Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars
Chapter 6: Here and Now, Just Like There and Then

Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Here and Now, Just Like There and Then

Lin Fan locked the door and had just reached the second floor when he looked up and saw the door to 302 cracked open. A figure was peering out nervously—it was Su Qing.

She had been waiting by the door for Lin Fan for two hours.

Lin Fan was the last person she had seen before the apocalypse, and the only person—a living person—she had come into close contact with after it began.

Ever since the apocalypse descended, panic and helplessness had become the world’s refrain, and she was no exception.

From morning till night, there were wails and screams. On the chaotic streets, cars crashed into each other, and drivers were dragged from their vehicles by zombies to be devoured.

A lone gunshot would ring out from the crowd, only to be instantly drowned out by countless screams and roars.

Although she was lucky enough not to have turned into one of those disgusting monsters, despair still consumed her relentlessly.

’Go outside? How could I possibly get out?’

More than once, she had seen groups of people venture out, only to be chased down by a growing horde of zombies, overwhelmed, and torn apart alive, leaving behind nothing but piercing screams.

’How could a woman like her possibly escape a swarm of zombies?’

This hellish world made it hard for her to sleep at night. She could only manage to catch a little rest when she was utterly exhausted, only to be jolted awake by nightmares.

Until today. Until this afternoon.

A knock on the door startled her from her sleep. She thought rescue had finally arrived!

But through the peephole, she saw that horrifying scene!

Be torn apart and eaten by zombies, or be trapped in her room and starve to death? Today, that multiple-choice question of fate had found its answer.

The zombie pounded crazily on her metal door, but somehow, she suddenly felt nothing.

She numbly grabbed a sharp knife from the kitchen and slumped against the door, collapsing onto the tiles behind it.

Once the zombie broke through the door, she, in her utter despair, planned to end her own life with the knife.

When the door was breached with a loud THUD, she raised the knife in her hand, aiming it at her own heaving chest.

In an instant, countless emotions surged from the depths of her heart—despair, pain, grievance, anger, and unwillingness—finally converging into a single scream.

But then, a voice, like a clap of thunder, shattered the despair that enveloped her!

"Shut up!"

A man’s shout came from the doorway, like a final rope thrown to a drowning person. Hope ignited in her heart like a spark!

’It’s him!’

’He’s not dead!’

Su Qing’s eyes instantly cleared. She threw the knife away as if it were a venomous snake. No longer able to control her emotions, tears streamed down her face as she hugged her knees and began to sob silently...

...

The moment Su Qing saw Lin Fan, her eyes lit up. She opened her door and stepped out.

"Lin... little bro, let me help you with that!"

’An ulterior motive...’

Lin Fan glanced at her but didn’t respond. He went straight up to the third floor, set the box on the ground, then pursed his lips and looked his neighbor up and down.

She was wearing cargo pants and a canvas jacket, clearly not summer clothes. It looked like she was trying to imitate Lin Fan, bundling up for more protection.

Though her face was still as delicate as before, it was clearly much more haggard. Her once-bright eyes were now framed by heavy, dark circles, and her eyelids were red and swollen, as if she had just been crying...

And above her head, a large health bar was also floating there.

Unlike the zombies’ red health bars or his own gold-rimmed green one, the health bar above Su Qing’s head was yellow.

[45/100]

This was the first time he’d seen another living person’s health bar. He didn’t know why it was yellow, but as long as it wasn’t the red of a zombie, it was fine.

’And why does she only have 45 health points left?’

"Are you sick?" Lin Fan asked with a frown, ignoring her previous question.

"Sick...? No! Absolutely not! I’m not injured or infected! Look! Look!"

The moment she heard Lin Fan ask if she was sick, Su Qing suddenly grew tense.

She was probably worried Lin Fan would kill her just like he did the zombie in the hallway, so she rushed to explain.

As she explained, she even rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair, slender arms.

Seeing her reaction, Lin Fan knew she must have misunderstood and quickly tried to reassure her.

"I didn’t say you were infected. Don’t be nervous, don’t be nervous. I just thought you didn’t look well."

Hearing Lin Fan say this, Su Qing finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh... oh... I was just too tense, I’m sorry. I... I’ve been a little terrified these past few days."

"Yeah, with how things are outside... I’m scared out of my wits too."

Lin Fan couldn’t help but sigh in agreement, then asked with some suspicion:

"Sister Su, were you waiting for me? Is something wrong?"

Hearing Lin Fan’s question, Su Qing quickly replied:

"Um... little bro, I rent this place, and I usually eat out. I only had some fruit and stuff at home, and yesterday I already..."

As she spoke, a loud GROWL came from her stomach. Su Qing’s face instantly turned bright red, and she avoided Lin Fan’s gaze.

"Er..."

He hadn’t expected someone to not even have a three-day supply of food.

Lin Fan frowned. To be honest, he didn’t have much food himself, certainly not enough to support another person.

As if sensing the hesitation in Lin Fan’s eyes, Su Qing quickly and nervously added:

"I know you probably don’t have much food either, and it won’t last long in this summer heat..."

"I... I’m not asking for a handout! See if there’s any way I can be useful to you!"

"Any food is fine... even if it’s expired!"

Su Qing grew more and more agitated as she spoke. Her beautiful, large eyes misted over, and tears began to stream out uncontrollably. But she still suppressed her voice, trying hard to calm her emotions.

"Anything is fine, *sob*... I don’t eat much... just a little is enough..."

Her legs gave way, and she slumped to the floor, sobbing as she spoke.

"I thought everyone in the building was dead, *sob*..."

"I thought I was going to die too, *sob*..."

"Until I heard your voice today, *sob*..."

"I realized I don’t want to die, *sob*..."

"I want to live, *sob*..."

Seeing her tear-streaked face, Lin Fan felt a pang of pity.

But he really didn’t have any spare food to give her.

’Even though I can get loot from killing zombies, I haven’t killed that many yet. I can’t risk my life every day killing zombies just to feed a useless mouth...’

"Er... How about this? I’ll give you two choices..." Lin Fan said with a frown after a moment’s hesitation.

"One: I have some cat and dog food at my shop, about ten pounds or so... But I have to warn you, that stuff isn’t really fit for human consumption. It’ll keep you alive, but eating too much of it is bad for you."

"Two: The zombie in the hallway today was from 402 upstairs. I got his keys, but I’m not sure if his wife and kids are home. You come with me, you open the door, and I’ll give you one-third of whatever food we find."

After much hesitation, Lin Fan gave her the two options.

The dog food in the first option was useless to him, and it was true that eating too much of it was unhealthy.

The second was to hire her using supplies he hadn’t even obtained yet. Either way, he wouldn’t be losing out.

After hearing his offer, Su Qing lowered her head to think for a moment. Her gaze suddenly became firm. She pushed herself up using the wall, looked Lin Fan in the eyes, and said, "...I choose the second one!"

Lin Fan was a bit stunned by her answer. He never expected this seemingly delicate beauty to choose the option that might mean facing a zombie head-on.

But he still respected her choice.

"Alright. Follow me."

Lin Fan beckoned to Su Qing, then turned, opened his own door, picked up the box, and went inside first.

...