Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

After dinner, it was past seven. The moon was still the same moon, the night sky still the same night sky, but the human world was no longer the same world.

The quiet village occasionally echoed with a beast-like howl, without warning, like a defiant cry of the deceased.

At the entrance to Shuwa Village, the person on guard at the fertilizer shop changed from Chen Hanzhou to Yuwen.

After a day of thrilling struggles, everyone gathered in the Mercedes VS RV. Some sat on the sofa, others sat cross-legged on the carpet, while in front of Zhang Su lay a laptop connected to the RV’s TV.

“Damn, Wu Lue, what kind of crap videos do you have on this broken computer? It’s either men and women, women and women, or damn men turned into women, women turned into men—what is all this? Can’t you have something decent?”

Zhang Su fiddled with the mouse. It had been half a month since he last sniped, and he missed it. Everyone was waiting for him to choose a movie, but Wu Lue’s computer hardly had anything suitable for general viewing…

“There is, there is, Brother Su, look in the F-drive, the G-drive is all that stuff, hehe…”

Wu Lue scratched his head a bit shyly.

“F-drive… got it, how about Train to Busan, everyone?” Zhang Su pointed at the screen where Gong Yoo was turning into a zombie and looked back at the crowd.

“Are you kidding, Brother Su!”

“Not watching, not watching!”

“Damn, Brother Su, are you crazy?”

“Do you think the zombies we’ve run into aren’t scary enough? Brother Su, you truly are my brother!”

It was rare for Zhang Su’s suggestion to be unanimously rejected; reality was already tough enough, and no one wanted to be further tormented during their precious leisure time.

“A bunch of fools, this used to be a sci-fi movie, now it’s an educational film, and nobody wants to watch it? Let me look for more, no rush, no rush…” Continuing to browse the folder, Zhang Su’s face lit up and he said, “Oh, there’s this one, Tom and Jerry, how about it?”

“This one’s good!”

“Wow, I love it!”

“Tom and Jerry, perfect, perfect, just this!”

The classic comedic cartoon was unanimously cheered by everyone.

“Alright, coming right up!”

Soon, the cartoon began, with its classic characters coming to life on screen. Everyone seemed transported back to their childhood, watching with great interest, temporarily forgetting all their pain and sorrow in the laughter.

Right now, everyone needed some laughter to dilute their pessimism about the future.

Being alive means striving for the better, since there was no shortage of food and drink, naturally, they began to pursue spiritual fulfillment.

Thousands of years ago, primitive people wore barely anything and had scarce food supply, constantly chased by wild animals, yet they found joy in etching pictures on walls with stones. It’s clear that humans are different from other animals, though “Good Fortune” is an exception.

Lucky sat beside Zhang Su, grinning at the TV screen, its tail wagging, seemingly understanding what was happening on it.

Zheng Xinyu was watching Tom being teased by Jerry, bursting into laughter, when someone sat beside her. Turning around, she saw it was Pei Lan with her arm in a sling.

“Sister Xinyu, can the bathroom on this RV be used?”

Pei Lan leaned closer to Zheng Xinyu’s ear and asked softly.

Zheng Xinyu glanced at the bathroom along the hallway where Pei Lan was looking, sighed, and said, “The facilities in the bathroom are fine, but there’s no water. Don’t talk about it; I haven’t had a shower since the disaster broke out…”

Pei Lan said with distress, “I’m worse than you; my period was on the third day when the disaster struck, and by then I hadn’t showered for three to four days. Now I feel like even my flesh is marinated. Can we find a way to get some water?”

“Where is there water? Did you see the condition of the river today? Who dares use that water… unless we find a reliable water source, don’t even think about using drinking water; Brother Su will freak out!”

Zheng Xinyu herself had thought about using drinking water for washing, secretly mentioned it to Zhang Su, and was severely reprimanded, thus she gave Pei Lan a heads up.

“Actually… I don’t need much water for a bath. I tried it before in school, and the least I’ve used was only thirty liters…”

Pei Lan quietly shared her experience. The school charged based on water usage—36 yuan per ton, 0.36 yuan per liter—and once she only used just over one yuan.

“I advise you to dismiss that idea as soon as possible…” Zhong Xiaoshan responded, then added, “Thirty liters is enough for one person to drink for half a month, or for everyone to drink for a day and still have some left. If you dare use it for a bath, no one can protect you!”

She knew Zhang Su; survival was the priority, the unspoken rule established within the team, and anyone who dared to break it would face serious consequences.

“I know, I was just rambling, wouldn’t really use drinking water for a shower…”

Pei Lan chuckled awkwardly, not daring to cross the line.

“There must be well water in the village; places like this usually have communal water supply from a deep well, just might not know where it is.”

Tan Huajun also overheard their conversation. As a woman, if conditions permitted, she wished to maintain personal hygiene, since most women prefer cleanliness.

“It’s pitch black, who’s going to search for a well, and who knows if the well water’s polluted? Forget it, just watch TV, and happily forget about being smelly.”

Zheng Xinyu cheerfully persuaded her sisters.

Although watching TV, Zhang Su had acute hearing and absorbed the women’s chat, planning personal hygiene issues in his mind.

Not significant in the short term, but in the long run, personal hygiene is crucial; historically, both the East and the West saw disease outbreaks due to overlooked hygiene, an undeniable fact.

Even if not causing disease outbreaks, the team members being stinky long-term would severely impact morale and SAN value, undebatable…

Tom and Jerry episodes played, captivating everyone.

At this moment, they had no academic concerns, no work anxieties, no mortgage pressures, no dating woes. In the scenes of interesting animation, they found pure and primitive joy.

Such joy is akin to love, only truly possessed when nearly having nothing else…

“Ha ha ha…”

Another round of slightly restrained laughter arose, Zhang Su’s body slightly shuddered, briefly stiffened, then returned to normal, unnoticed by anyone.

“I’m seriously funny, haha, going for a smoke and a piss!”

Saying this, Zhang Su got up, drawing out a pack of cigarettes while heading for the RV door.

“Brother Su, I’m coming too, give me one, give me one, hehe.”

Lu Yubo cheerily followed Zhang Su off the RV.

“You’re everywhere!”

Zhang Su scolded back, pressing the electric door switch, waiting for it to open while handing a cigarette to Lu Yubo, signaling with his eyes.

Lu Yubo had a jolt in his heart, understanding the meaning behind Zhang Su’s look—something’s up!