“Knock, knock!!” The knocking at the door grew more urgent.
“Sister, sister, could you open the door?” A young girl’s voice came through, sounding desperate.
Tang Yun asked, “What’s the matter?”
The girl spoke timidly, “Sister, I’ve been bullied at the Shelter Station. There are many other girls like me who have been bullied too. Can you help me?”
Tang Yun stood before the door with her arms crossed, listening to the timid, anxious words from outside.
She and Lu Chuan had deliberately chosen a classroom with intact windows and doors, equipped with curtains, which were now tightly drawn.
If someone hadn’t been specifically following them all along, how would they know she and Lu Chuan were here?
Moreover, only she was inside at the moment, and the young girl kept calling her “sister.”
She knew it was a trap, but time was running out. She urgently needed someone to tell her what was really going on at this Shelter Station and whether Lu Chuan’s parents were still alive.
“Click~” Tang Yun turned the doorknob and opened the door.
Sure enough, the sleazy Fan Zhuo squeezed in as soon as the door opened and closed it behind him.
Behind him followed a girl who looked timid, too afraid to raise her head and look at Tang Yun.
Now inside the room, Fan Zhuo’s lewdness was on full display.
He took a few steps forward, staring intently at Tang Yun’s face. “Miss Tang, in the apocalypse, you can’t survive without finding someone to rely on. Don’t be so quick to reject me.”
“I’ll take your previous rejection as you just putting on airs in front of others. What’s so good about that pretty boy? Anyone with sense knows they should stick with someone like me, who has a say in the Shelter Station.”
As he spoke, he turned and beckoned. “Xiao Li, come here.”
The girl behind him looked timid. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to step forward in front of Fan Zhuo.
Fan Zhuo pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her neck, licking and biting as he chuckled lewdly. “Miss Tang, see? This innocent schoolgirl still had to cozy up to me just to eat well and live comfortably at the Shelter Station. She came willingly—I generally don’t like forcing people.”
After saying this, he reached out to grab Tang Yun.
Tang Yun, her face dark, dodged his groping hand, unable to suppress the goosebumps rising all over her body. She flung the dirty water Lu Chuan had used to clean his wounds straight at Fan Zhuo.
“Bitch!” Fan Zhuo roared in anger, pushing the girl away and wiping his face with his hand.
“Do you believe that with just one word from me, I can have you thrown out of the Shelter Station?!”
Tang Yun planted her trekking pole in front of her, shooting a disdainful glance at the utterly repulsive Fan Zhuo. “With a face like yours, you think you can pull unspoken rules on me at the Shelter Station? Even zombies would find you disgusting.”
Her words left no room for negotiation. Fan Zhuo, furious, spat out, “Fine! Fine! Fine! Let’s see if you’re still so tough-talking later!”
As he spoke, he pulled out a kitchen knife tucked behind his back and swung it at Tang Yun.
Tang Yun was agile and strong. In just a few moves, she subdued him.
She took out a climbing rope, tied Fan Zhuo up on the floor, and stuffed a cloth into his mouth to gag him.
Xiao Li, who had been watching from the side, looked even more timid, her face pale as if she had been frightened senseless by what had just happened.
“Sister, please let me go. He forced me into this.”
Tang Yun glanced at Xiao Li, finding it somewhat laughable that she was putting on such an innocent act in front of her.
“Were you really forced?”
Xiao Li hung her head low, her long hair falling and conveniently covering her eyes.
Tang Yun didn’t want to tear off her disguise, but some things still needed to be clarified.
Tang Yun’s method of interrogation lacked finesse, but just then, Lu Chuan returned.
“What’s going on?” Lu Chuan had come back after exchanging supplies. Seeing Fan Zhuo and Xiao Li, he asked again, “Are you hurt?”
“He’s no match for me. They’re tied up. You make them tell the truth.”
Lu Chuan took out a set of silver needles from his backpack—the ones he used for acupuncture at the hospital, which he hadn’t forgotten to bring along even while fleeing.
With the needles inserted into excruciatingly painful acupoints, Fan Zhuo and Xiao Li quickly spilled everything about the shelter station.
The highest authority in establishing this shelter station was the former school principal, who now ruled over it like a local tyrant.
Those infected within the school had all been burned, among them Lu Chuan’s parents.
This was revealed by Xiao Li, whose teachers had been Lu Chuan’s parents.
When the Zombie Virus spread into the school, Lu Chuan’s mother was teaching a class. Near the end of the lesson in the evening, a student remained slumped over his desk, convulsing. Thinking he was ill, the teacher tried to help him to the infirmary.
Unexpectedly, the boy looked up and bit Lu Chuan’s mother. At the time, Lu Chuan’s father had no class during the last period and, as usual, waited in the corridor outside his wife’s classroom for her to finish so they could go home together.
After Lu Chuan’s mother was bitten, the entire classroom erupted into chaos. Soon, she too began convulsing like the boy.
Lu Chuan’s father, thinking it was rabies, carried his wife on his back to rush her to the hospital, only to have his neck bitten as soon as he lifted her.
Panicked students scattered and fled. Later, the principal urgently gathered the surviving students and teachers in the auditorium.
On the second day of the apocalypse, the G Town High School Protection Station was established in the auditorium.
“My condolences.” Tang Yun patted Lu Chuan’s hand. He sat on the ground, hands resting on his knees.
Lu Chuan took a deep breath, his eyes reddening, his voice slightly hoarse. “Let’s go. It’s not safe to stay here.”
They didn’t kill Fan Zhuo or Xiao Li, only tied them up in the classroom to prevent them from causing a commotion when they left.
That same day, they left the shelter station under the pretext of going out to search for supplies.
After leaving the shelter station, Tang Yun and the others found a car and continued on their way.
Tang Yun gripped the steering wheel and glanced at the silent Lu Chuan. “Have you taken the antibiotics?”
Lu Chuan shook his head, then retrieved the medicine from his backpack to take it. He choked a little while drinking water.
Tang Yun frowned slightly. She could sense Lu Chuan’s emotional instability, but fortunately, he was obedient—taking medicine when told, sleeping when told. This contrast with his usual demeanor revealed a touch of endearing vulnerability.
“Tang Yun, I’m fine.” Lu Chuan finally managed a smile, having noticed from the corner of his eye that Tang Yun kept glancing at him.
Tang Yun didn’t feel awkward; instead, she spoke candidly. “Good. I was worried you’d fall apart. Who would I team up with to go to Shelter No. 3 then?”
She drove fast. Her home wasn’t too far from G Town High School—if all went smoothly, they could reach it in an hour.
She was still familiar with the roads, avoiding densely populated areas and taking detours. Along the way, they encountered few zombie attacks.
However, the intense focus required for the journey left her somewhat fatigued, even beginning to feel drowsy.
It wasn’t until the jeep entered her residential complex that Tang Yun’s anxiety grew increasingly intense.
The situation in the complex was dire: the security booth was wrecked, zombies wandered in the distance, and the roads were stained with blood.
Tang Yun quickly led Lu Chuan to the base of her building, but unfortunately, the security door had been forcibly smashed open, with visible knife marks on it.
She stood before the door, her hand gripping the weapon trembling slightly, while Lu Chuan stepped forward to check the situation.