Edge of the Apocalypse
Chapter 14 - 13: The Apocalypse Descends

Chapter 14: Chapter 13: The Apocalypse Descends

Yu Dong first shut off the circuit breaker for the main gate. Then, he took out some angle irons and an impact drill and began sealing the iron bar gate shut.

WHIRRR!

The impact drill drove thick screws deep into the iron doorframe as he secured one heavy angle iron after another to the gate.

Yu Dong had practiced this many times and was extremely proficient.

All he needed was ten minutes to seal both the entrance and exit gates completely.

Three minutes in, he had already secured six angle irons to the exit gate. Just four more to go.

WOOF!

WOOF WOOF WOOF!

A dog started barking behind him.

An elderly couple walked over, leading a Teddy.

"What do you think you’re doing? Why are you sealing the main gate?"

"Are you with property management? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before."

Yu Dong glanced back and pointed to the pedestrian entrance about two meters away.

"Temporary construction here. Please use that gate."

The couple immediately grew agitated.

"I’m going this way! I’ve been using this gate for years! Open it for me!"

"You’re a real piece of work, young man. Who told you to block the gate? Do you own this place?"

The couple put their hands on their hips and started yelling at him, and the Teddy barked frantically at their heels.

Frowning, Yu Dong secured the last four angle irons, sealing the exit gate completely.

He then picked up a spare angle iron and stood up. Rolling up his sleeves, he revealed sharp, defined muscles glistening with sweat. Yu Dong shot the elderly couple a cold glare.

"I said, use the other gate."

The Teddy, which had been barking its head off just moments before, saw Yu Dong brandishing the steel bar and was so terrified it started peeing as it scrambled backward.

The couple’s aggressive demeanor instantly deflated. The old woman looked like she was about to keep yelling, but the old man quickly pulled her arm.

"Let’s... let’s go. You said you had errands to run..."

"Young people have no manners these days! I’m filing a complaint about you later!"

The elderly couple scurried away, dragging their Teddy, which was still dribbling urine.

He glanced at his watch. 6:06. They had wasted one of his minutes.

Yu Dong took a deep breath and prepared to seal the entrance gate as well.

Just then, a voice called out from outside the gate.

"W-wait a minute!"

A girl dressed in Hanfu called out tentatively from the other side.

Yu Dong looked up, his gaze fixing on Liu Ye’ye at the gate.

Liu Ye’ye met his gaze for only a second before hastily averting her eyes, not daring to look straight at him.

Yu Dong opened the gate a crack.

"Get in."

"Okay."

Liu Ye’ye quickly scurried inside, afraid of being too slow.

She hurried toward Building One, thinking to herself.

’That senior was so intense just now...’

A voice came from behind her.

"Whatever happens later, don’t go outside. Stay in your apartment."

"Huh? W-why?"

"Because there’s a creep around here who preys on female university students..."

"Ah!"

Startled, Liu Ye’ye took off running.

A small smile played on Yu Dong’s lips. He then sealed the entrance gate shut with the angle irons.

Then, he pulled the brim of his hat down and quickly walked away from the main gate.

"Second blockade, complete."

When he reached the entrance to Building One, he pulled a thick iron chain from behind the heavy security door. From the inside, he wound it around the door handles and through two eyebolts he had already installed on either side with expansion bolts, then snapped a padlock on it.

The security door opened outward. To get in, someone would have to pull hard enough to either snap the 20mm-thick chain with brute force or destroy the entire security door itself.

That would be impossible without tools.

After checking that the elevators were empty, Yu Dong used a special key to engage the lock-out switches for both, shutting them down.

Once he saw the "Out of Service for Maintenance" message appear on the elevator displays, Yu Dong climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. He closed the fire door to the stairwell and locked it with a chain.

"Third and fourth blockades, complete."

With that, Yu Dong had flawlessly established his four lines of defense.

Taking off his hat, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

This stage of the plan had been the most vulnerable to unexpected problems, like that elderly couple with their dog. If property management had shown up, they would have tried to stop him.

Fortunately, there were few residents in this complex, and the property management office was barely staffed.

The old security guard was on the toilet. The two other service staffers and Liang Mian had already gone home for the day. Sister Zhang from management usually stayed late to show apartments, but given her size, she wouldn’t be wandering around unless someone specifically came to find her.

Everything had gone smoothly because Yu Dong had prepared meticulously for this operation.

’Good thing Liangzi’s shift ends at 6. Now I won’t have to face that athlete zombie...’

Yu Dong was genuinely afraid of Liangzi turning into a zombie and being trapped inside the complex with him.

It was all due to the trauma from his past life, when he’d died at the hands of the fitness zombie, Xufeng.

Now, Yu Dong stood in his fourth-floor apartment, looking out the window at the scene below.

Down by the main gate, which he had sealed at both the entrance and exit, people wanting to get in or out were staring at his handiwork, completely dumbfounded.

Some looked extremely agitated, and soon one of them went to the management office to find Sister Zhang.

Sister Zhang waddled out, looking utterly clueless.

She made a few calls, but no one had any idea what was going on.

Eventually, the people downstairs came to the same incredible conclusion.

"Who’s the asshole who did this?! They deliberately sealed the community gate!"

"Forget who did it for a second! Doesn’t property management have a maintenance guy? Get him to take it down. People need to get in and out!"

"Yeah, seriously! I have plans to meet a friend for dinner."

By then, a crowd of five people had gathered.

After all, it was 6:30 PM—peak time for either heading out to dinner or coming home from work. It was the busiest time of day for this otherwise ghost-like apartment complex.

Sister Zhang tried to placate the small crowd. "Everyone, please calm down. I just called the maintenance technician. He’s having dinner at home right now, but he’ll head over as soon as he’s finished. It’ll be an hour at most, I promise. We’ll have the gate open again!"