Su Nian came to an abrupt halt, her gaze locking onto the figure standing beneath Building 10.
The person stood with the light behind him, making his face impossible to see. Tall and straight backed, he waited quietly beside the entrance to the stairwell.
Su Nian tightened her grip on her machete, every nerve in her body tensing once more. She had only just escaped from that group of men, the blood on her hands not yet dry. Running into a stranger now, she could not afford to let her guard down for even a moment.
She slowed her pace deliberately, keeping as much distance between them as possible.
The man noticed the movement and slowly turned around.
In the dim light, she could only make out his general outline. He was a man in his early thirties, his face expressionless.
He neither drew a weapon nor approached her. He simply stood there, watching her.
“Do you live in this building?”
He spoke first, his voice calm, carrying no obvious hostility.
Su Nian did not answer.
The man leaned casually against the wall, leaving even more space between them.
“Were you the one making all that noise out on the street? I came from that direction, and the smell of blood was overwhelming.”
Did he see it?
Had he discovered her storage space?
Su Nian’s heart tightened as she silently sized him up.
A tactical jacket, hiking boots, a crossbow slung across his back, and a machete hanging at his waist. His gear was neatly arranged. He did not look like a desperate looter, nor did he resemble a panicked survivor fleeing for his life.
There was no mud on his pant legs, no blood on his clothes. He was completely clean, and in this world, being spotless was suspicious in itself.
“Did you escape from those people?”
The man asked again, his gaze lingering briefly on the black blood smeared across her body.
Su Nian took another step backward.
“Who are you?”
Instead of answering directly, the man pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and placed it between his lips without lighting it.
“Just passing through. I heard the commotion over here, so I came to take a look.”
Su Nian stared into his eyes. He did not avoid her gaze, nor did he let his eyes wander over her.
He probably had not discovered her storage space.
Even so, she did not trust him. Anyone wandering through a horde of zombies in the middle of the night was never just passing by. In her previous life, she had met far too many people like that. They would claim they were only passing through, then stab you in the back the moment you turned around.
As the two remained locked in a silent standoff, a series of low growls echoed from the mouth of the alley.
Su Nian turned her head and saw several zombies shambling toward them.
Not just one or two.
There was an entire group behind them.
The earlier fight and the smell of blood had attracted every nearby zombie. Countless dark figures converged from both ends of the street, their growls growing closer by the second.
Su Nian stepped backward until her back struck the wall.
Zombies blocked her left side, and more closed in from the right. There was no time to run out of the alley.
She glanced toward the stairwell behind her, then at the man.
He had already pushed himself off the wall and removed the crossbow from his back. His movements were swift and practiced as he cocked the bow, took aim, and released.
The bolt pierced the nearest zombie straight through the eye socket.
It collapsed, but those behind it trampled over its body and continued surging forward.
“Get inside.”
The man spoke without waiting for her response. Another bolt flew from the crossbow as he retreated into the stairwell.
Su Nian hesitated no longer.
She swung her machete, splitting open the zombie lunging toward her before darting into the stairwell after him.
The two of them fought side by side, cutting down several zombies that rushed inside before slamming the iron door shut and securing it from within.
The zombies battered the door outside with heavy thuds.
The metal door shook several times but held firm.
The stairwell was plunged into darkness.
Leaning against the wall, Su Nian breathed heavily, her hands still trembling.
Her machete was coated in sticky black blood. She scraped it against the floor twice, but it refused to come clean.
The man stood several meters away at the stair landing, calmly loading another bolt into his crossbow.
His movements were smooth and practiced, clearly not those of a beginner.
After reloading, he rested the crossbow against the wall and crouched down without moving any closer to her.
Su Nian also crouched, setting her machete beside her.
Closing her eyes, she let her consciousness sink into her storage space.
Xingxing lay on the black soil, while the row of glowing numbers had dropped to 35:17, continuing to count down.
She looked at Xingxing’s face.
The redness was gone, and his lips were no longer dry.
He had completely recovered.
She withdrew her consciousness and opened her eyes.
The man was still crouching at the corner of the landing, not looking at her.
Su Nian took a water bottle from her backpack and drank a few mouthfuls. Then she pulled out a loaf of bread, broke it in half, stuffed one piece into her mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed.
She glanced at the man.
He took a compressed biscuit from his backpack, snapped off a small piece, and slowly chewed it.
Each of them ate in silence without speaking.
The zombies continued pounding on the door intermittently. They would slam against it several times, then fall quiet again.
Su Nian leaned against the wall with the machete resting across her knees. Her eyes were closed, but she did not sleep.
She did not dare.
“Where are you headed?”
The man suddenly broke the silence.
Su Nian opened her eyes and looked toward the shadowy figure.
“Home.”
“You should leave as soon as possible. There are more and more zombies in the county town. In another couple of days, you might not be able to get out at all.”
He tucked the remaining biscuit into his backpack, stood up, and walked to the window to glance outside.
“I’m leaving at daybreak, heading north. There are fewer zombies up there.”
Su Nian did not respond.
“What about you?”
He looked back at her.
“West.”
The man fell silent for a few seconds.
“There are a lot of zombies to the west. A few days ago, I ran into a group of people who escaped from there. They said things weren’t very peaceful in the mountains either.”
Su Nian’s fingers curled slightly.
Shuixi Village was to the west.
“I didn’t ask for the details.” The man returned to the corner and sat down. “If you’re heading west, leave as early as you can after sunrise. The later you wait, the more zombies you’ll run into.”
Su Nian nodded without saying anything.
She had no intention of telling this man where she was really going.
But she remembered what he had said.
The west was no longer safe.
The pounding on the iron door finally stopped.
After a brief silence outside, several more growls drifted over, followed by a jumble of footsteps.
Su Nian listened carefully.
The footsteps gradually faded as they moved toward the far end of the alley.
She waited a little longer until she was certain everything had gone quiet.
Then she went upstairs and found an apartment, locked the door, and shoved several large wardrobes against it.
She placed Xingxing on the bed, threw away her filthy clothes, rinsed herself off as best she could, then wrapped her arms around Xingxing and enjoyed a good night’s sleep.
At eight o’clock the next morning, Su Nian and Xingxing each ate a steaming bowl of noodles.
After packing everything up, she secured Xingxing to her back.
There were still twenty five minutes left on the storage space timer, and she wanted to save it for an emergency.
The moment she reached the first floor, she saw the man from the previous night.
He had a buzz cut and was remarkably handsome.
“This is…?”
His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed the child strapped to her back.
“My son.”
Su Nian ignored him after that. She walked to the iron door and peered outside through the narrow gap.
There were fewer zombies in the alley than there had been during the night, though seven or eight still wandered aimlessly.
She waited until several drifted toward the alley entrance, leaving a stretch of open ground in the middle.
She pulled open the door and slipped outside.
Glancing back once toward the stairwell, she saw that the man had not followed.
Turning away, she hurried along the wall toward the far end of the alley.
When she reached the entrance, she suddenly stopped.
The man was standing there with his back to her.
Hearing her footsteps, he turned around, looked at Su Nian, then at the child on her back.
Su Nian’s hand moved to the handle of her machete.
“Are you following me?”
The man shook his head.
“No. I’m taking this road out of the county town too.”
He stepped aside, leaving her plenty of room to pass.
“You go first.”
“Oh, right.”
He spoke again.
“Are you heading for the mountains to the west? I remembered something from last night.”
Su Nian tightened her grip on the machete.
“Are you going to Shuixi Village?”
Her breathing caught for a moment as her fingers clenched around the handle.
“How do you know?”
Her voice was tense.
“I’m afraid Shuixi Village is no longer safe.”