The intense exercise from the day before, plus staying awake all night, had left her body feeling heavy, and her mind did not fight the sleep at all. She was not worried about the residents breaking down her door. It was only the second day of the zombie outbreak, and most people still had some supplies. Besides, getting to her floor would be a challenge in the first place. There was no reason for them to rob her now, and her door was sturdy enough that even explosives could not break it open.

On the other side, Yan Cijin also slept for a while, holding Lili in her arms until Yan Laojin finished cooking and then woke her up. Yan Laojin’s voice was gentle but firm, the kind of voice that carried the care of a mother who had spent years looking after a home. "Xiaoyan, get up, eat something first and then sleep well."

Yan Cijin slowly opened her eyes and sat up, still holding the little dumpling in her arms. She bent down and kissed the baby’s face, then smiled in a soft and tired way. "Home is still the most reassuring and comfortable place." Yan Laojin gave a little nod. "Isn’t that right? Get up with Lili, let’s eat."

She turned and went back to the kitchen to bring the food out. Yan Cijin got up too, still holding the little one. Lili had his own height adjustable toddler seat, which sat by the dining table like a small private place made just for him. Yan Cijin placed him in the seat before helping Yan Laojin bring the dishes to the table.

The smell of stir fried vegetables and warm rice filled the room, and for a moment the apartment felt ordinary, like any other home on a normal afternoon. But even in that ordinary feeling, Yan Cijin’s mind drifted to Bai Li. Bai Li’s hand was injured, and she wondered if Bai Li had eaten lunch, if she had taken her medicine, if she was resting properly. She wanted to call Bai Li over without delay, but when she picked up her phone and checked her contacts and WeChat, she realized she no longer had Bai Li’s contact information. Her brows drew together slightly, and she sat there for a second, thinking. Then she remembered the residents’ group chat.

She opened the chat and saw that the group had already become noisy. Many people were talking about Bai Li’s supplies, and quite a few had clearly been watching her for a long time. Some of them were not just curious. They were greedy. They had seen her buy so many goods, so many boxes of food, water, medicine, and daily things before the apocalypse began, all in the name of business, and now they were talking as if that had created some kind of debt. Yan Cijin frowned slightly as she scrolled. The messages were full of shameless demands, soft pressure, and people pretending to speak for everyone else. They all kept saying that Bai Li lived in the same building, so she had an obligation to help. Some of them had never once been close to Bai Li, but now they were acting as if they had a right to her supplies. A few of the messages were very direct. They said Bai Li should hand over what she had so that other residents could survive. One person said that if she had bought so much, she clearly had enough for everyone. Another said that a neighbor should not keep things hidden when the building was in danger. Yan Cijin’s face turned colder as she read. Then she saw Bai Li’s name tagged over and over again. There were a few people who had once spoken to Bai Li politely in the hall, now acting bold because of fear and greed. The building manager had also joined in, speaking in a way that sounded calm on the surface but was actually pushing everyone in one direction. He said they needed to think of the building as a whole, and that in times like these everyone should come together and make a fair decision. But the way he used the word fair only made Yan Cijin feel more disgusted. Fairness was easy to talk about when you wanted to take from another person.

Yan Cijin kept scrolling and saw Xiao Li’s name in the middle of the mess. Xiao Li had once lived near Bai Li and had moved not long ago, so there had been a little neighbor relation between them. Unlike the others, Xiao Li did not jump in with greed. Instead, he tried to stop the noise and spoke in Bai Li’s favor. He said that Bai Li had bought those things with her own money and for her own reasons, and that no one had the right to force her to share. He said that if the building kept turning on each other, then none of them would survive the outside situation anyway. A few others also supported this line of thought, though not many. They were either genuinely kind or at least still had some basic sense left. But even those voices were quickly drowned out by the louder, more selfish ones. Some people had no real opinion and only wanted to sound reasonable while quietly pushing the group toward a choice that would benefit them. They kept saying things like maybe Bai Li could spare a little, maybe she could lend some water, maybe she should be willing to help if she was truly a good neighbor. Their words were dressed up nicely, but the meaning was still the same. Take from her. Press her. Make her give in.

Yan Cijin continued reading and saw someone suggesting that they should go upstairs together. The person said they should form a group, go to Bai Li’s floor, and speak to her face to face in the name of self righteous justice.

.

.

. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

TO BE CONTINUED.