Back to the Doomsday

by Tai Baiyang

  There was another door!

  It was thickened with a layer of aluminum alloy. There were only a few scratch marks on the door. No wonder the person behind the door could escape from the zombies’ hunting.

  He said in a gentle voice, “My friend, I’m not a monster. I’m just passing by here and will rest for a few hours.”

  Hearing Zhang Mu’s voice, the people on the other side of the door seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. With the sound of the door unlatching, a girl that was about the same age as his appeared and immediately hid behind the door. She left open a little crack between the door and its frame for Zhang Mu. She said to Zhang Mu in an anxious tone, “Be quick! The monsters will eat you!”

  At the beginning of the new era, humans still had the thing called “humanity” in their hearts, which Zhang Mu hadn’t seen for a long time. In his previous life, if Zhang Mu walked so close to another person’s residence, it would be his luck if they didn’t try to murder him.

  Zhang Mu sighed in his heart, then squeezed past the door through the crack.

  With the light of the white candle, Zhang Mu carefully looked at the girl, who was chewing carefully and slowly swallowing the food he gave her.

  She had long eyelashes and a delicate oval face under her fringe. The different parts of her face weren’t very attractive on their own, but when put together, her face looked pure and clean.

  The girl felt embarrassed from Zhang Mu’s observing gaze. Her body subconsciously slipped back as she asked in a cautious tone, “What do you want to do?”

  Zhang Mu laughed out, thinking that his behavior was indeed a bit improper. He shouldn’t stare at a girl like that.

  He hurriedly asked, trying to change the topic, “I saw that there were a few scratch marks and traces of collision on the door. Did some zombies come here before?”

  “Yes! Oh, zombies? Do you mean those monsters? They really looked like what I saw in the movies, but they were faster. I almost couldn’t escape back then. There was a zombie that kept knocking on the door for a long time. I was terrified by the pounding and it was terrible. Even though it had gone, I still didn’t dare to go to sleep.”

  The girl was very easily distracted. She had completely forgotten Zhang Mu’s rude actions and just patted her chest with fear.

  She finally met a human who wasn’t going to bite her. The joy made her open up to Zhang Mu without any alertness.

  “Did you come from the outside? Are there any other monsters out there? And what exactly was that sound this evening? Was the voice telling the truth?” The girl blinked her eyes and asked Zhang Mu quickly.

  In the girl’s eyes, Zhang Mu was a guy who could return from the horrible outside world. Besides, he had a cool longsword. The girl felt very curious in her heart.

  Although Zhang Mu was tired towards the questions of such a simple and inexperienced girl, Zhang Mu had to resist his fatigue and answer.

  Suddenly, Zhang Mu stopped. He looked at the girl and asked, “My name is Zhang Mu. What’s your name? Oh, and is this your home?”

  “Oh, my name is Yuan Rui. I just graduated from college and opened an online shop. This is my warehouse, and I live here too. I purchase goods, answer customers’ questions, and mail my products all by myself. I tell you, I’m super awesome!”

  The girl named Yuan Rui showed a trace of pride on her face. Zhang couldn’t help but admire her. Indeed, it was not easy for a girl who had just graduated from college to earn money all by herself.

  “Uncle, what about you?”

  ...What?! Uncle?! I?! Zhang Mu’s admiration immediately disappeared. His current body was just eighteen years old! Even if it was in the past life, he was only twenty-eight years old, only a few years older than this girl. How could he be an uncle?!

  In fact, he shouldn’t blame the girl. Although he had changed his clothes, his stubble and long hair was still unclean, plus with his hoarse voice and the vicissitudes in his eyes, he looked actually like an uncle to the girl.

  Zhang Mu coughed with embarrassment. He looked around the house and thought for a while, then walked to a corner and sat down. He closed his eyes, then said slowly, “Yuan Rui, thank you for your trust. I will sit here and rest for a while. I have something to do tomorrow, so I will have a rest first. You’d better go to sleep too. Don’t worry, I will only stay here.”

  “You...”

  Yuan Rui still had plenty of questions in her heart, but Zhang Mu had already closed his eyes. The little girl pouted, covered herself up, then turned around.

  “What a bad man!”

  The girl’s whisper was still heard by Zhang Mu. The corners of his mouth tilted upwards slightly.

  Yeah, you’re right. I’m a bad man. Zhang Mu silently repeated in his heart.

  Chapter 13: A Critical Situation

  On the second day, at seven in the morning, Zhang Mu suddenly opened his eyes, waking up on time.

  Zhang Mu had curled up in the corner and slept for several hours. He suddenly shivered from the cold. Well, he regretted in his heart that he had played cool last night. At least, he should’ve asked Yuan Rui to give him a quilted cover. He pressed his stiff neck and twisted it several times. Crackle, crackle.

  "Are you awake?"

  He heard a timid voice from the bed. Zhang Mu looked back and found that Yuan Rui had also woken up. She was holding a quilted cover in her arms, looking at him with a tired look.

  The girl had two dark patches beneath her eyes. Apparently, she didn't have a good sleep last night. After all, she was still a little girl. She must’ve felt terrified to see the world's cruel change. Of course, there was the other possibility that she was afraid of Zhang Mu, fearing that this “strange uncle” would do something to her in the night.

  Zhang Mu turned around and looked at the girl. He smiled and said, "Thank you for taking me in last night. Well, I don't have too much food and I don't think that you will like their taste. Wait here. I will go out to look for some food for you."

  "Are you going out? No, No, I'm not hungry. Don't go out!" Yuan Rui immediately shook her head like a rattle after she heard Zhang Mu's words, "It's dangerous out there. Don't go out. We can stay here and wait for the army to rescue us."

  "Army? They can't even save themselves now. How will come go to save us?"

  Zhang Mu said in a calm tone, telling her the cruel truth. He continued to wipe his Tang sword with a straight face.

  After hearing Zhang Mu's words, Yuan Rui's face was as pale as paper. She swallowed and asked, "Uncle Zhang, you must be joking. Even though the monsters are very strong, but the army has countless weapons! How can't they get rid these monsters? Aren't I right?"

  Zhang Mu finally finished wiping his sword. He stood up and shrugged, turning his back to Yuan Rui then said, "Of course, if the army still has weapons, these stupid zombies won't be a threat to them. Unfortunately, after the wave flashed in the air yesterday, I saw that a group of police's firearms immediately lost their efficacy and they were torn apart by those monsters. I think that the army is perhaps facing the same situation. Therefore, I'm afraid that we have to rely on ourselves now."

  After that, Zhang Mu paused for a while. He didn't turn around, but continued, "Don't open the door if you don't hear my voice. Don't underestimate the ugliness of human nature."

  Zhang Mu put his ear on the door to listen for sounds outside the door. After making sure that there was no danger, he opened the door and walked out.

  ...

  On the roof of a house, Zhang Mu watched the situation around a convenience store across the street. He didn't move, but put himself in the sun for a while, waiting for his cold body to become warmer.

  Zhang Mu was always meticulous in doing anything.

  After his body function returned to normal, Zhang Mu narrowed his eyes.

  This was a remote street, and there were only seven zombies wandering around on the road from his location to the convenience store.

  Zhang Mu wasn't worried about the
m. With his burst of speed, he could calculate the zombie's attack range, kill the zombie in front of the door of the convenience store, then rush into the convenience store.

  The key was the zombies inside the convenience store. What should he do with them? Draw them out or directly rush into the store and kill them all?

  Looking through the convenience store's window, Zhang Mu could see that there were three zombies in the building. They should be a shop manager and two customers. Zhang Mu's body hadn’t been strengthened yet and he couldn't display his full strength in such a narrow space. He could only deal with one zombie at a time.

  If he drew them out... Well, the convenience store wasn't the only store on the street. If he stayed on the street for too long, the zombies on the street and in other stores may hear the noise and come to swarm him. If that happened, it would be very difficult for him to sneak into the convenience store again.

  After a while, Zhang Mu had an idea.

  He sheathed the Tang sword into his backpack, then climbed down the roof along the eaves. According to the roadmap he had drafted in his heart, he cautiously walked around the street, then walked to the convenience store without any noise.

  Zhang Mu snuck into an alley next to the convenience store, looked at the zombie who was fifteen meters away with its back to him, then drew out his sword and rushed to it without hesitation.

  Zhang Mu didn't want there to be any accident, so he rushed at it with his fully enhanced speed, chopping down the zombie's head before it had realized anything. After that, he immediately caught the zombie's head in case its fall made any noise.

  After picking out the zombie's crystal, Zhang Mu sheathed his sword. He held the zombie's head in one of his hands and held its headless body with his other hand, then quickly returned to the alley and threw them to the ground.

  His movement was quick and quiet. The other zombies hadn’t felt anything and were still wandering on the street.

  However, Zhang Mu knew that there was not much time left for him, because the smell of blood would soon spread in the air.

  He observed the surrounding circumstances again, then snuck into the convenience store.

  As Zhang Mu had expected, he felt something pounce at him the moment he entered the door. He had to brandish his sword before he could see anything. Zhang Mu felt a strong tremble from his weapon and involuntarily lifted it. Before he could take a firm stand, he heard another sound breaking the air.

  Zhang Mu barely dodged the attack, finally seeing the two attackers in front of him.

  One was a zombie wearing tattered clothes and the other zombies looked like a young man. They blocked Zhang Mu's way from both sides and approached him.

  Something was wrong. Where was the third zombie?

  In desperation, Zhang Mu jumped up, squatting on the empty goods shelf. He glanced around the convenience store, but still didn't find the third zombie. His face changed, because he didn't like to have any unpredictable factors in his plan.

  The two zombies under the goods shelf looked at Zhang Mu. They screamed and knocked into the shelf. Zhang Mu could not find a good opportunity to kill them, so he was forced to jump to the goods shelf behind the previous shelf.

  Roar!

  While Zhang Mu was still in the air, a zombie suddenly came out from underneath the shelf. It opened its bloody mouth wide, trying to bite Zhang Mu.

  The last zombie was hiding underneath the shelf! That was the reason why Zhang Mu couldn't find it.

  Zhang Mu's face turned pale. He didn't have too many choices and had to helplessly wave his sword at the zombie with all his strength. The sword directly cut the zombie into two pieces. However, the exerted force made him lose balance. Although Zhang Mu had tried his best to avoid hitting his head, he still fell heavily to the ground.

  Clack!

  Zhang Mu felt a terrible pain rising along his right arm.

  Damn. My arm has been dislocated! Zhang Mu groaned in his heart.

  At this time, the other two zombies had pushed down the shelf in front of them, slowly walking toward Zhang Mu.

  Zhang Mu had given up his plan to kill them all. He wasn't even going to pick up the crystal from the zombie he just killed. He picked up his Tang sword with his left hand and imagined in his heart, ordering his Merchant's Ring to put all the things on the shelves around him into itself.

  In the blink of an eye, most of the stuff on the shelves had been put into the ring. Zhang Mu's Merchant's Ring was filled with various goods now.

  After playing "hide and seek" with the two zombies for a while, Zhang Mu caught an opportunity. He pushed over a shelf to block the two zombies' way, then quickly ran out of the convenience store.

  Zhang Mu didn't look back. He knew that before long, the zombies on the street and in other shops would come here following the sound he made and the smell of blood.

  Zhang Mu sighed at his bad luck on the way back. He bared his teeth and set a fracture for his broken arm, but his right arm still hung down beside his body. He probably won’t be able to use his right arm for a period of time.

  Zhang Mu didn't want to waste his time trying to explain his Merchant's Ring to Yuan Rui, so he took out some bread and milk from the ring and put them into his backpack. He thought that the little girl would like them.

  Finally, Zhang Mu returned the warehouse. He stopped, because he suddenly found that the door of the warehouse was broken. He had a really bad feeling. Thinking of his current condition, Zhang Mu put a small "thing" into his sleeve and quickly walked inside.

  Chapter 14: Instant Kill

  Zhang Mu slowly walked into the warehouse. Because the door had been broken, he could see the situation inside the building under the feeble, scattered sunlight.

  The aluminum alloy door was half open. Zhang Mu felt worried in his heart.

  Someone had entered the inner room. Was it a human or a zombie?

  Was I too late?

  When Zhang was going to enter the inner room, a vicious, male voice came from the room and warned Zhang Mu, "Raise your hand and walk backwards."

  Was it a man? Thank god, it was not the worst situation.

  Zhang Mu slowly raised up his left hand, pretending to obey the man's order. He slowly stepped backwards looking in the direction the voice came from.

  "Uncle, run! Run away!"

  Suddenly, he heard Yuan Rui's scream, but her mouth was immediately covered. He could only vaguely hear her groan.

  Yuan Rui!

  Fortunately, she was still alive.

  Zhang Mu let out a sigh of relief.

  From Yuan Rui's voice, the man in the room shouldn't have done anything to her. At the beginning of the new era, the bad men still worried about the punishment by the laws.

  However, after the evolvers became stronger and stronger and after firearms had lost efficacy, they gradually became lawless.

  After Zhang Mu stepped back around ten meters, the man in the room scragged Yuan Rui's neck and walked out of the house.

  Finally, Zhang Mu saw the man's face. It was a pudgy, bald man that was about thirty years old. He looked Zhang Mu up and down.

  When he saw Zhang Mu's Tang Sword, an emotion named greed flashed through his eyes. He stared at Zhang Mu and threatened him, "If you don't want to see this girl’s death, give me your sword! Put the sword down on the ground and kick it to me! Kid, don't try to do anything else! Do it now! Immediately! Be quick!"

  The man found that Zhang Mu didn't look very panicked, so he increased his strength on Yuan Rui's neck, making her face turn to purple due to hypoxia.

  Zhang Mu immediately pretended to panic. He said in a scared tone, "I’ll give it to you! I’ll give it! Don't hurt her! She is still a little girl!"

  Zhang Mu slowly squatted down and put the Tang sword on the ground. He kicked the sword handle, making it slip to the man.

  The pudgy man picked up the Tang sword, which really mismatched with his body shape. He watched the sword's sharp blade with an undisguised smil
e on his face.

  "The sword is yours now. Can you let go of her?"

  Zhang Mu purposely entreated the man in an imploring tone.

  "Ha ha, is the girl really that important to you? Is she your secret admirer or girlfriend?"

  Zhang Mu's craven behavior made the man become more presumptuous.

  "Since so, kid, is your backpack full of foods? Open it! Or you want to see me killing this chick?"

  Zhang Mu immediately removed the backpack from his back. Because his right hand was broken, he had to use his left hand to take off the backpack.

  He heard the pudgy man's laugh, "Ha ha, a disabled man! Ha ha!"

  Looking at Zhang Mu's feeble look, the pudgy man glanced at Yuan Rui with desire. His eyes looked Yuan Rui up and down imagining dirty things in his mind.

  "Open your backpack, you disabled waste! Let me see what good things you have found!"

  Zhang Mu opened the backpack and showed the man the cans and bread in it. The pudgy man swallowed. He had been starving himself for a whole night. He immediately became impatient after seeing the foods.

  "Give me your backpack, waste! Be quick!"

  Zhang Mu lowered his head with sneer and disdain in his eyes. When he raised his head, his expression immediately switched to nervousness.

  "Ok, ok, don't hurt her. I’ll give the bag to you!!"

  Yuan Rui struggled. She cried as she looked at her "uncle" strenuously walking to her.

  He was still energetic when he walked out of the door this morning. In order to get the food, what cruel battle had he experienced and how much had he paid?!

  They just encountered each other yesterday. Why would the “uncle” use his food to exchange for her life?

  "Stop crying! Stop now! If you don’t want me to break your neck!"

  The pudgy man only felt impatient when he saw Yuan Rui cry. He urged Zhang Mu, "Be quick! If you attract the human-eating monsters, I will throw both of you to them!"

  Zhang Mu quickened his pace. Suddenly, he stumbled and fell to the ground. The backpack was thrown out to the front, slipping to the pudgy man on the ground.