Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 25

On the second day of the zombie apocalypse, Yu Xi spent her time being fed, finding various reasons for her parents to cook, and hiding the cooked food.
By the evening, Chen Ya came to inform her about a meeting at the property office to discuss the situation outside and plan the next steps. This included addressing food issues, dealing with infected residents, and encouraging everyone not to panic or venture out alone due to concerns about their families, but to patiently wait for rescue.
After their previous cooperation, Chen Ya had automatically started to view Yu Xi as the pillar of Yu family, ignoring Father Yu and Mother Yu.
“Does every household need to attend?” she asked.
“Not really. The property office can’t accommodate that many people. At least one representative from each unit without zombies should attend to relay any messages back,” Chen Ya replied.
“Then I won’t go. You can bring any news back to me,” Yu Xi said. She could handle food and mental state issues on her own. There were too many people in the neighborhood, and it was impossible for everyone to work together to face the difficulties. Attending such a meeting wouldn’t make much difference.
From their efforts to clear zombies that morning, it was evident that no one from the other buildings had come down to help. Most people preferred to stay out of things, unwilling to be the ones fighting on the front lines. As long as someone else was handling the situation, they felt justified in staying back, telling themselves they were just ordinary people with no skills and better off not getting involved.
“Alright, stay at home then. I’ll keep you updated,” Chen Ya said, understanding her reasoning. Despite having so many people in the neighborhood, only five of them risked their lives to deal with the zombies, while others watched from behind their windows.
Some didn’t dare to go out because of zombies in their hallways, but some buildings were safe. Those people wouldn’t even fight for themselves, so why should they risk their lives for them?
Chen Ya had no choice. He had a wife and child to protect, and he would do whatever he could to keep them safe.
Gao Yun, on the other hand, had no family and no attachments. The crisis had lifted him out of an ordinary life. He was a good man, responsible, calm, and intelligent, wanting to protect the entire neighborhood, unlike Chen Ya who focused on his own family.
However, it was uncertain how long this mindset and balance could be maintained.
Yu Xi nodded and said to Chen Ya before he left, “Be careful. If anything happens, you can come to me.”
“You too. Thanks to you, things went better today. If you need any help in the future, just let me know.”
That night, Father Yu and Mother Yu kept the curtains tightly closed and the lights dim. Fortunately, the power was still on, so they could use the air conditioner. Otherwise, the heat would be unbearable.
Dinner was simple: white porridge with green beans, stir-fried vegetables with mushrooms, braised eggs with pork, and cold cucumber salad.
The large pot of pork bone soup and most of the braised pork, as well as the roasted lamb ribs, were packed and moved into the Star House storage with the cooperation of Father Yu and Yu Xi.
Now, the fridge only had half a pot of pork bone soup for noodles the next day. Yu Xi planned to eat some of the braised pork that night and add tofu knots and bamboo shoots the next day to continue cooking it, as these ingredients absorbed the flavors well.
After dinner, she quietly added some tofu and bamboo shoots to the fridge. She also put two small watermelons in the fridge, thinking of Mother Yu’s lack of appetite in the hot weather.
The freezer, now missing pork bones, pork belly, and lamb ribs, still had oxtail. Yu Xi added two bags of chicken wings, a large piece of beef, and a cleaned whole chicken.
Father Yu saw his daughter standing at the fridge, likely restocking it. Although curious about where she got the food, he didn’t ask. If she wanted to tell, she would; if not, he wouldn’t push. His job was to support and protect her.
He joined her at the fridge, offering quiet suggestions: “Xiao Xi, you should store the frozen dumplings. They’re convenient. We should put more raw meat in for your mom and me to cook tomorrow.”
“Okay.” The two bags of dumplings disappeared, replaced by three boxes of pork chops. “We’ll fry pork chops tomorrow.”
“Alright. Do you have chives? We plan to use up the flour to make chive and egg dumplings.”
Chive and egg dumplings were Yu Xi’s favorite. She promptly added two large bundles of chives to the fridge. “I’ll help you make them tomorrow. We don’t know how long the gas and water will last, so let’s hurry. I also want to make rice balls with meat floss, chicken fillets, beef, lettuce, and seaweed.”
“Sure, we’ll make all of them.”
Mother Yu came out of the kitchen with a plate of sliced oranges and saw the father and daughter whispering by the open fridge. “What are you two up to? It looks like you’re about to climb inside the fridge.”
Yu Xi quickly pulled out three cups of vanilla ice cream and turned to her mother. “Mom, look what I found in the fridge. It’s so hot; let’s eat these.”
“When did we buy these? I don’t remember.”
“I think Dad bought them a while ago and hid them too well for us to find.” She closed the fridge, and Father Yu went to the kitchen to fetch three spoons. The family sat on the couch, enjoying the cold, sweet vanilla ice cream and the sweet and tangy oranges.
Eating cold desserts was the best in this weather, and as Yu Xi ate, she thought of chilled cola and iced coffee.
That evening, after her parents went to bed, Yu Xi emptied the fridge’s freezer compartment, set the temperature to zero degrees, and cycled six or seven boxes of cola and three boxes of bottled coffee from her Star House storage inside.
After testing the temperature of the iced cola, she switched batches every hour. Four hours later, all the cola and coffee were chilled.
Although the Star House storage couldn’t refrigerate, it could maintain the state of items when they were stored. This applied to hot food and chilled drinks alike.
Considering the uncertain future weather in this apocalyptic world, the more cold drinks, the better. She planned to make a large amount of ice the next day.
Yu Xi had just lain down after her bath when she heard a loud bang outside, followed by a red glow illuminating the window.
That was an explosion!
The noise was significant. She threw off her blanket, ran to the window, and looked outside.
Her room faced south, and the explosion was to the northwest. From her window, she could only see the red glow in the sky, not the scene itself.
The explosion happened near a landmark building she recognized, close to the overpass in the west part of the city. There was a gas station under the overpass. Judging by the scale of the explosion, it was likely that the gas station had been hit.
In the distance, besides the sound of crashing vehicles, she could faintly hear gunfire.
Yu Xi frowned.
Father Yu and Mother Yu were also awakened, along with most residents in the neighborhood. Yu Xi looked down and saw many heads sticking out of the windows, watching.
The neighborhood was filled with the faint sounds of zombies growling. The infected were violently banging against doors, and the noise came from several homes in the building, clearly audible to Yu Xi.
Many people were too scared to sleep in the latter half of the night. They quickly noticed that, unlike the previous night, there were almost no sounds of police or ambulance sirens outside. Instead, there were frequent sounds of car crashes and cries for help, making them wonder what horrifying events were unfolding outside.
All the residents silently prayed that the chaos and terror wouldn’t spread into their neighborhood.
The internet was even more chaotic. Major cities like B City, T City, and G City had also ed infections.
People, like frightened birds, immediately sent family, friends, colleagues, and classmates to the hospital at the slightest sign of lethargy or loss of appetite. This led to the collapse of medical facilities, and soon, hospitals were overrun.
The rapid mutation rate made it impossible to guard against; there was no time for treatment. Once an A-type zombie infected the first B-type zombie, the entire area quickly fell.
People soon realized that the best method was to isolate and bind suspected A-type infected individuals at home.
TV stations stopped airing regular shows and dramas, instead repeating news summarizing the characteristics of A-type and B-type infections and temporary coping strategies. They also urged people to stay home or seek nearby indoor shelters and stock up on emergency supplies.
The broadcasts ended with encouragement and reassurance, telling people not to panic. They emphasized that many cities were still normal, and rescue operations were underway nationwide. Citizens were advised to stay indoors and wait for rescue.
In just a few days, S City was in complete chaos. Videos uploaded by netizens showed almost no pedestrians on the streets, only wandering zombies everywhere.
The entire city had come to a standstill, with work, school, all businesses, and transportation halted. By the third day, it wasn’t just other domestic cities ing outbreaks, but also an overwhelming number of videos from abroad. It turned out that infections had started earlier there, but the information had been suppressed. The internet was filled with an atmosphere of panic, but soon even this was no longer visible.
That evening, mobile signals and the internet were cut off. Many people were pushed to the brink of collapse. Normal life had turned upside down, with people turning into monsters and biting others. They could only survive by staying confined in small spaces, with dwindling food and water supplies, living in constant fear for a few days…
But despite the despair, at least people could use their phones to stay informed about the outside world, knowing that their suffering wasn’t unique. The loss of signal and internet severed their connection to the outside world, causing some to lose their patience and start clearing the zombies at their doors using any tools they could find.
Once someone started, others quickly followed. Some successfully cleared the zombies, found cars, and fled. Others miscalculated, got surrounded by zombies, and were bitten to death, joining the ranks of the undead. Cries for help, sobbing, and wailing echoed throughout the city.
The neighborhood was no different. While the reinforced south gate kept out the zombies, it did little to quell the residents’ fears. As food supplies dwindled, many faced the prospect of starvation. Gao Yun and others organized a group to search nearby supermarkets for food.
This group consisted of about seventeen or eighteen sturdy young adults. The neighborhood, being old and located in a remote area far from the city center, had a low occupancy rate, with many residents being over fifty years old. Like Yu Xi’s family, many younger members were away for school or work, or stranded outside due to travel restrictions.
Despite this, the neighborhood had more young adults than this group. Many were too scared to leave, and those with sufficient food stocks stayed put, protected by their elders. For Gao Yun, the number of people going out wasn’t as important as their ability to protect themselves. He wanted everyone who went out to come back safely. Thus, he didn’t mind if some weak and shaky youths stayed behind.
Among the group were six young men who had entered the neighborhood the previous night. They had fled to the area, finding the reinforced electric gate and the security post guarded, and decided to stay temporarily. These six, led by a tall, handsome man called Brother Long, were fearless after fighting zombies on their journey.
They cleared a house in Building 1 where all the occupants had turned into zombies and moved in. Used to escaping and killing zombies, they all joined the expedition.
There were several small supermarkets near the neighborhood. However, the zombie outbreak occurred in the afternoon, and most of these stores still had people inside. In the four or five days since, many store owners were still hiding inside. When the neighborhood group tried to pry open the shutters after clearing the nearby zombies, voices from inside told them to leave.
In the early days of the apocalypse, social order didn’t collapse immediately. Gao Yun and his group, who had just decided to fight zombies, couldn’t bring themselves to kill and rob people. Brother Long and his group were displeased but respected Gao Yun’s decision. Instead, they moved on, looking for unguarded stores.
Eventually, they found an open supermarket at the corner. After clearing the two zombies at the entrance and thoroughly checking inside, they killed two more zombies behind the shelves. The store was slightly larger than a typical small supermarket, but the shelves were overturned, and most of the food was gone. Only some snacks, non-filling junk food, bottled drinks, and scattered fruits remained.
Gao Yun had the group collect what they could, then discussed with Chen Ya whether to continue further. Beyond the intersection was a shopping mall with a large supermarket in the basement, which would likely have more supplies.
“There might also be a lot of zombies inside,” Bian An cautioned.
“We don’t need to enter the mall. I know where the supermarket’s loading area is. We can access the warehouse directly from there,” Chen Ya, who had previously worked at a gym on the fifth floor of the mall, suggested.
Brother Long’s group, armed with axes from a nearby fire cabinet and crowbars from the warehouse, agreed to take the risk.