Lam Pham closed the glass door and quietly waited for the zombies to arrive. But suddenly, the zombies' howling ceased for a moment. Sounds from elsewhere caught their attention, drawing them away.
Perhaps a survivor had been discovered somewhere nearby.
"So chaotic."
The company was in disarray, with blueprints scattered all over the floor.
"Sigh, even the cleaning lady isn't around anymore. But maybe that's for the best."
The cleaning lady was over forty but still looked decent, her charm not yet faded.
The boss's uncle had always had a thing for her. Sometimes, he would take advantage of the situation for a little physical contact. The boss's uncle was truly a despicable pervert.
Lam Pham bent down and gathered the blueprints from the floor, neatly arranging them back on the desk.
To others, they might have just been scraps of paper.
But to the designers who had drawn them, they were the fruit of their labor.
When it rained, if you had an umbrella, it wasn't necessarily for shielding yourself—it might be to protect the blueprints.
"Where is everyone?"
After tidying up, he looked around. Not a soul in sight.
He noticed that the company's floor-to-ceiling window had been shattered, as if someone had broken it and jumped down from the upper floor.
He walked to the edge and looked down.
Sure enough.
Many corpses lay on the second-floor balcony.
They had probably been chased by zombies. His colleagues must have broken the windows trying to escape but misjudged the height, falling to their deaths.
"Sigh…"
He let out a long sigh, grief rising like a river.
His colleagues had been good people—young, brave types.
Whether in work or in life, they were reliable.
They earned pennies while pouring their hearts into high-end real estate designs worth millions.
Despite that, no one ever complained.
Everything they did was to survive at Hoàng Corporation.
Suddenly, a low growl echoed from the office.
"Is the boss... still alive?" Lam Pham muttered, eyeing the broken door with a grave expression.
He wanted to greet his boss one last time.
Inside the office, the boss staggered, his body stiff. His eyes were dull and lifeless, his pupils unreadable, and foul liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth.
Still, a boss is a boss. In a company, rules must be followed.
Even if the door was broken, to Lam Pham, whether the door existed or not didn't really matter.
He raised his hand and knocked on the wall.
Knock knock knock.
Unhurried, light, and steady.
"Boss, I'm coming in."
But what greeted him wasn't the familiar fake smile he used to see every day. That smile, once always on the boss's face, was now replaced by the ferocity of a predator who had spotted prey.
The boss roared viciously and lunged at Lam Pham with savage greed.
After turning into a zombie, strength and speed increased. Without pain or hesitation, they became truly terrifying beings.
The boss's body gave off a rotting stench.
Like pork left out for days, it reeked of decay.
But Lam Pham didn't flinch. He knew the boss had worked hard—probably stayed overnight working, hadn't showered, and ended up like this.
Just as the boss pounced, Lam Pham swung his blade.
Splat!
Black blood splattered in all directions.
The boss's head flew into the air, separating from the body with a thud as it hit the floor.
[Zombie slain]
[Points gained: +1]
"Boss, I really was watching a movie yesterday, I didn't lie to you."
"I was planning to go to work, but now the company clearly isn't functioning anymore. There aren't even any coworkers left. That's the truth."
"Still, thank you for everything you taught me. I really learned a lot."
"As for this month's salary, I'll calculate it myself and settle it with you."
He pulled out pen and paper.
Carefully calculating.
"Boss, my base salary is two thousand. Each bridge design earns me a five-hundred commission. This month, I worked overtime and completed five bridge designs. All were approved. So, total should be five thousand."
Lam Pham muttered to himself, occasionally glancing at the severed head on the floor.
He didn't exaggerate or cut corners.
Everything was by the book.
What's mine is mine. What's not mine, I won't take.
Even in the apocalypse, as long as the rules remained, hope remained too.
"Boss, this is my hard-earned money. I didn't include the small things. Like you said, we need to have a big-picture mindset—not nitpick. That sketch of Phong Linh? Consider it a gift to the company."
Lam Pham spoke calmly, firmly.
It was what he deserved, so there was no need to ask for permission or forgiveness.
When your conscience is clear, you can stand tall.
"Looks like you have no objections, boss."
Just then, he noticed a stack of cash on the desk, pressed under a contract.
Apparently, someone had come in before the apocalypse to sign a deal and paid a deposit.
A rough count showed there were tens of thousands.
"Boss, I'll help myself. I trust my own integrity—I won't take more or less than I should."
He counted out exactly fifty bills, left the rest untouched.
"Boss, goodbye."
He waved, walking to the company entrance, then looked back at the place that once gave him joy and hope.
Sadly, it was all gone now.
No coworkers.
No boss.
No clients.
The man was still the same. The place was still the same.
What he loved wasn't the building—it was the people he worked with.
As for the boss… he was just someone who liked to feed them motivational nonsense.
Slogan: "Loyal to the customer, serve the customer."
But in reality: "Loyal to the boss, serve the boss. Boss's interest first. Clients? There'll always be more."
The model of Phong Linh swayed gently, letting out a soft hum.
He pressed the elevator button.
Roar!
The sound of evil.
Several employees from the next company, now zombies, heard the noise and charged.
They moved fast, aiming to tear Lam Pham apart.
Thud, thud!
The sound of violence.
He didn't look back or speak.
He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor.
As the elevator door closed, the zombies collapsed.
His work was done.
With salary in hand, as he stepped out of the company, his connection with it ended.
He was now unemployed.
No job, no income.
Time to find something new.
He left the building.
Rode his Little Huang bicycle.
Waited at a traffic light.
"So empty, so quiet… I'm not used to it." When the green light came on, he pedaled at full speed through the streets.
"I'm home."
With feet on the pedals, a backpack full of salary on his back, and a heavy sense of peace in his chest—life felt good.
Life isn't just about the present.
There's also the future.
And that unknown, mysterious future… is what we most look forward to.