Chapter 2: So Hungry
The path Qiaoqiao pointed out wound and twisted endlessly. Just as Lu Mie was wondering how much of the route her little brain could possibly remember, an old residential complex came into view.
By now, no zombies were chasing them from behind; the surroundings were eerily quiet. Qiaoqiao began to struggle on his shoulder.
Lu Mie set her down.
He scanned the surroundings and realized that, compared to the once-thriving Su City, this place hardly resembled an urban landscape at all. Dilapidated residential buildings, overgrown roads, and a vista of utter desolation stretched before him. This was clearly a corner of the city long abandoned and forgotten.
Yet in the apocalypse, such desolation revealed its advantages. With so few people, zombies were nearly nonexistent here.
It was an excellent hiding place.
Qiaoqiao dragged her stiff body, step by step, moving deeper inside. Her movements were not aimless; she had a clear direction in mind.
After walking for several minutes, she realized Lu Mie wasn’t following. She halted, slowly turned around, and found him still standing at the community gate, watching her. Having learned her lesson, Qiaoqiao dared not make a sound. Instead, she simply raised her arm, gesturing for Lu Mie to follow.
Seeing her earnest attempt to lead the way, the corner of Lu Mie’s mouth twitched slightly. He then quickened his pace and caught up with her.
Afraid he might not stay with her, Qiaoqiao extended two pale, bluish fingers, pinched the hem of his clothing, and only then pulled him along as she continued her slow, deliberate walk forward.
She walked far too slowly.
Lu Mie halted in his tracks and said, “I’ll carry you; you just point the way.”
Qiaoqiao shook her head with difficulty; being carried like this felt terribly uncomfortable.
Lu Mie mistook her hesitation for shyness and remarked, “There’s no need to be shy. Just a moment ago, I was running while carrying you.”
Qiaoqiao let go of the hem of his shirt, then circled around to stand behind him. Rising onto her tiptoes, she struggled to place both hands on his broad shoulders before clumsily attempting to climb up.
Lu Mie: “…”
Unable to bear watching her struggle any longer, he had no choice but to lower himself into a half-crouch.
Only then did Qiaoqiao easily climb onto his back, resting her hands upon his neck and gently wrapping her arms around him.
The little zombie was light as a feather, almost weightless.
Why was he carrying a zombie on his back?
Yet the stench of decay emanating from her was far less overpowering than that of any other zombie he had encountered. Moreover, though weak, she still possessed human reason—a truly rare phenomenon.
Lost in thought, Lu Mie reached out to support Qiaoqiao, following the direction her finger pointed.
They soon arrived in front of a residential building. Upon seeing their destination, Qiaoqiao began to struggle again.
After Lu Mie set her down, Qiaoqiao eagerly walked inside.
She remembered—it was the third floor.
That was a very important place.
Qiaoqiao’s stiff body made even climbing the stairs a stumbling affair, but since they had finally reached their destination, Lu Mie didn’t urge her on. Instead, he kept a vigilant watch on their surroundings.
One never knew when or where another zombie might suddenly lunge out from the shadows.
Qiaoqiao climbed to the third floor and stopped before a door adorned with an upside-down “Fu” character for good fortune; in front of it stood a slightly rusted iron gate. Slowly, she reached into her tattered coat and fished out a key.
Clutching the key, she clumsily worked to open the door, paying no heed to the noise coming from behind her. With a loud clang, the door swung open, accompanied by the heavy thud of something falling to the ground behind her.
Qiaoqiao turned her head and caught sight of Lu Mie swiftly dispatching a zombie. Its severed head rolled clatteringly to rest at her feet, its cloudy white eyes—mirroring her own—staring unblinkingly at her.
Qiaoqiao’s decayed heart suddenly skipped a beat as an emotion named fear surged up from within.
Lu Mie kicked the rotting head away, then reached out to push open the door, still thick with accumulated dust.
“Stop looking. Get inside.”
Qiaoqiao came to her senses, slowly stepping inside, her hands fumbling along the wall as if searching for a light switch.
Lu Mie said, “The power’s been out for a while. Do you have any candles?”
Qiaoqiao stood motionless for quite some time. Lu Mie waited patiently for her to process his words, watching as she finally lifted her foot and walked toward the room on the south side, pushing the door open.
Lu Mie remained at the doorway, surveying the room within.
The room was cramped, damp from its location on the sunless southern side, and carried a foul odor from long disuse. Its furnishings were equally sparse: a small bed draped with cyan bedding, a pine wardrobe, and a tiny writing desk—nothing else.
Lu Mie spotted several pieces of women’s clothing in the half-open wardrobe, confirming this was a woman’s room. Judging by the female zombie’s familiar ease, this must have been her quarters.
Qiaoqiao rummaged through the desk drawer and pulled out a pack of candles, handing them to Lu Mie.
It was an unopened package of birthday candles.
“Got a lighter?” Lu Mie patted his pockets; in his haste, they were empty.
Qiaoqiao thought for a moment before slowly reaching into the pocket of her coat, pulling out a silver-white lighter.
Lu Mie reached out to take it, only then realizing that the coat she was wearing belonged to a man… he wondered if she had scavenged it from some corpse?
As Lu Mie lit the candle, Qiaoqiao slowly pushed open the doors to the other two bedrooms. Inside, everything was in disarray, clearly indicating a hasty departure.
No one was there.
Qiaoqiao didn’t even know what she was hoping for.
Lu Mie secured the candle onto the living room’s coffee table.
He glanced at Qiaoqiao, who was standing dazed in the doorway of the master bedroom. Following her gaze, he naturally took in the disheveled state of the bedroom.
Her family had likely not waited for her and had already fled for their lives.
Lu Mie paid no attention to Qiaoqiao’s mood; instead, he went to the kitchen to check. Inside, only some condiments and vegetables so rotten they were inedible remained. The meat in the refrigerator had also completely spoiled, emitting waves of foul stench.
If they were to stay here for a while, he would need to go out tomorrow to find some food.
At that moment, Qiaoqiao walked over. Seeing the meat, she reached out to grab it.
Lu Mie swiftly slapped her hand away.
“This can’t be eaten anymore.”
Qiaoqiao looked at him with grievance, then pointed to her hollow, rumbling stomach.
She was so hungry.
After all, he was staying in the little zombie’s home, so Lu Mie, out of a sense of humanity, said, “I’ll find you something to eat tomorrow.”
Okay.
Qiaoqiao nodded obediently.
Lu Mie closed the refrigerator door and left the kitchen together with Qiaoqiao.
The candle’s faint glow failed to illuminate the entire living room; in the darkness, Lu Mie stepped on something hard.
He bent down to pick it up and discovered a shattered picture frame.
Lu Mie possessed excellent vision, making it no difficulty for him to see clearly even in the dark.
He saw that it was a family portrait.
A young boy sat sandwiched between a middle-aged man and woman, while a little girl of similar age stood obediently on the other side of the woman. Facing the camera, the girl appeared slightly shy yet strove to beam with a smile, her eyes brimming with joy.
This was Qiaoqiao as a child.
Lu Mie handed the family portrait to Qiaoqiao.
Since Qiaoqiao couldn’t see it clearly, Lu Mie brought the candle closer, illuminating the photograph with its flickering light.
Qiaoqiao stared at the photo in confusion for a long time. Not knowing what it was, she handed it back to Lu Mie and then slowly made her way to her room.
Lu Mie placed the picture frame on the nearest cabinet, dusted off the sofa, and sat down.
Now that he had finally relaxed, the pain he had been suppressing surged through his body uncontrollably. He had sustained numerous injuries while fighting zombies during the day; although his powerful regenerative abilities had stopped the bleeding, the pain remained.
But there was no clean water here for him to wash his wounds, nor any medicine to dress them.
Lu Mie could only endure it, leaning against the sofa as he waited for dawn.
It seemed an eternity had passed before exhaustion overtook him, and he finally drifted off to sleep.
The sky began to lighten.
Qiaoqiao climbed out of bed.
She still remembered that Lu Mie had promised to find her food tomorrow, so she excitedly left the room, only to see him slumped on the sofa with his eyes closed.
Qiaoqiao gently pushed him, but he didn’t respond at all.
He must be dead.
Was he planning to let her eat him?
Truly, he was her living reserve of food.
Qiaoqiao crawled onto him, wrapped her arms around his neck, found the right spot, and took a fierce bite—Lu Mie jolted awake from the pain.
Seeing that he had come back to life, Qiaoqiao met his icy gaze with a look of innocent bewilderment.
But the instinct of hunger drove her reason, making Qiaoqiao sink her teeth into his neck and refuse to let go.
She even recklessly took a deep suck, filling her mouth with the sweet aroma of fresh blood, which only heightened her appetite.
Lu Mie’s scalp tingled with numb horror.
The next moment, Lu Mie grabbed Qiaoqiao by the collar and flung her aside.
Lu Mie pressed his hand against his bleeding neck, looked at her, and asked, “A sneak attack?”
Qiaoqiao quickly shook her head; she had simply thought Lu Mie was dead. She slowly shuffled over to his side, gazing at him with pleading eyes, opened her mouth, and formed the words “I’m sorry” in a silent apology.
She was so well-behaved that Lu Mie found himself unable to stay angry at her.
“Then tell me, what should we do here?” He pointed to his neck.
Qiaoqiao’s eyes suddenly lit up. She pounced onto Lu Mie and carefully licked the blood welling from his neck.
Lu Mie: “…”
Honestly, the little zombie was both ugly and foul-smelling. Having spent the night sleeping in a moldy room, the stench of decay mingled with the odor of mildew on her body, making for a truly unbearable smell.
But Lu Mie still didn’t push her away.
Fortunately, Qiaoqiao was exceptionally well-behaved this time and didn’t nip him with her tiny fangs again.
“I’m going out now to gather some supplies; wait for me at home.” Only after Qiaoqiao finished her fussing did Lu Mie stand up, admonishing her, “Don’t go running around recklessly.”
Qiaoqiao sat quietly. Taking her silence as understanding, Lu Mie rose to head out the door.
He had just turned his back and stepped out the door when a sound came from behind him. Qiaoqiao slowly shuffled to his rear and began climbing onto him again.
“You want to go too?” Lu Mie grabbed Qiaoqiao’s slender wrist, pulled her down, and asked.
Qiaoqiao nodded; she didn’t want to be left alone here.
Lu Mie spoke bluntly, “What could you possibly do there? I’d just have to split my attention to take care of you.”
Qiaoqiao shook her head hurriedly; she would be well-behaved and cause no trouble.
“No need to worry about you? That’s perfect.” Lu Mie had clearly misunderstood: “Then just follow along.”
Qiaoqiao paid no heed to what he actually meant; she simply didn’t want to be alone. Hearing that Lu Mie allowed her to follow, she happily scampered behind him again, expecting him to carry her on his back.
But Lu Mie was too tall, making it difficult for her to climb up. Having experienced this once before, Qiaoqiao stood on tiptoe and patted his shoulder, signaling for Lu Mie to bend down a little.
Lu Mie was amused by her matter-of-fact action. “Hey, are you treating me like a mount?”