Realizing that the stairwell leading downward was unusable, Brother Scar’s group also changed direction and headed upward.
There were zombies on the upper floor as well. Just after Song Jinhe’s group had dealt with those in the corridor, a few more emerged from the fire escape.
She was still running a fever, her body extremely uncomfortable, and even her perception had become less clear.
“You guys go first. I’ll be right there.” Song Jinhe left those words behind and ran back with her weapon.
There was no time to explain. She saw the buzz-cut man clutching a walkie-talkie and hiding inside a room.
He was going to call for backup.
The hospital wasn’t far from here. By her estimation, another group had already left the hospital!
Reaching the room where the buzz-cut man was hiding, Song Jinhe directly poured oil from her space into the room.
At this point, she could only vaguely sense the other person’s movements; she couldn’t hear anything. Now, aside from a splitting headache, she felt almost nothing at all.
Whether he had successfully contacted the other group, she had no way of knowing.
Song Jinhe looked at the zombies ahead, calmly lit a Molotov cocktail, and only threw it when they were almost at the door.
The oil on the ground ignited instantly and spread in a flash of fire.
Inside the room, the buzz-cut man was speaking into the walkie-talkie amid crackling static, reporting their position and situation.
Suddenly, flames burst in through the crack under the door, catching him off guard. Someone outside was trying to burn him alive!
“What’s going on? Hello?” a voice came through the walkie-talkie.
He didn’t have time to respond. He grabbed his weapon from the table and rushed to open the door, planning to strike whoever was outside, but the moment the door opened, he saw a zombie engulfed in flames.
He was too slow to react, and the burning zombie toppled straight toward him. The scorching flames licked his hand, leaving it covered in blisters. Just as he finished off the zombie, a sudden chill ran through his body.
The buzz-cut man looked down at the blade that had pierced his body and at Song Jinhe hiding by the door.
Through the crackling static of the walkie-talkie, a distorted male voice continued asking, “What’s going on? What happened? Answer me—”
Song Jinhe forcefully pulled out the knife, took the walkie-talkie from the dead man’s hand, and stored it in her space. The signal was cut off.
The area they were in was like an isolated island, surrounded entirely by floodwater. It would still take several days before the water receded enough for them to leave.
Once the remaining survivors and the hospital group joined forces, killing them wouldn’t take nearly that long.
Song Jinhe caught up with Cheng Yan and the others. The route they had taken earlier was no longer the same—zombies could appear from anywhere at any moment.
They were already extremely cautious, but an accident still happened. A zombie suddenly lunged from behind and grabbed Peng Zhixue, opening its bloodied jaws as he screamed in terror.
The area was cluttered with stored debris, slowing Song Jinhe’s reaction as she moved back to support him. Zhang Yi struck first, stabbing the zombie, and Song Jinhe followed up immediately, and together they killed the two zombies.
“Brother Peng, are you okay?” Zhang Yi asked.
Peng Zhixue took a deep breath. “I-I’m fine.”
There were still many zombies ahead. They were all exhausted after the long journey, but they finally made it back to the unloading warehouse.
The zombies outside had already dispersed, and they were preparing to drive away.
Suddenly, a zombie missing both arms crawled out from under Cheng Yan’s car, startling everyone. They instinctively swung their weapons down at it.
At that moment, a shadow moved across the makeshift steps above them.
What he threw toward Cheng Yan’s group was… a living zombie head.
“Get out of the way!”
Song Jinhe’s warning came too late. Peng Zhixue pushed Cheng Yan aside, but he himself failed to dodge and was bitten on the hand.
Fresh blood seeped from the shallow bite marks. He clutched his hand in pain as Song Jinhe turned coldly toward the tattooed man who slowly walked out, his clothes smeared with zombie blood.
“I was just here to scout, didn’t expect to get an unexpected harvest,” he said with a smile. “Don’t be so surprised. I’ve been here before, this place killed several of our people. Someone’s got to pay the price.”
The tattooed man whistled, then used the cluttered shelves as cover and quickly disappeared in a few steps.
“There’s a pharmacy nearby. We can still make it if we go now!” Zhang Yi said urgently, looking at Peng Zhixue’s wound. “It’s such a small wound, as long as—”
“It’s too late.”
Peng Zhixue shook his head and turned around bitterly, revealing two shocking scratch marks on the back of his neck.
The expressions of Song Jinhe and the others fell into heavy silence.
The injury on his hand could be treated, no need to go to a pharmacy. Song Jinhe’s space had hemostatic medicine and bandages.
But the neck… there was no saving that anymore.
Once upon a time, they were nothing more than strangers who happened to meet in the hospital. But after everything they had gone through together, things were no longer the same. Seeing this scene, how could their hearts not be moved?
They were only a fraction away from leaving this place.
“I know I’m going to die, so I just want to help you a little while I still can.”
Peng Zhixue forced himself to stay calm and continued, “If we still have a chance to leave here, could you drop me off near Xingfu Community? No need to go inside, just outside is fine. It’s not far.”
Cheng Yan’s eyes reddened slightly as he nodded solemnly. “I will definitely take you there.”
Zhang Yi wiped away her tears and pulled a bottle of iodine from her backpack. “Clean it first. Maybe it’ll help.”
In fact, they all knew it wouldn’t help, but none of them said it out loud.
Ability users had a certain resistance to the zombie virus. If the injury wasn’t severe, survival was still possible, but like the initial infection, awakening abilities had no warning and no trigger.
After inspection, they found that one of Song Jinhe’s car tires had been punctured.
“Should we all take one car? We can squeeze the supplies under our feet,” Zhang Yi suggested.
Song Jinhe shook her head. “We can still drive if we replace it with the spare tire.”
And besides, she still had something to do.
That perverted tattooed man didn’t retreat so decisively because he thought this level of revenge was enough, but because another group would be coming as backup.
What had just happened was a warning.
Their goal was to let them escape first, then follow them and track their movements, so they could ensure a complete encirclement and kill them in despair.
Song Jinhe moved their share of supplies into the back seat of Cheng Yan’s car and gave them six Molotov cocktails.
“What are you planning to do?” Cheng Yan looked at her, sensing a sharp, chilling determination in her gaze.
“Strike first, eliminate the threat at the root. They have accomplices. When we leave, we’ll avoid the hospital route. You go ahead first.”
After speaking, Song Jinhe, with Cheng Yan’s help, replaced the spare tire, then got into the driver’s seat and fastened her seatbelt.
The other three got into the second car, and the engines slowly started.
Zhang Yi sat in the passenger seat, clutching a bag full of Molotov cocktails. Peng Zhixue carefully opened an inner pocket of his jacket, took out an old wallet, and looked at the photo inside with a gaze full of sorrow and helplessness.
He didn’t want to die. He kept praying for a miracle, but his physical condition forced him to face reality.
Following behind, Song Jinhe drove out of the alley. Just as they had predicted, there were many zombies from the flooded areas outside, even some with shells still stuck to their bodies.