As one zombie fell, even more surged out from behind it. Jiang Shian reached out and pulled Song Jinhe behind him, his dagger piercing the temple of a lunging zombie. His voice betrayed no emotion as he spoke.
“You were protecting yourself so well just a moment ago. Now you’re charging ahead despite your injury?”
“Because I need you,” Song Jinhe replied, clutching her wound as she scrambled out of the skylight. “Like you said, if you die, I definitely won’t live to see the dawn.”
They climbed onto the roof, but the zombies followed. One in a tracksuit was particularly agile; with its “buffed-up” speed, it moved with arrogant ferocity.
With bats fluttering overhead, Song Jinhe ducked her head into her hood. While searching for a path, she called out the positions and distances of the zombies to Jiang Shian.
In low visibility, firing blindly would not only waste bullets but also cost them the chance to kill the zombies, potentially leading to their own deaths.
Despite having a face that looked like it belonged to someone who had lived a life of pampered luxury, Jiang Shian handled the crisis with incredible stability. Even when a zombie was right in front of him with its maw wide open, he remained unfazed, pressing his gun into its mouth and finishing it with a single shot.
Song Jinhe prepared a Molotov cocktail and told him to deal with the few that were following closely.
“Five of them. They’re very close in a straight line. Can you handle it on your end?”
With her talent, she wouldn’t miss her throw, but she still had to warn Jiang Shian so he wouldn’t be caught off guard.
“I can.”
Hearing the sound of a fresh magazine clicking into place, Song Jinhe turned and hurled the Molotov. Guided by the firelight, a bullet tore through the air with irresistible force, shattering the bottle.
Flames spread across the air just as a bald zombie leaped up.
Amidst the splashing firelight, Jiang Shian stood in front of Song Jinhe, his gaze sharp and calm as he raised his right hand.
Song Jinhe looked at the slender back before her and the splattering black blood beside her. For a moment, the reflection of the fire in her pale eyes seemed to freeze.
Then, after a few more gunshots, the zombies were hit one by one and rolled off the roof.
The two of them coordinated so well that they actually managed to carve a path to survival through the long night.
Now sitting in a coffee library, leaning against a bookshelf, Song Jinhe let out a long sigh of relief.
Please, let the sun come up soon… If another wave came, she truly wouldn’t have the strength to run again.
Nanhe District.
Among the collapsed old houses and unfinished buildings stood several newly built but unused factory workshops and dormitories. After the disaster, these were used as temporary resettlement sites.
Due to its remote location, this area had fortunately avoided large-scale zombie attacks.
At first, many people complained about the poor conditions of the resettlement site. While others were reportedly staying in star-rated hotels, they were stuck in these crude dormitories.
The beds were welded iron, the bedboards were hard, the quilts were uncomfortable, and there was no supply of hot water for washing. Even the floors were bare concrete. Staying here felt like being in prison.
Some people even made a scene, demanding to move or leave.
However, after experiencing a few crises and seeing the state of the world under the apocalypse, those voices fell silent. Instead, they began to feel lucky.
Behind windows covered with newspapers and a layer of old clothes, a faint light flickered.
“Life is hard enough, and now we have this weather. When will it end? Is this really a divine punishment? The sun won’t even rise!”
“Enough, stop talking about that useless stuff every day. Old Zhou on the third floor has been sick for days. Maybe we should go talk to everyone and have him leave this place.” The speaker had a sharp mouth and monkey-like features. His beady eyes scanned the room, landing on a man who had been lying in bed all day. He continued, “With a body like that, to be honest, living is just suffering. It’s better to die sooner to suffer less and stop wasting resources.”
“Yu Guang! What do you mean by that? Are you talking about Old Zhou, or are you insulting your cousin indirectly?” A woman slapped the table, her voice thick with anger and anxiety. “Don’t forget, he went out to find supplies for all of us! That’s the only reason he was bitten by those blood-sucking bats!”
“Sister-in-law, why are you so excited? I was talking about Old Zhou.”
“Grandpa, I’m scared…” A little girl with braided hair woke up from her sleep with tears on her face, looking timidly at the old man beside her.
“It’s okay, Nan Nan, don’t be afraid. After you sleep and wake up, Grandpa will make you something delicious.”
Shen Li rolled her eyes. In times like these, what was the use of keeping a “money-losing” girl around? Yet the Zheng family treated her like a precious jewel. As a relative, she really couldn’t stand it.
She had given birth to two sons, who were surely more valuable than this girl.
And then there was the girl’s mother, Hu Zhenyu. Just because her husband was more successful than Shen Li’s own man, she always walked around with her nose in the air.
What was so great about that? In the apocalypse, houses and jobs were useless. Sons were the only security for the future. Sooner or later, Shen Li knew she would live better than Hu Zhenyu’s family.
“It’s getting late. Everyone go back and rest. Why are we arguing among family…” the old man spoke up.
Just as the two families stood up, the middle-aged man lying on the bed suddenly showed a look of agony, his body beginning to struggle.
“Husband, what’s wrong? Where does it hurt?” Hu Zhenyu hurried to the bedside.
“What’s happening to Big Brother? He’s not turning into a zombie, is he…”
A noise suddenly came from the balcony. The person closest grabbed a flashlight to check, only for a dark shadow to suddenly slam against the window. It frightened him so much he stumbled back several steps.
Immediately after, a swarm of bats covered the view.
“Ah!!!”
“It’s the bats! They must have followed Big Brother back!”
“Look, something’s wrong!” Yu Guang yanked back the quilt, revealing the area where the man had been bitten. It had become swollen and ulcerated without anyone noticing, and the fluid oozing out smelled foul.
“How can this be? It was fine when I applied the medicine earlier!” The woman beat her chest and wailed heart-wrenchingly.
“Quick! Big Brother is about to turn into a zombie! Move him out first, then seal the window with the bedboard, or we’ll all die!” Yu Guang had the strongest reaction. As he spoke, he reached out to roll the man up in the quilt.
“What are you saying? He’s your cousin!” the woman hissed in desperation.
“Look at those monsters on the balcony! Who knows if they carry the zombie virus? He’s beyond saving! We can’t even protect the living, so why care about a dead man? You’ve seen how fast the transformation happens!”
“Yu Guang is right, Sister-in-law. Our whole family can’t die together. My two sons are still here!” Shen Li said, stepping in front of the woman to prevent her from stopping Yu Guang. At the same time, she called her brother, Shen Fei. “Quick, give him a hand.”
“Put him down! Let go of my husband!”
“Don’t touch my son! We are family, how can you do this!”
“Daddy—Daddy—”
In the chaos, the old man was pushed onto the bed. Amidst the high-pitched crying of the child, the man—who had been at his last gasp—was shaken and jostled so much that he finally stopped breathing entirely.
“See, what did I tell you!” Yu Guang urged. “Quick, quick, throw him out!”
Thud—
The sound of the heavy object hitting the ground was completely drowned out by the noise in the building. Everyone was busy fighting off bats and sealing windows with whatever they could find. Below, the iron gate rattled loudly as zombies shook it.
“Something happened over there. I think something just fell down.” Zhang Yi, who was squatting in the staff dormitory above the infirmary, let out a cry of alarm.