The lights in the pharmacy flickered on. Just as Yun Huacen’s eyes adjusted to the brightness, he saw the cat pounce fiercely toward him, baring its sharp claws and fangs. Yun Huacen desperately wanted to flee, but for some reason, his body refused to move. He could only watch helplessly as the cat lunged at him. The cat’s body brushed past his head, and Yun even felt the friction of its fur against his hair.
Thud! A heavy object hit the ground, followed by a familiar low growl and the furious barking of a dog.
Yun Huacen froze, instinctively turning around, only to realize his body had returned to normal. He saw the cat locked in a tense standoff with a zombie dog twice its size. It turned out a zombie dog had been hiding here all along, watching them from the moment they entered. The instant the lights came on, it had prepared to attack Yun Huacen, but fortunately, the cat spotted it, otherwise, Yun Huacen would have already been pinned to the ground.
The zombie dog was also a mutated zombie, with two heads, eight legs, and significantly enhanced strength and speed. The cat was vastly outmatched in size and strength, but its speed was nearly on par with the zombie dog’s. They circled, tested, and attacked each other, neither giving an inch, turning the entire pharmacy into a chaotic mess as if it had been ransacked. Yun Huacen wanted to help, but their movements were so fast they blurred before his eyes, leaving him unable to intervene.
“Meow!”
The cat let out a pained cry as it was bitten on the shoulder. Immediately, it spat a stream of black liquid directly onto the zombie dog’s head. A sizzling sound erupted, and the zombie dog instinctively released its grip, howling in agony as it writhed on the floor. The cat didn’t let its guard down, spitting another mouthful of the black liquid. The corrosion accelerated, and within minutes, the massive zombie dog dissolved into a puddle of black ooze. Only then did the cat relax, staggering slightly before collapsing to the ground.
Yun Huacen hurried forward, his expression complicated as he looked at the cat’s nearly severed shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asked.
The cat glanced at him, then shakily got to its feet and walked over to the puddle of black ooze. Using its paw, it fished out a small black object and promptly swallowed it. To Yun Huacen’s astonishment, the cat’s grievously injured body began to heal at a visible rate.
The cat wrote on the ground with its paw: “Get the medicine!”
Snapping back to reality, Yun Huacen found several cardboard boxes in the store and began tossing in every medicine he could see, filling box after box until the car was packed and the pharmacy was emptied. The fact that such a huge commotion hadn’t attracted any zombies fully demonstrated the hierarchical suppression among zombie ranks. As they left, the surrounding zombies kept their distance, not daring to approach. The journey back was smoother than smooth, so much so that even as the car pulled into the villa, Yun Huacen felt a sense of unreality.
The cat leaped down from the car roof and wrote two words on the car window before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
“Being followed?” Yun Huacen muttered softly, then it dawned on him. “Could someone be tracking us?”
He turned on the surveillance cameras to check the surroundings but found nothing unusual. Suddenly, he recalled what he had witnessed during the day and couldn’t help but murmur, “Was that person from earlier also… So, was the cat cleaning up after me?”
At this thought, Yun Huacen’s emotions were indescribably complex, had he just been protected by a cat? He took out his phone and checked the time: it was already two in the morning. He wasn’t in a hurry to unload the supplies, so he simply drove the car into the garage. Medicine wasn’t like food; it wouldn’t spoil anytime soon, and he could just as easily deal with it tomorrow.
A modified off-road vehicle came to a stop about fifty meters away from the villa. Inside sat five men, all dressed in camouflage uniforms and armed with guns.
“To think there’s a villa like this here!” The man in the driver’s seat had a gleam in his eyes as he turned to the man in the passenger seat. “Boss, this is way better than where we’ve been staying.”
“Definitely a suitable base,” the man replied, his gaze fixed on the villa across from them, a look of determination flashing in his eyes.
These five weren’t from Haining; they specialized in murder and robbery. The leader was Wu Tianhai, and the driver was Ma Xiaotian. Ten days ago, they had taken on a job, a buyer offered five hundred thousand to take someone’s life, and that person was in Haining. They had driven for three days and had just settled in a small town when the zombie virus broke out. Trapped in a small hotel, they had ventured out tonight to gather supplies when they suddenly noticed unusual movements among the zombie horde. Quietly, they had followed the commotion and happened to catch sight of Yun Huacen returning to the villa, trailing him all the way here.
“Boss, that guy driving is a bit strange. It’s like the zombies can’t even see him. We should be careful.” Sun Zhigang, sitting in the back seat, warned.
“Stop being so paranoid. We made it here safely, didn’t we? Maybe the zombies are just more active during the day and less active at night.”
“Do you even believe that yourself? The night before last, when we went out looking for supplies, we were chased by zombies for eight blocks and almost lost our lives. You call that ‘less active’?”
“We’re not afraid of zombies, so why should we be scared of some pretty boy? Talking about ‘strange’, have all these years in the business been for nothing?”
“Enough!” Wu Tianhai cut off their argument. “Whether he’s strange or not, we’ll find out once we get inside. We can’t pass up a place this good.”
Ma Xiaotian was the first to get out of the car, followed closely by the others. But before they could react, three zombies suddenly appeared behind them. Two of the men were knocked to the ground in the attack. Wu Tianhai was the first to react, pulling out his gun and aiming at the zombies’ heads. Two gunshots rang out, and the zombie that had pounced on Ma Xiaotian was killed. Sun Zhigang, however, wasn’t as lucky. He used his arm to block the zombie’s neck, preventing it from biting him, and then punched the zombie in the head. But zombies felt no pain and possessed terrifying strength. The zombie grabbed Sun Zhigang’s hand and squeezed hard, a sickening crack echoed, followed by Sun Zhigang’s agonized scream.
Wu Tianhai aimed his gun at the zombie on top of Sun Zhigang and was about to pull the trigger when a dark shadow suddenly darted out, biting his hand before disappearing just as quickly. Wu Tianhai cried out in pain, dropping his gun to the ground.
Seeing this, Ma Xiaotian asked urgently, “Boss, what happened?”
“Something just bit me and ran off.”
“Boss, help me!” Sun Zhigang’s wrist had been crushed, and he was on the verge of giving in, forced to call out to Wu Tianhai for help.
Ma Xiaotian bent down to pick up the gun from the ground, aimed at the zombie’s head, and fired. With a bang, the zombie was killed. Sun Zhigang let out a long sigh of relief, while the other two worked together to take down the last zombie.
Sun Zhigang sat up and glared at Ma Xiaotian, saying angrily, “Didn’t you say zombies aren’t active at night? I almost got bitten to death just now!”
“Were you bitten?”
Sun Zhigang was taken aback for a moment before retorting, “What do you mean? Hoping I got bitten?”
Ma Xiaotian looked at him suspiciously. “If you weren’t bitten, what were you screaming about?”
Sun Zhigang took off his glove, revealing a swollen, red wrist. “My wrist was crushed!”
Wu Tianhai spoke up, “Stop arguing and get in the car! That commotion just now must have alerted the people inside, and it might attract more zombies. Let’s get out of here first.”
At Wu Tianhai’s command, everyone quickly got into the car, except for Ma Xiaotian, who lingered behind, hesitating as he watched Wu Tianhai’s back.
Wu Tianhai leaned out and looked at Ma Xiaotian. “What are you staring at? Get in the car!”
Ma Xiaotian instinctively responded, hesitated for a moment, and then climbed in. He started the car and asked, “Boss, are we heading back to the inn?”
“What else?” Wu Tianhai took off his glove, revealing a bite wound.
Ma Xiaotian saw it and slammed on the brakes in horror. “Boss, you were really bitten!”
“What? Boss, you were bitten?” The others in the back leaned forward to look.
“What are you doing?” Wu Tianhai tensed up, putting distance between himself and them. “I was bitten by a wildcat in the mountains, not a zombie. Why are you all so nervous?”
“A wildcat in the mountains?” Sun Zhigang turned to Ma Xiaotian. “You were the only one with the boss at the time. What really happened?”
“I don’t know what it was either. Just a black shadow flashed by, and then I heard the boss cry out.” Seeing the look Wu Tianhai gave him, Ma Xiaotian quickly added, “The shadow wasn’t big, it must have been a wildcat. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so fast.”
Sun Zhigang gasped in horror. “No, the wound is bleeding black blood!”
Everyone looked over and indeed saw black blood oozing from the wound.
“What are you trying to do?” Wu Tianhai tightened his grip on the gun, eyeing them warily. “I’ll say it again, it was a wildcat. If it were a zombie bite, I would have turned already. Would I be wasting time talking to you like this?”
“Meow.”
Just then, a cat’s meow came from above, drawing everyone’s attention. They all looked up at the car roof, followed by the sound of claws scratching against it, scratch after scratch, sending chills down their spines.
“There really is a cat!”
Ma Xiaotian turned to look at Wu Tianhai, whose eyes had turned a pale gray. Before Ma Xiaotian could react, Wu Tianhai grabbed his head and bit into his neck.
“Ah!”
Ma Xiaotian screamed in pain and instinctively fired his gun, but he missed the head, failing to kill Wu Tianhai. The people in the backseat quickly drew their pistols and aimed at Wu Tianhai. But Wu Tianhai reacted swiftly, knocking the gun away and lunging at the three of them. Sun Zhigang was the fastest, yanking the car door open and scrambling out. The remaining two fought with Wu Tianhai, forgetting that there was still a cat on the roof, one that could kill them.
The cat crouched on the roof of the car, looking down at the five reanimated corpses. It had no intention of devouring their brains. Having zombies active around the villa would not only deter those with ill intentions but also allow them to serve a purpose at critical moments, killing two birds with one stone. That was also why it had spared the three zombies earlier.
“Roar!”
The cat growled at them, and they responded with low growls before dispersing and shuffling stiffly into the woods. The cat leaped down from the car, found a bag, stuffed their guns inside, and then, clutching the bag in its mouth, dashed toward the villa.