Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars
Chapter 12: Mooching a Meal

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Mooching a Meal

Clear the building!

I’m going to clear the hell out of it!

And I’ll start from the top floor!

As dawn broke, Lin Fan, who hadn’t slept a wink, rolled out of bed with a serious case of bed head. His hatred for the zombies had reached its peak!

As his health bar grew, not only did his physical fitness improve, but his five senses had also become much sharper.

The occasional phlegmy growl from the zombies downstairs constantly grated on his ears, making it impossible for him to sleep as he tossed and turned.

What was worse, every time he was about to drift off, the sound of scraping footsteps from upstairs would jolt him awake.

He didn’t dare sleep with earplugs in; if some emergency occurred, he could lose his life over it.

If it weren’t still dark out, Lin Fan would have charged upstairs in the middle of the night to slaughter every last zombie on that floor!

’Today’s the day! I’m going to clear out all the zombies in this building, one floor at a time!’

The sky outside had cleared up. The rain had stopped last night, and over the course of the evening, much of the standing water on the road had receded.

Lin Fan had lured most of the zombies away yesterday, leaving only a few that had possibly lost their way and wandered back.

Lin Fan opened the window for some fresh air. For now, the air outside was free of any foul odors.

The dismembered zombie from downstairs was still lying there, its waterlogged torso looking even more disgusting than before.

Unable to move, it just lay there with one arm outstretched, letting out continuous, low growls.

Its health hadn’t changed, still showing [96/300].

"Growl, growl, growl! So you’re the one who won’t shut up!"

"When I get out there, you’ll be the first one I put out of your misery!"

However, this zombie was on the street-facing side, not far from the entrance to Lin Fan’s clinic. Going out to kill it would inevitably attract the few other zombies nearby.

Therefore, Lin Fan could only focus on clearing the building first. Once he was a bit stronger, he would figure out a way to slowly expand his safe zone outwards.

So, after quickly washing up, he poured the soaked soybeans into the soy milk maker and set the timer and mode.

He checked his phone again. It was the same as yesterday: signal bars, but no network. He couldn’t make any calls.

Once the soy milk maker started running, Lin Fan tossed his phone aside, grabbed a pen and paper, tucked the short iron pipe into his waistband, and left his apartment, heading upstairs.

VMMMM—

The soy milk maker kicked into high gear, emitting a humming noise that seemed to vibrate through the entire building.

Hearing such a loud noise, the zombies in the various apartments grew agitated and restless.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan, armed with his pen and paper, started from the top floor, logging the situation apartment by apartment.

"601... uh... no movement."

The complex where Lin Fan lived was an old one, with buildings averaging over forty years old. There were no elevators, and the buildings were only six stories high at most.

The residents were mostly food delivery drivers, elderly folks who stayed home, and various blue-collar workers who rented here for the cheap price.

He had learned from Su Qing that on the first day of the outbreak, aside from the wild rumors online, there had been no official announcements.

So, even if most people were a little worried, they still left home and obediently went to work.

This was why there actually weren’t that many zombies downstairs in Lin Fan’s complex, and most of them were middle-aged or elderly.

As for what the bustling office buildings and shopping malls were like now...

The mere thought of a rush-hour subway car packed shoulder-to-shoulder with zombies in various outfits, all with gray-white eyes and covered in gore, was enough to send a chill down his spine.

The top floors of old residential buildings were hard to rent out. They were cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and occasionally leaked, so the price was usually very cheap.

Both apartments on the top floor were the same. The rent must have been cheap, since they hadn’t even replaced the doors. Just like 302, they had the old-fashioned kind: iron security bars on the outside, a wooden door on the inside.

As for the one before him, 601, Lin Fan remembered it was rented by a food delivery driver—a lone-wolf middle-aged man, tan and thin. They would sometimes greet each other when passing on the stairs.

He tapped the inner wooden door again with the iron pipe in his hand, then turned sideways, squeezed his ear past the iron bars, and pressed it against the wood to listen. Still, there was no sound from within the room.

"601... probably empty."

Making a temporary note, Lin Fan turned and went to the door of 602.

He knocked on the wooden door a few times, KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, and a low zombie growl answered from behind it. Something heavy slammed against the door, and the zombie inside began to pound on it, making it go THUD, THUD.

Lin Fan pressed his ear to the door again and listened carefully. From the sound of the footsteps, he could tell there was only one active zombie.

"602... at least one."

...

He finished scouting the fifth, fourth, and second floors in this manner. When he returned to the third floor, he saw Su Qing standing at the top of the stairs, her beautiful hair a messy tangle, her eyes still hazy with sleep.

The moment she saw him coming up, she rolled her eyes at him reproachfully.

"Wow, you’re really something else... Don’t you ever sleep?"

She was still wearing the same yellow silk nightdress, but compared to her wariness the other day, Su Qing was clearly much more relaxed around him now.

Lin Fan glanced at her health bar. After a night of recovery, it had risen to [60/100], and its color had changed to green, the same as his own, only without the border.

’What’s going on?’

Lin Fan didn’t know if the color change from yellow to green meant her health had recovered to a safe level, or if it signified something else entirely.

Still, since it was the same color as his, it probably wasn’t a bad thing.

’Going by the numbers, she should be almost fully recovered in another two days.’

"How is it? Does your leg still hurt? Does it affect your walking?"

Ignoring her complaint, Lin Fan looked at the purple bruise on her calf and asked casually.

Seeing Lin Fan looking her up and down so openly, Su Qing’s pale cheeks instantly grew warm, and her ears turned red.

"It doesn’t hurt anymore. I... I’m going to go wash up."

With that, she turned and scurried back into her room.

"Good. Come over for some soy milk in a bit. There’s something I need to ask you."

Lin Fan called out to her retreating figure, but in his heart, he was silently thinking:

’Great. She’s fit to work now.’

...

Back in his apartment, the hot soy milk was ready. Lin Fan poured himself a large bowl and began slurping it down.

"Too bad I don’t have any fried dough sticks or tofu pudding..."

Still, in the middle of an apocalypse, even being able to drink a bowl of hot soy milk was an unimaginable luxury for most people.

Most survivors were still paralyzed by fear, hiding in their homes, afraid to go out. Forget using a soy milk maker; they were probably too scared to even make a sound flushing the toilet.

Lin Fan also heated up a few eggs, added a bit of clear broth hot pot base, and boiled a pot of noodles, throwing in the leftover vegetables and meat from yesterday. He planned to enjoy a good meal before getting to work.

Just as the noodles were cooked, a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK sounded at the door.

"Hey... Did I leave my clothes at your place yesterday?"

Su Qing had changed into a pair of long pants and a T-shirt. She’d even put on some light makeup that looked so natural it was almost like she wasn’t wearing any, but it was very easy on the eyes.

She asked timidly the moment Lin Fan opened the door.

"Clothes...? Ah... right."

Lin Fan walked over to the sofa and picked up a canvas jacket from the floor. Stacks of A4 paper were still taped all over it.

It was the very jacket he had modified into "paper armor" yesterday.

"When I was getting you back here yesterday, this was hard to get off, so I cut it open. It’s fine, you can just tape it back together if you want to wear it again."

’To think that Lin Fan carried me back yesterday, and even took off my clothes...’

Su Qing’s face burned at the thought. But then she remembered waking up to find Lin Fan carefully tending to her, and a strange sense of security bloomed within her. She walked inside in a daze, completely forgetting to close the door.

Lin Fan, however, didn’t notice Su Qing’s complicated feelings. He just folded the jacket a couple of times, placed it on the arm of the sofa, and then beckoned to her.

"Close the door. Come eat first."