Chapter 245: Asleep, Entering the Zombie Era
Life gradually returned to a semblance of normalcy, and residents gradually resumed their usual routine of being active during the day and resting at night.
Time flew by, and before they knew it, two weeks had passed. The sky finally welcomed a much-needed downpour.
The rain was ordinary, but it brought immense joy because they hadn't seen such fresh rain in ages.
As they watched the rain, residents couldn't help but wonder if the apocalypse was finally over.
This gave them hope for the future, and they became more motivated when working each day.
But the officials weren't as optimistic after the rain. They drove around the base in SUVs, both inside and outside, urging everyone to collect as much water as possible.
The rain would last for about ten days, and by then, the various water bodies would return to normal.
For the next ten days, the rainwater would be safe to drink, but once the zombie era began, water sources would be infested with mutated creatures.
Anyone who wasn't careful while fetching water could be pulled underwater.
Moreover, the water in these bodies had become polluted, and drinking it would lead to various strange diseases.
Upon hearing the announcement, residents scrambled home to grab anything that could hold water.
After living through so much, residents knew better than to ignore official advice.
Meng Ci and Shen Que, however, didn't bother to collect water since they weren't short of it.
On the other hand, Lin Jun and Zheng Yan, upon hearing the news, were so excited they almost jumped up. They realized there was a huge business opportunity hidden behind this message.
They quickly sprang into action, bringing out every barrel and basin they could find at home, frantically starting to collect water.
When building the house, Lin Jun had considered the possibility of special situations, so he had someone dig a basement and seal it with solid cement.
Lin Jun found several skilled wall builders and quickly constructed some sturdy walls inside the basement.
Then, he carefully tiled the walls with smooth ceramic tiles, making the space look neat and comfortable.
They poured the collected rainwater into the basement.
Worried that the rainwater would spoil if stored for too long, Lin Jun searched everywhere for a solution and somehow managed to obtain a few circulation pumps.
After some effort, he successfully repaired these devices and threw them into the water.
As the machines started running, the water began to circulate, keeping it fresh and lively.
Zheng Yan once again marveled at his leader's resourcefulness.
The ten days of rain ended, and the sky cleared. The long-parched M River resumed its flow. In the evening, people could hear the "ribbit ribbit" of frogs while strolling by the river.
Now that everyone had enough meat to eat, no one went to catch frogs or toads anymore.
Happy smiles spread across the residents' faces, and they felt that the future was full of hope.
But this was just a surface phenomenon. Some residents began to feel their legs and feet twitch at night, their throats became uncomfortable, and it felt like something was crawling inside the back of their heads.
November 2nd, three days before the peak of the zombie outbreak.
Shen Que's body became increasingly hot at night, and Meng Ci's fingers grew itchier.
A while ago, Meng Ci suspected his hand might have been infected with some kind of bacteria. He spent some points to see a doctor, but no issues were found.
On the night of November 4th, Shen Que was having a good conversation with Meng Ci when he suddenly fainted for no reason.
Meng Ci was frightened and quickly helped him to the sofa. The places his hands touched were scorching hot.
When he felt Shen Que's forehead, Meng Ci figured the temperature had to be around 42-43 degrees Celsius.
Normally, this kind of fever would fry the brain.
Fortunately, Meng Ci had been mentally prepared and wasn't afraid.
"Aoou, aoou!"
"Woof woof!"
Eggplant and Eagle stood in front of the sofa, sticking out their tongues worriedly at their other owner.
But after just a couple of minutes, both of them closed their eyes and rolled to the floor, one on each side.
"Eggplant, Eagle!"
Meng Ci ran over and felt both of them. Well, they were even hotter than he expected.
It looked like Eggplant and Eagle were also starting to undergo some kind of mutation.
Meng Ci tried to lift both of them to put them in their bed, but even with all his strength, he couldn't budge either one.
Both of them had grown much bigger and heavier.
Meng Ci had no choice but to drag both of them to their bed.
Then he took out a basin of water from his space, wet a towel, and wiped Shen Que's body.
At this time, most of the surviving humans around the world had fallen into a coma.
Some people were mid-conversation when they suddenly collapsed.
Of course, there were also ordinary people who couldn't mutate. Seeing others collapse, some people panicked and rushed home, terrified of getting caught up in whatever was happening.
But there were also those with malicious intentions, either rummaging through useful items or taking advantage of some women.
That night, two-thirds of the humans around the world fell into a coma.
Neither the military nor the government showed up because they had also fallen into a coma.
"Ah!"
"Damn it, how can my hand control fire?!"
"What the hell, I just thought about picking up the hoe on the ground, how did it fly into my hand?!"
"Hey, why am I sleeping on the floor?"
Despite the chaos outside, Meng Ci and Shen Que slept soundly.
Eggplant and Eagle woke up one after the other. Seeing their masters still asleep, they pressed the door handle and slipped out.
Arriving at the courtyard, {Eggplant} suddenly felt an urge within, believing he could leap over the three-meter wall topped with two meters of razor wire.
He backed up a few steps, sprinted, and cleared the wall before Xiong Ying could stop him.
Xiong Ying panicked—what if the owners woke up and realized Eggplant was gone?!
Thus, Xiong Ying ran forward and jumped out as well.
Facing Eggplant, who was outside the wall and still amazed at how high he had jumped, Xiong Ying barked sharply, telling him to get back inside.
{Eggplant} let out two howls.
Xiong Ying's eyes widened in surprise as he looked between the wall and Eggplant.
But then he remembered why he'd come out and barked again.
Eggplant hesitated but then backed up and leaped back into the yard.
Xiong Ying followed closely behind.
Shen Que, who had been dozing on the couch, bolted upright at the sound from outside the courtyard.
"What's going on?"
Meng Ci, jolted awake by Shen Que's sudden movement, groaned beside him.
Meng Ci, who had spent the night on the couch, rubbed his neck and stretched as he woke up.
"Someone's out there," Shen Que said.
"No way!"
Meng Ci didn't believe it, given that the wall and electric fence were five meters tall.
But then he remembered that in this post-apocalyptic world, people had developed powers that made it easy to bypass such barriers.