Tang Yun rested her hand on the shopping cart and calmly tilted her chin toward them. “Alright, come over. I’ll open the warehouse door and take you inside to get supplies.”
The people across from her hesitated, but for the sake of the supplies, they decided to follow.
Lu Chuan naturally stayed by Tang Yun’s side—there was no way he would let himself be left behind with them.
Right in front of the warehouse door, Tang Yun suddenly stopped. She unloaded the instant noodles and water from the shopping cart and piled them by the entrance.
“Forget it, you can split these supplies among yourselves. It just occurred to me—what if there are zombies hiding inside? I didn’t check carefully when I went in earlier.”
“You bitch! Are you messing with us?!” The tattooed man in the tank top brandished his axe, threatening Tang Yun. The others glared menacingly, but their eyes kept darting toward the water and instant noodles on the ground.
If they could take it all, it would be enough to sustain them on their way to the safe haven.
Besides, it was unclear whether the warehouse was safe, and rushing in recklessly was indeed unwise.
As they stood at an impasse, Tang Yun suddenly shoved the shopping cart toward the warehouse door.
The warehouse door, already damaged, swung open with a loud crash from the impact.
“Run!” Tang Yun used one hand to swing her trekking pole, knocking aside anyone blocking the way, while her other hand grabbed Lu Chuan, and they sprinted backward at full speed.
In an instant, the roars of zombies erupted from the warehouse. The people fighting over the bottled water and instant noodles at the entrance were quickly surrounded and attacked by the zombies.
The two ran extremely fast, knowing they had to leave the mall immediately. If they were caught up, another fierce battle would ensue.
Just as they reached the first floor, they encountered a person covered in blood, with two zombies in supermarket employee uniforms chasing close behind.
“Save me… please save me…”
Tang Yun frowned. Zombies pouring out of the warehouse were swarming the mall lobby, and a few more were staggering toward their direction.
This was bad! They needed to find a place to hide as soon as possible.
She scanned the surroundings and spotted the supermarket office near the emergency exit.
“Bang!” The two pushed open the office door and ducked inside, closing it behind them before they could catch their breath. The sound of scratching echoed from outside the door.
The office was in complete disarray, filled with useless items and no food. They couldn’t hide there for long before having to leave.
“Tang Yun, where’s your backpack?” Lu Chuan, now calmer, found it strange. She had been carrying it when they entered the warehouse, but it was gone when they came out. With the robbery happening earlier, he hadn’t had a chance to ask.
Tang Yun turned her gaze toward the window facing the street. Zombies wandered the road amid wrecked vehicles. Her hands, strained from overexertion, trembled slightly.
Turning back, she looked at Lu Chuan and, right in front of him, pulled a bottle of mineral water out of her space, unscrewed the cap, and took a few gulps.
“You… what’s going on?” Lu Chuan’s calm eyes flickered with shock and confusion.
Tang Yun interlaced her fingers, pressing them against her brow, and explained, “By chance, I obtained a space artifact that can store up to one cubic meter of supplies.”
She knew that if they were to continue cooperating, this secret might not stay hidden forever. Constantly concealing it would only make their partnership more difficult, defeating the purpose of working together.
“I understand.” Lu Chuan narrowed his eyes and, understandingly, didn’t press further.
After a pause, he finally spoke up. “Did you store enough supplies from the warehouse in your space for us to set out on our journey?”
“Mm,” Tang Yun murmured softly, “It should be enough for us to eat and drink for about a month.”
Both of them were utterly exhausted. After resting in the office for a while and not hearing any zombies lingering outside the door, they prepared to drive away from this place.
“Fortunately, you didn’t injure your right hand.” Tang Yun watched as Lu Chuan began changing his own bandages—the wound had been aggravated during the earlier fight. She sat down beside him on her own initiative, helping him secure the gauze.
Looking at Lu Chuan now, she seemed to see him as he was in high school—his brows lively, his lips thin, and his beautiful eyes carrying a hint of cool elegance, unlike the gentle, smiling demeanor he had when working as a doctor at the traditional Chinese medicine hospital.
Still, seeing him like this now was quite pleasing to the eye.
“I can still wield a knife with my left hand. We’ll probably face another fierce battle once we go out.” At this moment, he slightly turned to pack up the medical kit and handed it to Tang Yun, looking at her with those beautiful eyes. “Try to store everything in your space as much as possible. It’ll make moving around more convenient.”
As soon as the door opened, they sprinted and crashed through, with zombies chasing behind them. The once-bustling area was now a horrifying sight.
Tang Yun got into the driver’s seat and slammed her foot down on the accelerator!
“Vroom—”
The car shot forward instantly, knocking down several wandering zombies.
“Roar—” The car was forced to a stop. Just as Tang Yun was turning, zombies roared, slamming their hands against the windows, trying to reach inside and grab them.
An hour later, the sky gradually darkened.
“Take the Welcome Avenue exit off the highway. Let’s find a place to stay before it gets dark.” Lu Chuan held Tang Yun’s phone, checking the navigation app.
Tang Yun steered with one hand and nodded. “Alright.”
After driving for another hour, as they were about to exit the highway, Lu Chuan noticed the red streaks in her eyes and said, “Let me drive once we’re off the highway.”
At seven in the evening, dusk had settled heavily.
Tang Yun gripped the steering wheel without a word, shaking her head.
“You’re driving while fatigued.”
As they exited the highway, the car jolted and bumped.
Tang Yun felt thirsty, and her voice was slightly hoarse when she spoke. “The roads in the outskirts are remote and hard to navigate. Besides, your hand is still injured.”
“I’ll find us a place to stay as soon as possible.”
They were traveling south from R City. At this pace, they could reach G Town in a day.
The late autumn night was chilly. A little past eight in the evening, their car came to a stop on an open, flat stretch of land.
Tang Yun took out a tent from her space, then pulled out a pot to cook some noodles.
“I’ll cook the noodles.” Lu Chuan took the pot, looking slightly surprised. “You even brought a pot and a tent?”
Tang Yun sat on the ground, using a wet wipe soaked in mineral water to wash her face. “I saw them in the warehouse and grabbed them on a whim.”
“Eat well, sleep well—only then do we have the energy to keep running, right?”
Lu Chuan set up the fire, gathered some firewood, and lit it. Glancing at her with a faint, teasing smile, he said, “School Belle Tang is right.”
She took a sip of water and chuckled lightly. “Doctor Lu, let’s change the way you address me.”
Lu Chuan paused slightly while cooking the noodles, tilting his head to look at her. “How about Tang Tang?”
Tang Yun burst into laughter, suddenly feeling that Lu Chuan had a bit of a sly side to him.
After eating the instant noodles, the bonfire blazed brightly, driving away the cold of the night.
The intense fighting had drained their energy severely. Tang Yun wanted to sleep but didn’t have much time for it. With work gone, her insomnia problem naturally resolved itself.
“Tang Yun, I’ll keep watch for the first half of the night. You rest first.” Lu Chuan wrapped himself in a blanket and sat in front of the bonfire, turning to look at her busy figure as she set up the tent.
Tang Yun set up the tent and crawled inside, not bothering with formalities toward Lu Chuan—she was utterly exhausted.
“Alright, wake me if anything happens.”
The campfire crackled and popped as it burned. Late into the night, a cold wind whistled through. Tang Yun took a deep breath and gradually drifted into a deep sleep.
In the early hours of the morning, she was awakened by Lu Chuan. She took a few sips of bottled water before fully coming to her senses.
At six in the morning, Tang Yun roused Lu Chuan, and the two of them began re-planning their route.
The reason was that the nearest highway leading to G Town had become a massive abandoned parking lot, with the distant roars of zombies echoing from afar.