!!!
A roar exploded in Song Jinhe’s head.
It was the chair the zombie had knocked over earlier! The zombies in the hallway had already spotted her!
Song Jinhe leaned back, her legs pumping with frantic strength as if she couldn’t feel any pain. With two loud bangs, she kicked the cabinet doors open and scrambled out.
She was still a step too slow; the lead zombie already had half its body inside the room.
There were at least seven or eight zombies outside. Even if she put her life on the line, she couldn’t withstand the collective pressure of that many!
Song Jinhe’s feet were pushed back inch by inch. She watched as a zombie’s arm thrust through the door gap, its rotting, pus-filled wounds scraping a layer of disgusting flesh against the doorframe.
She couldn’t hold on any longer.
The moment she let go, Song Jinhe lunged forward, slammed a chair into the zombie, and grabbed a small pair of scissors from the desk. Then, she threw open the window and began to climb out.
The lead zombie, its sallow scalp exposed in patches, tilted its head back and roared as it lunged over the chair.
Oh, Mama… Song Jinhe, halfway out the window, nearly fell at the sight of it.
Fortunately, there was a decorative ledge outside the third floor just wide enough to stand on. Had she fallen from this height, a broken bone would be a lucky outcome; with bad luck, she’d land on her head and die on the spot.
The oxygen deprivation caused by her intense nerves sent a throbbing pain through her brain, and her right ankle was screaming in agony.
She didn’t have time to fully close the window. One zombie tried to claw at the gap to push it open, but its companion—a particularly aggressive but dim-witted fellow—slammed its head directly into the glass.
Crash!
The aggressive zombie didn’t care if it could actually fit through the hole. Its face was shredded beyond recognition by the sharp shards, its skin peeling away like a layer of wax to reveal dark, blackened flesh embedded with glass. Still, it persisted in trying to squeeze through.
Song Jinhe moved along the narrow ledge, her heart hammering against her ribs. She watched as the zombie lurched out of the window; its hand was less than two inches from her arm when it lost its balance and plummeted, landing with a heavy thud in the drainage ditch below.
The zombies behind it followed like beans pouring out of a jar. They either broke arms and legs upon impact or ended up snagged on the outdoor air conditioning units.
Only a zombie wearing a hat seemed different; it gripped a metal frame and started to climb up, only to be dragged back down by the weight of the others, leaving behind nothing but a bloody handprint and a strangely “intelligent” look in its eyes.
Song Jinhe took a deep breath and continued forward.
On her way to the medication room, she passed a room sealed with steel security bars and encountered three other trapped “companions.”
They clearly saw her as well.
Zhang Ping opened the window, her face alight with joy. “Jinhe! It’s so good to see you’re okay! We’ve been so worried about you.”
Worried?
Did she even believe her own words?
Song Jinhe spared them a glance and prepared to keep moving.
“Jinhe!” Deng Miao called out to stop her. “There are zombies everywhere outside, and we can’t get out. Can you help us? We’re roommates, after all. Everyone else is dead; there are only the four of us left.”
This room was on a corner, making its safety rating high, but since zombies were blocking the hallway, the people inside were effectively entombed.
“Did any of you think about giving me a hand earlier?” Song Jinhe asked calmly. Having gone a day without water, her voice sounded dry and raspy.
“We… we thought about it,” Zhang Ping stammered. “But there were so many zombies. We were scared.”
“And you think I wasn’t?” Song Jinhe let out a cold laugh. “I can’t help you. You don’t actually expect me to risk my life to lure the zombies away from your hallway, do you?”
Did she look like a sucker? The original “her” might have suffered over being abandoned by her friends, but the current her certainly wouldn’t.
“No, that’s not what we meant.” Deng Miao’s boyfriend, Cai Zheng, looked frantic. “You must have another way, right?”
She had managed to escape a swarm of zombies with a twisted ankle—how could she not have a way? She was clearly just making excuses! They all went to the same school; she was being far too petty.
“I suggest you find your own way out.”
She didn’t want them wasting her time while she searched for supplies.
“Song Jinhe! How can you be like this? Do you really have the heart to watch us die here? Didn’t we agree to help each other and leave this hospital together? Don’t go!”
Song Jinhe walked away without looking back, completely ignoring their hushed, desperate cries.
Her ankle still throbbed. By the time she reached the medication room and closed the door, she felt weak and lightheaded.
The medication room was well-stocked.
There were basic medical supplies like large bottles of alcohol, povidone-iodine, cotton swabs, gauze, hemostats, syringes, needles, and IV tubes. There were six unopened bottles of alcohol alone.
Song Jinhe first collected the sealed supplies into her space, then set the opened alcohol bottles aside.
Having not eaten all day, her stomach was practically stuck to her spine. She quickly grabbed an unopened jug of purified water near the dispenser, poured herself two paper cups in a row, and wolfed down a piece of bread she found in a drawer. She also grabbed a stack of disposable cups.
It was the third day of the massive storm. Due to equipment damage, over 80% of the city was without power and water.
The newer buildings in the city center were holding up, but older houses had mostly been damaged or collapsed. Soon, the water sources in some areas would be contaminated by zombies, worsening the situation.
The hospital sat on high ground and had independent power and water systems, so the impact of the natural disasters was minimal for now; water still flowed from the taps.
Song Jinhe stored the purified water in her space, then took down a nearly empty water jug, washed it, and filled it with tap water.
Items in her space did not spoil, as the interior was completely isolated from the outside world. However, it could not store living beings or “half-dead” things like zombies.
She had hoped to find something for self-defense, but after searching for a while, all she found was a lone badminton racket.
After packing the supplies, Song Jinhe stood by the window and looked out at the hospital. If this place weren’t located in such a densely populated city, it would actually make a decent base once cleared out.
But clearing it and maintaining long-term defense were massive problems. A powerful team couldn’t even take it, and even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to hold it.
She planned to hit the pharmacy for more supplies first, then find an opportunity to get a car and leave.
She remembered how to hotwire a car without a key. As long as she could break through the zombie perimeter, getting a vehicle wouldn’t be difficult.
Song Jinhe mapped out a route to the second-floor pharmacy. She took the waterproof map off the wall and put it in her space. Then, she picked up a white lab coat, tore it vertically, and wrapped the strips around her arms to prevent scratches. Then, she began to move.
“Jinhe is gone. What do we do now?” Zhang Ping covered her arm, her eyes darting nervously.
She had a small scratch, and she didn’t even know when she’d gotten it. She didn’t say anything for fear that the other two would misunderstand.
“It was total chaos, everyone was running. If we hadn’t left, we would have been eaten. She can’t blame us for that.”
As she spoke, Deng Miao noticed Zhang Ping’s bloodless face. She paused and asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t look well.”
Upon hearing this, Cai Zheng looked as if he were facing a mortal enemy. His gaze instantly turned cold. “You weren’t bitten, were you?”
“What are you talking about?” Zhang Ping feigned composure. “There isn’t a drop of blood on me. How could I have been bitten?”