The middle-aged man in the windbreaker outside the window, seeing that Tang Yun remained silent, began to introduce himself. “My name is Liu Jie. The one on the left is Luo Chun, and the lady on the right is surnamed Shen—Shen Lin.”
“We came from R City. We’ll rest here tonight and set off for Shelter No. 3 at six in the morning.”
“Little sister, let’s skip the pleasantries. How about we travel together tomorrow morning?”
Nowadays, which survivor’s destination isn’t a safe haven?
Lu Chuan stepped forward, lightly placing a hand on Tang Yun’s shoulder, and said to them, “I’m sorry, but we plan to stay here for a few more days before leaving.”
“Oh, I see.” Liu Jie nodded.
Shen Lin tapped on the window, looking somewhat embarrassed. “The windows in the other classrooms are all broken. It’s cold at night, and we didn’t bring thick clothes. Could you open the door and let us rest here for the night?”
Lu Chuan raised an eyebrow, puzzled. “Aren’t you leaving at six? It’s already past three now.”
Just as Liu Jie’s group was about to speak, Tang Yun suppressed a laugh and tugged at Lu Chuan’s sleeve.
“Brother Lu, I don’t like sharing a room with strangers.”
Her voice was truly soft.
Lu Chuan coughed into his fist and gave the people outside the window a look. “Go check the second floor. The window in the middle classroom seems to be intact.”
The three outside frowned, displeased, and left.
Tang Yun naturally knew they had ill intentions. As long as they hadn’t openly turned hostile yet, it was fine.
“Lu Chuan, I saw those three at the mall earlier. They were spying on us from behind the shelves.”
“Just now, I didn’t know what they were planning. If they genuinely wanted to invite us to travel together, we’re heading to G Town, so we couldn’t have gone with them anyway. If they were here to rob us, a fight would have been unavoidable.”
Tang Yun pointed outside the window with a smile. “Come on, Dr. Lu, let’s climb the wall.”
Lu Chuan smiled helplessly and took out the climbing rope to secure the doors and windows.
When they went to get the car, they didn’t expect the three to be lying in ambush in the tall, meter-high wild grass beside the vehicle.
This was the first time Tang Yun saw Lu Chuan truly take action. Every move was precise, and with her assistance, all three were subdued.
The three huddled in the corner, looking at them in terror.
The short-haired woman pleaded tearfully, “No… please, let me go. I only acted because they threatened me.”
“Let you go?” Tang Yun scoffed. “If we were the ones who were defeated, would you have let us go?”
“Little brother, please, I’ll give you anything you want. Just let me go.” Shen Lin’s voice trembled, filled with extreme fear. Seeing that pleading with Tang Yun was futile, she turned to Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan planted the climbing axe on the ground, his gaze cold. “What if I want your life? Will you give it?”
Shen Lin: “…” She felt she was being toyed with.
Just as the two were about to act, Luo Chun, who had remained silent all along, suddenly crushed something, releasing thick smoke.
When the smoke cleared, the three injured individuals were nowhere to be seen.
“They’re strange. They don’t seem like ordinary robbers. Clearly, they followed us from R City, but how did they know our exact location?” Lu Chuan suspected they had a special tracking device.
Tang Yun pondered briefly. “Those three are indeed strange, but we have no leads for now. Let’s just walk for now.”
…
As they drew closer to G Town, the surroundings grew increasingly grim, with more and more abandoned, wrecked vehicles littering the road.
Lu Chuan’s arm had mostly healed, and he now took turns driving with Tang Yun, who sat in the passenger seat observing the road ahead.
From time to time, they spotted car doors left open, interiors stained with blood and corpses slumped inside. Zombies wandered the streets and alleys.
Most of the area consisted of residential buildings. Tang Yun planned to find a high spot to set up camp before sunset.
As night fell, they parked the car in front of a newly completed high-rise building.
Entering the building, the two checked each floor before finally choosing a room with intact doors and windows to rest in.
For dinner, they opened a few cans of braised beef and boiled a pot of noodles.
Steam rose in white wisps, and the savory aroma of canned meat grew richer. By candlelight, wrapped in blankets, they ate their meal in silence, an unexpected sense of peace settling over them.
The building was equipped with solar power, and the water tank still had water. After dinner, Tang Yun decided to take a bath.
After all the hardship and displacement along the way, finding a place with hot water felt like an incredible luxury.
Steam curled upward as Tang Yun sank into the bathtub, letting out a contented sigh. After washing her hair, the damp strands clung to her slender, pale neck.
She decided to cut her long hair shorter, just enough to tie it up—much more practical that way.
After changing into clean clothes and drying her hair, she stepped out.
Lu Chuan had already set up the tent. Seeing her emerge with a rosy complexion, he maintained a calm expression, though his eyebrows lifted slightly.
“We’re in a residential area, and it’s chaotic here. You rest first; I’ll take the second watch,” Lu Chuan said after his own shower, picking up his climbing axe and a blanket to sit by the window.
Tang Yun yawned, nodded, and slipped into the tent. “Thanks, Dr. Lu.”
“Time’s up. Wake up.” At the appointed hour, Lu Chuan entered the tent without hesitation and shook Tang Yun awake.
Rubbing her temples, she crawled out of the warm cocoon and shivered as the cold air hit her.
Lu Chuan lay down inside, pulling the blanket over himself. The warmth and a faint, lingering fragrance washed over him, and drowsiness swept in like a tide.
At dawn, sunlight filtered into the room.
Tang Yun yawned a few times and was about to wake Lu Chuan when she heard noises from downstairs.
Since binding with the Apocalypse Survival System, her hearing had become sharper than before.
“Lu Chuan, there’s movement downstairs!” Tang Yun tugged at him, quickly storing all their supplies in her space.
They were on the sixth floor. Tang Yun moved quietly down the stairs with her trekking pole, Lu Chuan keeping pace on her left.
“Grrr—” Suddenly, several zombie growls echoed from ahead.
Tang Yun swiftly struck an oncoming zombie with her trekking pole, knocking it down the stairs.
More zombies lunged forward. Lu Chuan kicked one aside and cleaved a bloody path with his climbing axe.
Some zombies that hadn’t been hit in the head staggered back to their feet, swaying as they advanced toward the two.
As the zombies grew in number, Tang Yun suppressed her panic and fought alongside Lu Chuan, cutting their way downward.
Tang Yun leaped into the car, quickly turning the steering wheel as the vehicle accelerated, crushing several zombies before speeding forward.
“Tang Yun, turn around! The road ahead is a dead end in five hundred meters!”
The engine roared as it accelerated, but it was too late. With no other choice, Tang Yun charged forward, wrenching the steering wheel hard at a fork in the road.
Zombies lined both sides of the road. A violent collision with the barricade would put the two in the car in extreme danger.
“Bang!” The car crashed and was forced to a stop, jolting the two inside roughly.
Tang Yun felt like he was about to get a concussion!
“Tang Yun, run!” Lu Chuan opened the car door and threw a grappling hook toward the second-floor balcony of a building.