Accompanied by the bespectacled man’s malicious shouts and the zombies’ low growls, Lin Ya felt the rope in her hands shaking violently, causing her body to sway wildly as well.
Her heart leaped into her throat. She knew she could be thrown off at any moment. Clinging desperately to the rope, she used every ounce of her strength to steady herself while trying to climb down as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, several burly men had also heard the bespectacled man’s shouts. They rushed out of the third-floor corridor and charged toward Lin Ya’s room. Their footsteps thundered through the building, and every step made her heart tighten with fear.
She knew that one end of the rope was tied to the bed leg, while she was holding the other end as she climbed down. The bed must have been dragged right up to the window by now. The barricaded door would be no obstacle at all for those men.
Before long, Lin Ya could even hear them cursing loudly inside the room and kicking over chairs. Then she felt the rope in her hands being pulled upward. They were trying to haul her back up!
Lin Ya’s arms were beginning to ache and grow numb, but she didn’t dare relax for even a moment. She knew that if she let go, she would either die or become a flesh-eating zombie. She could almost picture the vicious grins on the faces of the landlady and the burly men upstairs after the zombies tore her apart. At that very moment, they were eagerly anticipating the instant she fell.
At this critical moment between life and death, Lin Ya’s will to survive was pushed to its absolute limit. She summoned every ounce of strength she had and climbed down as quickly as possible, desperately trying to reach the ground before they could catch her.
Her arms trembled from the excessive exertion, but she refused to give up. She focused all her attention on her hands and the surroundings, determined to reach the ground quickly and get away from this place.
Seeing that shaking the rope wasn’t working, the bespectacled man grew even more frantic. He gripped the rope tightly with one hand while reaching toward his waist with the other, pulling out a sharp little knife. The blade glinted coldly in the sunlight as he grinned viciously and began cutting through the rope, slice by slice.
Lin Ya could only feel speechless. Was this guy a psychopath? Why had he tried burning the rope with a lighter earlier when he had a knife all along? What an idiot!
But she had no time to dwell on it now. She could feel the rope tightening in her hands, a clear sign that it was about to snap.
She knew she had no way back. At this critical moment, she made a decision. Releasing one hand, she used all her strength to leap toward the drainage pipe beside her.
In the distance, the zombies slowly began gathering in her direction. Once Lin Ya managed to grab hold of the drainage pipe, her body swung through the air before she finally steadied herself.
She could hear her heart pounding wildly inside her chest, almost as though it were about to leap out. Her legs trembled, and cold sweat poured down her face as if it cost nothing.
The idiot in the small alley opposite let out a long, loud whistle before shouting, “Beautiful lady! That was impressive!”
He then started offering all sorts of tempting promises, hoping Lin Ya would bring him some food after escaping.
Lin Ya rolled her eyes dramatically. Were there seriously no normal people in this world? Why did everyone she encountered seem to have such bizarre thought processes?
She had no more time to complain. After securing her grip on the drainage pipe, Lin Ya immediately slid down it as quickly as she could, continuing until her feet finally touched the ground.
When the people upstairs saw her climb onto the drainage pipe, they abandoned the rope and began throwing things out of the rooms one after another. It was hard to tell whether they were venting their anger over her escape or actually trying to kill her.
Now that she had reached the ground, Lin Ya had to dodge the objects raining down from above while quickly untying the slipknots securing the water buckets. Afterward, she picked up one bucket in each hand, intending to leave the area first.
However, just then, she heard low growls coming from not far away. Several zombies were staggering toward her from different directions, their eyes gleaming with a ravenous desire for fresh flesh.
With no time to think, Lin Ya held the buckets in front of her chest for protection, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
The bespectacled man upstairs was even more despicable. At a time like this, he actually threw down a wind-up alarm clock. Its shrill ringing sounded exceptionally jarring in the otherwise quiet surroundings.
Following the noise, the zombies from all directions began converging on Lin Ya.
She was so frightened that cold sweat covered her entire body, but she kept reminding herself to stay calm. Fortunately, the zombies were still relatively sluggish in the early stages of the apocalypse, giving her a little time to collect herself.
The burly men and the landlady upstairs, along with the bespectacled man on the second floor, all had their eyes fixed on Lin Ya. There was no sympathy or concern in their expressions, only cruel excitement.
They were like spectators in an ancient Roman gladiatorial arena, eagerly waiting for a bloody performance.
They became even more enthusiastic about throwing things down from upstairs, hoping to injure Lin Ya so that the smell of blood would attract even more zombies.
A vicious smile spread across the landlady’s face, and her eyes gleamed with malice. She loudly mocked Lin Ya, seemingly enjoying her predicament. The burly men also cheered from the balcony, waving their arms as though they were encouraging the zombies.
“Lin Ya, climb back up here! If you do, I’ll ask the big brothers to spare you. How about that?”
Even at this point, the landlady still wasn’t willing to give up on Lin Ya.
The men upstairs burst into laughter as well. Some had their arms around women dressed provocatively, while others were embracing men wearing nothing but boxer shorts.
“Little girl, it doesn’t matter if you don’t come back up. As long as you can kill one monster, I’ll throw you a piece of bread!” This was Third Brother’s teasing voice.
The others joined in, raising the stakes and trying to tempt Lin Ya into fighting the zombies for the sake of a single biscuit or piece of bread.
Lin Ya remained silent, watching the zombies in front of her as she thought about how she could escape.
The bespectacled man on the second floor was even more excited, his eyes practically shining. He gripped the window bars so tightly that he seemed ready to dig his fingers into the wood. Stretching his head out of the window, he tried to get a clearer view of Lin Ya and the zombies.
His lips parted slightly as he made a low, hissing sound, as though he could hardly wait to see Lin Ya torn to pieces.
Some residents in the distant buildings had heard the men offering bread and biscuits. They began pleading with the burly men to send them some food, completely unaware of how difficult it would be to obtain anything from these people.
Besides, this was only the first day of the apocalypse, yet they were already hoping to survive by relying on handouts. If the world descended into even greater chaos later, how would they possibly manage to survive?
“Little girl, the zombie on your left is almost right beside you!” Third Brother called out cheerfully.
“And the one on your right! That one’s about to reach you too!” Second Brother joined in.
“Oh my! The one right in front of you is getting there the fastest!” added the provocatively dressed woman in Second Brother’s arms.
They all teased Lin Ya as though she were a cricket they were making fight for their amusement.
Lin Ya’s heart was filled with anger, but she knew she couldn’t allow her emotions to control her. She had to concentrate. She had to survive.
Seeing that the zombies were still slowly making their way toward Lin Ya, the bespectacled man upstairs grew angry. Without thinking about the consequences, he threw the knife in his hand toward the zombies.
The sound of the blade cutting through the air filled Lin Ya with dread. Without having time to think, she raised one of the water buckets above her head to protect herself from being stabbed.
What she hadn’t expected was that a gleaming fruit knife suddenly appeared embedded in the shoulder of the zombie directly in front of her.
Yet the stabbed zombie didn’t even stop. It continued moving toward her, without speeding up at all.