Apocalypse: Modifying Everything, Building an Iron Fortress

Chapter 27: In Times Like These, Everyone’s Looking Out for Themselves—Who Has the Time to Care About Others?

Pushing the shopping cart to the restroom window, Jiang Cheng checked the supplies and confirmed that they had gathered almost everything they needed.

“It’s about enough. Let’s rest for a couple of minutes and then start moving the supplies onto the vehicle.”

“Alright!”

“Jarvis, bring the vehicle over, and try to minimize the noise!”

Jiang Cheng walked to the restroom window, glanced outside the supermarket, and lightly tapped his Bluetooth earpiece, giving instructions.

“Yes, sir!”

Jarvis responded, and Jiang Cheng immediately heard the faint sound of the armored vehicle’s engine starting.

Soon, he saw the armored vehicle, under Jarvis’s control, slowly driving from where it had been parked by the north gate last night to the spot directly below the restroom window.

During this process, some nearby zombies were attracted by the noise and began to collide with the armored vehicle, causing dull thuds.

But no matter how hard they crashed, banging their heads and smashing their hands against the metal mesh covering the windows, they couldn’t budge the armored vehicle an inch.

However, to avoid creating more noise, as soon as the zombies came within range of his nail gun, Jiang Cheng promptly raised the gun and, without hesitation, pulled the trigger, firing nails that pierced their heads.

“It seems this nail gun needs another upgrade. Its effective range is only ten meters. While shooting from high to low might extend the range a bit, once we leave the supermarket, this range won’t be enough at all.”

After killing all the zombies that had been drawn to the armored vehicle, Jiang Cheng collected over twenty points, but he couldn’t help but frown as he realized the nail gun’s increasing limitations.

Finally, after eliminating the last of the zombies and ensuring that the area was clear, Jiang Cheng called out, “Yuqing, come on over and start loading the supplies onto the vehicle!”

He then put away his nail gun, climbed through the window, and dropped down onto the roof of the armored vehicle, which was now parked directly below.

“Coming!”

Liu Yuqing responded, getting up and heading to the restroom window.

However, when she prepared to start moving the supplies, she was momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer variety of items piled up, unsure of where to start.

Jiang Cheng looked up and noticed Liu Yuqing’s expression, quickly understanding her hesitation.

“Start with the rice and flour.”

The order in which they loaded the supplies was crucial. If they didn’t arrange things properly, they would waste a lot of space, which would mean carrying fewer supplies—something Jiang Cheng wanted to avoid.

“Okay!”

Hearing Jiang Cheng’s suggestion, Liu Yuqing immediately agreed. She walked over to one of the 50-kilogram bags of rice, bent down to lift it, but was surprised by how heavy it was. Her first attempt to lift it failed.

However, being an athletic person, she had some strength. On her second attempt, now mentally prepared, she successfully lifted the bag of rice and slowly dragged it to the window. Then, she carefully lifted it, pressing it against the wall, and pushed it through the window.

Liu Yuqing glanced down at Jiang Cheng on the vehicle’s roof and reminded him, “The rice is heavy, so be careful!”

With that, she pushed the bag of rice out the window.

She expected Jiang Cheng to struggle or avoid catching it, but to her surprise, he caught the 50-kilogram bag effortlessly with just one hand!

This gave her a new appreciation for Jiang Cheng’s strength.

Feeling more confident, she quickly began moving the remaining supplies.

—

Jiang Cheng and Liu Yuqing’s every move was being watched by the survivors in the surrounding residential and office buildings.

In fact, after Jiang Cheng made such a commotion yesterday, he had become somewhat of a local celebrity in the area, as well as the only hope for these survivors.

So, they were closely observing his every action, trying to figure out what he planned to do next.

Of course, their attempts to signal for help hadn’t ceased either. Many of them continued to hold up clothing and signs with “SOS” written on them.

In one of the residential buildings, a middle-aged man with a face full of fat, who seemed to have stayed up all night, sat disheveled and bleary-eyed on a glass-enclosed balcony. Holding a bottle of beer, he stared intently at Jiang Cheng and Liu Yuqing as they moved supplies, a growing sense of resentment festering in his heart.

Other survivors around the area, seeing Jiang Cheng and Liu Yuqing preparing to leave, also began to feel a deep sense of despair creeping into their hearts.

Naturally, Jiang Cheng noticed these people, but he didn’t care.

In times like these, everyone’s looking out for themselves—who has the time to care about others?

After working with Liu Yuqing for more than half an hour, they finally finished loading all the supplies into the armored vehicle by 9:30 a.m.

“There’s still a bit of space left; we should be able to fit a portable refrigerator.”

After placing the last bag of snacks into the armored vehicle, Jiang Cheng crouched by the passenger seat and took a moment to survey the nearly full back seats. He noticed a small space, about fifty centimeters wide and around ninety centimeters tall, that was still available.

The armored vehicle was equipped with power outlets, but they would need a power strip; otherwise, the outlets wouldn’t be sufficient. After all, not only would the portable refrigerator need power, but his phone and other smart devices would as well.

With this in mind, Jiang Cheng climbed back onto the roof of the vehicle and re-entered the supermarket through the window.

“Let’s go take a shower. We’re all sweaty from moving supplies, and once we leave here, we won’t have such good conditions again.”

He called out to Liu Yuqing, who was resting on a flatbed cart, her arms sore from lifting, and led the way toward the stairwell.

“Mm.”

Liu Yuqing agreed and followed him.

Back on the fifth floor.

Just like the night before, Jiang Cheng used a basin to collect water, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes. After checking the time, he saw it was 10 a.m.

“I’ll upgrade the nail gun again while Liu Yuqing is showering.”