Apocalypse Cockroach Chapter 20

Escape Day

Zhang Xiao Qiang put his index finger in his mouth. He closed his eyes and tried biting down.

“Didn’t bite”

He couldn’t find it in himself to bite down. He took out his knife but was afraid that it was infected.

“Bang, bang”

The sound of the door kept ringing out, it got annoying. He felt around to find some kind of sharp object. Feeling his crossbow, he used the arrowhead to mark his hand.

Blood came out of his index finger. Zhang Xiao Qiang painted blood on the security door from the second floor all the way to the seventh floor. He returned to the room to think of a plan.

“I can’t go to the roof. There won’t be a place to go but I can’t just stay in this room! The security door won’t hold off a D2.”

Zhang Xiao Qiang went to the window and looked down. Downstairs at the back of the residential building he could see that there were fences on both sides. There was a little space where there weren’t any zombies but there was a grill blocking the windows,

“The guy who installed this grill wants people to die” He was full of resentment.

The sound of banging on the door continued. Zhang Xiao Qiang was like a headless fly scurrying around. He went to the bathroom and saw an exhaust fan on the wall. It was just big enough for a person to climb out of.

Using the hammer to climb out the knocked out exhaust fan, he poked his head out.

“It’s quite high” The distance of 5 floors was around 15-16m.

Tearing up the curtains and sheets, he tied them together and put it out the window.

“Not enough”

Zhang Xiao Qiang looked around for material that could serve as rope. The D2 had already reached downstairs and the door banging was already upstairs. The photo frame hanging on the wall was shaking.

“Really?! Pig brain!!” Zhang Xiao Qiang scolded himself. Picking up the ripped quilts, returned to the child’s room to pull the little boy’s bed sheets. “Don’t be surprised, when New Year comes, I’ll burn you unlimited money.” [TLN: burning stuff to send things to afterlife culture/religion thing] Zhang Xiao Qiang said aloud.

“Bang”

The D2 had started banging on the security door across the hall. Zhang Xiao Qiang panicked and let the rudimentary rope down. Then he dropped his backpack, satchel, water bottle and spear as well. He put his two feet outside the hole with the rest of his body in the bathroom.

“Bang, bang, bang”

The D2 knocking at the security door was like it was knocking at Zhang Xiao Qiang’s heart. He was stuck in the window.

“Baaang”

The door broke open. The D2 came inside. Zhang Xiao Qiang was breathing heavily and he was slowly pushing himself outside.

“Only shoulders left” Zhang Xiao Qiang encouraged himself. He was slowly backing out, one bit at a time. His heartbeat was also increasing slowly.

The D2 went into the living room. Then into the study, into the kitchen, then into the bathroom. At that point Zhang Xiao Qiang still had half a head to get out of the window. He was stuck by the window and the zombie was standing below the window.

The bathroom was already not that big and the exhaust fan wasn’t that high either. The D2 was only less than a metre away from him. Zhang Xiao Qiang did not dare to make a sound. He begged God to bless him.

The D2 sniffed the air, waving its two claws around like it wanted to carry him out. One claw was swung mercilessly at his forehead. The swing pushed his hair, moving it. He continued to have sweat cold sweat.

“Aaoo….”

The zombie couldn’t reach him and it was angry. It waved both its arms even more vigorously. The basin and the mirror were scratched. Debris flew everywhere.  The D2 could smell blood and it was coming from Zhang Xiao Qiang’s head.

Zhang Xiao Qiang’s brain was just blank. His knees were working to hold him on the other side of the wall and in the moment that the claws were about to hit him, Zhang Xiao Qiang managed to duck out.

He could hear the D2 let out a crazy roar. Zhang Xiao Qiang quickly descended, staring at the window, afraid that it could climb out too. The linen were sometimes loose and other times tight. The sheet that was fixed onto the window ledge was then ripped off by the D2. Zhang Xiao Qiang fell down.

“Tong”

Zhang Xiao Qiang’s back knocked into something. He didn’t take the time to think. He just rolled a couple times and used the force to get up.

A normal zombie was smashed by Zhang Xiao Qiang. It was lying on the ground. The tattered coat on its body had green XXs printed on it. Under the pressure of his spear, it was having trouble getting up.

Zhang Xiao Qiang lifted his foot and kicked the back of its head.

“ka”

The zombie’s neck was broken. Zhang Xiao Qiang picked up his backpack and his satchel, looking around. Both sides were fenced up. There was a small shed full of flower pots and another small shed locked tightly. Outside the small shed there was an aluminum ladder used to trim trees.

Zhang Xiao Qiang placed the ladder against the fence and climbed on top of it. Outside was the riverside avenue. Zhang Xiao Qiang jumped off the wall and looked around. He had finally escaped!

The riverside avenue was recently built. The wide road was deserted. Across the fence on the sidewalk, there were several containers neatly stacked together. There were several cranes hanging amongst it all.

Zhang Xiao Qiang walked on the lonely road. The environment was quiet. There wasn’t a single zombie to be seen. To tell the truth he hated killing zombies. Up till now he had killed quite a few and he even killed a few evolved zombies. He didn’t even get increase in class. [TLN: Not sure what this means. Maybe he thinks it’s like a game like GDW and SW]

“If there’s no meaning, then there’s no reason to pay. If I don’t need to then I won’t kill a zombie” Zhang Xiao Qiang thought.

Next to the port was the greenbelt [TLN: like a garden I think]. Along the greenbelt was the riverside. Zhang Xiao Qiang walked through the woods, carefully bypassing a few zombies. There are usually some elderly doing some exercises by the river so they weren’t very fast. Soon he was standing by the waterfront.

Looking at the broad Yangtze River, the water was slowly flowing downstream. In the clear green river, there wasn’t any of the city’s pollution. The water was clear. It was also somewhat fresh. Zhang Xiao Qiang walked slowly along the riverbank and he slowly relaxed his emotions.

Not long after, Zhang Xiao Qiang was blocked by a zombie. Looking ahead, there were more than a dozen wandering around in the river. The zombies were around fishing rods that were pointed at the river. They were all normal zombies so Zhang Xiao Qiang didn’t want to waste the iron balls, so he went ahead with his spear.

Zhang Xiao Qiang was by the riverside killing zombies. The quiet flowing river was the same as a thousand years ago. It was carrying countless memories of the past and witnessing the changing times.

The Yangtze River, under the river, on the riverbank, the zombies and him. He did a running rump, crying out! The spear pointed ahead, his body filled with energy. When the last zombie fell, he quietened down.

The zombies were arranged in a crisscross position. The sweat on Zhang Xiao Qiang’s forehead slowly faded. Seeing that he had defeated a dozen zombies alone, he felt a burst of excitement. At first he was blocked into his room by 6 zombies. But now he can’t even see his growth! Zhang Xiao Qiang couldn’t believe it.

Zhang Xiao Qiang continued to slowly walk along the river. The riverside wasn’t easy to walk on. From time to time there would be a place where sewage was released from the riverbank, forcing him to walk around it. Even when it was dark, he was only able to only walk half way.

He dug a hole in the sand with his military shovel. It allowed him to stay there for a night. As he huddled in, he ate two loafs of bread and had a mouthful of water.

He wrapped himself in the silk that he brought from the fifth floor tightly. The silk was smooth and delicate but it couldn’t block the wind. Zhang Xiao Qiang felt colder and colder. There wasn’t anything to make a fire with nearby. He then remembered the cat stone.Digging it out from his bag, he put it on his chest. A warmth radiated out, spreading from his chest to the rest of his body. Zhang Xiao Qiang listened to the sound of the river lapping against the shore and slowly fell asleep.

Chapter end