She released Lin Chen’s hand and sprang to her feet.
Her gaze swept over the metal thermos on the floor, coated in filth but now strangely familiar.
She bent down and gripped it tightly. The icy, slippery, blood-smeared surface made her nauseated, yet it gave her strength.
Under the dim yellow light, her face streaked with blood reflected not only disgust and fear, but also a desperate, all-or-nothing ruthlessness.
She cast one last look at Lin Chen, slumped weakly against the iron door, gasping for breath. She stared at the dark red liquid dripping from his arm—a grim symbol of life slipping away—and took a deep breath.
Then, she spun on her heel, clutching the heavy thermos with both hands, and stepped toward the green iron door that separated safety from hell, life from death, groaning with each impact.
Outside the door were the roaring hordes of the dead.
Inside was a dying teammate.
She had to break through for that sliver of hope.
“Creak—screee—”
With all her strength, Su Qianqian pulled the heavy green door open just enough to create a narrow slit.
The stench of blood and decay rushed in like a tidal wave, instantly overwhelming the warehouse’s faint smell of dust and cardboard, making her almost choke.
The door reverberated with a massive recoil—the things outside continued to slam and scratch at it!
Dim light leaked through the gap, briefly illuminating a small patch of hell outside.
Several twisted, rotting faces pressed against the slit, their murky yellow eyes locked onto the light. Foul, clawed hands, smeared with blood and bits of flesh, reached frantically inside.
The scraping of sharp nails against cold metal rang out in teeth-gnashing “szzzt” sounds!
“Get away!”
Su Qianqian screamed hysterically, channeling fear and resolve into brute force.
She swung the filthy, heavy thermos like a battering ram, smashing the claws and snarling faces thrusting through the gap with reckless abandon.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Each dull impact was accompanied by the sickening snap of bone and the disgusting squelch of blood!
One forward-reaching wrist was brutally shattered.
A rotting face was slammed backward, thick black blood splattering onto the doorframe.
The massive force temporarily pushed back the densest cluster of zombies at the door, creating a narrow opening.
Now!
Without hesitation, Su Qianqian shot through the slit like an arrow released from a bow.
The back of her clothing was instantly brushed by icy, slimy claws, fabric tearing with a faint rip.
She could feel the cold, decayed fingertips grazing her skin.
Terror made her scalp tingle, but the instinct to survive and the obsession with saving her teammate overrode all else.
She didn’t look back, running blindly toward the Pharmacy Section, toward the green cross on the map—a beacon of hope.
“Huff—huff huff—!”
The roaring behind her grew even more frenzied.
Without the door to slow them down, the bloodthirsty monsters surged like an unleashed flood, charging in the direction of her flight.
Heavy, dragging footsteps, the crashing of overturned shelves, and the suffocating stench of decay clung to her like parasitic worms.
In front of her was a maze of toppled shelves; scattered products became deadly traps.
Su Qianqian darted through the dimly lit labyrinth like a frightened rabbit, weaving left and right. Each turn was a desperate gamble.
She nearly slipped on spilled thick sauce and kicked rolling cans, their clattering drawing more attention.
Every shadow that shifted among the shelves made her heart jump.
“Pharmacy Section… first aid kit… green cross…”
She repeated the map markers over and over in her chaotic mind, like reciting the only spell that could save her life.
The spare phone screen was impossible to read during her sprint; she relied on memory and direction alone.
Finally, she rounded a tilted row of household goods shelves. There it was—the familiar area scattered with medicine boxes and broken glass.
The green cross marked a beacon in the dimness.
“Where is it? Where’s the first aid kit?!” Su Qianqian rushed into the Pharmacy Section, eyes scanning frantically like searchlights.
The counter had been overturned, cabinet glass shattered, medicine boxes and syringes strewn across the floor.
Nothing.
No conspicuous red first aid kit in sight.
The green cross on the map had been right here, flashing!
【Huijiale Supermarket – Pharmacy Section – First Aid Kit (Inactive)】
Those words “Inactive” stabbed at her nerves like needles!
“Damn it! Where is it?!”
She had made it this far!
She almost cried, the footsteps and roars behind her growing louder.
She could even hear the monsters toppling shelves behind her.
Despair crashed over her like a cold tide, threatening to drown her.
At that moment, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a corner at the innermost part of the counter, partially crushed by a fallen filing cabinet.
Under the cabinet, a corner of bright red hard plastic peeked out—
The first aid kit!
Like a drowning person seeing driftwood, Su Qianqian lunged for it, throwing caution to the wind.
The heavy cabinet blocked most of the kit, leaving just one corner visible.
She dropped the obstructing thermos, grasped the cold edges of the cabinet, and strained every muscle to lift it.
“Ugh—!” she groaned, arms and back taut to the limit, veins standing out on her forehead.
The filing cabinet wouldn’t budge!
Behind her, the first supermarket-clad zombie stumbled into the Pharmacy Section, its murky eyes locking on her.
Its mouth opened, black drool dripping, letting out an excited roar as it lunged.
“GET OFF!!!”
The threat of death unlocked her final reserves. Su Qianqian let out a beast-like scream, her body surging with unimaginable strength.
The heavy filing cabinet lifted just enough to create a small gap.
Ignoring the sting as the metal edges cut her palms, she shot her hands in like lightning, grabbed the exposed corner, and pulled with all her might.
“Clang!”
A bright red plastic first aid kit was ripped free from beneath the cabinet, the white cross stark against its surface.
Almost the instant the kit was freed, the massive cabinet, losing its support, crashed to the ground with a thunderous bang, sending dust flying.
The lunging zombie’s skeletal claws, carrying a foul wind, had already snagged the back of Su Qianqian’s clothing.
“Riiip!” The fabric tore.