13 Chapter 13 Locksmith_1
Translator: 549690339
Wang Tao didn’t sleep well last night.
He guessed that other survivors nearby felt the same.
After all, last night’s explosion was terrifying, and the frenzy of the zombies induced by the explosion’s noise, with their chilling roars, made it impossible to sleep.
The first thing Wang Tao did upon waking up was to check his HP.
His HP was full, and though there were still some bruises on his arm, they barely hurt anymore. His recovery ability had strengthened after the apocalypse.
Then he went to check the doors and windows, worried about last night’s frenzied zombies. With their agility, if they could climb walls…
Fortunately, everything at home was safe.
Wang Tao then surveyed the zombies in the residential area.
“There really are more zombies! They must have come from outside, but they look so dull, completely different from last night’s… What’s going on?”
Wang Tao had thought that last night’s zombies had mutated, given how frightening the ones running wildly in the courtyard were. But now the zombies had reverted to their usual selves, wandering slowly around the yard.
“No good, I’ll have to observe again tonight! I need to figure out what’s the deal with these zombies, hopefully, the weather will be good tonight…”
After mumbling to himself, Wang Tao looked toward the street that exploded last night.
The fire was still burning, and when he opened the window, he could smell a disgusting stench of decay.
Wang Tao quickly closed the window.
He made a simple breakfast.
After eating, Wang Tao pondered for a moment and decided to try his luck on the second and first floors today. He remembered there were tenants on these floors, and what if someone, like the tenant in 301, left the keys in the meter box?
Of course, he had to get fully armed before going out.
Although there were no zombies in the corridor, safety came first.
When he arrived on the second floor, Wang Tao searched both meter boxes but found no keys.
Interestingly, he noticed that the door of 201 had many small locksmith ads stuck on it, just like his, but the door of 202 was spotlessly clean.
Suddenly, Wang Tao thought of some internet jokes. Could those ads be stuck on the inside of the door?
Shaking his head with a chuckle, Wang Tao proceeded to the first floor.
There were no keys in the meter boxes on the first floor either, which left Wang Tao slightly disappointed.
Since there were no keys, Wang Tao decided not to knock on the doors.
After all, without keys, there was no way to enter the apartments, whether there were people or zombies inside.
Wang Tao treaded lightly and observed the security gate of the building entrance.
The glass on the gate was somewhat shattered, but behind it was a wire mesh, so the door remained quite sturdy.
Through the window, he could see a group of zombies wandering outside, at least twenty of them at a rough count.
“With so many zombies, it will be hard to get out…”
It was already the seventh day of the apocalypse, and he had not seen any sign of rescue operations. Wang Tao had lost hope in that regard. With his limited supplies, he definitely needed to go out.
And to get out, there were only two ways, either to go through the courtyard of the complex or to climb out from the window on the north side. But there were more zombies on the street to the north.
So he had no choice but to go through the courtyard. Those twenty-plus zombies were something he had to confront.
If only he could lead them to a certain place and take them down one by one…
While he was pondering, Wang Tao glanced at the other residential buildings.
He was in Building 4, and from his position, he could only see Building 2 opposite and Building 1 diagonally across.
The situation in Buildings 2 and 1 was not great. Wang Tao could clearly see that the gates to their units were opened. Zombies were going in and coming out.
He wondered if there were any survivors inside.
Wang Tao felt somewhat relieved, guessing that the reason their gates remained closed was because this building housed many laborers. On the day of the zombie outbreak, which was in the morning, the laborers would have all gone to work early.
Yet, inside buildings 1 and 2, there were many retired old men and women. They would gather downstairs to chat and play chess. To facilitate easy access, some had even propped their unit’s security door open with bricks to prevent it from closing.
If zombies appeared under such circumstances, it would be hard for them to survive.
After roughly understanding the current situation, Wang Tao prepared to return.
However, as he was about to ascend to the second floor, the door of room 202 suddenly opened a crack.
Wang Tao immediately gripped the steel pipe tightly and cautiously peeked over.
“Big brother, I’m not a zombie!”
A man’s voice, deliberately lowered, came from inside.
Through the crack, Wang Tao also saw a slim, balding middle-aged uncle inside, roughly over 1.6 meters tall.
[25/100]
Looking at his green HP bar above his head, his health condition did not seem very good.
“Big brother, did you kill the zombies in the corridor? You’re amazing, brother!”
Since Wang Tao was fully covered up, the bald uncle couldn’t see his face clearly. But seeing Wang Tao’s steel pipe and sturdy figure, he instinctively called him “big brother.”
“Is there something you want?”
Wang Tao asked with some indifference.
If he had the means, he wouldn’t mind helping a survivor. But with rescue nowhere in sight yet, he couldn’t afford to be overly charitable, especially to a stranger.
“Ahem… well, I’ve run out of food at home…”
The bald uncle scratched his head awkwardly.
“Sorry, my food is also running low. If I had enough food, I wouldn’t have come out.”
Wang Tao shook his head.
“No, no, no, you’ve got it all wrong, big brother! What I mean is, how about we work together? I know where there’s food, but I’m afraid to get it…”
The anxious bald uncle hurriedly explained.
“Oh? Let’s hear it.”
Wang Tao’s brows rose at this.
He didn’t seem like a fool, so what he meant probably wasn’t the outside—the outside had a lot of supplies, but one had to be alive to get them.
Sure enough, the bald uncle quickly said:
“The 201, right across! Two days before doomsday, I saw him carrying a 50-pound bag of rice home, and he lives alone, there must be a lot left!”
A 50-pound bag of rice!
If one were to eat normally thrice a day, a person could last about one or two months.
If one were to ration it or eat by the bare minimum survival standards, it might even last for several months…
“But the door of 201 is locked.”
Wang Tao looked towards the bald uncle. Living right across the hall, he couldn’t be unaware that 201’s door was locked. Since he brought up the idea, did he likely have the key to 201?
“I, I can pick locks! I’m a Locksmith!”
The bald uncle immediately replied.
“…”
No wonder there were no small ads for lock-picking services at his door, he was the Locksmith!
“Big brother, how about this? I’ll unlock their door, and you deal with the zombies inside! We’ll split the found food—I’ll only take one third, the rest is all yours!”
After speaking, he looked at Wang Tao with a hopeful expression.
After pondering for a moment, Wang Tao shook his head.
