C3 Chapter 3
Eager to use the last of the gas in the room, Jiang Ruan tossed potatoes and sweet potatoes into the water and boiled them for nearly 40 minutes until they were finally done.
Driven by hunger, Jiang Ruan didn't bother peeling them; she just bit right in. It had been so long since she'd eaten that her mouth filled with sour saliva. Despite gobbling down several potatoes and sweet potatoes, she still didn't feel satisfied, even though her hunger had subsided.
Could it be that after turning into a zombie, her appetite had grown? She couldn't help but shake her head, finding the thought amusing.
Oh no, the scent of a human! Right after she finished eating, she detected the aroma of a human approaching the villa. Her mind roared with the urge to devour the human, to drink their blood, to feast on their flesh!
That overpowering intuition took hold of Jiang Ruan's mind, her eyes turning a bloodthirsty red as a grey mist began to seep from the corners.
She couldn't let herself be controlled; she had to find her brother. Instantly, Jiang Ruan regained her composure. The humans were drawing nearer; she needed to find a hiding spot.
That's it! Jiang Ruan remembered that these villas often had basements. She quickly searched through several rooms until she reached a bedroom on the second floor. Inside the closet, amidst a heap of clothes, she flipped it open to reveal a pitch-black basement.
"Damn, I've been walking for so long and haven't found a thing to eat. I'm going to check the kitchen," grumbled the man, storming off toward the kitchen. Jiang Ruan held her breath, concealed in the basement.
Back when she was human, she lived in fear of being violated by burly men. Now, as a zombie, the idea of fearing humans was laughable. She had to grow stronger quickly to ensure her survival in this apocalyptic world.
Before long, the man returned, his voice seething with anger. "Someone's been cooking in the kitchen. Go check upstairs for other survivors. Damn it, they didn't leave a scrap for us!" His voice pierced through the floorboards, reaching Jiang Ruan in the basement with ease.
Fighting back the craving to consume human flesh, Jiang Ruan's heart twitched with an unbearable itch, her mouth watering at the thought. The scent of this human's flesh was tantalizingly delicious!
Jiang Ruan licked her lips, her fingers gripping the wall beside her with fierce determination as she reminded herself not to act on impulse.
"Are we going to rest here today?" asked a woman, her voice tinged with timidity, betraying her fear of the man.
A curse erupted, "Rest? Bullshit. There's nothing here. You're going to starve me to death."
With a sharp "slap," a handprint materialized on the woman's face, followed by her soft sobs.
The man warmed his hands while others ascended the stairs. During this, someone entered Jiang Ruan's room, rummaged through the cabinet for clothes, and left, muttering expletives.
"The number of survivors outside is dwindling. Coming all the way from the national road, I've only encountered a few of you. We must hurry and leave S City; I'm certain it will soon be overrun by zombies," a steady male voice declared.
His words painted a clear picture: S City, with its three million inhabitants, was now nearly deserted.
The thought of three million zombies sent shivers down Jiang Ruan's spine, and she momentarily forgot that she, too, was one of the undead.
"Then we need to get moving," another man insisted. "The zombies are drawn by the scent of blood. If we linger, we might not make it out."
A consensus was reached, and the group cautiously departed the villa, the chilling sound of a machete severing zombie necks echoing in the background.
The assaulted woman wept quietly. Jiang Ruan emerged from the basement and, looking out the window, witnessed the men pushing the frail woman out to fend off the zombies.
A wave of sorrow washed over her, yet she swiftly regained her composure.
This was the apocalypse, where all semblance of humanity was extinguished, leaving humans more fearsome than the zombies themselves.
