As Su Jin pushed the door open and stepped out, Fu Qingdai emerged from the apartment opposite his.
Their eyes met, and both froze for a moment.
Su Jin asked, "Are your parents sound asleep?"
"Yes," Fu Qingdai answered softly. "I gave them a double dose. They're sleeping very deeply. I filled two buckets with water and shut off our water valve."
With that, Fu Qingdai looked up at Su Jin, her small face taut, tears brimming in her eyes as she fought not to cry.
But her trembling body was enough to reveal her fear.
Su Jin forced a smile and reached out to draw her into his arms.
"Don't be afraid. Your big brother's here."
As he gently stroked Fu Qingdai's dark hair, tenderness and heartache welled up inside Su Jin.
For a young girl to have held on this long, she had already shown more than enough strength.
It was hard to say whether he was saving her or she was saving him.
"We don't have much time. Let's get moving."
Gently releasing Fu Qingdai, Su Jin took out a box.
"What's that? What are we going to do?" Fu Qingdai asked.
Su Jin said nothing and simply opened the box.
It was packed with glue similar to 502 Glue, with a stack of papers underneath.
"Seal the doors! Starting on the first floor, we'll fill every apartment's keyhole and latch mechanism with glue," Su Jin said quietly. "If anyone turns into a zombie, they'll be sealed inside their own home, and we'll be safer."
"But... what if they're fine? Won't they be trapped in their own homes until they die?" Fu Qingdai asked, her eyes widening. "If they have no drinking water, they'll drink the rainwater. And what if they starve?"
Su Jin took the stack of papers out of the box. "These are copies of a Rainwater Contamination Notice I printed to look like a community notice. We'll slip them under the doors. I've also prepared Adhesive Remover. We'll observe the situation first and let people out when the time is right. Most households have some food and water stored. They can last a few days."
"Helping them helps us, but we can't save everyone. Doing this much is already more than anyone could ask of us. The rest depends on their own luck."
Fu Qingdai took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed her trembling, and closed her eyes as she nodded.
"I understand. Let's go!"
They went straight down to the first floor, and Su Jin ran outside to inspect the windows.
This world had yet to reach the era of amusing itself to death.
At most, people watched television or read newspapers. Although 3D games existed, ordinary households lacked the means to play them.
So most ordinary people went to bed fairly early, usually around ten.
Seeing that not a single light was on in the building, he began filling locks with glue and slipping notices under doors with Fu Qingdai.
He had tested the glue in advance after buying it, and the results had been surprising.
Its smell and properties were little different from 502 Glue, but it bonded far more strongly than the 502 Glue he had used before.
Given the relative development of the two worlds, that shouldn't have been the case.
He had no idea whether products in this world used better ingredients or the glue back home had been made with cut corners.
There were two apartments on each floor of their stairwell, with their doors facing each other.
The two worked quickly, and soon they had glued shut the doors of every apartment in the stairwell.
Except his own apartment, the storeroom, and the Fu Family's apartment.
Back on the fifth floor, Su Jin brought Fu Qingdai into his apartment.
Seeing rows of long objects wrapped in foam laid out across the floor, Fu Qingdai couldn't help asking, "What are these, big brother?"
"Steel pipes. They're for sealing the doors too. Glue alone isn't reliable enough. Someone could still force a door open. I've already sorted them into sets. In a moment, help me carry them downstairs. We'll build a steel frame on each floor to brace both doors shut, then wedge wooden strips into the gaps between the frames and the doors."
Su Jin picked up the steel pipes and pointed at the wooden strips on the floor. "You carry those. I haven't wrapped them in foam, so don't make any noise. We don't want to wake anyone and cause trouble."
"Once everything's done, I'll seal the stairwell entrance and shut off the main water valve... then all we have to do is wait."
Fu Qingdai nodded silently.
After another round of work, the pairs of opposing doors on the first, second, third, and sixth floors were all braced shut with simple supporting frames.
With glue sealing the locks and steel frames bracing the doors... there was virtually no way out except jumping from a window.
Even if the residents turned into zombies, they could only wait inside their homes until they rotted.
For the foreseeable future, this all but eliminated the possibility of ugly fights between neighbors. It even put their lives in his hands.
Back home.
Fu Qingdai sat resting in a chair, watching Su Jin work.
Squatting on the floor, Su Jin placed food and medicine on the table, one item after another.
"These are vitamin tablets. Take one every day when you get home. And here's powdered milk. Drink a cup in the morning and another at night." Su Jin kept talking. "Take some of my vegetables home too. You and your parents should finish these perishables as soon as possible."
"The power grid won't collapse that quickly, but it probably won't last more than a few days. When you have time, exercise your arms and legs. You have to learn to draw that fifty-pound bow."
"Take a few more bottles of glue too. While your parents are asleep, glue all the windows shut so they can't open them. You dreamed about the Apocalypse, so your parents should be wary when they see this rain..."
"You should be safe in the short term, but there's no telling what might happen. I need to observe the situation for a few days before I come to see you."
Fu Qingdai silently gathered and sorted the things on the table.
Once everything was packed, Su Jin sat beside her. "Qing Dai, your parents can't be allowed to run around either. After you go home, I'll seal your door too. Keep the key to my apartment. Remember, you can't tell anyone about the supplies on the fourth floor, not even your parents."
"I hadn't planned to show you, but I told you because you're worth trusting. Besides, all those things were prepared for you... sooner or later, you have to learn how to survive. For now, don't trust anyone but me. Let's go."
Fu Qingdai nodded, picked up the things on the table, and followed Su Jin.
When she reached her apartment, she opened the door and set the things down just inside.
Fu Qingdai suddenly turned and threw herself into Su Jin's arms.
Muffled sobs rose from her, her tears soaking his chest as they held each other without a word.
Two in the morning.
Fully dressed, Su Jin sat squarely in the middle of the living room with his legs spread, wiping the Silver Spear over and over and occasionally lifting his eyes to look ahead.
The window was directly opposite him. Beyond it, the night was dark as an abyss.
Today was the day the Apocalypse would arrive, but neither he nor Fu Qingdai knew exactly when the rain would begin.
Perhaps it would come tonight, perhaps during the day.
Either way, this was destined to be a sleepless night.
The clock hands ticked onward, each click clearly audible.
It was now fifteen minutes and forty-two seconds past three.
In the very next instant, a Purple Rift suddenly flashed across the sky!
A gleam reflected off the Silver Spear and straight into Su Jin's eyes. He sprang to his feet!
At the same moment, a deafening rumble reverberated through the clouds, Thunder Patterns churning endlessly amid the chaos.
Su Jin's pupils contracted sharply, and his hair stood on end!
The world roared with rushing water. Torrential rain... crashed down, and the Apocalypse arrived!
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