Still hoarding supplies in the apocalypse? I'll just go on a killing spree and looting!

The entire rescue team regrouped at the supermarket entrance.

Three team members were left behind, one of whom was Lao Zhou. The bandage was wrapped from his shoulder all the way to the cut, and the end was tied in a knot.

This is currently the safest way to handle the situation.

Those who remained closed the roller shutter door and guarded the warehouse.

The remaining convoy drove into the gray fog.

The journey was unusually quiet; even the small, strange beasts that usually scurried around the ruins were nowhere to be seen.

Just over ten minutes later, the convoy stopped at the entrance of a residential area.

The iron gate was ajar, the glass of the security room was shattered, and half of a torn piece of clothing hung on the window frame.

Lin You pushed open the car door and jumped out, listening intently for a moment.

Then he drew his mantis knife and walked towards the security room.

The security room was littered with broken glass, and a half-eaten bag of biscuits lay on the table. A drag mark stretched from the table, through the office chair, and into the broken window.

The color is black, and it has been dry for a long time, probably because of what happened last night.

"Move this aside."

Team Leader Song pointed to the electric gate at the entrance. Two armed police officers stepped forward, looked at the two men, and then pushed the electric gate hard. The gate, which had lost power, was slowly pushed to the other side.

The convoy entered the residential area and slowly advanced along the main road.

The neighborhood is unusually quiet.

It wasn't the quiet of the dead of night, but a deathly stillness where not even the chirping of insects could be heard.

In fact, the whole world became abnormal after the apocalypse.

The gray fog completely filled the open spaces between the buildings, and the cement road surface was covered with dense, dark green vines.

It was just one night.

These vines have grown everywhere, and there is no doubt that these are the killer vines that Lin You is familiar with.

This killer vine is not the same species as the one in the supermarket. It has a wide distribution, but it is much less dangerous than the cypress.

The vines here are still dormant; their menacing barbs are not extended, and their tendrils are curled up.

Lin You did not have the police car turn on its siren to notify the residents of the community of their arrival, nor did she notify the strange beasts that they had arrived.

To find a safer approach, they had Team Leader Song turn on the red and blue lights of the police car.

The lights swirled in the gray fog, casting a halo of alternating red and blue light that shone on the windows of the nearest residential buildings.

All the windows were closed; some had curtains drawn, and some were open.

None of the windows were lit, even though it was broad daylight, the light was very poor due to the fog.

There would have been many lights on before the apocalypse, but the apocalypse destroyed all the power grids.

"Leave six people behind and establish a defensive line using vehicles. Keep the engines running and the vehicles facing outwards. If you see the vines moving in large numbers, immediately leave the community without waiting."

Lin You took the Mantis Twin Blades from the car, crossed them, and sheathed them on her back. "The rest of you, come with me into the building."

Team Leader Song assigned the remaining personnel and then took two armed police officers with him.

One of the armed police officers paused as he passed Lin You and whispered, "Thank you."

After saying that, he left in a hurry.

Lin You looked at the person's back and felt that he looked familiar, but she didn't know his name.

The other person is a resident of the community, a veteran police officer with eight years of service, whose home is on the fifth floor of building three.

Three buildings.

The building entrance was ajar.

The access control system had been powered off long ago, and the electronic lock opened with just a push.

The hallway was dark, and gray mist seeped in through the cracks in the door, instantly giving the corridor a hazy grayish-white hue.

The visibility is very poor.

The flashlight beam shone on the wall, illuminating the densely packed small penises and several dried bloody handprints.

The handprint was very small, and appeared to be from a child.

Because it was blurred into a bright red color, it didn't quite look like the real thing.

"Take the stairs."

Lin You was the first to push open the fire door in the stairwell.

Even without Lin You's reminder, everyone would know that the power was out, but what Lin You was referring to was forcibly breaking open the elevator door and going directly to the upper floor through the elevator shaft.

This is a common tactic used in apocalyptic scenarios.

The narrow space of the elevator shaft is not conducive to the movement of slightly larger monsters, and the confined and small space will not be used as a nest by monsters.

In a post-apocalyptic environment, this is considered a very safe evacuation route.

But now that's not an option; ordinary people want to leave via the elevator shaft.

It is very dangerous to be untrained.

Lin You had no choice but to take the stairs and clear the way up.

The stairwell was dark.

When the emergency lights are off, it's completely dark.

She turned on the tactical headlamp on her chest, illuminating the steps leading upwards.

There were scattered clothes, crushed aluminum cans, and overturned delivery boxes on the steps.

There were also large patches of blood, indicating that this place was not so safe.

Lin You used a flashlight to observe the corridor on each floor.

The beam of the flashlight swept across several open doors. Spring Festival couplets were pasted on those doors, some from last year, some from this year.

The bright red color in the gray fog looked like a sinister, ghostly place.

A piece of A4 paper was taped to one of the doors, with words written in marker on it: "Dad, Mom is sick. We went to see Dr. Chen in the north of the city. If you come back, come find us."

The handwriting was messy, and the last few words were blurred by water stains.

The old police officer who lived on the fifth floor remained silent.

His gaze swept over every open door and every house number, his lips pressed into a thin line.

These are all his familiar neighbors, and he doesn't know how many of them are still alive.

Team Leader Song walked beside him and asked in a low voice, "What's your address?"

The veteran officer didn't answer, but quickened his pace.

Lin You walked at the front, her mantis blades already drawn, holding the two blades one facing forward and the other backward.

There was a sound coming from the corner on the fifth floor.

It wasn't the sound of a strange beast scraping against the wall, nor the rustling sound of killer vines climbing.

It was a human voice... the suppressed sobbing of a woman.

The sound became muffled and intermittent as it was muffled by the door, as if it was trying hard to restrain itself but couldn't.

In this oppressive and gloomy atmosphere, everyone's nerves were on edge.

Upon hearing the sound, the gun barrel instinctively turned in that direction.

Lin You raised her hand to stop the old police officer who was about to step forward. She walked to the door, leaned against the wall, and gently tapped the security door a few times with the back of her knife.

The "tap-tap" sound wasn't loud, but you could definitely hear it inside.

The crying stopped.

Then there was silence, a very long silence. There seemed to be footsteps from the other side of the door, followed by someone's rapid breathing.

"Police," Team Leader Song said, his voice low but clear, "Z City Public Security Bureau. We're here for a rescue. Please open the door."

There was no movement from the other side of the door.

The silence lasted for about ten seconds, then the door opened a crack.

A middle-aged woman's face peeked through the crack in the door; her eyes were red and swollen, her hair was disheveled, and her lips were dry and cracked.

She saw that there were indeed people in police uniforms standing outside the door. The flashlight beam shone on Team Leader Song's badge number and shoulder insignia. Her mouth opened and closed, closed and opened again.

His expression was extremely complex, filled with joy, fear, terror, and relief.

It's hard to understand why human expressions are so rich; you can tell someone's unspoken emotional changes just by looking at them.

The door was pushed open from the inside.

She immediately grabbed the sleeve of the nearest elderly police officer.

A glimmer of light shone in his eyes, a light that seemed to hold hope. "Old Li, it really is you! My daughter... my daughter is upstairs... she went up to see her dad last night... and hasn't come down yet..."

She gasped for breath after each short sentence, like a drowning person clutching at the last straw.

Officer Li glanced at Team Leader Song, who nodded.

Old Li slung his gun over his shoulder, put his arm around her shoulder, and tried to ask about his family's situation, but only whispered, "Let's go find them."

Then he helped the woman walk towards the stairwell, his steps quick but steady.

The sixth floor.

The door at the end of the corridor was open.

A corpse was pasted on the wall. It was a man in his early forties with a buzz cut, dressed in casual home clothes, and his chest was pierced by vines.

Vines sprouted from behind him, climbing along the corridor wall towards the stairwell, and had already spread for nearly ten meters.

The vines slowly writhed in the gray mist, their barbs opening and closing slightly, like tentacles sensing their surroundings.

It senses vibrations in the wall.

Old Li and the woman, who were lagging behind, were still talking in hushed tones, seemingly venting their inner unease and fear.

"He went upstairs to check the water tower. The water pressure was too low last night, and there was no water supply to the floors above the sixth floor. He said he would be back in ten minutes before he left." The woman's voice came from the stairwell, her volume kept to a minimum, but every word was trembling.

Old Li kept nodding, but when he looked up, he saw Team Leader Song's eyes.

With just one glance, Old Li's heart skipped a beat, and his mind became extremely complicated. It seemed that things were developing in a bad direction.

He instinctively stopped in his tracks.