In this current world, our compound has become something of an oasis!
Every day, the elderly and women take turns preparing delicious meals for everyone. Fresh vegetables are completely gone, but we brought back plenty of frozen seafood from the ice market—something that would've been expensive in ordinary times!
In the past, we usually only bought good shrimp for the children, chopping it up to add to porridge or dishes for flavor. Adults rarely indulged. But now, frozen seafood has become our daily staple—simply because it's abundant, flavorful, nutritious, and easy to preserve. If the freezers can't hold it all, we can just leave it outside. The temperature has already dropped to around -12°C, and it gets even colder at night!
What we brought back was only a fraction of what was stored in the ice market. In any other season, if the power went out, all the frozen goods would thaw and rot. But now, in the cold winter, the unheated ice market is like a massive natural cold storage—everything remains perfectly frozen, with no loss of freshness.
There were quite a few frozen corpses in the ice market—some torn apart and eaten to the bone by zombies, but most were zombies that had been head-shot. Clearly, other survivors had gotten there first, saving us a lot of trouble.
Next to the ice market was the nut market. Initially, we just wanted to get some nuts for the children, but we found mountains of high-quality nuts piled up, unattended. Apparently, zombies had no interest in such delicious food! We ended up bringing back several truckloads. Both adults and children could enjoy them—nuts don't spoil easily and have a long shelf life.
My husband and I aren't big drinkers, but we share a small habit: we like to have a beer with dinner every day.
Usually, one can each is enough for us. Especially when there's meat like pork knuckles for dinner—taking a bite of meat followed by a sip of beer cuts through the grease and feels wonderfully satisfying.
Beer is such an interesting thing. The first sip is incredibly refreshing, but after a certain point, it becomes almost undrinkable.
In these seemingly calm days, we often have dinner with our friends, and having a beer or two is inevitable. Men from the Northeast love drinking competitions. In the past, gatherings meant going through cases of beer until everyone was dead drunk. But now, everyone is very disciplined—each person has just one can, enough to enjoy the moment. Everyone knows that safety is only relative. Outside the compound walls, hordes of hungry zombies are still roaming, eager to make us their dinner.
I couldn't sleep all night. The next day, I woke up early—there was no way around Shuai Shuai's schedule. If he wanted to wake up at 4 a.m., I had to get up and play with him. He refused to play alone!
After breakfast, I played with Shuai Shuai for a while until I finally managed to lull him to sleep. Gently placing my precious little one in his crib, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Taking care of a child is exhausting—no less demanding than fighting zombies! All parents would understand what I mean!
Checking the time, it was almost 10 a.m. There were no urgent tasks today, so we decided to stay home and spend time with our son. Since the zombie outbreak, we'd been so busy every day that we hardly had any time for our little one!
"Let's go find Aze. Everyone has shooting training today," I said, slinging my long knife over my shoulder and calling for my husband to head out.
Aze was about to go downstairs. Today, he planned to train everyone on using submachine guns. Pistol training was already complete, and everyone had learned quickly.
"Qiqi, are you coming down with us?" I asked, seeing that Qiqi still looked half-asleep. She probably wouldn't make it.
"I'm so tired! I'm not going down to join the fun. My husband will protect me, and Duo, I know you'll protect me too, right, dear?" Qiqi was clearly meant to be a delicate flower in a greenhouse, but we loved her anyway—what could we do!
"Ahhh!!!" Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from downstairs. Something was wrong!
The four of us rushed to the north balcony, looking in the direction of the sound.
Heavens! When did a large horde of zombies gather outside Gate 3? They were desperately squeezing their way inside!
Even worse, there were two women inside the gate not far away—and they had two children with them!
What were they thinking? The zombies must have been attracted by the children's laughter!
My husband grabbed the walkie-talkie and shouted, "Assemble at Gate 3! Zombie horde attacking! Everyone bring your guns!"
In truth, everyone had already seen what was happening from their windows. By the time we hurried downstairs via the elevator, the Action Team and Security Team had mostly gathered. Everyone assembled outside Gate 3, holding the guns previously issued to them, anxiously waiting for us and Aze.
The two mothers who caused the trouble and their children had already been escorted home. Both the children and the adults were terrified.
Gate 3 was creaking under the pressure of the zombie horde. Thankfully, Sixth Brother's compound used the thickest iron gates and sturdiest locks—otherwise, the roaring zombies would've broken through long ago.
Aze yelled calmly, "You've all been trained! Now it's time for live ammunition. Don't panic, and don't waste a single bullet. They can't get in—we can take precise shots at close range. Aim for the head! Take them down one by one!"
His words steadied everyone. They gripped their pistols, eager to act. Aze divided the men into six rows of about ten people each. Everyone followed his commands: "First row, two steps forward! Aim! Fire!"
A volley of gunshots rang out, and the first row of zombies fell. But the ones behind immediately stepped over their bodies and pressed forward. These creatures—they're afraid of being too late to die!
"First row, fall back! Second row, two steps forward! Aim! Fire!" Aze continued shouting...
By the time all ten rows had fired their shots, the zombies outside had piled up like a mountain. The results were impressive!
"That was damn exhilarating!" Qin Goodluck's eyes shone with excitement. Everyone else seemed to share the same sentiment—they couldn't get enough!
They had no idea how dangerous it had been! Even the strongest iron gate couldn't withstand zombies pushing together in unison! The way they were pushing, it felt like they could topple the Great Wall! It made me break out in a cold sweat.
"You're celebrating too soon! Look outside!" Canaan shouted, both shocked and furious.
We were stunned. The gunshots had attracted a large horde of zombies roaring in the distance, staggering toward us!
There were too many! A dark, overwhelming mass—far more than the sixty or seventy from before!
"Don't panic! Get in formation!" Aze roared. As a seasoned criminal police officer, he'd faced many critical situations and always remained calm. What a man!
Fortunately, the zombies moved slowly. They were so eager to bite us that their eyeballs seemed ready to fly out first, but their rotten legs couldn't keep up! This bought us precious time to assign tasks.
Aze divided everyone into four squads. One smaller squad was tasked with moving ammunition, while the other three defended the compound's three gates. Given the situation, Gate 1 wouldn't be peaceful either—zombies were surely gathering there too.
Aze led one squad, Canaan and I led another, and Sixth Brother led the third.
Xiaoxuan, Fenglin, Cheng Sheng, and Tang Xiaoyou—four agile young men—were responsible for moving ammunition.
We split into three groups. My husband and I defended Gate 3, Aze led his team to Gate 1, and Sixth Brother took his team to Gate 2.
Our compound's three gates were arranged as follows: Gate 1 faced west, while Gates 2 and 3 stood side by side facing east. This meant we and Sixth Brother could see each other's situations, but we had no view of Gate 1. We could support each other, but Aze would have to fight alone—which was why he chose to defend Gate 1.
Each squad had fewer than 20 people, but the advantage was that we could fight from behind the gates. We waited quietly for the massive zombie onslaught.
The horde quickly closed in on the compound.
Gunfire erupted first at Gate 1—Aze's team had engaged!
Next, Gate 2—Sixth Brother's team opened fire.
Gate 3 faced the last wave of zombies—over a hundred of them! Not a small number!
Xiaoxuan and the others had already moved a batch of ammunition and stacked it behind us. They were now sprinting back to the supply building for more.
At this point, my long knife was no longer practical. I quietly raised my Type 64 pistol.
The zombies roared—their momentum was overwhelming! But it didn't match their clumsy movements. They relied solely on numbers to intimidate!
Aiming at the closest zombie, I pulled the trigger. Bang!It collapsed onto the pile of bodies in front. It didn't fall backward because the zombies behind it pushed forward, pinning it against the already fallen ones.
The men in the compound, who usually only played computer games, were now holding guns like seasoned SWAT officers. Their expressions were professional, and their movements—well, passable. But as the saying goes, "It doesn't matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice." It didn't matter if their form was perfect—the zombies were falling in droves!
The situation wasn't as optimistic as we'd hoped. In the distance, another wave of zombies attracted by the gunshots was approaching! What could we do? No matter how much ammunition we had, it would eventually run out! I started to worry. My husband's brows were tightly furrowed too.
The thing we feared most was happening. Tang Xiaoyou crouched beside me, panting heavily, and said breathlessly, "Sister Duo, we've moved all the ammunition. There's not a single bullet left in the building!"
The zombies kept coming in endless waves, but our ammunition was running out. Would we have to resort to close combat in the end? With just a few dozen of us, we wouldn't stand a chance!
Should we retreat to the safety of the buildings? Wait for the zombies to overrun the compound and eventually starve to death inside?
My mind raced anxiously, considering all possible solutions. But I realized—this time, we might truly be done for.