Chapter2

the next day , the sound of high heels clicking on the floor came from the corridor, followed by two impatient knocks on the door.

I opened the door, and Maya squeezed in. The strong scent of her perfume instantly masked the faint smell of plaster dust in the room.

"I heard you've hoarded a bunch of junk at home?" She glanced critically at the pile of instant noodles and cheap medicine in the living room.

“Just in case, Maya. Lately, the news keeps saying…” I deliberately hunched my back to make my voice sound weak.

She wasn't listening at all. Maya walked straight to my bedroom, casually rummaging through the drawers of my closet while nonchalantly complaining about last night's party. This was her so-called "concern." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the ventilation blinds in the storage room were still half-open, and the gleam of the generator's metal casing could be faintly seen through them.

My nerves tensed up instantly.

"What are you looking for?" I deliberately walked over quickly, blocking the storage room between her and me, pretending to be guilty and flustered.

This attempt to cover up her ulterior motive immediately piqued her interest. Maya raised her delicate eyebrows, peered over my shoulder, and casually pulled open my spare wallet on the bedside table , unceremoniously taking out the few hundred-yuan bills inside .

"Let me borrow it for a bit; I lost a little gambling last night." She casually stuffed the things into her designer bag. "You're not going to be upset about it again, are you?"

"No... that watch is what I was planning to..." I deliberately reached out to stop him, appearing even more anxious.

"Alright, stop being so stingy!" Maya impatiently slapped my hand away, her attention completely shifting from the storage room to the spoils in her hand. Taking advantage of the few seconds she was looking down to count the money, I swiftly hooked my foot behind my back and silently kicked the heavy fire door of the storage room.

The apartment door was pushed open from the outside without any politeness.

“I told you the door wasn’t locked.” Ryan swaggered in, followed by Deckard, who was as tall as an iron tower.

Ryan kicked aside a case of bottled water at his feet, looked around, and let out a sneer: "God, are you crazy? Do you really think the world is going to end? Hiding so much shabby stuff."

I lowered my head, rubbed the dust off my hands, and let them laugh at me.

“Brother, I’m not trying to be mean, but you can’t be this selfish.” Ryan walked up to me, patted my shoulder so hard it hurt my bones. “It’s a mess outside, the supermarkets are packed with people. Since your place is crammed full of stuff like a rat hole, give me the spare key so I can take better care of you.”

“We’re brothers, it’s only right that we look out for each other,” he added, but the outstretched hand was not to be refused.

I gritted my teeth and played the part of a cornered victim: "Ryan, I really only have one left..."   

"Enough with the nonsense." Deckard snorted and stepped forward, grabbing my hoodie collar.

I feigned fear and quickly pulled a brass key from my pocket, handing it to Ryan. It was the access key to the front door, but I had changed the lock on the storage room last night. This key would allow them to swagger into the living room and see the instant noodles and toilet paper used as bait, but it would definitely not unlock the inner room where their survival was hidden.

Ryan tossed the keys into the air and caught them with satisfaction, but Deck wasn't so easily fooled. The burly man, like a hound smelling blood, headed straight for the storage room I had just closed.

"What good stuff is hidden in here?" Deck gripped the doorknob and pulled hard.

The door remained completely still.

His face turned cold, he muttered a curse under his breath, pulled a folding knife from his waist, and pointed the tip directly at the keyhole, as if to pry it open by force.

"No!" I suddenly raised my voice, my tone carrying just the right amount of fear. "That's locked by the landlord! The building has the property management's spare electrical boxes and pipes inside! If you break it, the security cameras across the hall will capture it all, and the property management will call the police!"

Deck stopped moving. He glanced back at me, then at the security camera on the hallway ceiling outside, its red light clearly illuminated. For thugs like them with criminal records, surveillance cameras and police were among the few words that could instill fear in them.

"Pah, what a spoilsport." Deck sheathed his knife and kicked the storage room door hard.

"Alright, stop scaring him." Ryan put his arm around Maya's shoulder and, like a benevolent king bestowing a final order, gave me my final instructions. "Meet downstairs at 10 a.m. tomorrow. I heard there's a warehouse supermarket in the suburbs that hasn't sold out yet, so we're going on a big shopping spree together. You bring your credit card and the van; you'll be in charge of checking out and unloading, understand?"

"Okay." I nodded obediently.

The three of them walked out of the apartment chatting and laughing, and the door slammed shut in front of me.

The room fell silent instantly. The timid and aggrieved expression on my face vanished as quickly as ice and snow.

I strode to the front door, pulled out a drill from my toolbox, pushed the fifty-pound steel bolt into the slot, and hammered the six extra-long expansion bolts firmly into the load-bearing wall. Next came the second steel chain.

I turned around and laid out a floor plan of the apartment on the dining table. In my mind, every detail of the building was rapidly being reconstructed: the fire door lock on the third floor was rusted and could only be locked from the inside; the boiler room on the basement level was connected to the exhaust duct; and the main switch controlling the power supply to this area was in a dead corner of the stairwell on my floor.

tomorrow?

Three nights later, when the man-eating monsters stormed the building, the green bills and credit cards were nothing but worthless paper. They didn't want apocalyptic supplies; they just wanted to continue treating me like a dog that would give me anything I asked for.

It's alright. I looked at the key passages I had circled in red on the floor plan.

Greed is the best bait. I will use their incorrigible selfishness and greed to lure them step by step into this grave I have built myself.