Doomsday: Ultimate Survivor

Chapter 4-2: Survive

He knocked for a good while before Andy finally opened the door. The moment he saw Eric, the thin, young man embraced him at once, which caught Eric off guard! He ducked and let Andy slam into the door. Bang!

“Eric!” Andy was still happy to see another human being, despite the awkward greeting. Eric didn’t say much at first. He dragged Andy to the office on the 35th floor, and then skilfully blocked the door with furniture before he felt safe to communicate.

Just like him, Andy woke up suddenly yesterday afternoon, but he was not as bold as Eric had been. Andy had chosen to shut himself in the computer room after seeing the zombies crowding downstairs. However, as there was no food or water, he finally asked for help on the company Intranet.

Avoiding any unnecessary interaction, Eric opened two packets of instant noodles and cooked them. He watched Andy wolfing them down, right to the last drop of soup.

Still quiet, Eric lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, before turning to Andy.

“Well? What’s the plan then Andy? How do you think you are going to survive this?” The cruel reality of their situation made Eric’s communication short and efficient.

Andy looked up and replied, “How can I have any plan? You know I’m just a programmer. I don’t have any special skills. I’m not like you with survival stuff…”

“Cut it out! Andy! This is the end of the world. You have to think about how we can survive this s**t!” Eric slapped Andy on the shoulder. “Now nothing is important, except for survival! If you don’t have any ideas, just listen to me. This is what it comes down to: Collect materials, find a safe and stable place, organise production to meet our needs, and use weapons against zombies to ensure survival.”

Andy froze when Eric came clean about his ideas.

“Eric, don’t you see how many zombies there are? You think we can beat these guys?” Andy asked blankly.

Eric put the cigarette out on the desk and tossed it to one side.

“Life was always cruel, but now it is crueller and harsher than ever before! I got what you ate and drank just now after killing a zombie! If we don’t fight them now, sooner or later you and I will become one of them!”

Hearing Eric talk about killing the zombie, Andy suddenly felt his stomach begin to roll. He couldn’t imagine killing people, or zombies!

Eric’s cold voice rang loudly in Andy’s ear. “Don’t vomit! Do you know how precious the food you have just eaten is now? If you keep behaving like a loser, I won’t be giving you another mouthful of food or sip of water!”

Andy gulped down what was about to rise up in his throat. He understood that everything Eric said was cruel but true, and that it was the only way to survive. The reality was that they would both have to kill zombies somewhere along the way.

“Also, don’t think you’re saved now. You’ve heard my plan. We can’t stay in this zombie-infested city for long. We must find a place with few zombies and start a new life!”

Eric didn’t know why he was being so cruel. Although he was not much braver than Andy, when facing the zombies yesterday he had at least taken the first step and killed one. That gave him the courage and confidence to live in this doomsday world.

“I know, Eric! I know I’m not good at anything, but what you just said makes sense; we need to survive, and I do have an idea.” Slowly, Andy also began to get used to the depressed survival atmosphere of their new world.

Andy was grateful to the man in front of him who had given him the confidence and courage to survive, and who had given him food and water for free. Having surfed the Internet last night he certainly understood the value of these resources at the moment!

Andy proceeded to tell Eric that there were 52 floors in the building, among which the 13th floor and above were all companies of varying sizes. There were 32 companies in total, and each had something like a logistics storage room, which would be the largest source of materials for them at present.

But the ID cards for each floor were different, and they also were unlikely to encounter any administrators to give them new cards, which was a difficult problem.

Besides, they had not investigated many areas of the building and did not know what dangers they might face.

“If we can’t find cards, we’ll just use brute force. We have a truncheon and a wrench. We are two grown men, surely we can open the door?”

Andy shook his head. “Eric, the infrastructure in this building is very high quality. Without serious machinery, like a saw or a drill, we can’t open those doors. They have been reinforced for extra security. It would take forever to get through just one.”

“Damn it!” Eric thought to himself. Did that mean they still had to make their way to the convenience store on the streets after they finished all the food here? How could two people beat so many zombies?

Even if they could kill them, they would be absolutely exhausted! Thinking of this, Eric grabbed the ID card he had found yesterday and threw it on the ground.

Andy silently picked up the card, turned it over and looked at it several times. Suddenly his eyes lit up. “Eric! I have an idea!”