Chapter 2

I poked the zombie's shoulder with the tip of my shoe.

Very well, completely dead.

Mark took a deep breath and turned to stare at me: "Sean, how many of these monsters did you see outside?"

"Including the one who ate his neck raw at the subway station, maybe two or three?" I answered truthfully.

“Very good, typical early panic phase, the market hasn’t fully reacted yet.” Mark used his usual work jargon. “Listen, according to my model, the city will be completely paralyzed in 48 hours at most. We must prepare supplies, reinforce houses, and survive the apocalypse before everyone else does.”

Alex, who had been excitedly fiddling with the zombie's protruding teeth with a piece of scrap wire, immediately collapsed back onto his surfboard like a deflated balloon upon hearing this.

"Oh my God. Go shopping?" Alex covered his face in despair. "All my assets combined probably only buy two discounted pizzas."

I cleared my throat awkwardly: "Don't look at me, I only have enough money left for food this week. You know, I didn't even get that ridiculously low-paying probationary job today."

Alex and I turned at the same time, our eyes fixed intently on Mark.

Mark instinctively clutched the pocket containing his wallet and took a half-step back like a vicious dog guarding its food.

"Don't even think about it!" He sneered, arrogantly raising his chin. "Why should I use the savings I earned from shorting stocks to support two good-for-nothings? In this cruel world, the poor are destined to be eaten first. That's the law of nature."

Looking at the mess on the ground, an idea suddenly flashed into my mind.

“Wait, Mark,” I straightened up, “if the zombie outbreak is widespread and social order collapses… does that mean the banking system will also go under?”

Mark was stunned.

Alex stopped lamenting and peeked at me through his fingers.

“What I mean is,” I spread my hands, “since the end of the world is coming, who the hell cares about FICO credit scores? Let’s just take out a loan, anyway… we don’t have to pay it back.”

Then, a fanatical light flashed in Mark's eyes.

"Damn." Mark used just one word to express his admiration for the idea.

For the next ten minutes, the three of us displayed an unprecedented level of team cohesion.

Mark pulled out his spare laptop, Alex held his beat-up iPad, and I held my phone, my fingers practically sparking as I typed on the screen.

“Citibank Platinum Card, approved for 100,000 in an instant! God bless the loopholes in big data!” Mark grinned through gritted teeth, his tie already pulled back from his head.

"Student loans! Personal credit loans!! Payday usury application successful with an annualized interest rate of 300%? Whatever, let the debt collectors come and ask the zombies for money!" I frantically clicked "agree to the terms," feeling a sense of indulgence I had never experienced before.

Alex stared at the rapidly fluctuating numbers in his account, clasped his hands together, and tears of emotion welled in his eyes. "Praise be to capitalism! Legally getting something for free under this system is even better than becoming a zombie!"

Looking at the "doomsday start-up capital" in our three accounts, enough to buy a yacht, we tacitly closed our electronic devices.

“Getting the money is only the first step,” I called out to him. “Going to the supermarket to stock up won’t last long. We need to go to the agricultural wholesale market and large warehouses.”

“Our room is clearly not big enough.” Alex pointed to the side wall of the living room. “Isn’t the unit next door always empty? Since we’re going to buy supplies for half the city, why don’t we just knock down this wall and double the space?”

I thought Mark would immediately start cursing at me for his deposit and his dignity.

But he merely glanced at the zombie corpse on the ground and said coldly, "Good idea, but it would be best to buy supplies first."

"Gentlemen," Alex shouted excitedly, "let's go and plunder this doomed world ! "

We went outside immediately, and the roar of the engine quickly shattered the brief tranquility of the street.