Reborn with a Space: Hoarding Food and Raising My Kid

"What? You’re leaving? Stu, have you had enough of us? You don’t want to take care of us anymore?" a woman in her twenties wearing a hospital gown suddenly burst into tears, shattering the tense atmosphere.

"That’s right, how can you just abandon us? If you’re out of food, then go find more outside! What are we, a group of the old, the weak, women, and children, supposed to do?"

"Young people these days have no sense of responsibility! Just to save your own skins, you’re abandoning us old folks!"

"You have no sympathy at all! Just because it’s the apocalypse, does that mean we patients don’t deserve to live?"

"Sigh, morals have really gone downhill. Don’t you have elders in your own families? Is this how you treat your elders? Shameless! You’re rotten to the core!"

In the face of the barrage of accusations and curses, Fakeryou remained unfazed. Although his Chinese was very good, he chose to selectively ignore the more convoluted insults.

Stu stood his ground, frowning deeply, his gaze wavering as if he were wrestling with himself.

This wasn’t the first time they had suggested leaving. Every time they so much as mentioned their desire to leave, it would trigger a melodramatic soap opera.

That would then be followed by condemnation and verbal abuse.

And every time, Stu would give in to their words.

Seeing Stu about to give in again, Fakeryou’s eyes filled with deep worry. He nudged Stu and said, "Do what you want to do. Don’t let them influence you. I’ll always have your back!"

Fakeryou’s words quickly riled everyone up. "What are you saying, you fake foreigner? You came here to leech off us, and now you’re trying to talk Mark into leaving? What are your real intentions!"

After a moment of thought, Mark Sterling gritted his teeth, stared at the old woman who had just cursed Fakeryou, and said, "This time, we are leaving, no matter what. I’ve said it before, you’re welcome to come with us! And another thing—do not insult my friend in front of me. Otherwise, I don’t care how old you are, I won’t let it slide."

Mark Sterling slung the sniper rifle in his hands onto his back, drew the pistol from his waist, checked it, engaged the safety, and then holstered it again.

Before the apocalypse, the two of them had been on a competitive team for a shooting game and were also true gun enthusiasts, so they knew how to handle all sorts of firearms inside and out.

"That group is in the obstetrics and gynecology building across the way. We’re going to help them now, and we’ll be leaving with them shortly after. If you want to come, then keep up."

"Let’s go."

Staring at the cold steel of the guns in their hands, the crowd swallowed nervously and didn’t dare to speak up again. As they watched the two men walk away, two other men from their group suddenly stepped forward.

Seeing more people stepping out—and the only two able-bodied young men among them at that—the anxiety in the crowd’s eyes deepened.

"You... you’re leaving too?"

The two men turned and left without a word. ’Staying here means either being a leech sucking someone else’s blood or being the one who gets sucked dry. It’s better to leave early.’

And so, the two quickly caught up to Mark Sterling and Fakeryou, gathering at the entrance of the obstetrics and gynecology building.

The four of them walked through the main entrance of the OB/GYN building, and the scene before them was both a shock and a pleasant surprise.

The floor was covered in zombie corpses, each killed with a single blow, their Crystal Cores already dug out.

This meant the group’s Combat Power was extremely high. Their choice hadn’t been wrong!

The deeper they went, the more astonished the four became. The floor was littered with zombies that, to them, had once been terrifying, bloodthirsty monsters. But now, they lay silent on the ground, unable to ever attack them again.

With Mark Sterling and Fakeryou leading the way, the other two men gradually grew bolder, and the group’s pace quickened.

Meanwhile, Flora Bloom’s group had already cleared the entire second floor, but there was still no sign of her younger brother, Joel Bloom!

The first floor, where registration, payment, and blood tests happened, was where the most people had been. The second floor, with prenatal checkups and operating rooms, had the fewest. The third floor was for ultrasounds.

’A pregnant woman would come to the hospital for either a check-up or an abortion. We didn’t find him on the first or second floors, so the third floor is the most likely place.’

As soon as they entered the third floor, they were struck by how strangely quiet it was. Near the entrance were a small convenience store and a Luckin-esque coffee shop, but they were both empty, with no sign of zombies.

Farther in were the partitioned ultrasound rooms. At the very end was a sterile nursery, an observation room for frail newborns. The door was metal and required a keycard to be opened from the outside.

Relying on the sixth sense she had honed since the apocalypse began, Flora Bloom didn’t recklessly open any of the examination room doors.

Instead, she gestured for the others to be quiet and pressed her ear against the first examination room door, listening for any sound from within.

Complete silence.

Flora Bloom knocked gently on the door. ’If there’s a zombie inside, a sound like this would definitely make it slam its body against the door and start roaring.’

But then, with a CLICK, the doorknob turned from the inside, and the door creaked open a crack.

The crack widened, revealing a pale-faced pregnant woman. Her belly was large and round, and she stared at Flora Bloom with an unfocused gaze. She just stood there, unmoving, one hand stroking her stomach. The sight was both eerie and bizarre.

Flora Bloom was just about to step forward and ask something when she heard an urgent shout from the stairwell.

"Watch out for her stomach!"

The voice was familiar; it belonged to the man who had helped them from the rooftop with a sniper rifle.

The moment Flora Bloom heard it and reacted, she quickly summoned a water shield in front of herself.

At the same time, the pregnant woman’s belly violently exploded with a BANG right in front of Flora Bloom, and a small, emaciated, infant-like zombie shot out.

Its skin was bluish-purple and covered in dark violet veins. Its limbs were incredibly short, its fingernails black. It opened its mouth to reveal teeth like the jagged, triangular fangs of a beast. It was a truly grotesque sight.

It moved with astonishing speed. Seeing its attack on Flora Bloom fail, it immediately changed course and flew toward Jade, who looked like the weakest member of the group.

With a BANG from a gunshot, the infant zombie dropped to the ground, landing at Jade’s feet. The one who fired was Mark Sterling.

"Thanks!" Flora Bloom and her group turned to thank him, but unexpectedly, the examination room doors began to open one after another. One or two pregnant women emerged from each doorway.

Their bellies were of various sizes, but their expressions were all similar to the first pregnant woman’s. Right then, a dozen or so pregnant women stared blankly in unison at Flora Bloom’s group. The scene was absolutely terrifying.

"Everyone, be careful! These infant zombies are fast. Wait for them to get close before you kill them, and don’t break formation!"

Flora Bloom stared at the dozen or so pregnant women before her, waiting only for the moment their bellies burst to cast a water shield over everyone for protection.

As if on cue, the bellies of the dozen or so pregnant women ruptured simultaneously. Over a dozen infant zombies flew out from their stomachs, rocketing toward the group at high speed.

The little white tiger rained lightning down from the air but only managed to hit two or three of the infant zombies. The others nimbly dodged its lightning attack, avoided it, and rushed toward the other members of the group: Dabai, Monkey Two, and Monkey Three.

Flora Bloom’s water shield suddenly appeared just as they reached the group. The infant zombies crashed into the shield but failed to break through, instead losing their balance and falling to the ground.

Flora Bloom and the others, armed with axes, daggers, and other blades, quickly killed the infant zombies in front of them before they could get airborne again. However, two of them still managed to escape, breaking through a window and flying out.