HSB Chapter 3

Bambi was frightened.

Her hand trembled, and the bread tumbled onto the ground. She shot out of her seat to pick it up and clutched the bread in her hand, eyeing the big apple on the table warily and curiously.

Bambi had eaten apples that her grandpa had gotten in exchange for other supplies, so she knew what apples looked like, but in Bambi’s impression, apples were small, and the skin of the apples was spotted, wrinkled, and overall, not very appetizing to the eyes.

She had never seen an apple this big, nor had she seen an apple that looked so delicious.

Winnie was still on the table.

Bambi looked around nervously, then stared at the big apple for several seconds, making sure that the big apple wouldn’t suddenly “move” before she plucked up the courage to rescue Winnie on the table.

Then she clutched the bear tightly to her chest as she scrambled back about six feet away, still keeping her eyes on the big apple.

Though Bambi was young, she was very smart. The doors and windows were tightly closed, and only she and Winnie were in the house. She had just been quietly eating her bread and hadn’t done anything else, so why would a big apple suddenly appear out of nowhere? Her little head couldn’t make sense of it all.

Then Bambi remembered what happened before with her, and her little face was brimmed with unease.

“Winnie, I’m a little scared.” Bambi hugged the teddy bear tightly. She wanted to look away from the big apple, but her eyes couldn’t help but drift back to the apple. “But this apple looks so tasty.”

Most importantly, Bambi could smell something sweet in the air; the smell was coming from the apple.

She originally “fled” six feet away from the big apple but then realized that the big apple didn’t show any signs of movement as it lay on the table, nor were there any other strange happenings occurring, so she hesitantly took a step forward.

Up until she neared the table, the apple had yet to move.

Bambi, who was only half a head taller than the tabletop, stood on her tiptoes as she reached out her tiny hand to poke at the apple.

Poke and recoil.

“It doesn’t bite.” Bambi looked down at Winnie and said, “It feels real.”

Although the five-year-old child didn’t understand how the big apple appeared, after making sure the apple was real, she was really happy.

When she used to go outside with Grandpa, sometimes she would find things on the streets. Grandpa told her that anything they found on the ground now belonged to them and they could use it themselves.

So the big apple that appeared on the table—appeared in her home—if she understood it correctly, now belonged to her?

“Can I eat it then?” Bambi asked Winnie.

After a few seconds, Bambi pushed down on the bear’s head. With a nod from the bear, Bambi got Winnie’s approval. She put the bear on the table, climbed back into her chair, and carefully picked up the big apple with two hands.

The sweet smell of the apple was tantalizing, making Bambi, who had been eating instant noodles for a whole month, salivate.

Instead of eating it right away, she carried the apple to the bathroom, stepped on a short stool to put the apple in the sink, and turned on the faucet.

The reason why Hugh settled in this area was because the tap water hadn’t been shut off. He wasn’t sure why, but after testing the water, he found that the water wasn’t contaminated with the zombie virus and was safe to drink.

Since she remembered, Bambi had been taught by Grandpa to like being clean to avoid getting sick from eating something unclean, so the apple naturally had to be washed before it could be eaten.

It was a little challenging for Bambi to clean such a big apple, but after several minutes of hard work, every nook and cranny was washed. Bambi, feeling very accomplished, returned to the dining table with the washed apple and went into the kitchen to grab a paring knife.

She carefully cut off a slice like how she saw Grandpa do it.

Bambi took a tentative bite, and her grape-like eyes instantly sparkled as she squealed in delight, “Winnie, it tastes so good! It’s the best apple I have ever eaten.”

The taste of the apple left a deep impression on Bambi. Bambi was certain this was the best apple she’d ever tasted.

She ate three slices and then restrained herself.

Grandpa taught her that, whether it was eating or doing other things, she must learn to have everything in moderation.

She didn’t understand what “everything in moderation” was, but she listened to Grandpa’s words and stopped eating.

Bambi remembered that every time Grandpa found an apple, he would use a knife to peel off the apple skin. She would eat the flesh, while Grandpa ate the peel.

Bambi didn’t understand and asked Grandpa why. Grandpa said that he liked to eat apple peel, the apple peel was tastier.

Such a big apple would have a lot of apple peel that Grandpa could eat. This apple was better than any apples she had eaten before. Since Grandpa liked to eat apple skin, it would definitely taste better than the previous apple skins.

Bambi’s eyes lit up.

Bambi picked up the paring knife again and began to peel the skin off the apple slowly. The knife was too large for her hand, so she was very slow with the knife and the apple ended up turning out a mangled mess.

“It’s okay. Grandpa will still like it.” Bambi patiently shaved off the skin. This was the first time she cut anything with a knife. Whether it was the apple or the knife, they were all too big for her small hands. In a moment of carelessness, the blade sliced into her flesh. The pain made her lose her grip and with a clang, the knife fell onto the floor.

Blood trickled out of the wound. Tears quickly welled up in Bambi’s eyes because of the pain.

It hurt, just like when she fell off the chair.

The sudden injury made Bambi a little helpless. It took her a few seconds to remember how Grandpa dealt with her injuries before.

She first wrapped the wound with a tissue. In the process, some blood dripped onto the peeled apple skin.

Then she remembered the band-aids.

Grandpa once used it on her and said that the wound wouldn’t hurt if she used a band-aid.

Remembering this, Bambi ran to the bedroom, opened the bottom drawer, and took out a children’s first aid kit, one of Bambi’s toys prepared by Hugh.

Bambi found a band-aid, lifted the blood-stained tissue, and crookedly applied the band-aid.

Long lashes hung with crystal teardrops, and Bambi blew on her finger as if her finger didn’t hurt this way.

“Winnie, I’m okay.” Bambi, who returned to the dining room, wiggled her finger proudly at the bear. Her voice was a little nasal after crying, sounding cute and angelic. “Look, it doesn’t hurt at all.”

Now injured, she didn’t have the courage to peel any more apple skin, so she found a bag to load the apple peel inside.

She didn’t see that one piece was stained with her own blood.

“Winnie, let’s go bring the apple peel to Grandpa.” Bambi picked up the bear, opened the door, and walked towards the fourth floor again.

The thumping sounds had stopped.

Bambi knew that Grandpa had turned into one of those horrid monsters, but it didn’t matter. He was still Grandpa; she wasn’t afraid.

Just three steps away from reaching the top, Bambi was practically jumping with joy because she was able to eat some bread and apple slices, as well as clean water, and Grandpa could have bread and clean water too, and she even had her grandpa’s favorite apple peel.

In the past, it was Grandpa who found things for her to eat. Now that Bambi has grown up, she could find stuff for her grandpa too.

Bambi was particularly pleased with herself.

But soon she was at a loss.

Because her body was suddenly teleported back to the doors of the third floor, just like when she fell down the stairs before and suddenly ended up by the door of the third floor.

~*~

Julius carefully applied body lotion to his whole body, making sure every inch of his skin absorbed the lotion, before changing into a pair of pajamas and leaving the bathroom. It wasn’t often he had the time to rest at home like today, so he indolently lounged on the couch, instructing the AI butler to prepare dinner.

“I don’t want any meat. I seem to have gained weight recently, so I want to lose some weight.” Julius said, “Make a few diet dishes. I want it light.”

The AI butler received his orders.

Julius stopped him again. “I don’t want any meat, but I want the vegetarian dishes to taste like meat.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Faced with such a strange request, the AI butler still accepted it hospitably.

After doing all this, Julius remembered his newly adopted daughter and quickly opened his LUX.

One look made his heart wrench.

Bambi was paring an apple and accidentally cut herself!

It felt like his own hand was injured.

Watching as Bambi tried to bear the pain but still couldn’t hold back her tears as she treated her wound, Julius was utterly distressed as he tried to find any remedial measures available. However, the entire screen only had one option available—the store which was grayed out. He couldn’t do anything to help her but watch.

At this point, a dialogue prompt popped up: [ Bambi thinks Hugh likes apple peels, so she cut off the apple skin and planned to bring them to Hugh.]

Julius: “…”

Then Julius watched with wide eyes as Bambi put the bloody apple peel into the bag and prepared to give it to her grandfather.

Zombies hungered for blood. He could already imagine what would happen when this bag of apple peels was taken upstairs.

Julius tried to stop Bambi, but after punching the screen a few times, there wasn’t any reaction, he could only watch as Bambi walked up the stairs. This was his adopted daughter! He couldn’t allow her to die!

In desperation, he had to use the earlier method to pick up his daughter and move her back to the door.

Bambi’s little head turned around blankly. She stared in the direction of the stairs going from the third floor down to the second floor but didn’t find anything. She hesitated for a moment, clutching her teddy bear tightly, before heading up the stairs again with the bag of apple peels in hand.

And then…she was teleported back to the door of the third floor.

After three attempts, Bambi couldn’t hold it back anymore and burst into tears, in utter fear.