Danger came straight at them.
Song Zi Qiao’s heart skipped a beat. He scrambled his legs, trying to improve the scooter’s uphill efficiency by “installing” two imaginary training wheels.
Shi Zuo An also lifted his legs off the pedals.
From a distance, it looked like a dying quadruped struggling in its last throes.
But the slope was too steep. No matter how much effort they put in, they could barely move forward a meter.
A zombie’s claw had already hooked onto Song Zi Qiao’s hoodie, its low growl seeming to echo right in his ear.
The stench of blood filled his nose. Song Zi Qiao’s body reacted like it had been electrocuted, springing off the scooter.
His left foot hit the ground, but his right hadn’t landed yet, he shot forward two or three meters like a human spring.
He swore he had never run that fast, not even during his 50-meter physical test back in college.
With the rear seat suddenly light, the scooter seemed to surge with newfound energy, as if it hadn’t eaten in ten days, and rushed to the top of the slope in one go.
Fortunately, no zombies were lingering at the entrance. Shi Zuo An stopped and looked back, Song Zi Qiao looked as if he owed him tens of thousands, practically wishing he could take two steps at a time and kick him.
…
“Get on!”
“Coming, coming—”
Sweating profusely, Song Zi Qiao finally jumped onto the back of the scooter just before a zombie’s hand could swipe his head.
Although his clothes were plastered to his skin with sticky sweat, he didn’t dare breathe heavily. Once on the scooter, he patted Shi Zuo An’s lower back, signaling him to go.
The scooter started again, this time steadily heading toward the area they had exited from earlier.
Xia Ao and Jiang Si were waiting in the shadows. Seeing them return safely, they waved from a distance.
As agreed, Shi Zuo An honked the scooter horn, the sharp sound piercing the night sky.
For the rest of the time, all they needed to do was lead the long line of zombies around the neighborhood.
“They’ve handled it.”
Now it was their turn to step in.
Xia Ao felt a rare surge of mission-driven excitement, only to be snapped back to reality by Jiang Si’s words:
“Your scooter is really cute and pink, looks nice.”
He had no choice but to explain again: “It’s my sister’s scooter, I’m just borrowing it for a while.”
Jiang Si pouted in disappointment. “Alright, I thought it was because you had such good taste.”
Turns out, the one with good taste was some other girl.
“Will you introduce me to her if there’s a chance?”
“Sure.” Xia Ao nodded, there would definitely be a chance.
He started the car. Outside, Song Zi Qiao’s loud shouting could be heard, his little scooter squad had successfully lured away most of the zombies.
The pink Mini drove steadily into the underground garage.
With the headlights on, the two of them spotted Jiang Si’s car tucked in a corner of Area A.
Xia Ao parked the car sideways in front of two adjacent vehicles, planning to exercise a bit of gentlemanly courtesy by accompanying Jiang Si as she got out.
“Don’t worry too much. The zombies in the garage should have all been drawn away by Song Zi Qiao and the others,” Jiang Si said casually, pulling out her phone to open the app. “Even from this distance, you can hear Song Zi Qiao’s screaming.”
She was referring to that coward shouting “I’m scared!” in the garage, whose roar had tormented the ears of at least a third of the residents in the nearby buildings.
With a sharp “click,” the car doors unlocked, the sound unusually loud in the dark space.
Jiang Si’s car was a gray gasoline SUV. Opening the door also activated the vehicle via the phone app.
This was exactly why Shi Zuo An and Song Zi Qiao had to first lure away the zombies on their scooters, the engine noise alone would attract any nearby undead.
The engine roared, echoing off the empty garage walls, reverberating back into their ears.
The two of them moved to the rear and loaded the luggage into the trunk. The SUV’s trunk was enormous, even with three bags inside, one-third of the space remained free.
Once the luggage was stowed, Jiang Si moved to the driver’s seat and reached for the door handle, suddenly, Xia Ao grabbed her by the waist and yanked her back!
The immense pressure on her waist almost made her gag. Before she could react, a black shadow shot out from beneath the car and lunged straight at them.
A thick stench of decay quickly filled the semi-enclosed space.
It was a fully grown male zombie. Its rotting jaw gaped wide, fangs dripping with sticky saliva, reeking unbearably of rot.
Jiang Si, being closest, was caught off guard. Fortunately, Xia Ao had also gotten out with her. He swung his right arm, sending Jiang Si aside, and immediately adjusted his stance, driving his foot hard into the zombie.
The force felt immense, as if stepping on a steel plate. His foot went numb, yet the zombie’s body didn’t budge an inch.
Xia Ao pulled his leg back.
For some reason, this zombie seemed almost sentient. After distancing itself from Xia Ao, it charged directly at Jiang Si.
But Jiang Si was no pushover. Reacting swiftly, she adjusted her stance to dodge the gory jaws and twisted her waist, channeling all her strength through her shoulders to shove against the zombie’s abdomen.
With a powerful yell, she thrust the zombie onto the hood of the nearby Mini.
The zombie emitted a heavy, panicked whine, its swinging claws tearing at the fabric on Jiang Si’s shoulder.
Xia Ao took the opportunity to quickly grab the car-mounted fire extinguisher from Jiang Si’s trunk and slammed it hard onto the zombie’s head.
“Bang—”
A mixture of red and white fluids splattered across the car window.
The zombie, aside from its head, lay sprawled on the car motionless.
“Holy crap, how did it even come out from under the car?!” Jiang Si panted heavily, still unable to believe what had just happened.
“Phew, are you okay?”
Jiang Si shook her head.
That was good enough.
Xia Ao didn’t dare waste any more time. Furrowing his brow, he said, “Let’s talk in the car first.”
The SUV slowly drove out of the underground garage.
While driving, Jiang Si listened as Xia Ao recounted the events.
“Last time, Shi Zuo An and I ran into zombies that ambushed from inside cabinets… in short, it’s better to stay cautious.”
Xia Ao also explained the concept of “advanced zombies,” leaving Jiang Si wide-eyed and speechless.
“This is even more ridiculous than zombie movies,” she muttered. Who could have imagined they’d actually encounter something like this in real life?
Xia Ao shrugged, giving no comment.
The four of them worked quickly, shuttling back and forth several times before dawn broke.
It was best to leave under the cover of the dim night.
The current problem, however, was, where had Shi Zuo An and Song Zi Qiao gone on their little electric scooters?
Xia Ao felt a headache coming on.
He had Jiang Si drive loops inside the community while he rolled down the passenger window to peer outside.
The area was eerily quiet, no zombies, no sign of the two.
Where could they be fooling around?
After nearly circling the entire complex, they finally spotted the frenzied scooter duo in front of the community’s deactivated fountain.
The two had clearly figured out how to coexist with the zombies, weaving back and forth in their own “you don’t bother me, I don’t bother you” routine.
Xia Ao stifled a laugh and called out several times through the window before they finally abandoned the scooters and got into the car.
Shi Zuo An and Song Zi Qiao sat in the backseat. Song Zi Qiao was still visibly excited, chattering non-stop about the night’s chaotic adventures.
She especially complained about Shi Zuo An’s choice of “good electric scooter,” which had left the two of them stuck halfway up the slope for ages.
And she also made a big deal about how her month of thigh muscle training had played a crucial role in this mission.
The rest of them didn’t bother responding.
Jiang Si focused on driving. Shi Zuo An, after a whole night riding the little electric scooter plus enduring Song Zi Qiao’s mental torment, was now overly exhausted and leaning against the seat, drowsy.
Xia Ao sat quietly, staring out the window.
To avoid making a loud commotion in the middle of the night, they hadn’t turned on the low beams.
The eighteenth floor where he used to live gradually disappeared from the edge of his vision. He didn’t know if they would make it back safely after this trip to find food.
May the mission go smoothly.
The community where Xia Ao lived was located in the newly established economic development zone of H City. The northern edge was entirely industrial parks, and farther south was the newly renovated high-speed rail station.
Construction had taken two years, and the exterior walls still weren’t finished.
Nearby, however, various commercial projects next to the high-speed rail station had been completed ahead of schedule.
Among them was their destination, the large warehouse-style supermarket north of the high-speed rail station.
The advantage of a warehouse-style supermarket was the sheer volume it offered, the disadvantage was exactly the same.
Xia Ao usually lived abroad. Even when he returned home occasionally, he spent most of his time alone and didn’t require a large amount of food, so he had never visited this newly built supermarket.
Apparently, his mother had gotten a membership card there, though it was probably useless now.
The community was located toward the northern part of the economic zone, at least a half-hour drive from the supermarket under normal conditions.
Given the current state of the roads, reaching the supermarket before sunrise would already be the best-case scenario.
“Are you okay? If you’re tired, I can drive.”
“Yeah, yeah, Jiang Si, don’t overwork yourself. I can’t ride the scooter, but I can still drive the car!”
Jiang Si moved her hands off the steering wheel and waved at him. “No need. That idiot zombie scared me just now, so my nerves are still on edge.”
Xia Ao murmured, “Mm,” and leaned his head back on the pillow again.
Song Zi Qiao finally finished his story, he’d probably talked his mouth dry, and now sipped water in small gulps.
The car fell silent.
Jiang Si drove attentively, even checking the rearview mirror and signaling when changing lanes. When the rearview mirror reflected Xia Ao’s eyes for the third time, she couldn’t help speaking:
“Xia Ge, thanks for saving me earlier. You must be tired. Do you want to switch with Song Zi Qiao and rest in the back for a while?”
“…Mm, you want to sit with Song Zi Qiao?”
“That’s right!” Jiang Si answered bluntly, bearing the humiliation without hesitation.
Before Xia Ao could respond, Song Zi Qiao in the back row got overly excited: “Jiang Si wants to sit with me! Xiao Xia Zi, move your butt quickly and let me ascend the throne!”
His commotion was so loud that Shi Zuo An, who was sleeping beside him, was disturbed. He frowned, turned over, and even kicked Song Zi Qiao lightly on the calf.
“Hey, Shi Ge, you moved, are you awake?”
Song Zi Qiao was about to pry open Shi Zuo An’s eyelids to see if he was really awake when Xia Ao quickly intervened.
“Alright, leave him alone.” He turned to Jiang Si. “Can you pull over to the side of the road? I’ll switch Song Zi Qiao to the front seat.”
After he said that, Jiang Si slowly slowed down and parked the car by the roadside. Before the brake was fully pressed, the passenger door flung open impatiently.
She didn’t even catch a glimpse of who got out.
Tsk tsk, some men, so two-faced, they wait for someone to hand them an opening, then pretend they’re indifferent as they leisurely get out.