Lin Mingmei knew every corner of the area between the residential complex and the university gates like the back of her hand.
To her, making a quick sweep through the small shops near the neighborhood entrance should not have been difficult. If conditions allowed, she planned to completely fill her storage space before returning home.
As the saying went, fortune favored the bold.
Risking her life once in exchange for enough supplies to survive an entire year was absolutely worth it.
With that thought, Lin Mingmei even removed a small portion of the supplies from her storage space and left them behind in the apartment to make room for more items.
Unfortunately, the weather clearly had no intention of cooperating.
Before she even reached the entrance of the residential complex, rain began pouring from the sky.
Lin Mingmei silently cursed the heavens.
She hesitated briefly, but eventually gritted her teeth and continued forward anyway.
A little rain was not enough to stop her from chasing survival.
Her first destination remained the pharmacy at the neighborhood entrance.
This time, Lin Mingmei moved with extreme caution. Every step she took was slow and careful, afraid that the zombies drawn there during the day had not yet dispersed.
Unfortunately, the more she feared something, the more likely it was to happen.
Before she could even approach the pharmacy, low zombie growls echoed through the rain.
Although the sound of rainfall muffled some of the noise, she could still tell there were quite a few of them.
Had the zombies stayed there the entire time after she escaped earlier?
That made no sense.
Without living humans nearby, zombies normally wandered away on their own.
Yet these monsters were clearly still gathered around the pharmacy.
Lin Mingmei stopped in place, seriously considering whether she should abandon the trip and head home.
The moment she stepped outside, it had started raining.
Now the zombies still had not left.
This outing truly felt cursed from the beginning.
But she was unwilling to give up so easily.
She knew perfectly well how to lure zombies away.
In her previous life, she had done it countless times.
This method was practically instinctive to her now.
And unlike before, she no longer needed to sacrifice her own life to do it.
Quickly, Lin Mingmei took out two aluminum beverage cans from her storage space and emptied them.
Then she pulled out her knife and sliced a shallow cut across her arm, letting fresh blood drip into the cans.
She even smeared blood along the outer surfaces.
While preparing everything, she silently prayed that the medicine inside the pharmacy had not already been taken away.
Otherwise, this would be a huge loss.
After choosing a suitable angle, she hurled the cans into the distance.
Clang! Clang!
The sharp metallic noise, combined with the scent of fresh blood, instantly attracted the zombies clustered near the pharmacy.
The undead roared and staggered toward the rolling cans.
Lin Mingmei had deliberately thrown them downhill.
The cans rolled quite far away.
Even if the rain eventually washed away the blood outside, the scent trapped inside the cans would continue drawing the zombies farther and farther away.
Only then did Lin Mingmei finally let out a breath of relief.
She hurried toward the pharmacy entrance.
But the sight before her instantly stunned her.
The shattered glass from the broken entrance still littered the ground.
However, the metal security shutter had been pulled down.
Not completely.
A gap of roughly forty to fifty centimeters remained at the bottom.
Clearly, someone had been here.
But had they gone inside?
Were there still people inside now?
How many?
And what kind of people were they?
Countless questions flooded Lin Mingmei’s mind.
She stood frozen in the rain for several minutes, so distracted that she did not even notice the downpour becoming heavier.
Only when her nose started itching with the urge to sneeze did she snap back to reality.
If she caught a cold now, the consequences would be disastrous.
Which meant she absolutely needed to enter the pharmacy and obtain medicine.
Left with no other choice, and terrified that sneezing would attract the zombies back, she covered her nose and mouth tightly, crouched down, and silently slipped through the gap beneath the shutter.
The inside of the pharmacy was pitch black.
Aside from the rain outside, the entire place was deathly silent.
Lin Mingmei took out a small flashlight and swept its beam carefully through the darkness.
Then she froze.
A man was lying motionless beneath one of the shelves.
Every nerve in her body immediately tightened.
She cautiously approached him, fully alert.
Yet even after she stood directly beside him, he did not move at all.
Lin Mingmei nudged him lightly with her foot.
No response.
Was he dead?
She crouched down to examine him more closely.
His face was pale, but he was still breathing.
One of his arms was covered in dried blood.
After carefully pulling aside the torn sleeve, Lin Mingmei immediately recognized the wound.
A zombie bite.
Her expression changed instantly.
She stepped backward without hesitation.
Anyone bitten by a zombie either transformed into one of the undead or endured the virus long enough to awaken a superpower.
No matter which outcome awaited this man, he was extremely dangerous.
This was not a place she should linger.
Holding the flashlight, Lin Mingmei quickly found the small medicine storage room.
There were not many unopened boxes left inside, but she swept every usable one into her storage space.
Then she returned to the main area and began clearing supplies from the shelves while silently praying that the man would not wake up before she escaped.
Unfortunately, heaven ignored her prayers once again.
She had only finished clearing two shelves when rough, heavy breathing suddenly sounded behind her.
Lin Mingmei immediately switched off the flashlight.
“Who’s there?”
The man’s voice was hoarse and weak.
“Who is it…?”
Lin Mingmei hesitated.
Should she run immediately?
Or should she take advantage of his weakened condition and kill him first before escaping?
The two thoughts battled fiercely in her mind.
“Whoever you are… don’t be afraid…” the man spoke again between labored breaths. “I’m a soldier… I won’t hurt you…”
Soldier?
Lin Mingmei paused.
Taking advantage of the darkness while the man could not see her movements, she quietly swept another two shelves of medicine into her storage space.
“I… I have my military ID…”
Lin Mingmei remained silent for a moment before finally turning the flashlight back on.
“You… you’re injured?” she asked softly.
“Yeah.”
The man gave a bitter laugh.
Sweat poured down his face continuously. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked both exhausted and frightening.
“So… could I trouble you to help me a little?”
Keeping her guard up because of the zombie bite, Lin Mingmei quickly searched nearby shelves for alcohol, iodine, gauze, and bandages. At the same time, she discreetly stored away the remaining medicines nearby.
Only after she felt she had gathered enough supplies did she return to the front counter.
The man remained lying where he was, unable to move.
“The shutter…” he said weakly. “I didn’t have the strength… to pull it down completely…”
“Leave it,” Lin Mingmei replied quietly while crouching beside him. “Making noise now will only attract zombies again.”
She set down the flashlight and began disinfecting his wound with alcohol.
Under the flashlight’s glow, the man finally saw her face clearly.
For a brief moment, he froze.
But Lin Mingmei noticed nothing.
She focused entirely on treating his injury as quickly as possible.
After disinfecting and wrapping the wound, she finally said, “I don’t know whether this will help or not, but this is all I can do.”
“It’s useless anyway,” the man replied with another bitter laugh.
He looked painfully exhausted.
“But… thank you.”
“And… sorry.”
Sorry?
Lin Mingmei could not understand why he was apologizing.
She stared closely into his eyes, carefully watching for the gray, cloudy film that appeared before someone transformed into a zombie.
But there was none.
Which meant he likely was not turning into a zombie.
He was probably awakening a superpower instead.
“Help me… take something out…” the man said with difficulty while gesturing weakly toward his chest pocket.
Though confused, Lin Mingmei followed his instructions and pulled out a small booklet.
It was a military ID.
Opening it, she softly read aloud, “Qin Yueming…”
The man forced a faint smile.
“That’s me.”
“Oh.”
Lin Mingmei nodded and instinctively tried returning the ID to him.
But Qin Yueming stopped her.
“You keep it…” he said weakly. “If you get the chance someday… please give it to my comrades…”
Lin Mingmei stared at him in confusion.
Qin Yueming gave another strained smile.
Then he made an utterly bizarre request.