Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 68

Chapter 68: Scavenging

The door was closed, but Song Ge remarked, “I thought you’d seen enough by now. Why are you still scared?”

Tong Xiangyu bluffed, “I was startled, not scared.”

“Then go back in and take a walk around.”

“Why would I do that?”

“To prove you aren’t afraid.”

“I have no interest in proving something so boring,” Tong Xiangyu said, watching Song Ge walk toward her. She immediately went over and looped her arm through Song Ge’s.

Song Ge asked her, “Giving up on the map?”

“Giving up,” Tong Xiangyu said gloomily. “Not many people keep maps at home like Grandma Tian did. Besides, Taiyun isn’t exactly a tourist destination; they probably wouldn’t have a travel brochure hidden away.”

Song Ge gave a noncommittal hum.

Seeing this, Tong Xiangyu realized something. “Song Ge, did you already think of that?”

“No.”

“You definitely did. You just didn’t tell me on purpose.”

“Isn’t it good to give you something to do?”

“No. Go back to telling me about my mutation.”

“You didn’t mutate. How could you just mutate for no reason? I was joking…”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Song Ge did manage to find some useful items in the house. Old residential buildings often required tools for repairs. She took a hammer and a bag of long nails from a toolbox, as well as an iron wrench about thirty centimeters long.

The two returned to the first-floor hall. There were two rooms to the left and right; Song Ge went to inspect them one by one.

One was a bedroom with a solid wood palm mattress. The bedding had been tossed about recklessly. The windows were boarded up with wooden planks and iron nails, showing no signs of damage. The wooden wardrobe and drawers were wide open, and clothes had been turned inside out. This wasn’t the mark of a rampaging monster; it was human vandalism.

The other room was the kitchen. The vegetable bowls were covered in colorful mold, some filaments longer than a finger. The tiled countertops were littered with rat droppings and footprints. Aside from that, there were no bloodstains or signs of a struggle.

Song Ge stepped into the kitchen and quickly came back out. “Let’s go.”

Seeing the rolling pin in Song Ge’s hand, Tong Xiangyu was puzzled. “What are you taking that for?”

Song Ge gave it a demonstrative swing. “Self-defense.”

“?” Tong Xiangyu saw she wasn’t joking and immediately said, “How can that defend you? It’s so short. By the time you use it, the monster will already be biting your face. And it’s so light, you can’t possibly knock a monster back.”

“Then you take this.” Song Ge handed the forty-centimeter-long iron wrench to Tong Xiangyu.

Tong Xiangyu: “…”

She had held it upstairs; it was incredibly heavy. She looked at Song Ge. “Which one?”

Tong Xiangyu silently chose the rolling pin. Thinking she’d never actually use it for fighting, she told Song Ge, “I already know how to make buns. Later, I’ll use this pin to roll out the dough and make some for you.”

“Fine,” Song Ge said. “I’ll be waiting.”

However, having a longer “weapon” was naturally better. A “dog-beating stick” only works if it’s long enough; if it’s too short, it’s hard to say whether you hit the dog first or the dog bites you first. Song Ge searched a few more houses but found nothing better.

They couldn’t waste more time. Song Ge remembered the route out of the alleyway area. She led Tong Xiangyu through a few turns, and soon, they saw a wide urban main road—two-way lanes divided by a withered green belt.

Song Ge told Tong Xiangyu to stay put while she went ahead to scout. Despite the lack of monsters or strange noises along the way, this was a special situation; she couldn’t afford to be careless. Gripping the wrench, she lightened her footsteps.

The street she saw was, compared to the chaotic, crowded, and bloody scenes in Kecheng, as good as it could be. Although it was strewn with rotting or dried skeletons, and rats and cockroaches were everywhere, and signs of car crashes and explosions were all over, there were very few cars on the roadway. There would be no traffic jams. With the young lady’s “ramming speed” driving style from Kecheng, she wouldn’t even scrape a bit of paint here.

And there wasn’t a single monster in sight.

“Song Ge, Song Ge?” Tong Xiangyu whispered from behind. “Are there monsters?”

“No. Come out.”

The sun hung high in a clear sky. Unlike the cramped alleyways of the residential area, once they stepped out, the temperature seemed to jump by three or four degrees. Even through clothing, the direct sunlight felt like a stinging, burning pain. Tong Xiangyu took two sun-protection jackets out of the backpack and gave one to Song Ge.

Song Ge: “Why do you have this in your bag too?”

Tong Xiangyu put it on. “Because the sun is huge.” She turned to look at her reflection in a shop window and noticed her long hair was pinned up with a bamboo hairpin, but a small clump of hair—about an inch long—was sticking out awkwardly at the top of her head.

Tong Xiangyu’s eyes widened. “Song Ge!!”

Startled, Song Ge looked at her immediately. Tong Xiangyu’s eyes turned red. She pinched the short, protruding tuft of hair and looked at Song Ge, her voice trembling with tears. “What happened? Why did you cut my hair so short?”

Song Ge said instantly, “Blame that Gao He guy.”

“But you’re the one who cut it!”

“…The situation was urgent. I didn’t notice.”

Tong Xiangyu pressed the short hair down with her palm. “Wuwu, what should I do? It’s so ugly…”

“It’s not ugly,” Song Ge said. “You’re so pretty, any hairstyle looks good.”

“This isn’t even a hairstyle…” As she spoke, the thought of looking this “ugly” all morning made her burst into tears of frustration.

Song Ge hurriedly said, “When we find a barbershop, I’ll give you a proper cut.”

“You know how to cut hair?”

“Of course. I cut my own.”

Tong Xiangyu looked at Song Ge’s hair and said decisively, “I don’t want you to cut mine.”

Song Ge: “.”

Tong Xiangyu took off her sun jacket and draped it over her head like a veil to cover the sticking-out hair, tying the sleeves under her chin. Song Ge said from the side, “There’s no need. I’ve already gotten used to it.”

Hearing that, Tong Xiangyu hummed and ignored her.

Song Ge sighed and focused on finding a car. She soon realized things weren’t as smooth as she’d hoped. Although the roads were clear, the private cars parked by the roadside were all damaged. Some were crushed by fallen trees, some by people jumping from buildings to commit suicide, and some were wrecked in multi-car pileups. After much searching, she found a few that were parked well, but they had been intentionally vandalized—the windows smashed.

Song Ge glanced inside. The glove compartments were open, and the contents were tossed everywhere. She didn’t know if it was Zeus’s group or the local petty thieves and thugs who had looted the city when order collapsed after the outbreak.

Every car they saw was in a similar state.

Tong Xiangyu saw a pile of corpses stacked like a mountain. Some were just bones, some were mummified, and some still had rotting flesh that attracted swarms of flies. She looked up with a frown; it was a tall residential building. Judging by the decay, some had jumped in a panic to end their lives early, while others had held out for a long time before finally choosing suicide after a long, agonizing despair.

Tong Xiangyu had seen many dead bodies by now, but scenes like this always made her feel suffocated.

The sun was making their heads spin. Even with the sun jacket, Tong Xiangyu felt like she was reaching her limit. From waking up and eating a bag of snacks until now, they had been walking for over three hours straight without water. Her throat felt like it was on fire.

She opened the bag. Inside the only bottle of mineral water, less than half of it sloshed around. She looked up and squinted. There were no clouds; the blinding sun in the sky looked as big as a washbasin. She decided to endure a bit longer.

But after passing another traffic light and still seeing no drivable cars, she couldn’t take it anymore. She hesitated, took out the bottle, and gripped it in her hand. “Song Ge, I want a drink…”

Song Ge: “Do you have to ask me to drink water?”

“But we only have this much left.” Tong Xiangyu ran to Song Ge’s side and showed her the half-empty bottle. Her voice was painfully dry, and her eyes were pleading. “Can I have a sip?”

Song Ge said, “If you don’t drink that little bit of water soon, it’s going to evaporate.”

Tong Xiangyu couldn’t help but laugh. She unscrewed the cap and took a small sip. The feeling of her throat being glued shut finally eased. She quickly handed the water to Song Ge. “Song Ge, you drink too.”

Song Ge: “I’m not thirsty.”

Tong Xiangyu saw that Song Ge’s face was flushed red and her neck was covered in sweat. She stubbornly held it out. “Nonsense, your lips are so dry. Take a sip.”

Song Ge couldn’t win, so she took it, made a show of taking a tiny sip, swallowed, and handed it back. Tong Xiangyu was satisfied, screwed the cap back on, and put it in the bag.

Song Ge hadn’t actually drunk any. She felt it was unlikely they would find more water nearby anytime soon. First, Zeus’s scouting teams would have stripped the area of water. Second, if there were other survivors in Taiyun, water—an indispensable resource—would be the first thing to run out. She could still endure; she didn’t need to drink.

They walked a bit further. Because she’d had some water, Tong Xiangyu’s mood improved. Passing a looted glasses shop, she ran inside, grabbed a pair of sunglasses from a display case, and called out Song Ge’s name.

Song Ge stood at the roadside and watched as the young lady put on a pair of sunglasses almost larger than her face. She was speechless.

“Come in, come in! Hide for a bit, it’s too hot outside.”

Song Ge followed her in. “Aren’t you afraid a monster will pop out in a place like this?”

“We haven’t seen any along the way,” Tong Xiangyu said. “Didn’t Nana and Zeus say so? The monsters only come out at night.” She took off her sunglasses and slid them onto Song Ge’s nose, then stepped back. “Wow, cool!!”

Song Ge looked in the mirror. “I look like a blind person.”

“Nonsense.” Tong Xiangyu picked out a few more pairs to try. Because Song Ge said she looked blind, Tong Xiangyu specifically found a pair of pink heart-shaped sunglasses for her.

Song Ge: “…”

Song Ge asked, “Can I have the previous pair back?”

Tong Xiangyu: “Absolutely not.”

They walked out of the glasses shop. Tong Xiangyu adjusted her sunglasses. Looking at the city, which had been blindingly bright under the sun, it now seemed much more pleasant. She said, “Based on this situation, all the useful cars have probably been taken by others—maybe Zeus’s people, maybe other survivors. Let’s look for a bicycle instead.”

“Mhm,” Song Ge said. “We need to get out of Zeus’s territory as soon as possible.” Maybe then we can find water.

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