Chapter 3 1. Closed state

For many years, I have always had a bad habit - I like to read while walking.Just because my life rhythm is too tight, it seems that even walking and reading books has become a kind of enjoyment that needs to be cherished. It makes me sad to think about it.To be honest, I didn't even think about going into a supermarket tonight.The reason why I walked into this unlucky store was purely because the street lights on the street were too dim, and the characters in the magazines were too small, which hurt my eyes.At this time, the light shining from the glass door of the supermarket in front is like a light that guides travelers in the dark, and it attracts me, a hungry reader, firmly.I was eager to read the interesting story in the magazine, so I entered this store in a daze.

When I walked into the store, I realized that it seemed inappropriate to just stand at the door and read a book, so I strolled among the shelves with a book in my hand, and casually grabbed two packs of instant noodles.But I didn't expect that just 5 minutes after I came in, the loudspeaker in this supermarket announced that it was closing, which really made me feel uncomfortable.In order to read the book, I was going to pay for two packs of instant noodles, but they couldn't even let me finish the story. No way, I took the instant noodles and joined the queue for payment.While waiting, I was still immersed in the plot of the story, until the harsh "don't move" pierced my eardrum like a sharp sword, which made me tremble in fright, and the book in my hand fell to the ground. I raised my head in panic and saw a crazy man pointing a gun at us.

The memory ends here.Now, the man is already lying on the ground, and the middle-aged uncle wearing glasses told us that he has died due to excessive blood loss.I think that the previous sudden events just scared me out of my wits.Now, the sense of dread has returned, and it makes me shudder. Apparently I wasn't the only one in panic.The most excited among us was the fashionable girl's boyfriend, who kept yelling, "Hey, did you see that? That clerk was dragged out by something? Did he get killed?" "Shut up." The bearded man glared at him, "If you want to know the answer, go out and look for yourself."

The boy who looked like a little boy choked, and his face became even paler. The middle-aged uncle wearing glasses stood up: "I just said, call the police first." This time, of course, no one objected. The female shop assistant made a trembling call to the police. She listened for a while with the handset in her hand, then raised her head blankly: "No, I can't get through. There is only a busy signal on the phone." The middle-aged uncle frowned: "Maybe the line is busy, keep calling until it gets through." "I don't think the line is busy," the clerk said. "When I pick it up, it gives a busy tone. It's like...the line has been cut."

The middle-aged uncle walked over, picked up the phone and listened for a while, dialed a few more numbers, and finally put down the receiver with a frown. "Try your phone." The mother who bought snacks reminded everyone, and almost everyone took out their phones from their bags.The middle-aged uncle said: "Don't fight together, let me do it." A minute later, he put down the phone in frustration, shook his head and said, "No, there is no signal." "Mine too, no signal box." "Neither mine." "No, no signal"...For a while, everyone had finished trying, and everyone was downcast.Of course including me.

The female clerk said: "This is a suburb, the signal is not very good, and now the door is closed, blocking part of the signal, so it is even more difficult to get through the phone." "Hey, wait, I remember calling the police when the signal is weak," said the fashionable girl. "That's right, but I just can't make calls right now." The middle-aged uncle said with a frown. "It's really weird." "Then what should we do now?" the boy with a fair face asked worriedly. The people in the supermarket looked at each other in blank dismay, and no one could think of any countermeasures.

"Fuck!" The bearded man suddenly roared, "I don't believe in this evil! Open the door! I want to go out and see what's going on outside!" The female clerk trembled and said, "I'm afraid it won't work...I don't have the key in my hand, only he (the male clerk) has it. But...he just had the key in his hand...and was dragged out." Hearing this, everyone's heart went cold.The big man stared at the bell-like eyes and said, "You mean, we are trapped here?" The female clerk was too frightened to speak, so she just nodded slightly.

After a few seconds of silence, the bearded man shouted: "Then I'll just knock the door open! I can't get out if I don't believe it!" He said and walked towards the door.The uncle wearing glasses quickly stopped him, blocked him and said, "Hey, don't be impulsive! You have also seen what happened just now. Now we don't know the situation outside, so it will be dangerous to go out rashly!" The big man was panting angrily, but he probably felt that the middle-aged man's words were justified, so he didn't make any further moves.The fashionable girl said: "Actually, the situation outside, didn't the man with the gun who broke in just now said that, he said that a terrible virus suddenly broke out outside..."

"Yes, he also said that this virus is spreading at an alarming rate. Many people in the city have been infected. He escaped to us specifically." The boy with a fair face added. "Why did he carry a gun when he escaped?" asked the clerk. "Maybe he was resisting, or defending himself. From my point of view, he must have been attacked in some way before." The fat woman said in horror. "And the thing that attacked him has now come to our place. The clerk just now... was dragged out by those things." Her guess was so obviously logical that it gave us the creeps.In particular, she always uses "that kind of thing" to describe the murderer who killed the male shop assistant, which arouses our infinite fear fantasies.I shuddered several times in a row, and couldn't help joining the ranks of speculation: "Could it be...the ones who attacked the clerk were those infected with the virus?"

"That's what I was going to say too." The boy with a fair face nodded at me and said, "I remember that man said it before he was knocked out (in fact, he was beaten to death). What would happen to a person infected by that virus..." "It's a pity that he was beaten to death just as he was talking..." I said in a regretful tone. Unexpectedly, these words were like a cluster of flames igniting a certain fuse in the heart of the bearded man.He suddenly yelled at the red-haired gangster: "It's all you boy! You beat that man to death before he finished speaking!"

The red-haired gangster had an indifferent expression, as if he didn't feel uneasy or guilty about killing someone just now.He said coldly to the big man: "Didn't you just say that I've done a good job? You also praised me for subduing that lunatic-now you blame me for not shooting him to death?" "But it doesn't look like he's crazy now!" the big man growled, "He may be about to tell us some important information, so you kill him!" "How did I know?" The red-haired gangster didn't seem to be afraid of the burly man twice his size, and he showed a disgusted expression. "The thing in that person's hand is not a joke. I knew it was the real thing at a glance, and it might go off at any time. I risked my life to save you, but now that the situation has changed, you blame me for not making a move—" —Hmph, I should have continued hiding in that corner if I had known earlier——I don’t care if you live or die!” The big man glared at the little bastard angrily, but couldn't find any rebuttal for a while.After a moment of silence, the fat woman in black asked, "When everyone is queuing up to pay, what are you doing alone in the corner?" The little gangster was startled suddenly, his expression became extremely embarrassed.The female clerk seemed to have guessed something, she murmured: "You... Could it be..." But maybe considering the special situation now, some things are not so important, so she didn't say anything. The middle-aged uncle smoothed things over at this moment: "Okay, now that things have come to an end, let's not blame each other, and don't bother with those trivial matters, let's discuss what to do now." "We need to get in touch with the outside world!" said the mother in a panic. "We need to know what's going on outside!" "How to contact the outside world?" The fashionable girl said, "Landlines and mobile phones are unavailable. Can you think of other ways?" The fat woman was a little surprised and said: "Can't you see what happened outside? The clerk just now has been killed! Although I don't know what is outside, it is definitely very dangerous! And I want to Say—why didn't you listen to my advice at first? I said I had a bad feeling, but you didn't take it seriously, and the result was that the male clerk was killed!" The bearded man obviously felt that the words were aimed at him, so he turned his head and stared at the fat woman viciously: "Even if it wasn't opened at that time, I don't believe we still haven't opened the door until now! If the male clerk was not killed, we How do you know there is danger outside?" The boy with a fair face said anxiously: "What's going on outside now? It's not like what the man said, that terrible virus has invaded our place and infected all the people in our area, right?" "Ah!" Hearing what he said, the mother yelled uncontrollably, with tears streaming down her face.She frantically rushed to the door, banging on the shutter door, the booming noise was mixed with her terrified cry, "No, I want to go out! My five-year-old son is still at home alone!" Everyone was infected by her out-of-control emotions. They all thought of their family members and became flustered.The fashionable girl grabbed her boyfriend's hand and shouted: "My parents are still in the city, what should I do!" The fat woman grabbed her chest and muttered: "My husband is at home alone, God bless, he Don't let anything happen to you!" The saleswoman was also worried and at a loss. Under such circumstances, my mood unexpectedly became complicated and contradictory.I don't know whether I should feel lucky or lost at this moment-each of them has relatives worthy of their concern and worries, but I don't.My parents and relatives are far away from home.I am a single woman who came to work in a different place with no worries.Logically speaking, I should have felt relatively relaxed, but at this moment, I was a little envious of them.In any case, when they are worried about their loved ones, they are also being missed by their loved ones.And I have nothing. When I was in a daze, the middle-aged uncle walked to the door, carefully helped the grieving mother over, and comforted her and said, "Madam, please calm down." Then he raised his hand and said to everyone, "Everyone listen to me Said, don't rush, don't panic. I know everyone is worried about their loved ones, and I am no exception. My wife and daughter are also outside. If there is a real outbreak outside, anyone may be infected. But I think the situation is not that bad, we have to believe that there are doctors and police outside, they will help our relatives. We are infected ourselves. So, in this case, we should stay here quietly and wait for rescue." What he said was calm and loud, which made everyone calm down a little, thinking that there was really no other way at present.But the big man didn't take it seriously, he squinted at the middle-aged uncle: "You mean to tell us to wait here passively, but let me ask you, this place is so remote, if no one comes to rescue us for ten days and a half months, what will happen? What should we do?" "No, it won't." The female clerk said suddenly, "I remembered that tomorrow morning, our boss will definitely open the door with the key, and then we can go out." The mother of the five-year-old child seemed to have seen the light of hope, and asked eagerly: "That is to say, we can stay here for one night at most?" "It should be like this." The female clerk nodded. Everyone was finally relieved, and I was also relieved.The big man said carelessly: "Okay, I'll sleep here for a peaceful night." It sounded like the place where he was going to sleep was not as good as here. At this time, the fat woman said with a pale face, "I think, have you forgotten something?" She pointed to the corpse lying on the ground, and said tremblingly, "He... what should I do?"