Morning!
The sky had brightened.
Downstairs in the residential complex.
In the apocalypse, physical health was crucial. After handing over Manh Manh to Sister Ly, Lam Pham headed to the gym equipment downstairs to work out. Two elderly men were already there.
After greeting them, he joined their exercise group.
The residential complex was safe, with iron gates barricading the entrances, making it their shelter.
"Little Pham, could you run an errand for me, fetch some books? How much would it cost?" Old Man Vuong asked.
"Old sir, do you want me to go to the Golden City Library?"
"Yes, the Golden City Library."
Lam Pham thought about the distance — it didn't seem too far."Fifty should be enough," he said.
In his understanding, the fee was based on distance and whether or not zombies might appear. As long as he was cautious, he could avoid encounters, so the fee could stay relatively low.
"Little Pham, you really are a conscientious runner. But I won't let you suffer a loss. I'll give you one hundred. Just rent me a few books on internet equipment maintenance."
Old Man Vuong wanted Tran Hac to study well. Even though it was the apocalypse and learning might seem unnecessary, as long as they were alive, they had to keep learning.Without learning, there was no future.
"Got it, I'll take care of it," Lam Pham nodded.
He hadn't seen the man he saved yesterday — Tran Hac — but that was understandable. After such a traumatic experience, people needed time to recover.
Outside the residential complex.
Looking at the road littered with zombie corpses.
Lam Pham scratched his head helplessly. These were all the zombies he had slaughtered yesterday. If they stayed piled up, they would start rotting and stinking, attracting flies and other pests.
As the residential security guard, he couldn't just sit back and ignore it.
"Work time, work time," he clapped his hands.
He threw himself into his duties, hauling the bisected corpses into trash bins. But the bins were small, barely fitting anything. He had to find one after another.
Even adding the bins inside the complex wasn't enough.
He had no choice but to transport one batch at a time.
The street was silent except for Lam Pham pushing the garbage bins — even in the apocalypse, he still insisted on keeping the environment clean.
He busied himself for a long time.
Finally, the entrance area was cleared of corpses. However, the blood and gore left sticky black stains on the ground — a truly nauseating sight.But what could he do?
He was the one who had created the mess.
If an environmental sanitation aunty had seen it, she would definitely have scolded him, "You little rascal! How could you dirty up a perfectly good road like this? Hurry up and clean it!"
No choice — he had to keep working.
Fortunately, he was familiar with the boss of Tân Phong Realty. He walked into the shop.
"Boss, can I borrow a mop and a bucket of water? I'll return them in a bit."
He waited a few seconds.
No response.
That meant the boss agreed.
Even among friends, when borrowing something, it was necessary to ask permission.
Dragging a full bucket of water, he splashed it on the ground and began scrubbing.It was exhausting work — mopping required a lot of energy, especially straining the lower back.
After a while, Lam Pham paused, pretending to wipe sweat off his forehead and stretch his back.
There wasn't any real sweat, and his back wasn't sore either. He was just blending into the atmosphere of working hard.
Finally, the ground was clean.
He carried the bucket back, washed the mop thoroughly, and returned it to Tân Phong Realty, calling out a loud, "Thank you!" to the empty store.
At Hoang City Public Library.
Arriving at familiar grounds, Lam Pham looked at the old library gate and then glanced into the distance — there seemed to be some movement.
On the way to the library, a group of zombies had spotted him. But since he just wanted to rent some books, he hadn't stopped to fight. Instead, he sped up and outran them easily.
Zombies were fast, but he was faster. In the blink of an eye, he left them behind.
"Such unfriendly creatures," he muttered.
He didn't think too much and walked into the library.
Without cleaning staff, dust had already settled everywhere. But he wasn't a library employee — no one expected him to tidy up.
Following the usual registration process, he checked the directory and headed to the section Old Man Vuong needed.
Since Old Man Vuong hadn't specified exact titles, just the subject area, Lam Pham picked a couple of suitable books. Renting too many would make it hard to manage anyway.He decided to rent two books for now. If Old Man Vuong needed more later, he could come again — earning another courier fee.
A nice side gig.
"Internet Equipment Management and Maintenance"
He flipped through the table of contents.It seemed really complicated — seven major chapters:
Chapter 1: Basic Computer Internet Knowledge
Chapter 2: Introduction to Internet Hardware Devices and ENSP Software
Chapter 3: Building a Small Local Area Network
Chapter 4: Building a Medium-Sized Local Area Network
Chapter 5: Local Network Security and Management
Chapter 6: Wide Area Network Interconnection
Chapter 7: Comprehensive Applications of Community Networks
"Looks pretty high-level," Lam Pham thought.
He took this book along with another complex one.
Registered them, paid the deposit, and closed the library doors carefully behind him.After all, not everyone was as disciplined as he was — like the zombies, who only knew how to bite.
As he left the library...
Across the street, there was a loud roar.
A steel-beast vehicle was speeding toward the distance, followed by a horde of zombies.
"Ah, it's them."
Though they were quite far away, his excellent eyesight let him see through the vehicle's reinforced mesh — they were the survivors he had once encountered at the library.
He waved at the vehicle.
Maybe they didn't see him, but still — it was good manners to greet fellow survivors.
"They probably didn't notice me," Lam Pham muttered to himself.
Inside the armored vehicle, Tu Trach Duong scanned the road calmly. Although zombies were chasing them, he wasn't the least bit flustered — he was used to apocalyptic life now.He just hoped the day would come when zombies truly disappeared.
He and Big Sis had formed a deep bond — helping each other survive in a world without humanity or morals.
He glanced at the Hoang city Library.
"Holy crap!"
Tu Trach Duong cried out, almost like he had seen a ghost, rubbing his eyes.
"What's wrong?" the others asked, worried.
"Big Sis, quick! Look at the library — there's someone there! It's that crazy survivor we met before! He's still wandering outside like a boss!"
The others turned their heads, but the vehicle had already sped past.
"Lao Mao, hon the horn — help draw away the nearby zombies for him," Big Sis instructed.
After all, their vehicle was very safe. Even if zombies swarmed them, this steel beast wasn't something ordinary zombies could breach.
Although... thinking of the massive mutant zombie they had encountered before, she shuddered slightly. If it showed up again, even this armored beast might not hold.
"Roger that."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Lao Mao pressed the horn several times before speeding away into the distance.
Meanwhile, Lam Pham, walking away from the library, heard the horn and thought to himself:
"Maybe they recognized me and were greeting me with the horn."
Indeed, even in the apocalypse, there were still friendly people around.
And so, he continued walking home...
Passing by a children's toy store, he had just walked past it when he suddenly stopped and stepped back, standing in front of the shop.
Thinking that it was still early in the day, and he had already earned a hundred yuan, he felt a kind of unexplainable joy. Manh Manh was still little, and she must often feel lonely. He should buy her a toy.
"Not bad, I should buy one."
He walked into the store. No one had cleaned the floor; it was filthy beyond words. However, he could still find decent toys inside.
He picked a dancing cactus toy — one that could wiggle its body and talk.
He checked the price.
Twenty yuan.
The price was acceptable, within his range.
After paying, he opened the package; the toy already had batteries inside.
He switched it on.
The cactus toy wriggled while singing:
"Ba ba ba ba, what are you calling? Ba ba ba ba, calling grandpa. Ba ba mama, what are you calling? Ba ba mama, calling grandma..."
"That's really amusing." Lam Pham laughed.
Outside, a wandering zombie, looking lifeless and aimless, was strolling down the street. As it passed by the children's toy store, it suddenly heard the sound and began searching for the source, as if trying to figure out who was making the noise.
In just a moment.
Lam Pham and the zombie locked eyes.
"Roar!"
The zombie let out a ferocious roar.
Meanwhile, the cactus toy continued to wiggle.
"Ba ba ca ca, what are you calling? Ba ba ca ca, calling..."
Roar!
The zombie screamed again, viciously charging toward Lam Pham. It had no interest in the dancing, singing toy; all it cared about was the one holding the toy — Lam Pham.
Fresh flesh.
That was always a zombie's favorite "toy."