Edge of the Apocalypse
Chapter 3: Ghost Skyscraper

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Ghost Skyscraper

’Fewer people means fewer zombies. And... even if some people do turn, most of them will be trapped in their own rooms, posing very little threat to me.’

Yu Dong parked his bicycle at the community entrance and strode over.

His eyes lit up when he saw the entrance.

It consisted of two fully automatic iron grille gates, and they looked very sturdy.

And it only had these two gates, not the kind of boom barrier entrance for cars. If it were sealed, it could completely keep zombies out of the complex.

"Sir, are you looking for someone or here to rent?"

The security guard standing at the gate saw Yu Dong lingering by the entrance and came over to inquire.

Unlike the "old-man squads" that passed for security at other communities, this guard was a fit young man, nearly six feet tall, with a powerful build.

His uniform was clean and tidy, a clear cut above what you’d see at other complexes.

Worthy of its reputation as one of Yanhai City’s former high-end residential communities.

"I’m here to rent."

"Oh! Please come with me. I’ll take you to Sister Zhang."

The guard pressed a button on his remote, and one of the iron grille gates slid open. The two of them walked inside.

"How come you don’t have a vehicle entrance?"

"Because parking isn’t allowed on the grounds of the complex. There’s a dedicated entrance to the underground garage over there. Only vehicles belonging to registered owners or tenants are allowed in."

"Oh... I see. Nice."

Yu Dong soon met Sister Zhang, the property manager in charge of rentals. She was a chubby, middle-aged woman.

The overpowering scent of her perfume failed to mask a sharp body odor, making Yu Dong instinctively wrinkle his nose before quickly schooling his features.

"You’re a student, aren’t you, young man? We don’t do daily rentals, just so you know."

"I’m renting long-term."

At this, Sister Zhang, the property manager, perked right up, her lips splitting into a wide grin.

"Come, come, follow me. I’ll show you some places. How many people will be living there? What size are you looking for?"

"I want a large, fully-furnished, move-in-ready place."

"The largest we have is 160 square meters. The units in our complex are all well-renovated. Come on, shall I take you to see one?"

"Alright."

JANGLE JANGLE~

Sister Zhang pulled a large key ring from her hip. It was laden with keys to the community’s apartments; Yu Dong glanced over and estimated there had to be at least a hundred.

As he followed Sister Zhang deeper into the complex, Yu Dong took the opportunity to survey his surroundings.

For a prime coastal location in the Urban Area, where every inch of land is worth a fortune, Xiangti Bay didn’t cover a large area. It consisted of only three buildings, which left a relatively spacious common area for the residents, with an impressive amount of green space.

After a short walk, he had a pretty good grasp of the complex’s layout at ground level.

Yu Dong estimated the wall surrounding the entire complex was about ten feet high—tall enough to block the view from outside, and difficult for an ordinary person to climb without assistance.

The complex seemed somewhat desolate; on a Monday morning, there wasn’t a single person to be seen on the grounds.

’No wonder they call this place a ghost complex...’

The occupancy rate was clearly low.

They went to Building One first.

As the elevator doors opened, he was met with the sight of a fair face that still held a trace of youthful innocence.

At first glance, Yu Dong assumed she was a middle or high school student. But as his gaze drifted downward...

Her full, round breasts strained against her clothes. The stunning curve made Yu Dong involuntarily glance back up at her oval face, which still had a hint of baby fat. It was like two completely different art styles combined in one person.

This extreme contrast, along with her highly distinctive face, allowed Yu Dong to recognize the girl before him.

’Liu Ye’ye? What’s she doing here...’

Liu Ye’ye apparently hadn’t expected to see two people standing by the elevator; she nearly bumped right into Yu Dong.

"Oh, sorry, so sorry..."

She offered a hurried apology and scurried away, leaving a faint, sweet scent in the air.

"Are you coming in, handsome?"

"Yeah."

Yu Dong followed Sister Zhang into the elevator, his mind flashing back to the events before his death in the previous timeline.

Huang Zhiqiang had been particularly fixated on Liu Ye’ye, constantly sharing news about her with his dorm mates. As a result, Yu Dong had passively absorbed quite a few rumors about her.

Liu Ye’ye was not only talented and beautiful, but she also had excellent grades. She was the undisputed queen of the "good girl" archetype, hailed as the most gifted beauty at the pinnacle of Yanhai University.

She was a junior this year, one year below Yu Dong and his friends, and had reportedly never had a boyfriend.

Many guys had tried to ask her out, but Liu Ye’ye had rejected them all.

Later... a lot of rumors about her started spreading around campus.

The most persistent one was that... while Liu Ye’ye appeared cute and innocent, she was actually being kept by a sugar daddy and lived off-campus.

This rumor was even supposedly confirmed by Liu Ye’ye’s own roommate.

As a result, whenever guys talked about her, they’d put on a knowing smirk, as if to say, "those who get it, get it."

His roommate Huang Zhiqiang, who had once worshiped her as a goddess, even declared that "love is dead" and changed his WeChat Moments background to a single phrase: "Get that money!"

And as everyone knows, people who use that as their background...

Bumping into Liu Ye’ye here today, Yu Dong now understood why those rumors had started... They hadn’t come from nowhere.

But none of that was his business.

Time to see the apartment.

After Sister Zhang showed him around a few apartments in the complex, Yu Dong was quite satisfied.

First off, the entrance to each apartment building was a heavy-duty electronic security door that required a key card or facial scan to open and was always kept shut.

Furthermore, each apartment had both an outer security door and an inner wooden door, offering excellent privacy and safety.

The interior decor and so on were all more or less the same. For Yu Dong, as long as it had the basic amenities, it was good enough.

After sending Sister Zhang on her way, Yu Dong jotted down all his observations.

’Aside from the space not being quite enough... it’s all pretty good.’

’When the outbreak happens, I’ll cut the power to the main entrance on the ground floor, lock it, and then barricade it with furniture... It would be nearly impossible for zombies to breach the building from the outside.’

Plus, being in a high-rise offered an advantage other places didn’t: noise reduction.

The everyday noises he made wouldn’t be as easily detected by zombies.

He remembered how he died last time: he’d made the slightest noise while moving to a new location... and was immediately discovered by a horde of zombies that chased him relentlessly.

His stamina was decent, and he managed to shake off a few of them, but in the end, exhausted, he was taken down by the "gym-bro" zombie, Xufeng...

After that, he checked out a seaside villa and an abandoned air-raid shelter, but felt both were lacking.

’The villa’s low walls and decorative gate are too vulnerable. The living conditions in the air-raid shelter are terrible; it would take days just to clean it up. It’s too uncomfortable, and aside from being spacious, it has no other clear advantages...’

After comparing the three locations, Yu Dong personally favored Xiangti Bay.

It had few people, was highly defensible, and made it difficult for zombies to find him... while still allowing him to live like a human being.

’If only it had a bit more space,’ he thought. ’The largest apartment here is only 160 square meters. That’s not enough.’

Yu Dong had read a Q&A thread on Zhihu titled, "How should an ordinary person prepare for a zombie apocalypse?" and had learned about the various supplies he would need.

If he wanted to survive as long as possible—to make it until the day the government finally got the situation under control—he had to stockpile an enormous amount of supplies.

Especially food and water!

Based on his previous experience, he figured he needed to be prepared to hunker down for at least three years...

And 160 square meters of space really wasn’t going to cut it.

Yu Dong returned to Xiangti Bay and stood in the hallway outside the apartment he had his eye on.

He looked at the two locked apartment doors across the hall, and his eyes lit up!

The apartments in Xiangti Bay were laid out with three units per floor, all sharing a common hallway.

’I’ve been stuck in a mental rut!’ he realized. ’I don’t have to limit my activity to a single apartment.’

’Since one 160-square-meter apartment isn’t enough, I’ll just get two more. I’ll rent out the entire floor!’

’Then I can seal off the fire door to the stairwell, and this whole floor will become my own private living space.’

’It’ll also give me some room for strategic maneuvering.’

Just like that, the final weakness—space—was addressed.

Xiangti Bay Community had just become the perfect all-rounder!

It was the best place Yu Dong could think of that he could move into right away.

With that settled, Yu Dong no longer hesitated. He went straight to Sister Zhang to state his requirements.

"I want to rent the three units on the third floor."

The third floor was a carefully considered choice. For one, it was away from the potentially dangerous lower levels—the first and second floors—which would prevent zombies from climbing in through a window in the middle of the night. For another, it was still close to the ground floor exit. The outbreak would inevitably be followed by power outages, rendering the elevators useless. If he ever needed to venture outside or was forced to escape, the shorter climb would be much more convenient.

It offered both an offense and a defense.

Hearing he wanted to rent three units, Sister Zhang was a little confused.

"Are you for real, kiddo? Don’t pull my leg. What do you need three apartments for?"

"It’s for my grad school entrance exam study group. There are a few of us renting together."

"Oh, wonderful! Studying for grad school, that’s great! I just love hardworking university students like you all."

University students were generally well-behaved, tidy, and low-maintenance—much better than tenants who were already out in the working world.

And Sister Zhang just loved to rip off students for their security deposits.

She flipped through her rental records.

"The entire third floor is unavailable. The units are either occupied or the owners haven’t listed them for rent. How about I find you another floor? Right now, the entire fourth floor of Building One is free, and so is the second floor of Building Three. We also have a few floors open in the twenties. Which would you prefer?"

"The fourth floor of Building One."

Since he couldn’t get the third floor, the fourth was an acceptable alternative.

There was no way Yu Dong would choose a floor that high up. Once the elevators stopped working, climbing twenty-odd flights of stairs up and down... he’d just die of exhaustion.

"Alright then, kiddo. The three units on that floor are a medium, a large, and an extra-large, at 45, 100, and 160 square meters, respectively. We lease by the quarter, and the monthly rents are 1,500, 2,500, and 3,000. The terms are one month’s rent for a deposit, plus three months’ rent paid upfront."

Sister Zhang’s chubby fingers clacked away on her calculator.

"That’ll be 28,000 from you guys, kiddo."

"Okay, I can agree to the rent on behalf of my group, but I have a small request."

"Go on, kiddo, name it!"

The thought of closing a three-unit deal at once put the property manager in a fantastic mood, and she found herself looking at Yu Dong much more favorably.

"We don’t have that much cash on us right now. We need to get the money from our families before we can pay in full. We can give you one month’s rent for now and pay you the balance in a week."

"Well..."

It was against policy, but the thought of the commission from a three-unit deal, combined with the fact that he was a university student, put her mind at ease.

’It’s only a week. What could possibly happen?’

"Alright, I trust you. Pay up, and I’ll get you the keys and the community access cards."

[Expenditure: 7,000 yuan. Balance: 98,000.]

Yu Dong successfully secured the three apartments on the fourth floor of Xiangti Bay’s Building One.

He obviously had no intention of giving her the full 28,000. He only had 105,000 yuan in total, which wasn’t even enough for all the supplies he needed. Paying one month’s rent to stall for time until the outbreak was the plan.

After grabbing a quick lunch of authentic Anhui-style flat noodles at a shop near the complex entrance, Yu Dong hurried to the wholesale market.

He had to use the 98,000 yuan he had left to buy enough supplies to survive for three years.

This would be a serious test of his resource management skills.

Fortunately, this was what Yu Dong excelled at.