Why is it twenty minutes again?
Song Kexin now had quite a few complaints about these twenty-minute intervals, but before she could voice any protest, Xie Ning grabbed her aunt and ran toward the gas station.
“Mom, stay close to me. If we see any rotting corpses, I won’t act this time. I’ll guide you on how to handle them.” Xie Ning glanced back at Song You’ai, her expression grave.
“It’s not that I don’t want to help you, Mom, but everyone needs to learn how to deal with rotting corpses to increase their chances of survival.”
Otherwise, what would happen if she and her mother got separated or encountered some minor accident? How would her mother, who didn’t know how to save herself, cope?
“I, I understand.” Song You’ai’s hand, gripping the long-handled kitchen knife, trembled slightly. “Mom will learn.”
The mother and daughter paused as soon as they ran into the gas station.
They saw a plump woman in a staff uniform pinned against a pillar by a minivan, the front of which was completely caved in.
The woman’s eyes were rolled back, revealing grayish-white pupils, and she let out continuous hoarse roars.
When she spotted Xie Ning and her mother running in, her eyes filled with intense craving.
Song You’ai’s hand, clutching the long-handled kitchen knife, was slick with cold sweat. She stammered, “Mom, Mom will go and… and chop her.”
She was the mother, after all. How could she let her daughter always charge ahead? Even if she was scared, she had to step up!
Xie Ning walked forward with Song You’ai, guiding her on where to strike for the smoothest and quickest result.
“Mom, don’t be afraid. Aim for the back of her head. Tilt your head a bit farther away, yes, just like that. Be prepared—blood will gush out in a moment.”
No matter how much mental preparation Song You’ai had made, when she swung the knife and saw the dark blood spray out, she couldn’t help but retch.
The plump woman snarled ferociously. Song You’ai’s strike hadn’t damaged the rotting corpse’s central nervous system, and it was still moving, struggling as if trying to squeeze out from under the minivan’s hood.
Xie Ning clenched her sweaty hands, restraining herself from stepping in to help.
Song You’ai’s hands shook uncontrollably. Closing her eyes and steeling her resolve, she hacked down two or three more times in a chaotic, uncoordinated manner, tears streaming down her face as she struck.
After the rotting corpse collapsed to the ground, Song You’ai turned away and couldn’t hold back violent vomiting.
Xie Ning patted her back and handed her a tissue.
Song You’ai’s lips trembled, her voice choked with emotion. “I’m, I’m sorry. Is Mom too useless?”
When she had watched her daughter fighting monsters before, no matter how disgusting the rotting corpses were, her daughter could chop them down without batting an eye or her heart racing.
Why was she so useless when it was her turn?
“It’s different, Mom.” Xie Ning hugged her plump figure.
She had been navigating the apocalypse for so long—it was completely incomparable.
Back when she first experienced the apocalypse, she had been even less brave than her mother.
“You’ll get used to it. Slowly, you’ll get used to it.” Xie Ning took out a towel and helped her mother wipe the bloodstains from her hands.
Song You’ai suddenly asked, “Is it okay to get this blood on us?”
“It’s fine. The virus from these rotting corpses is mainly concentrated in their mouths and nails. As long as you aren’t scratched or bitten, it’s usually not a problem.”
Song You’ai nodded, then gave her daughter a strange look. “Sweetie, how do you know all this so clearly?”
The emergency messages released by the government didn’t seem to mention this point.
Xie Ning was momentarily stunned and quickly changed the subject. “Mom, I just checked—the fuel nozzles here aren’t dispensing any gas. Let’s go check the storage tanks in the back.”
Song You’ai nodded blankly, feeling that her daughter’s actions were just too swift.
From locating the underground oil filler port to swiftly opening it with tools, then taking out the manual oil pump to start extracting oil—it all felt like one seamless motion.