!!!
A loud buzz exploded in Song Jinhe’s head.
It was the chair the zombies had knocked over while wandering around earlier! The zombies in the hallway had already spotted her!
Song Jinhe threw her body backward and kicked forward with all her strength, as if she could no longer feel pain. Bang, bang, she kicked the cabinet doors open and crawled out.
But she was still a step too slow. The leading zombie had already forced half its body inside.
There were at least seven or eight zombies outside. Even if she risked her life, there was no way she could withstand that many pressing in on her!
Song Jinhe’s feet were gradually pushed backward little by little. She watched as half a zombie arm stretched through the crack in the door, the rotten, pus-covered wound scraping against the edge and leaving behind a disgusting smear of flesh.
She couldn’t hold on any longer.
The moment she let go, Song Jinhe hurriedly grabbed a chair and smashed it at the zombies. Then she snatched a small pair of scissors off the desk and shoved the window open to climb outside.
The zombie with the waxy yellow scalp exposed tilted its head back after entering the room and let out a howl as it stepped over the chair.
Oh my god…
Seeing that scene while climbing out nearly made Song Jinhe fall.
Outside the third floor, there was barely a narrow ledge wide enough to stand on. Otherwise, falling from this height would mean more than just broken bones. With bad luck and a head-first landing, she’d die on the spot.
The lack of oxygen brought on by panic made sharp pain throb through Song Jinhe’s nerves, while her right foot hurt unbearably.
There wasn’t enough time to completely shut the window. One zombie tried to pry the gap open, but the not-so-bright yet extremely violent zombie beside it simply lifted its head and slammed upward.
Crash—
The violent zombie guy didn’t care whether the shattered hole in the window was large enough to fit through. Sharp broken glass shredded its face beyond recognition, peeling its skin away like melted wax and exposing the darkened flesh beneath, embedded with glass shards, yet it still stubbornly tried to crawl out.
Stepping carefully along the narrow ledge, Song Jinhe watched in terror as it leaned out the window. Just as its hand came within two finger-widths of her arm, it dropped straight down with a thud into the ditch below.
The zombies behind it poured out one after another like falling beans. Some broke arms or legs from the fall, while others got stuck on the air-conditioning units outside.
Only the zombie wearing a hat was different. It grabbed onto the iron frame and climbed up, only to get dragged down again by the other zombies, leaving behind nothing but a bloody handprint and an oddly intelligent look in its eyes.
Song Jinhe took a deep breath and continued moving forward.
On the way to the dispensary, Song Jinhe passed a room sealed shut with welded steel security bars and ran into three other trapped “companions.”
They had obviously seen her too.
Zhang Ping opened the window with delight written all over her face. “Jinhe, thank goodness you’re okay! We’ve been so worried about you.”
Worried?
Did she even believe that herself?
Song Jinhe glanced at them and prepared to leave.
“Jinhe!” Deng Miao called out to stop her. “There are zombies everywhere outside. We can’t get out. Can you help us? No matter what, we’re roommates. Everyone else is dead, only the four of us are left.”
This room was at the corner, so its safety level was high, but once zombies blocked the hallway, the people inside couldn’t get out either.
“Did any of you think about pulling me up?” Song Jinhe asked calmly. After going a whole day without water, her voice sounded dry and hoarse.
“I… we did think about it.” Zhang Ping spoke hesitantly. “But there were so many zombies. We were too scared.”
“And I wasn’t?” Song Jinhe sneered. “I can’t help you. Don’t tell me you expect me to risk my life to lure the zombies out of the hallway?”
Did she look like some kind of sucker? The old “her” might have been hurt by being abandoned by her companions, but the current her wouldn’t be.
“That’s not what we mean.” Deng Miao’s boyfriend, Cai Zheng, looked anxious. “You must have some other way, right?”
Even with an injured foot, she had managed to escape from a crowd of zombies. How could she not have a way? She was obviously just making excuses! They were all from the same school, she was being way too petty about it.
“I suggest you figure something out yourselves.”
She wasn’t going to waste time here when she needed to search for supplies.
“Song Jinhe! How can you be like this? Can you really bear to watch us die here? Didn’t we agree to help each other and leave the hospital alive together? Don’t go!”
Song Jinhe left without looking back, completely ignoring their hushed calls behind her.
Her ankle still hurt badly. By the time she reached the dispensary and shut the door, her whole body felt weak and unsteady.
There were plenty of supplies in the dispensary.
Large bottles of alcohol, iodine disinfectant, cotton swabs, gauze, hemostatic forceps, syringes, needles, IV tubes, basic medical supplies were all there. There were even six unopened bottles of alcohol.
Song Jinhe first stored the sealed supplies in her space, then set the opened bottles of alcohol aside separately.
After not eating for an entire day, she was starving to the point that her stomach felt glued to her back. She quickly opened an unopened barrel of purified water beside the dispenser, poured herself two paper cups, and drank them in one go. Then she ate the piece of bread she found in a drawer and grabbed a sleeve of disposable cups while she was at it.
On the third day of the massive storm, equipment damage caused water and electricity outages across more than 80% of the city.
The situation was somewhat better in the newly built structures downtown, but most older buildings had been damaged or collapsed.
Soon afterward, water sources in some areas became contaminated by zombies, making the situation even worse.
The hospital sat on high ground and had its own independent power and water supply, so it was less affected by the disaster. Even now, water still came out of the taps.
Song Jinhe first stored the purified water in her space, then carried down the barrel that still had a little left at the bottom, cleaned it out, and filled it with tap water.
Inside the space, food had no conditions under which it could spoil. It was completely isolated from the outside world, but it couldn’t store living creatures or things like zombies that were half-dead but not fully dead.
Originally, she had wanted to find something for self-defense, but after searching for a long time, all she found was a badminton racket.
After sorting out the supplies, Song Jinhe stood by the window and looked out over the hospital. If this place weren’t located in a densely populated city, it actually would have made a pretty good shelter once cleared out.
But clearing it and defending it afterward would both be huge problems. Without a strong team, it couldn’t be taken, and even if it were, it couldn’t be held.
She planned to first head to the pharmacy to gather more supplies, then find an opportunity to get a car and leave.
From her memories, she knew how to start a car without a key. As long as she could break through the zombie encirclement, getting a vehicle wouldn’t be too difficult.
After planning out a route to the second-floor pharmacy, Song Jinhe took the waterproof map posted on the wall and stored it in her space. Then she picked up a white coat, cut it into strips lengthwise, and wrapped them around her arms to prevent scratches and grabs before finally setting out.
“Jinhe’s gone. What do we do now?” Zhang Ping avoided their eyes as she covered her arm.
It was just a tiny scratch. She didn’t even know when she got hurt, and she hadn’t said anything because she was afraid the other two would misunderstand.
“At the time, everything was chaos and everyone was running for their lives. If we hadn’t left, the zombies would’ve eaten us. She can’t blame us for that.”
As Deng Miao spoke, she noticed Zhang Ping’s pale face, paused, and asked, “What’s wrong with you? You don’t look too good.”
Hearing that, Cai Zheng immediately became tense, his gaze turning cold in an instant. “You weren’t bitten, were you?”
“What are you talking about?” Zhang Ping forced herself to stay calm. “There’s not even any blood on me. How could I have been bitten?”