One zombie fell, and more rushed out behind it. Jiang Shian reached out and pulled her behind him. The blade pierced straight through the temple of a lunging zombie. His voice carried no discernible emotion.
“Just now you were protecting yourself so carefully, and now you’re willing to rush forward even with an injury?”
“Because I need you.” Song Jinhe pressed her hand over her wound as she climbed out through the skylight. “You said it yourself, if you die, I definitely won’t see daylight either.”
Climbing onto the roof, more zombies followed them out. Among them, one wearing sportswear moved with remarkable agility, boosted and arrogantly confident.
Bats flew overhead. Song Jinhe lowered her head and buried her face under her hood, using her ability to search for paths while simultaneously relaying the zombies’ positions and distances to Jiang Shian.
In poor visibility, reckless shooting would not only waste bullets but also cost them the opportunity to kill zombies and potentially get themselves killed.
With a face that looked refined and noble, Jiang Shian was extremely steady in crises. Even when a zombie was already right in front of him with its mouth wide open, he could still calmly press the gun into its mouth and end it with a single shot.
Song Jinhe prepared a Molotov cocktail and told him to take out the few that were closely trailing them first.
“Five of them. They’re all in a straight line and very close. Can you handle it?”
With her ability, she wouldn’t miss the throw, but she still had to inform Jiang Shian so he could be prepared.
“Yes.”
Hearing the sound of a magazine being reloaded, Song Jinhe turned back and threw the Molotov. Guided by the flames, a bullet tore through the air and shattered the bottle with unstoppable force.
Flames spread midair as a bald zombie leapt up.
Amid the flying sparks, Jiang Shian stood in front of Song Jinhe, raising his right hand with a calm, sharp gaze.
Looking at his tall, straight back and the splattering black blood beside him, the firelight reflected in Song Jinhe’s pale eyes flickered for a brief moment.
Then, several gunshots rang out, and the zombies were hit one after another and fell.
The two of them coordinated like this and actually carved a path of survival through the long night.
Sitting in a café-style library, leaning against a bookshelf, Song Jinhe let out a long breath.
Hurry and let it be daytime… if another wave comes, she really won’t have the strength to run anymore.
Nanhe District.
Collapsed old houses and unfinished buildings stood between several newly constructed but not yet in use factory buildings and dormitories, which were repurposed as temporary shelters after the disaster.
Because the area was remote, it was fortunate not to have suffered large-scale zombie attacks.
At first, many people complained about the poor conditions of the shelter. Others were placed in star-rated hotels, while they were assigned to simple dormitories.
The beds were made of welded iron frames, the bed boards were hard, the quilts were uncomfortable, there was no stable supply of hot water for washing, and even the floors were bare cement slabs. It felt like being in prison.
Some even demanded to be moved elsewhere or to leave entirely.
Not long after, after going through several crises and witnessing the world in the apocalypse, those complaints gradually stopped. Instead, people began to feel grateful just to have survived.
Behind the windows covered with newspaper was another layer of old clothes, allowing only a faint trace of light to seep through.
“Life is already hard enough, and now we have this kind of weather too. When is it ever going to end? Is this really divine punishment? Even the sky won’t brighten anymore!”
“Enough, stop saying useless things every day. Old Zhou on the third floor has been feeling unwell for several days. Maybe we should go talk to everyone and have him leave here.”
The speaker had a sharp, narrow face and beady eyes that darted around. Looking at the man lying in bed all day, he continued, “People like him, honestly speaking, are just suffering by staying alive. It would be better for him to die sooner and suffer less, and at least not waste resources.”
“Yu Guang! What do you mean by that? Are you talking about Old Zhou, or are you indirectly insulting your own cousin?” the woman slammed the table, both angry and anxious. “Don’t forget, he went out to find supplies for all of us. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been bitten by those blood bats!”
“Sister-in-law, why are you so worked up? I’m just talking about Old Zhou.”
“Grandpa, I’m scared…” A little girl with braided hair woke from her sleep, tears on her face, looking timidly at the old man beside her.
“It’s okay, don’t be afraid, Nini. Once you wake up, Grandpa will make you something good to eat.”
Shen Li rolled her eyes. At a time like this, what use was it keeping a useless girl around? The Zheng old man’s family treated her like she was precious, but as a relative, she really couldn’t stand it.
She had two sons of her own, no less valuable than this girl.
And that girl’s mother, Hu Zhenyu, just because her husband was more capable than Shen Li’s own, she acted so superior all the time.
What was so great about that? In the apocalypse, houses and jobs were useless. Only sons were a guarantee for the future. Sooner or later, she would live better than Hu Zhenyu’s family.
“It’s getting late. Everyone go back and rest. Why are we still arguing among family…” the old man finally spoke.
Just as the two families stood up, the middle-aged man lying in bed suddenly showed a look of pain and began struggling violently.
“Honey, what’s wrong? Where do you feel unwell?” Hu Zhenyu hurried to the bedside.
“Big brother, what’s wrong with him? He’s not going to turn into a zombie, is he…”
A sound suddenly came from the balcony. The closest person picked up a flashlight to check, and a dark shadow abruptly slammed into the window, frightening him into stepping back several paces.
Immediately after, bats poured in like a flood.
“Ah!!!”
“It’s bats! They must have followed Big Brother back!”
“Look over there, something’s happened!” Yu Guang yanked the blanket off, revealing the spot where the man had been bitten. At some point, it had already become swollen and rotting, and the fluid oozing out carried a foul stench.
“How could this happen? He was fine just now when we applied the medicine!” the woman screamed, pounding her chest in despair.
“Quick! Big Brother is about to turn into a zombie. We need to move him out first and seal the window with the bed boards, or we’re all going to die!” Yu Guang reacted the fastest, already moving to wrap the man in the blanket.
“What are you talking about? He’s your cousin!” the woman shouted in panic.
“Just look at those things on the balcony! Who knows if they’re carrying the zombie virus? He’s beyond saving! We can’t even save the living, let alone worry about the dead. Haven’t you seen how fast people turn?”
“Yu Guang is right, sister-in-law. We can’t all die here. My two sons are still here!” Shen Li said, stepping in front of the woman to stop her from interfering, while calling out to her younger brother Shen Fei. “Hurry and help.”
“Put him down! Let go of my husband!”
“Don’t touch my son! We’re family, how can you do this!”
“Dad—Dad—”
In the chaos, the old man was shoved onto the bed. The child’s cries filled the room. The man, who had still been hanging on to a thread of life, was shaken back and forth in their struggle, and this time, he truly stopped breathing.
“You see? I told you!” Yu Guang urged. “Hurry, hurry, throw him out!”
Thud—
The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground was completely drowned out by the noise upstairs. Everyone was busy dealing with the bats and sealing the windows. Down below, the iron gate was being rattled violently by zombies.
“Something happened over there. Just now something seemed to have fallen down,” Zhang Yi, crouching in the staff dormitory above the infirmary, exclaimed.