Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 84

When the security guard knocked on the door, the family of three was busy devouring some crayfish. Yu Xi had been craving them since the night before, but since they’d already had dinner, and both Yu Feng and Fan Qi, now more mindful of health, preferred lighter night snacks, she had held off until lunchtime.
Fan Qi loved crayfish, and Yu Feng didn’t mind it either, so Yu Xi brought out two boxes—one salted pepper and the other mildly spicy “thirteen-spice.” Each box was the largest size available, containing five pounds each.
Fan Qi thought ten pounds would be too much for the three of them, so she dished out half into bowls and asked Yu Xi to store the remaining half back in the Star House to keep it fresh.
With nothing pressing to do, the three decided to eat while watching TV. Yu Xi initially wanted to pick one of Fan Qi’s favorite Republican-era dramas, but Fan Qi insisted on watching a famous tsunami disaster movie instead, remembering that Yu Xi had once mentioned facing a tsunami in one of the worlds she visited.
The movie was intense and moving, and the crayfish were absolutely delicious, each piece filled with rich roe and firm, springy meat. They ended up eating all five pounds before retrieving the remaining half, taking nearly two hours to finish the meal.
Hearing the knock, Fan Qi, concerned about the food’s aroma, washed her hands and rinsed her mouth before answering the door. She checked the peephole and, perhaps wary of the guest seeing inside, stepped outside immediately after opening the door. Yu Xi and Yu Feng followed suit, quickly washing up and heading to the entrance.
The guard, surnamed Zhang, explained the purpose of his visit to Fan Qi. There were three of them, and they had decided to personally visit each household instead of calling, partly to check on everyone’s situation. They were gathering information on the current occupants of each unit—number of people, adults, children—as well as noting who kept pets, since that could be even more important than the people count. Yesterday, they had overlooked the issue, but a resident had pointed out its significance today.
With the increased risk of mutated plants and animals, they needed to know which households had pets, just in case any cats, dogs, turtles, or even fish might… well, mutate. How they’d manage pets in the future would require further discussion and a vote.
The building had 18 floors, with standard apartments from the first to the tenth floor, and duplexes from the eleventh to the eighteenth floor. Each floor had three units: two larger units on either side with views to the south and north, and a smaller unit in the middle. This totaled 54 units, with each guard responsible for six floors, or 18 households. They took the elevator to the top of their designated section and worked their way down, gathering information.
Zhang had already covered three floors, but the nine households from the 16th to the 18th floors had all opted out of participating. With only two days into the crisis, many had well-stocked supplies and weren’t eager to venture out, especially when authorities were still urging everyone to stay indoors.
Zhang understood the demographics of this type of building: the higher floors were more expensive, and those who could afford them were likely well-prepared, with ample supplies on hand.
Most of the residents anxious to go out were young renters on the lower floors, primarily between the first and eighth floors. Many were young professionals or young couples without the habit of stockpiling supplies.
The family in the middle unit on the 15th floor had temporarily moved to a lower floor, while the residents on the right also opted out of participating. Seeing Fan Qi, Zhang guessed their family would probably decline as well; just a few days ago, he’d seen them make over ten trips to the elevator, bringing up all kinds of supplies—from fresh produce to snacks to canned goods—filling the elevator each time.
After Fan Qi completed the registration and signed, Yu Xi spoke up, “So, is your group actually planning to go to the supermarket or the property management building?”
Their building was situated toward the south-central part of the complex, with the supermarket to the right and the property management building to the left. The supermarket was nearby, while the property management building was across from the pool on the north side of the complex, requiring them to cross the entire complex to get there.
Yu Xi had hit the crux of the issue. While those wanting to go out aimed to visit the supermarket, the property management building was in the opposite direction.
“Unless someone is willing to accompany you to the property management building, even with a group formed, wouldn’t it still just be the three of you heading there in the end?”
“…”
“Here’s the plan,” Yu Xi said. “Go back and discuss this with everyone, and confirm if anyone else is willing to join you in going to the property management building. Whether you find anyone or not, if the three of you decide to go in the end, just let me know.” Without waiting for questions, she added, “I’ve won a provincial martial arts championship.”
The guard’s eyes lit up, and he nodded eagerly in agreement.
Back inside, Fan Qi pulled her daughter aside. “You want to go to the property management building?”
“I want to check out the situation in the entire complex. You both remember what happened with the small garden. If we encounter any highly troublesome plants or animals, we’ll relocate.”
“Relocate?”
“Yes, relocate. The Star House has a portable feature, allowing it to move to a new location for a fee.”
Both parents were surprised. “How does it move?”
“Once I choose a new location, I pay the fee, and it teleports there instantly. It moves with everything and everyone inside, so you could stay put, and I’d just bring you to a new home.”
Like a hardworking snail carrying its home wherever it goes, Yu Xi had already considered this. For now, her parents’ physical resilience wasn’t high enough to take risks, but once they’d taken the second or even third strength boosting pills, she could take them outside to practice some survival skills.
Given the way the apocalypse was unfolding, it seemed the planet would eventually become dominated by plants and animals. They could stay hidden in the Star House indefinitely, but she hoped they’d gradually gain the skills to protect themselves. After all, the future was unpredictable—who knew if the Star House would always be there?
An hour later, the security guard unlocked the main lobby doors, and the two groups filed out. Whether walking above ground or through the underground parking, the distance to the supermarket was about the same. Yesterday, the group had gone through the parking garage because the residents and guards had refused to unlock the main door. But today, with the guards going out themselves, they’d made arrangements. They would leave through the main door, and when they returned, due to potential timing differences, the supermarket group would use the underground entrance, while the guards would return through the main entrance.
The three guards had their wits about them. Despite multiple requests, they refused to leave the door unlocked while they were gone. Normally, entering the building only required a passcode, but with the doors locked, even those inside couldn’t open it without the key. They had a duty to protect the other residents; if the door were left open and some mutated creature slipped inside, they couldn’t bear the responsibility.
Two routes led to the property management building. One went left past the pool, winding through the green park and basketball court before reaching the building on the north side, where the management office was on the third and fourth floors. The other route turned right, passing the supermarket and looping around the right side of the pool, passing the recreation hall and another green fitness park before arriving at the management office. The left path was nearly half the distance of the right.
In the entire building, only Yu Xi, wearing a mask and protective suit courtesy of Fan Qi, accompanied the guards to the property management building. Everyone else went straight to the supermarket. With four people on one side and over a dozen on the other, the discrepancy in numbers was stark, and several people couldn’t resist glancing curiously at Yu Xi, following the guards.
She had already arranged with the guards that she would accompany them but didn’t want the other residents to know she practiced martial arts. Having experienced multiple apocalyptic worlds, she was well aware of potential trouble sources.
At around 3:30 p.m., the sky outside was a deep, ocean-like blue. Even through her mask, Yu Xi could feel the refreshing quality of the air.
Recently, some voices online have been suggesting that despite the repeated disasters, the planet’s environment seems to be improving. It’s as if these disasters are the equivalent of bacteria fighting off a virus when a body falls ill. The bacteria appear harmless to animals and plants, even promoting evolution, but are extremely hostile to humans, almost as if humanity is seen as a virus by the planet itself. It’s as though the planet has come alive, silently attempting to expel humanity in its own way.
Yu Xi trailed behind the three security guards, who were all outfitted with protective suits, masks, gloves, and a few cans of insecticide. As they passed through the green park, the guards grew visibly tense, sticking to the path along the pool’s edge. Fortunately, nothing unusual happened; the park was the same as before, without any mutated trees or plants.
The basketball court was fenced off, providing a clear view with no trees around. Soon, the property management building came into sight.
The pool area was eerily quiet, the water clear, with no signs of mutated plants or insects in sight. The four of them entered the small building, which had only four floors and no elevator. They climbed the stairs and reached the property management office, which spanned the third and fourth floors and covered about three or four hundred square meters, housing storage, offices, a reception area, a rest area, and a small cafeteria.
Originally a sales office, the interior was modern and bright, with plenty of windows letting in natural light. Since the villa area didn’t have a main lobby or need on-duty guards, the building typically only held a property manager, security chief, accountant, two maintenance staff, two landscapers, and a few cleaners, with two or three guards on rotation to manage that area and the complex gates.
The guards searched every room but found no one inside.
As low-ranking staff, they didn’t have the manager’s contact, but they managed to reach the security chief, who told them to hang on for now, as he was coordinating with the property company to decide on the next steps.
The guards were technically contract workers rather than employees of the property company. Given the circumstances, they were uncertain about what to do; they were just employees, and if their own families weren’t safe, they’d have left by now. However, they feared losing their jobs if they left prematurely and were later held responsible, so they remained.
“Forget it. Let’s head back and contact the other buildings, then to the chief again,” one of the guards suggested, feeling uneasy outside and eager to return.
Just then, Yu Xi noticed something odd—the building had a slight breeze.
She inspected a few rooms and eventually found an open window in the lounge. It faced north, and from the fourth floor, she could clearly see the complex’s perimeter wall and the small guard station near the main gate.
Between them was a road and a wooden walkway with a rest area. Draped across the walkway’s roof were green vines with clusters of purple and white flowers hanging down like butterflies.
“Is that wisteria?” Yu Xi asked the guards.
“Yes, that’s the Wisteria Walk, one of the most popular spots in the complex,” replied Guard Zhang, trying to lighten the mood.
Yu Xi frowned slightly and directed her gaze at the gate and guard station. The station was tiny and unattended at night, with monitoring handled by security cameras at all entrances.
“Can you check the surveillance footage? Can we view footage from yesterday morning to last night?”
The guard, realizing the importance of this, nodded. If the property staff had left the complex, they would’ve used the gate, and the cameras would have captured it.
“Yes! We can check footage from up to a month ago.” Just as he was about to lead her to the surveillance room, a frantic scream came from outside.
The guard recognized the voices of the residents who had gone to the supermarket, screaming for help as they searched for the guards. The security team rushed downstairs, with Yu Xi following.
The confident young residents from earlier were now pale and out of breath, barely able to explain what had happened. Their outing had initially gone smoothly—they reached the supermarket quickly since it was close, and the on-duty worker had unlocked the doors for them. They bought their items as fast as they could and went straight to the underground parking.
The parking garage was already dim, and for some reason, a few more lights seemed to have gone out. Halfway through, they could barely see, so one person pulled out their phone to use the flashlight—only to come face-to-face with a huge pair of eyes and a furry body in the dark.
With a terrified scream, the person dropped their phone, and others who caught sight of the creature also jumped back in fear. Someone turned and bolted first, triggering a chaotic scramble as they all pushed and jostled, rushing back toward the garage exit.
A few residents ran along the pathway toward the main building entrance, hoping to get inside. However, these few remembered the building was locked and decided to find the security guards, so they sprinted in that direction.
“Hurry and open the door! If that thing gets out, we’re all done for!” one of them shouted, frantic and panicked, nearly dragging the three security guards with them. Yu Xi quickly followed.
Several bags filled with food lay scattered on the ground outside the building’s entrance, and other residents were pressed against the glass door, pale and watchful. They spotted the guards returning and immediately called out for them to unlock the door.
The guards, equally nervous, fumbled with the keys a few times before finally getting the door open, allowing everyone to rush inside with their belongings. As one of the guards turned to lock the door, his key was suddenly snatched away.
A furious resident yelled, blaming the guards for locking the door, forcing them to go through the underground garage, and almost costing them their lives.
“It’s not like we wanted to lock it either! You all decided to go out; you should’ve understood the risks before you left!” The guard, already irritated, snapped back.
“Aren’t you security guards? You should be doing your job! You should have kept someone here to open the door! Stop trying to play hero! Are we just paying property fees for nothing?” another resident yelled.
“We’re just employees, not your servants!” Zhang retorted, unable to hold back.
Frustration and fear heightened tempers, and the shouting quickly escalated. Some upstairs residents, curious about the commotion, came down by elevator and, seeing their spouses or friends in a heated argument with the guards, joined the fray.
In the middle of the noisy argument in the lobby, someone suddenly glanced outside the glass door and screamed, “M-Mouse! There’s a mouse!”
Several people turned to look, and what they saw nearly scared them out of their wits.
On the other side of the spotless glass, a huge, gray-black creature with black eyes was watching them. Its pointed face and scraggly fur were unsettling. It flexed its paw, and with a light flick of its thick, hairless tail, it struck the glass with a heavy thud.
Everyone in the lobby fell silent, frozen in fear by the creepy scene before them.