章 5: Chapter 5: The Neighbor Knocks on the Door
When people are on the verge of starvation, no one cares about fairness or justice. They only know they are hungry and cold. They only think about filling their stomachs and surviving in a warm environment; beyond that, they don't care about anything else. In extreme hunger, people are capable of anything.
Fortunately, the city's geographical location is good. People usually buy fresh vegetables every day. Their fridges are generally stocked with some food, and the snacks they get from work benefits or purchases are enough to sustain them for a while.
The best off, naturally, are people like David. Not only is his fridge filled with lots of food, but he also bought a month's supply of fat-reducing meals because of his diet. Chicken breast, chicken sausage, chicken meatballs, steak... All these foods are more than enough for him to last over a month, even longer if he economizes.
This turned out to be incredibly lucky after the disaster struck. David was immensely grateful he had bought so much diet food before the apocalypse. Although the food wasn't tasty, it was better than nothing.
But...
He overlooked human nature. He never expected that the previously harmonious neighbors would tear off the veil of civilization and brutally take everything from him. Because of a moment of kindness, all his food was stolen, and he was left on the brink of death...
Most people in the building survived thanks to the food from his house. Without his 'contribution,' at least half of the people in the building would have died. But now, they were still not satisfied.
A man tiptoed to open his door and headed towards the one across the hall - David's house. No light shone from the sky; the place was incredibly dark. He was like a thief, taking out his key to unlock the door.
He had deliberately closed this door when he left, thinking that if things got desperate, David could also be food. Holding a kitchen knife in his left hand and a key in his right, he tried to unlock the door for a long time but then realized...
"Where's the lock?!"
He was confused. In his memory, that's where the lock should be. But after trying with his key for a while, he found there was no keyhole. Furious, he knocked hard on the door, thinking someone had beaten him to it.
He had smelled a delicious scent earlier and thought David might have hidden some food in a secret corner they hadn't found. But now, it seemed like someone had broken in before him and cooked David!
That explained the smell of roasted meat! Even if David still had food, where did the fire and oil come from? It must have been the people downstairs.
Angry, he banged on the door, shouting, "People inside, come out!" He was furious, wishing he had acted sooner. That way, his family could have had food for at least two or three more days. Now, everything was ruined by the beast inside!
But no matter how much he knocked, the door didn't open, and there was no response from inside. Instead, his loud knocking attracted the attention of others, and the survivors downstairs opened their doors, their weary and hungry faces filled with curiosity.
"William! What are you doing?"
The shout from below made William frown, and he realized his folly. William was the man's name.
"Did you guys smell the meat?" William knew it was impossible to keep it all to himself. He spat on the ground and said viciously, "Damn it, someone's hogging all the food!"
"I remember everyone agreed that, given the situation, we should distribute food equally to ensure no one starves. But look!" He pointed at David's door. "That kid inside is eating meat!"
"Damn it!"
William kicked the door again, the loud noise echoing in the corridor. "I can't stand these selfish people!"
The others looked at William with contempt. Who was he to act the hero now? But they did smell the aroma from the room.
It was so appetizing!
Their mouths watered, and they looked greedily at David's door.
"William's right! The whole building is in crisis, yet some are only looking out for themselves. That's shameful!"
"But wait, William, wasn't that the foreign kid's place? They should be out of food by now."
"And that kid... shouldn't he have died by now?"
With no food and damaged windows, surviving the extreme cold and hunger for so long would be a miracle!
"It must be someone who sneaked in and found food!"
They had raided David's place before, finding two boxes of instant noodles, a lot of fruits and cucumbers in the fridge, various diet meals in the bedroom, and one and a half boxes of pure milk.
It was like heaven!
Thanks to David's food, they had survived until now. So, they remembered his house well.
"No matter what, let's get the person inside to open the door." William said firmly, "David was my neighbor. If there's any food left in his house, it's my right to inherit it and distribute it to everyone."
You?
What right do you have? Are you his son? It was your vile idea to deceive David and open his door in the first place.
The people looked at him with disdain but said nothing.
They gathered in the corridor and shouted inside:
"Brother inside? We know you're eating, and you must be very hungry, but everyone's starving. You can't be so selfish, right?"
A middle-aged man approached the door and said, "How about this? You must have eaten enough. Just open the door, and we'll eat what's left."
"That way, we can still be neighbors and survive in this building together. Otherwise..."
"You wouldn't want to be a selfish person and force us to break in, right?"
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