looking for them. And just now, the expression on her face was really strange; she seemed quite excited.

“Practice.” Song Jinhe replied without hesitation.

Cheng Yan: That makes a lot of sense.

But what was with that look in his eyes when he made his move, like he was being robbed of his monster? She just wanted to kill zombies!
Song Jinhe took a pot and bowls from the hot pot restaurant, while Cheng Yan and Zhang Yi dismantled a wooden chair, took off their blood-stained clothes, and started boiling water.

I broke off half of the hot pot broth and boiled it. Then I found some ham, sausage, instant noodles, and glass noodles at the restaurant, and the aroma was irresistible.

"It would be perfect if there was meat. Hot pot just doesn't feel like it's missing something without tripe and lamb rolls," Song Jinhe sighed as she poured orange juice.

The meat had all spoiled after such a long power outage. They were kicked out by the smell as soon as they opened the walk-in refrigerator in the kitchen. There was still half a box of eggs in the warehouse, so Song Jinhe took out a few and put them in the hot pot to cook, and put the rest into her spatial storage.

“There’s meat in the ham and sausage too.” Zhang Yi rolled up her sleeves and scooped two full spoonfuls of food for Song Jinhe. “I never thought we could have hot pot in the apocalypse. This time, I’m going to eat my fill for the next few meals!”

After showing off their hot pot and juice, the three of them made a few Molotov cocktails and took them to the next floor.

Cheng Yan noticed that Song Jinhe seemed to be really into fighting zombies, practically a physics-based swordsman. So he simply picked up the corpses behind her and taught Zhang Yi how to effectively deal with zombies.

It was already dark by 6 p.m., and they couldn't make it back to the bathhouse, so they decided to spend the night in the top-floor administrative office.

(End of this chapter)