Fortunately, as he moved along, the zombies on the first floor failed to spot him. Because of his proximity, Lin Yuzhi was able to see the state of the classroom closest to the stairwell. Most of the desks and chairs were overturned on the floor; only a few remained standing, though even those were crooked. From his angle, the classroom appeared empty of zombies, leading him to guess that when the outbreak occurred, the students inside had managed to flee. Being on the first floor, escaping would have been much easier for them than for the students on the upper levels.
Lin Yuzhi soon reached the stairwell. Just as he turned the corner, he heard a sound. A zombie was crouched on the steps, the sound of wet chewing echoing in the space. Beside it lay a corpse, blood pooling on the stairs. Seeing this, he approached cautiously.
At that moment, the zombie turned its head. It was covered in blood, especially around its collar. The next second, the zombie lunged at Lin Yuzhi.
Lin Yuzhi didn’t hesitate. He raised his baseball bat and brought it down heavily, strike after strike. He didn’t stop until the zombie’s head was completely flattened. Only then did he look at the partially devoured corpse. Its limbs were twisted at ghastly angles, its stomach had been completely hollowed out, and its intestines and organs were spilled across the floor. Half its head was missing. To be safe, he smashed what remained of the corpse’s head before continuing upward.
He had barely taken a step when he heard a snarl. He looked up but couldn’t see anything clearly. He climbed further, rounded the landing, and saw that the entrance to the second floor was completely choked with zombies. It was obviously impossible to pass.
If he couldn’t get through here, he couldn’t reach the third floor. Given the situation, it was unlikely he could use the other stairwell either—that one was in a different building, and who knew what he would encounter on the way there? Besides, that building was also full of students; in this kind of chaos, there would only be more zombies, not fewer.
Lin Yuzhi wasn’t sure which way was best. This was far more cramped than the hospital. Unless he could move up the stairs silently—which was impossible since the zombies weren’t all facing away—he had to find a way to lure them away first.
After a moment’s thought, luring them out seemed like the best option. After all, zombies were sensitive to sound. Lin Yuzhi retreated to the corner, but how to get back safely was a problem. He thought of the first-floor classroom; the one on the end was close to the stairs. Perhaps he could hide inside after drawing the zombies down, wait for them to leave, and then head up.
With this plan in mind, he hurried back to the first floor, still avoiding the wandering zombies, and slipped into the first classroom. He poked his pink head inside to scan the room. Once he was certain it was empty, he quickly closed the back door and pulled the curtains across the windows to prevent any passing zombies from spotting him. He moved a few desks and chairs near the front door to use as a barricade later, then returned to the stairwell.
He looked up, gripped his baseball bat, and struck the railing with a heavy blow. The railing was made of wood, producing a dull thud. To ensure he drew them down, he struck it several more times in rapid succession.
Immediately, frantic snarling and the thunderous sound of stampeding footsteps erupted from above. The floorboards seemed to vibrate with the impact. Seeing this, Lin Yuzhi vaulted over the railing back to the first floor, ducked into the classroom, and slammed the door shut. He shoved a desk against the door and crouched in the corner behind it, hiding in the blind spot to avoid being seen by the descending horde.
The moment he hunkered down, a roar of footsteps hit the stairwell. The density of the snarling made it clear just how many zombies were upstairs.
He expected them to run outside, or at least clear the stairwell, but suddenly, a violent impact hit the door. Then, another hit the window. The sounds of the horde filled his ears along with the constant banging.
Lin Yuzhi was startled. He jumped up to hold the door, dragging over more pre-positioned desks to reinforce the barricade. He was baffled; logically, even if the zombies weren’t lured outside, they shouldn’t be attacking the door he was hiding behind. They hadn’t seen him.
Yet, they were relentlessly slamming against the door and the glass as if they were absolutely certain someone was inside.
Suddenly, he remembered what Xu An had said before he left the hospital: zombies might have other ways of finding the living besides sight and sound. They might have a sense of smell.
No way, he thought. Are these things really that overpowered? Can they actually smell me?
Lin Yuzhi scrambled to fish the bottle of floral water out of his backpack. At this point, it was worth a try. He poured the liquid over himself and splashed some on the door and the floor around him.
A pungent, sharp scent immediately filled the air, mixing with the foul stench of decay in the classroom. It was overwhelming. Lin Yuzhi usually liked the smell of floral water, but now he hated it; the scent made his head swim and he felt like he might vomit.
He suppressed the urge and kept his weight against the door.
Then, he noticed something. The zombies that had been pounding on the door had stopped. The snarling continued, meaning they were still outside, but the direct attacks had ceased.
Lin Yuzhi listened intently. Once he was sure the banging wouldn’t resume, he sat on the floor. He didn’t dare breathe heavily, keeping his respirations shallow. However, his mind was racing as he stared at the bottle of floral water.
So, the zombies really could smell. No wonder that day at the inpatient building, they had chased him even though he had thrown the stone in the opposite direction. They had caught his scent. These weren’t just zombies; they were bloodhounds that wouldn’t stop until they’d bitten their target to death. If he hadn’t grabbed this floral water, he’d probably still be running for his life.
After sitting for a while, he pulled out his phone. He had charged it to full last night, but the battery was at 98%—just a bit of idle drain. He opened WeChat and sent a “cat with a racing heart” emoji to Xu An.
Xu An had been waiting for Lin Yuzhi’s message. He hadn’t dared to text first, fearing that if Lin Yuzhi hadn’t silenced his phone, the notification sound might attract zombies. Seeing the message, he breathed a sigh of relief.
But what did a “heart-racing cat” emoji mean?
He replied with the same emoji and asked if everything was alright.
Lin Yuzhi didn’t reply immediately. He slowly stood up, peered over the desks, and poked his pink head out to look at the window. The glass was covered in bloody handprints. Beyond it stood a mass of zombies. Suddenly, a zombie pressed its face against the glass, peering inside.
Lin Yuzhi ducked back instantly. He sneakily snapped a photo of the window and sent it with a reply.
Fish Biscuit: So many. It’s a sea of bodies. It feels like there’s no one left alive in the whole school. [Image.jpg]
XA: Can you come back now?
Fish Biscuit: Not really. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. I’m staying at the school tonight. But one thing—you were right. These zombies can definitely smell. Luckily, I picked up a bottle of floral water on the way.
Xu An’s grip on his phone tightened, but he soon relaxed. It confirmed his theory: the zombies had a sense of smell in addition to sight and hearing. This virus was like a biological weapon—tireless, painless, and programmed only to hunt living things. He was glad he’d shared his hypothesis with Lin Yuzhi, even though he hadn’t been able to test it himself. It had been a risk to tell him to look for pungent substances, but it had paid off.
He realized the situation outside was even more dire than they had imagined. He sent back a “be careful” emoji.
Lin Yuzhi heard the sounds outside. He replied to the emoji and told Xu An he was going to lure the zombies away so he could head upstairs. Then, he locked his phone and shoved it into his bag.
He peeked at the window again. The zombie that had been looking in was gone. He crouched low and crawled under the desks toward the back door, hugging the wall.
He pressed his ear to the back door. The zombies were still out there, but the noise was much fainter than at the front door. Likely because he had been near the front earlier, the majority of them were trying to get in that way. It proved that zombies lacked intelligence; they operated purely on basic sensory input.
Looking around, he picked up a stray book from the floor, moved the desks aside, and carefully unlocked the door. He moved with extreme slowness, terrified that a sudden noise would draw the horde to the back entrance.
Gripping the book, he pulled the door open just a crack and peered out. Only a few zombies were scattered nearby; most were indeed clustered at the front. He swung the door open, threw the book as hard as he could, and slammed the door shut.
The book arced through the air, its pages fluttering with a shhh-shhh sound before landing in a flower bed some distance away.
Instantly, the zombies at the front door reacted to the noise and sprinted toward the source, snarling. He also heard the sound of more bodies hitting the ground; the commotion below had startled the zombies on the upper corridors, causing some to tumble over the railings.
Lin Yuzhi sprinted back to the front door and glanced through the glass. The coast was mostly clear. Without wasting a second, he shoved the desks aside, pulled the door open, and bolted for the stairs, taking them three steps at a time. He didn’t dare stop for even a moment.