Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars
Chapter 14: Prying Open the Door

Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Prying Open the Door

"After we eat, I’ll give you the key to 402."

"The food in the fridge is fair game. Take what you want; we don’t have room to bring it back here anyway."

"Grab anything you think is useful. While you’re at it, fill up every container you can find in his place and yours with water. Change it daily. That way, we won’t be left high and dry if the water gets cut off."

"If there’s anything too heavy to move, just wait for me..."

"Oh, and seal the master bedroom door shut with tape. There’s plenty in my drawers..."

"Don’t open it to look. You’ll regret it..."

Watching Su Qing nod vigorously from across the table, Lin Fan felt he had successfully delegated these household chores.

Time would tell if Su Qing was reliable, but for now, at least he could free up his hands to focus on dealing with the zombies.

Watching a stunning, slender woman clear his dishes was a real treat.

’It’s a shame I don’t usually cook,’ he thought, ’or I’d definitely find an apron for her to wear...’

...

After breakfast, the two of them got busy with their respective tasks.

Lin Fan gathered all the power strips in his apartment, as well as those from Su Qing’s place and 402 upstairs. He finally managed to run a connection from 402 all the way to the sixth floor.

The two apartments upstairs both had old-fashioned iron security gates on the outside and wooden doors on the inside. The wooden doors were easy; being inward-opening, a single kick would do it.

The outer gates, however, were not so easy to pry open.

These old-style iron gates were made of incredibly solid material, and Lin Fan didn’t have any proper prying tools, like the Halligan bars used by firefighters.

He had no choice but to once again bring out his almighty tool—the angle grinder.

For this, Lin Fan made sure to put on Su Qing’s helmet and goggles, as well as his own bite-proof arm guards. After all, this was his first time cutting through an iron gate. If he wasn’t careful and the cutting disc shattered...

He didn’t want to survive the zombie monsters only to die in a construction accident.

Fortunately, the process went smoothly. After about an hour of slow cutting, he had severed the hinges on the iron gates of both 601 and 602.

He tidied up the things in the hallway, then called out to Su Qing, who was in the middle of hauling things back from 402, telling her to close her door and stay inside.

This was to prevent her from being accidentally hurt in case a zombie managed to rush out of the apartment.

He then grabbed the iron gate of 602 with both hands, and with a powerful twist, pulled the entire door off its frame.

The zombie inside had been BANGING on the wooden door ever since Lin Fan started sawing, letting out low growls from time to time.

Luckily, the door opened inward. No matter how hard the zombie slammed against it, it would never open unless it broke the door down completely.

Even after all that noisy work, he could still only hear one zombie inside. Lin Fan relaxed a little. It seemed there was indeed only one zombie in 602, or at least, only one in the living room.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart, Lin Fan gripped the iron spear tightly with both hands. He took a two-step running start to build momentum, then launched a flying kick, striking the door right where the latch was!

The force of the kick was immense!

With a dull THUD, the door’s lock mechanism instantly broke off, hitting the floor tiles with a sharp CLATTER.

He felt a heavy, solid impact through his foot. ’Looks like I didn’t just break the lock,’ he thought. ’The zombie on the other side must have been sent flying by the force!’

Sure enough, as the wooden door swung wide open, a somewhat bloated figure was lying in the middle of the living room, struggling to get up.

But it seemed the wooden door had hit it too hard. One of the zombie’s scapulae was broken, piercing out from its shoulder. This prevented that arm from rotating, and after several struggles, it still couldn’t get up.

A human could get up using only one arm, but after becoming a zombie, it had lost all reason. Its two arms worked against each other, making it even harder for it to get off the ground.

[269/300].

It was a somewhat overweight female zombie. Lin Fan recognized her as the woman who sold vegetables at the community supermarket. He never knew she lived here.

While the zombie was still struggling, Lin Fan gave the room a quick scan. All the doors were open. Confirming there were no other zombies, he stepped inside.

Sensing a living person, the zombie grew even more frantic. It propped itself up with its free arm, its legs kicking constantly as it lunged toward Lin Fan like a grotesque, flopping fish.

Bluish-black, death-filled veins spiderwebbed across the zombie’s pallid face, and its dull, greyish-white eyes were fixed on him.

The zombie’s mouth opened and closed in a distorted fashion. Its own teeth had torn its cheeks, revealing the dark red muscle fibers, part of its oral cavity, and teeth beneath!

"Sigh..." Lin Fan raised the iron spear, aimed for the zombie’s head, and prepared to send it on its way with a forceful downward thrust.

Unexpectedly, the zombie twisted its head, dodging his strike. The spear glanced off its forehead and pierced its cheek instead.

With a CLANG, the steel pipe pierced the zombie’s cheek and struck the floor tiles.

[-22]

[247/300]

But then, with the iron spear stuck in its cheek, the zombie’s constant struggling tore the wound wider. After a few thrashing movements, its entire lower jaw was ripped from its face!

[-26]

[221/300]

Instead of trying to pull out the spear stuck in the zombie’s flesh, Lin Fan immediately drew the short club from his waist, raised it high, and brought it down hard on the zombie’s head!

THWACK!

A dull thud echoed as a dent appeared on the zombie’s head!

[-45]!

CRACK!

[-55]

THUD!

[-66]

SPLAT!

[-99]!

Finally, on the fourth strike, he felt the resistance give way, like hitting a sack of old rags. He had smashed open the zombie’s skull, and greyish-white brain matter splattered out!

[Purified Water (Small) *1]

[Vegetable Pack (Small) *2]

[Tape *1 (Crafting Material)]

Lin Fan’s maximum health also increased by 10 points, reaching [150/150].

’I was hoping to give her a peaceful end, but it turned into another bloody murder scene...’

Lin Fan looked helplessly at the mess at his feet, thinking to himself, ’Looks like I really need to practice my aim with this spear...’

Bludgeoning was a difficult way to crack a skull in one go. A spear thrust was currently his only reliable method for a one-hit kill.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of combining the [Blade] with the steel pipe. Unfortunately, neither iron wire nor tape could secure it firmly enough. He’d have to wait until he found a welding machine or some other equipment.

With a strong pull, he wrenched the spear free. He aimed for the gap in the zombie’s shoulder blade, drove the spear in, and used it to lever the corpse up. He then carried it to the living room window and pushed it out.

As long as it wasn’t a Mutated Zombie, there was no need to worry about potential dangers. Just toss it out first.

’What’s this Vegetable Pack...’

’Could it be that she dropped a Vegetable Pack because she used to sell vegetables?’

Only after cleaning up the corpse did Lin Fan notice a new item on the drop list.

He took out the Vegetable Pack (Small). Just as its name suggested, it was a plastic bag filled with about ten pounds of common vegetables like lettuce, celery, carrots, and broccoli.

’This is great stuff...’

As time went on, fresh wild vegetables would become increasingly scarce. Even if some small vegetable patches survived, produce couldn’t be preserved for long without a cold chain.

Vitamins and other nutrients would become more and more precious.

From this drop, he could reasonably deduce that if supplies could also include fruit or fresh meat, he could become a super-depot all on his own, as long as he accumulated enough!

After all, it seemed like items placed in the storage space were preserved indefinitely!

This added another layer of assurance for his survival when he eventually left the apartment building for an isolation zone or some other less populated area!

Not stopping to inventory the supplies in 602, Lin Fan wasted no time. Spear in hand, he swept through each room, checking inside closets and under the bed. After confirming there were no more enemies, he returned to the hallway and stood before the door to 601, right across from him.