As soon as Tang Yun opened the car door, Lu Chuan wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her, immediately hoisting her onto the roof.
Suppressing her dizziness, she gripped the rope and followed Lu Chuan up to the second-floor balcony, evading the zombies lunging from below.
“How are you?!” Without lingering on the balcony, the two of them panted as they climbed the stairs to the rooftop.
The heavy iron door closed behind them, and Tang Yun slid down against the wall to sit.
“Ouch!” She gasped in pain. “Very dizzy, feeling nauseous.”
Lu Chuan handed her a bottle of water. “Let’s rest here for a while. We’ll leave after lunch.”
“Mm.” Tang Yun drank some water and closed her eyes to recuperate.
Outside, the commotion was considerable—many zombies were prowling and hunting in the vicinity.
Catching her breath, Tang Yun said, “Doctor Lu, we’re really unlucky.”
Lu Chuan’s cool, ascetic face darkened. “We didn’t see so many wandering zombies before we came. Suddenly, there are more of them—it feels like they’re targeting us.”
Not long after, banging sounds came from the door. Fortunately, the staggering footsteps soon faded away.
Tang Yun remained tense, sitting on one side of the door while Lu Chuan took the other.
With Lu Chuan guarding the door, she slept for two hours despite her dizziness. When she woke, the nausea had almost subsided.
At noon, they didn’t light a fire, only eating compressed biscuits with bottled water.
“Let’s go. It’s quiet outside now. We’ll go down to check things out. If all’s clear, we can hit the road.”
“Mm, but your car is wrecked. We’ll need to find another one downstairs.” Leaning on her hiking pole, Tang Yun cautiously descended the stairs.
They had already surveyed the surroundings from the rooftop—only a few zombies were visible in the distance.
The two cautiously circled the residential buildings, but finding a car with fuel that still worked proved extremely difficult.
Most vehicles on the roadside were either wrecked or had their gasoline siphoned off by passing survivors.
Fortunately, they eventually found an off-road vehicle hidden in a secluded spot, more suitable for wilderness travel than Lu Chuan’s previous car.
Just as they were retrieving the vehicle, they nearly got scratched by a zombie.
Tang Yun used her hiking pole to knock away the lunging zombie, while Lu Chuan started the off-road vehicle. She immediately jumped in, and the zombie was left far behind in the exhaust fumes.
Driving out of the residential area, they headed toward G Town via a rural route. In the open areas, zombies were fewer, and their tension gradually eased.
“Have some water, Doctor Lu.” Tang Yun ate a bread roll and drank some water from the passenger seat before unscrewing a bottle and handing it to Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan kept both hands on the steering wheel, glanced at her, and suddenly curled the corners of his lips faintly, revealing an ambiguous, half-smiling expression.
“I’m driving.”
Seeing the slight upward curve of his lips and the softening of his usually cool demeanor—even a hint of gentleness—Tang Yun sensed something from their days together.
When Lu Chuan was thinking of something amusing, he didn’t bother hiding his underlying mischief.
Tang Yun forced a polite smile and, against her better judgment, pulled a carton of yogurt from her space, inserted a straw, and held it to his lips.
“Drink up, Doctor Lu.”
Lu Chuan accepted this method of feeding quite readily.
As Tang Yun withdrew her hand, she suddenly heard him chuckle softly. “Thanks.”
By evening, they finally reached the outskirts of G Town.
“Are we here?” Tang Yun looked at the familiar road signs. The situation here was just as dire as in R City, and her heart tightened with worry.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Lu Chuan’s mood was even more somber than usual.
“Let’s prepare. Based on distance, we’ll go find my parents first.”
Tang Yun paused at his words. “Alright, but Dr. Lu, something’s off here.”
Her gaze remained fixed outside the window. There were very few zombies outside, and it was unusually quiet, as if the area had been cleared by some organized group.
The outskirts were sparsely populated, and the once fragrant rice fields now lay barren.
“My home is near G Town High School. Both my parents are middle school teachers,” Lu Chuan said softly, turning the steering wheel. “When the zombie virus broke out, it was a weekday. They were most likely at school.”
Tang Yun had no grounds to comfort Lu Chuan. Her own family’s situation likely wasn’t any better.
Hospitals, schools, and shopping malls—these were all considered high-risk zones.
“They’ll be safe,” Tang Yun finally managed to say after a long silence.
Lu Chuan gave a faint smile. “I hope you’re right.”
“Then, let’s head to G Town High School first,” Lu Chuan said, turning a corner and glancing at Tang Yun. “The school is too dangerous. Will you go in?”
Tang Yun thought for a moment. She knew Lu Chuan valued his life and wouldn’t throw it away needlessly.
If she didn’t follow him this time, she was certain they would part ways for good.
She still needed to reach Shelter No. 3 and required a cooperative partner like him.
“Of course I’ll go. Didn’t we agree earlier? Once you find your parents, you’ll help me look for my family.”
…
As dusk fell, their car approached the vicinity of G Town High School.
Since they were already here, there was no need to rush. They decided to scout the area that night before heading to the school.
They sneaked into a tall building and discovered that the zombies wandering below moved faster than any they had encountered on their journey—a troubling sign.
“Have the zombies here evolved?” Tang Yun stared at the few bloodied, staggering figures below.
After the zombie virus outbreak, communications were quickly cut off, water and electricity ceased, nuclear power plants exploded, and cities turned into scorched wastelands.
“From what I’ve observed, the infection time from zombie scratches or bites is getting shorter,” Lu Chuan replied.
“Let’s rest. We’ll set off at six tomorrow morning.”
As dawn broke, Tang Yun placed some food in the car and some in her backpack. They might encounter survivors at the school, and the secret of her space must never be revealed to anyone else.
Today, Tang Yun was driving while Lu Chuan sat in the passenger seat, holding a mountaineering axe.
The streets were eerily quiet. As they neared G Town High School, they still hadn’t seen any zombies.
Bang! Something dashed toward them, and the SUV collided with it.
Tang Yun was about to brake when Lu Chuan stopped her. “Keep driving! We just hit a zombie!”
The zombies here were abnormal—their movements were too fast.
As the violent collision echoed, the previously silent streets erupted with the roars of zombies. The scent of living humans inside the SUV drew the bloodthirsty zombies, closing in tightly.
“Accelerate!” Zombies seemed to emerge from nowhere.
Tang Yun gritted her teeth and slammed on the gas. “Hold on! I’m breaking through!”
Bang—
The SUV suddenly burst out of the street, temporarily leaving the zombies behind.
The car was wrecked again, but Tang Yun didn’t dwell on it. She immediately opened the door and ran.
A climbing rope was already secured to a tall building. She quickly scaled it, only to realize Lu Chuan had fallen behind.
“Lu Chuan, hurry!”
“Climb up!”
The car door was pushed open, and Lu Chuan gritted his teeth as he tumbled out. A shard of glass had pierced his thigh, and blood was flowing from the wound.
He endured the pain, gasping for breath, and looked up at Tang Yun on the upper floor. “Don’t worry about me, run!”