Safe City.
Area B, Building 19, Second Floor.
Mr. Wang got up from bed, stretched a lazy yawn.
Crackle, crackle, crackle
His joints constantly popping.
Standing in front of the mirror, Mr. Wang almost didn't recognize himself, with frizzy long hair and a ssy beard, looking dirty and unkempt.
Mr. Wang thought for a mont and finally found a Dagger amidst a pile of cluttered stuff.
There were so bloodstains on it, which he looked at with so disgust.
He then took the Dagger and slowly walked towards the window.
Ssssh—
He opened the window, and like before, Mr. Wang shoveled the snow into a basin.
The sun was fierce, and he felt the temperature in the air.
It seed much warr.
He closed his eyes, basking in the sun's rays, half-concentrating, feeling a faint warmth on his body.
For the past two months, whenever the sun ca out, he would run to the balcony to sunbathe with the windows closed.
Suddenly, he squinted and saw seven or eight people passing by downstairs.
Mr. Wang hurriedly opened his eyes and took a closer look. This group of people looked a bit familiar.
He had seen them interacting with Captain Tao on duty at the entrance when they first entered Safe City.
This weathered-looking man leading them had almost had a conflict with Captain Tao when entering Safe City.
Back then, because these people went out to search for supplies and had to pay too much protection fee when entering Safe City, they had argued with the duty captain.
Mr. Wang watched these people curiously, wondering where they were going.
These people were holding weapons, heading towards Area A.
With a squint in his eye, Mr. Wang had a thought but was unsure.
Clang!
The iron basin he was holding suddenly fell to the ground, spilling snowflakes everywhere.
Mr. Wang stood there thinking, then once again scooped up so snow and headed to a small room.
Sticky all over, he had been longing for a bath. In the previous days, he dared not undress, as it was simply too cold.
But now with the temperature much higher, though still below freezing, it felt like his body could endure it.
Only, this water would definitely not be enough for a bath; he could only wipe his body down.
As before, after burning a bed board brought up from downstairs, the water finally heated up. Mr. Wang, holding the knife, first rubbed it on the snow outside.
After so of the bloodstains had diminished, he scooped a little hot water from the iron basin into another small basin.
He washed the Dagger.
He couldn't rember if the Dagger had been used to stab a person or a Zombie.
Just to be safe, it was better to wash it.
After cleaning the Dagger, Mr. Wang wiped it dry with a cloth and then used a lighter to heat the surface for a while.
When the Dagger cooled down, Mr. Wang used it to cut off his long and ssy beard and hair.
Then he took a scoop of water from the hot water basin to wash his face, looking up.
In front of the mirror, Mr. Wang regarded his reflection:
He looked gaunt, the skin on his cheekbones clinging to bone, his face devoid of any traces of flesh, and his eyes weary.
Mr. Wang sighed deeply: "At least I've survived."
After washing his face, he wet a towel, undressed, and wiped down his entire body.
As he took his clothes off, his entire body was bony, just skin and bones.
Just like that, Mr. Wang wiped his body clean, after months of not bathing.
The water in the basin he had brought in turned pure black and murky, emitting a foul stench.
After wiping his body, Mr. Wang felt refreshed, his spirit much improved.
Recalling those people he had seen heading toward the villas, Mr. Wang's eyes flickered.
After so thought, he put on his coat and took both the Handgun and Dagger with him.
He left ho.
He planned to take a look.
After leaving ho, he saw so people on the road, all in a hurry.
Approaching closer, the noise from that direction grew louder.
When he got near, he discovered hundreds of people gathered at the central square of the villa area.
The voices were boisterous; so many people were talking that Mr. Wang couldn't hear clearly.
Inside the square, four factions were evident, the sa ones Mr. Wang already knew.
Old Wu, leading the military faction.
Hua Chuanlong, leading the underworld.
Boss Ke Hanyu.
And that weathered man and a few others he had seen before at the entrance.
The four factions were engaged in a heated argunt.
Mr. Wang's position stood right behind the majority of ordinary civilians.
Mr. Wang patted a man next to him and asked, "What's the commotion about?"
The man Mr. Wang tapped on the shoulder turned to look at him, feeling sowhat unfamiliar, but seeing Mr. Wang's frail appearance, he assud he was also one of the civilians.
And in fact, Mr. Wang was indeed one of the civilians, only he stayed at ho most of the ti and rarely went out, so almost no one knew him.
The man said, "Now that it's ward up a bit, and our supplies have all run out, everyone needs to go out and search for more. Then there was fighting over the distribution!
According to past practice, Old Wu there protects our base, and then he takes 50% as protection fees;
That man, see, the one wearing the big leather jacket, Hua Chuanlong takes 30% protection fees;
The one with glasses, called Ke Hanyu, they take 20% protection fees.
And these protection fees are all extracted from us, the ordinary civilians."
Having said this, the man was also sowhat angry. They had worked so hard to search for supplies outside, and after returning, they still had to hand over more than half of their findings.
But if they didn't pay up, they couldn't enter Safe City. They would have to face the Zombies alone outside.
The man continued,
"Originally, we were all willing, because, with so many Zombies outside, we could at least ensure our safety in Safe City, right? Old Wu and his people would protect us when encountering Zombies.
Paying this protection fee is nothing to complain about.
But it was agreed before, once inside Safe City, there wouldn't be looting of supplies or killings.
Yet in the past few months, when disputes broke out among us civilians, they neither stepped in to manage nor control the situation.
That bunch, Hua Chuanlong and Ke Hanyu, have even co to rob us, even killing one of our civilian representatives.
Now, only Old Zhuang, Old He, Old Sun, and a few of them are left. We need to band together to overthrow them.
Just because we don't have guns, that doesn't an they can bully us, right? We're now talking about the distribution of the protection fees."
Hearing this, Mr. Wang roughly had an idea about it. It was just a problem with the distribution of benefits.
The capitalists were carving up the cake, and there was a problem with the distribution of this cake.
And the people who were producing this cake didn't want to do it anymore, because they weren't getting paid for the cake they made.
aning these civilians paid in supplies, but Safe City wasn't safe anymore!
The place was noisy! A buzzing sound filled the air.
Suddenly.
Bang!
A gunshot. Old Wu fired a shot into the sky.
The place instantly quieted down.
Old Wu looked around sharply.
In an instant, the people around stopped talking.
Seeing the place had quieted down a lot, Old Wu slowly started to speak:
"I understand everyone's emotions. First of all, I want to apologize for not being able to protect everyone well during this cold winter, which has resulted in many deaths.
This is our negligence!
However, we promise that such things will not happen again.
We hope that everyone will trust us once more.
I believe everyone is aware of the situation this ti. The weather was really too harsh, and I know how tough it was for everyone.
We just have to get through it, and we have co through now. The temperature is gradually rising, and we need to look to the future.
After all, doesn't everyone want a safe place in the future?
Otherwise, are you going to sleep rough outside, facing Zombies every day, even worrying about Zombies at night?
Do you want your families and loved ones to live in fear?
Just as he finished speaking, Old Zhuang from the civilian camp, the weathered middle-aged man, said,
"How can you guarantee, with so many people dead this ti, that a simple apology is enough?
How many of your people have died? You just lightly say a few words and that's it?
And what about Hua Chuanlong's n robbing our people several tis? Can that just be let go?
It's unfair!"
Behind him, hearing these words, the civilians were incensed, loudly chanting: Unfair.
Their voices echoed loudly, forming a tidal wave of sound.
Hua Chuanlong, hearing Old Zhuang point at him, unapologetically said, "Don't you all rob each other as well? You're fighting among yourselves, yet bla us?"
Old Zhuang replied, "That's our internal affair."
Hua Chuanlong sneered, "Internal affairs? Isn't Safe City ours? What internal affairs?"
Old Zhuang, with anger evident on his face, harshly said, "Previously, it was us people who paid the protection fees.
You three parties collected them, but during this cold weather, you did nothing. We are unwilling to accept the previous distribution rules.
I suggest.
From now on, the protection fees be reduced, from half to one-tenth.
Otherwise, we'll all leave Safe City."
Hearing Old Zhuang say this put Old Wu on the back foot instantly. They were Safe City's biggest beneficiaries, if these people all ran away,
where would they get protection fees from? That would not do.
So Old Wu hurriedly said, "Old Zhuang, listen, before the severe weather hit, didn't you all live safely within Safe City?
The past few months were an accident. So, we suggest lowering the protection fees to one-third in the future, what do you think?"
Old Zhuang, hearing this, suddenly turned to look at a man beside Old Wu, the Captain Tao who had been on duty at the gate before.
Old Zhuang then said,
"Heh, you previously said you'd only take half, but what happened? Every ti I co in, this Captain Tao took five-sixths. How do you expect us to live?"
Old Wu, upon hearing this, was surprised. He had stressed repeatedly not to embezzle or take extra, yet his subordinates still did not listen.
He knew that, even before the apocalypse, such things were common, let alone after the apocalypse.
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