Xie Ning ascended the back staircase of the Love Home Supermarket’s side entrance, swiftly clearing two rotting corpses hiding in the corner. She weighed the long blade that felt perfectly balanced in her hand and quietly made her way to the second floor.
Her mother should be in the finance office at the end of the second-floor hallway.
Now, she had to take advantage of the fact that the zombies hadn’t gathered in large numbers yet. She needed to get her mother out first, to avoid being trapped in the supermarket for days like in her previous life, only to find her mother beyond saving by the time rescue arrived.
As Xie Ning passed the freight elevator, the doors slid open.
“Groan.”
A zombie wearing a hard hat staggered out, its body tilting, only to be swiftly cut down by Xie Ning’s heavy slash.
She quickly ran toward the end of the corridor, trying to steady her breathing.
Four or five zombies were gathered outside the office door, scratching at it with their long nails.
She had to finish this quickly. She could feel her stamina plummeting rapidly.
If dozens of zombies surrounded her, it would be disastrous. With her current strength, she couldn’t guarantee she’d escape.
Xie Ning took down one hunchbacked zombie with a few strikes and swiftly kicked another across the hallway.
Before the zombie could stagger to its feet, Xie Ning rushed over and drove her blade through the back of its skull, ending it swiftly.
The remaining three were dealt with just as quickly, and she made sure to keep the noise to a minimum, avoiding drawing more monsters.
After finishing off the zombies, Xie Ning felt her arms ache and her exhaustion deepen, a bitter smile involuntarily crossing her face.
This was normal.
Before the apocalypse, this body had lived a pampered life.
Her days had followed a simple routine—home to school and back. Aside from running a few laps in gym class or occasionally swimming or playing volleyball, she had never undergone any real physical training.
If not for the combat experience accumulated in her previous life, knowing where to strike for efficiency and speed, her body would likely be even more overwhelmed now.
Knock, knock. Xie Ning gently tapped on the door, suppressing her emotions as she whispered, “Mom, are you in there? Say something.”
Through the door, she could faintly hear movement and arguing inside.
“Xiao Ning, it’s my Xiao Ning. Why are you stopping me? Move aside, my daughter is here.”
“Are you insane, Song You’ai? If you open that door now, you’ll be sending us all to our deaths. There are so many monsters outside. Do you want to get us all killed?”
“Daughter, Mom’s coming.” Song You’ai pushed aside the middle-aged woman blocking her way and frantically rushed toward the door.
But just as her hand touched the doorknob, a man in a suit and tie rushed over and shoved her aside.
The middle-aged woman shrieked, “Xiao Chen, Xiao Li, hurry up and hold her down! What’s wrong with you?”
Several people pinned Song You’ai’s arms and head, pushing her into a corner where she couldn’t move an inch.
Song You’ai struggled desperately, tears welling in her eyes. “Xiao Chen, let me go. My daughter is outside.”
Outside were monsters that would tear people apart. Her daughter, with her slender arms and legs, couldn’t possibly fight them off.
She had to save her daughter, right now!
“Boss, we can’t open the door. We absolutely cannot open it. If we do, we’re dead,” the middle-aged woman screamed, her voice shrill and piercing.
Xie Ning tried her best to suppress the burning rage inside her. “The things outside have been dealt with. Open the door quickly. I’m only here to take my mother away. I mean no harm.”
Whether these other people left or not had nothing to do with her!
All she knew was that her mother was definitely coming with her this time.
“Are you serious?” The man in a suit listened by the door and indeed heard no roars from those things outside.