Something was wrong.
It wasn’t a person.
The chains rattled, followed by a harsh scraping sound, nails dragging across metal.
Su Nian reeled in the wire mesh, walked over to the base of the wall, pulled out a short ladder, propped it against the fence, and leaned halfway over to look outside.
A zombie was pressed against the iron gate, its body jerking as it shoved forward. Its rotting face was wedged into the gap between the bars, and its grayish white eyes rolled toward the courtyard.
The scraping echoed sharply through the silent mountain village.
She had to deal with it.
Su Nian picked up a brick and hurled it into the distance. With a loud bang, the zombie immediately stopped clawing at the gate. She threw another one.
The creature slowly turned its decayed head, locking onto the source of the sound.
Swaying with every step, it staggered toward the noise, a guttural growl rumbling from its throat.
Su Nian quickly pulled open the gate. Before it could react, she raised her machete and brought it down with all her strength onto the back of the zombie’s head.
The zombie collapsed without making much noise.
She wiped the blood from the blade but didn’t go back inside immediately. Instead, she stood beneath the wall and looked toward the entrance of Shuixi Village.
There were already zombies appearing in the village.
There will only be more from now on.
Su Nian dragged the corpse to a distant ditch, tossed it in, then returned to the courtyard and locked the gate.
She needed to reinforce her defenses.
That group of people had managed to climb over the wall before, and sooner or later zombies might find another way inside as well.
She had already patched up the walls with cement, so now her priority was strengthening the outer perimeter.
Walking around the edge of the vegetable garden, she secured the wire mesh to the thick tree trunks with heavy iron wire, fastening both the top and the bottom.
Where there were no trees, she took thick steel rebar and quickly set cement out of her storage space. Every two meters, she dug a hole about half a meter deep, drove a length of rebar into it, and poured in the cement.
Once the cement had cured, she firmly tied the wire mesh to the steel bars.
The ground was hard, and after only a few swings of the shovel she had to stop and rest. By the time she finished, her back was soaked with sweat.
Su Nian gave the fence several hard kicks.
The wire mesh only swayed slightly.
It didn’t fall.
She also left an opening along the road leading into the village. One side of the mountain fence was permanently secured while the other remained unattached, allowing it to serve as a temporary gate.
Whenever it wasn’t in use, she locked it shut with two heavy chains.
By the time she finished, it still wasn’t dark.
Su Nian put everything away and went upstairs to check on Xingxing.
He was asleep. The flush had disappeared from his face, and his breathing was steady.
She took a thermometer out of her storage space and tucked it under his arm. After waiting a few minutes, she checked the reading.
Thirty six point five degrees.
Only then did Su Nian finally relax.
The wire mesh around the courtyard had all been firmly secured. Most of the cement had hardened, and the fencing stood solidly around the vegetable garden.
The knot that had been tightening in Su Nian’s chest finally loosened. She heated some water, washed herself from head to toe, and changed into clean clothes.
The aching throughout her body eased by more than half, and the nerves that had been stretched taut for days finally began to relax.
As she dried her damp hair, her gaze drifted casually toward the stone bridge at the entrance to the village.
The warmth drained from her body in an instant.
The bridge was empty.
The corpse that had been lying across the stone slabs that afternoon had disappeared.
Afraid her eyes were deceiving her, Su Nian even took out a pair of binoculars and checked several more times.
The body was truly gone.
She clearly remembered that when she had been installing the wire mesh at dusk, it had still been lying on the bridge.
Had someone dragged it away…
Or had it moved on its own?
The village remained completely silent.
There were no sounds, no people, and even the wind had gone still.
Yet goosebumps spread all over Su Nian’s skin.
She set down the towel, went downstairs, carefully checked the front door lock and the walls, then returned upstairs.
Meanwhile, in the county town, at the mouth of an alley.
Lu Chen pulled his machete free from a zombie’s neck, black blood running down the blade.
Several more zombie corpses littered the street, already dealt with by Da Zhuang and Ah Hu. He glanced toward the alley entrance, but no new zombies were approaching.
“Brother Lu, Lin Hai’s wound is infected,” Da Zhuang said quietly as he walked over. “His fever’s up to thirty nine degrees. He can’t keep moving for now.”
Lu Chen turned around.
Lin Hai was sitting against the wall, his face pale. Blood and yellowish fluid had seeped through the bandages wrapped around his right leg.
Uncle Zhao crouched beside him, peeled back the gauze to inspect the wound, then slowly shook his head.
“He needs antibiotics, and we need somewhere clean to treat the wound,” Uncle Zhao said. “This street is crawling with zombies. We can’t stay here.”
“Carry him. The clinic’s just ahead. We’re almost there.”
Lu Chen led the way, cutting off a zombie’s head with a single swing.
As they rounded the corner, they spotted a sign hanging by the roadside with the words “Clinic” written on it.
He pushed open the door.
Inside, the place had been ransacked. The medicine cabinets were completely empty.
As he walked toward the back, he heard movement.
A man crawled out from beneath a desk, gripping a pair of scissors. Behind him, he shielded a woman and a girl of about ten years old.
The man’s face was covered in dirt, his eyes sunken from exhaustion, while the woman held the trembling girl tightly in her arms.
“Don’t attack,” Lu Chen said, lowering his machete. “Are you the doctor here?”
The man stared at him for several seconds before nodding.
“My brother’s injured. We need a place to treat his wound, and we need antibiotics.” Lu Chen pulled out half a box of expired medicine from his pocket. “Everywhere nearby has already been looted. Do you still have any?”
The man hesitated, glancing at the machete in Lu Chen’s hand before looking at Da Zhuang and Ah Hu behind him. Finally, he slowly stood up.
He reached into a hidden compartment inside a cabinet, pulled out several boxes of medicine, and handed them over.
“This is all that’s left.”
Lu Chen accepted them and glanced at the labels.
They were all antibiotics.
He stuffed the medicine into his backpack, then took out several bags of bread and two bottles of water, placing them on the table.
“These are for you. Can my brother come in?”
The man nodded.
The woman pulled the girl back into the corner, making room for them.
Lu Chen waved them over. Da Zhuang and Ah Hu carried Lin Hai inside and laid him on the examination bed. Uncle Zhao immediately began cleaning the wound, and after a moment’s hesitation, the doctor stepped over to help.
Standing at the doorway, Lu Chen looked outside.
Several more zombies were wandering down the street, approaching from the east.
The roads leading out of the county town were practically blocked. There was a horde of zombies to the east, another to the west, the highway to the north had been blown up, and mountains lay to the south.
He looked west.
Shuixi Village was in that direction.
With Lin Hai in this condition, they wouldn’t be able to leave for several days.
Retracting his gaze, he turned and went back inside.
Back in Shuixi Village, Su Nian sat beside the bed, holding Xingxing’s hand.
Thinking about what had happened that afternoon, she couldn’t shake the unease growing in her heart.
She took the hunting rifle out of her storage space and placed it beside the bed, then set her machete next to her pillow.
Outside, night had completely fallen.
Something cried out in the distance, the sound fading in and out, sometimes near and sometimes far away.
The wind swept through the courtyard, making the wire mesh hum softly.
After working all day, Su Nian’s eyelids were too heavy to keep open. Even so, the weight pressing on her heart never eased. She didn’t dare fall into a deep sleep and forced herself to stay alert, listening for any movement outside.
Thump! Thump!
Suddenly, several heavy splashes came from the direction of the village entrance.
Su Nian jolted upright, every nerve in her body tensing.
She hurried to the window, lifted one corner of the curtain, and peered outside.
The area around the village entrance was swallowed by darkness.
She couldn’t see anything.