Apocalyptic Rebirth

40.gunshots

Zhang Yi ignited a stink bomb and swiftly threw it out through the shooting hole above the door.After the stink bomb landed, a thick cloud of black smoke billowed out rapidly.The pungent odor quickly permeated the hallway.Fang Yuqing and Lin Caining smelled the stench and felt as if they had just opened a can of sealed feces that had been stored for ten years. They immediately began retching uncontrollably."Ugh... What is this, ugh...""Zhang Yi, ugh... You're shameless!"The stench in the corridor continued to intensify, prompting the two women to hurry away.Zhang Yi, however, wasn't concerned about the smell returning to his room. After closing the shooting hole, the entire room remained in a semi-sealed state. While the air could still circulate, the building had been equipped with an air filtration system during construction to prevent any foul or harmful air from entering.Watching the two women retching and stumbling away on the surveillance camera, Zhang Yi burst into laughter.However, his joy was short-lived as he soon received a complaint from his neighbor next door."Zhang Yi, what did you throw outside your door? It stinks so bad! Can you please consider your neighbors?"Zhang Yi's neighbors were a married couple who had moved in two years ago. In their everyday lives, Zhang Yi had little interaction with them, at most nodding in acknowledgment when they met in the elevator. At a time like this, he had no interest in maintaining neighborly relations.In this post-apocalyptic world, everything he did was for his own safety, and he didn't care about others. He could even eliminate others without hesitation as long as he could secure his own comfort and security. In the midst of the apocalypse, there was no room for any saintly mentality; it had to be extinguished immediately!"If you're not satisfied, come and confront me!"After saying this, Zhang Yi promptly blocked his neighbor's number. He couldn't be bothered to argue with them and waste his breath.Soon enough, Zhang Yi noticed his neighbor venting about him in a larger community chat, but to his surprise, nobody seemed to care about their petty quarrel. Zhang Yi grinned; it felt quite satisfying to be devoid of moral qualms....One afternoon, Zhang Yi was abruptly awakened from his nap."Bang!"A loud noise echoed through the hallway, quickly spreading throughout the entire apartment building.Zhang Yi's expression grew serious; the sound resembled gunshots. Someone in their community had a gun?Zhang Yi wasn't entirely sure whether it was a gun or fireworks, so he quickly headed to the living room to check the surveillance footage.The scene that unfolded before his eyes made his pupils contract involuntarily.In front of the door of the apartment on the third floor, Chen Zhenghao, who had lost a leg, held a black gun in his hand. The cold, pitch-black glint of the weapon easily sent shivers down one's spine.The apartment door was left ajar, and from the surveillance angle, one could vaguely see two human legs inside. Meanwhile, the little lackeys under Chen Zhenghao were gleefully carrying food and candles, among other things, as they walked out.Clearly, the resident on the third floor was already dead. Even if he hadn't died, he had lost all his supplies after taking a bullet and wouldn't survive for long.It was 10 in the morning, the time when all the residents would typically go out to collect snow for melting into drinking water. Working together would temporarily raise the temperature in the hallway, preventing it from becoming too cold.No one could survive without water, so this activity took place every day.Chen Zhenghao had chosen this moment to start killing and looting, capitalizing on the opportunity when everyone was gathered in the hallway."Di-dong!"His phone rang.Zhang Yi picked up the phone and glanced at the message in the larger community chat. Chen Zhenghao had sent a voice message."Now that the city is snowed in, we can't rely on anyone else. We must rely on ourselves.""I, Chen Zhenghao, will take on the responsibility of leading Building 25. From now on, everything here will be decided by me!""Listen to me obediently, and I can let you live. Anyone who dares to act out of line... hehe!"Following that, Chen Zhenghao sent two pictures: one of him holding the gun, and the other of the third-floor resident lying in a pool of blood.The chat that had been lively and chatty fell silent in an instant.Everyone was shocked by the gruesome and brutal scene they had just witnessed.In peaceful times, when had they ever seen anything like this? They couldn't even begin to imagine it.But now, the blood-stained reality was right in front of them.In this closed-off apartment building buried in a snowstorm, it was every man for himself.No one dared to refute Chen Zhenghao, as they were all afraid of death.Zhang Yi lay on the couch and couldn't help but comment, "Chen Zhenghao is quite clever! He's truly someone who thrives in society."Chen Zhenghao employed a mix of coercion and persuasion, not resorting solely to threats. After all, he had only one gun, and nobody knew how many bullets he had. Zhang Yi knew for sure it couldn't be many, as firearms were strictly regulated in China. When he had purchased his own gun, he had paid a hefty price, and he had only acquired around a hundred bullets.Moreover, Chen Zhenghao had only five or six little lackeys.With over a hundred people living in the building, if they were pushed to the brink, Chen Zhenghao, a cripple, wouldn't stand a chance.So, a combination of persuasion and intimidation, promising everyone a rosy future while scaring them, was the best way to keep the residents in line.Human nature always feared death.Even though they understood that Chen Zhenghao might kill one resident today and another tomorrow, they still held onto a glimmer of hope.For instance, those living on higher floors thought that Chen Zhenghao might follow a sequence, starting with the third floor, and it might be a month before he reached them. So, they didn't need to fight now; the people below would surely resist first.The same logic applied to those on the fourth floor; they believed Chen Zhenghao might not necessarily follow a particular order. Resisting would lead to certain death, so they'd better stay put and hope that someone else would die first.Zhang Yi shrugged; these matters had nothing to do with him. He wasn't afraid of Chen Zhenghao, and his safety was guaranteed.He was curious to see what these people would do next.