Lin Yuzhi slowed his pace as he climbed to the second floor.
After all, he couldn’t see the situation upstairs. It wasn’t guaranteed that everyone near the stairwell had gone down; some might have run from the other side of the floor and, instead of following the crowd, continued to wander around after losing their target.
Sure enough, as soon as he reached the top, he saw a zombie near the edge of the stairwell. It was currently dragging a twisted leg, walking slowly and growling.
Lin Yuzhi looked back once more to make sure no zombies were coming up before turning his attention back to the creature. He waited until it slowly disappeared around the corner before creeping further upstairs.
He soon made his way to the third floor. Perhaps due to the previous knocking sounds he had made elsewhere, there were no zombies near the stairwell on the third floor either.
Instead of leaving the stairwell immediately, he pressed himself against the wall at the corner and poked his head out, using his baseball bat for balance, to check the hallway.
He saw the third-floor corridor packed with zombies. Some were squatting on the ground devouring corpses, while others wandered aimlessly.
Books were scattered everywhere on the floor alongside blood and severed limbs. The railings were covered in bloody handprints—a truly sight too ghastly to behold.
He looked ahead. Not far away, there was a corner, and beyond that corner was a long corridor that connected to the second building.
Fortunately, the sophomore classes were not in the second building, or he likely wouldn’t have been able to make it across.
Class 12 was the last classroom on the third floor. To get there, he had to pass through this swarm of zombies.
Lin Yuzhi began to think of a way to get past. He took out his phone and checked the time; it was nearly nine o’clock.
His palms were drenched in sweat. Fortunately, the baseball bat was wrapped in grip tape, otherwise it would have slipped from his hands.
He weighed his options on how to lure the zombies away. Luring them downstairs like he did before definitely wouldn’t work; there were too many of them, and if he drew them out, he certainly wouldn’t be able to get back up.
Or, perhaps he could make the zombies jump straight off the building. That was an idea; otherwise, there was simply no way through.
He quickly crouched down and rummaged through his backpack, pulling out a manga book. He couldn’t throw his exercise books, so the manga was the only option. He specifically chose a thick one so he could throw it further.
Although throwing it from this position was risky, he figured that as long as the zombies didn’t see him—and since he was covered in the scent of floral water—their primary sense would likely be their hearing.
But he had no other choice now. This seemed to be the only way.
Putting his backpack back on, Lin Yuzhi poked his head out to observe. Seizing the right moment, he stepped out quickly and hurled the manga book out over the third-floor railing.
The moment he threw it, he immediately crouched back down, hiding his body completely behind the railing.
As the book flew out, the wind caught its pages, causing a loud thwack-thwack-thwack sound that instantly attracted the zombies in the hallway.
In the next instant, the zombies all lunged toward the direction of the book, accompanied by ferocious roars.
Because the railing was somewhat high, the zombies in the corridor didn’t tumble over immediately; they just growled and clawed toward the book. However, the zombies inside the classrooms heard the noise and ran out at full speed.
They slammed into the railing, lost their balance, and flipped right over the edge.
The sound of the book hitting the ground echoed clearly through the empty campus, followed closely by the thuds of zombies hitting the pavement.
Thump, thump, thump—
Suddenly, a great number of zombies were drawn by the commotion. They all lunged at the railing like dumplings being dropped into a pot, falling downstairs in massive waves.
Lin Yuzhi peeked out. The next moment, he heard a commotion from the floor above; the ceiling felt like it was about to shatter from the vibration.
He realized that the zombies near the upstairs stairwell had heard the noise too. He knew that if he didn’t leave now, he would die here.
He quickly stood up, gripped his baseball bat, and ran along the corridor toward Class 12.
Most of the zombies’ attention was fixed on the noise downstairs, but as he ran past, a large group was still attracted to him and lunged forward.
Fortunately, compared to the beginning, their numbers were much lower.
Having run through the narrow corridors of the hospital, this area actually felt somewhat open by comparison.
The baseball bat smashed directly into a zombie’s head, knocking it down instantly, but more zombies soon pounced.
At the same time, zombies were rushing toward him from behind—likely those coming down from the floor above.
Lin Yuzhi quickly dodged a lunging zombie and ducked into a nearby classroom, only to be met by another one face-to-face.
With one swing, he struck the zombie’s head. He then grabbed a nearby desk and dragged it to block the path he had just come from, attempting to trap the zombies following him behind it to buy himself some time. In the next moment, he ran toward the back door.
The zombies were slowed down by the desks and chairs in the classroom. By then, Lin Yuzhi had already reached the back door.
The moment he dashed out, two zombies lunged at him. He kicked one of them away and hit the other in the head with his bat to clear a path. He didn’t bother checking if they were dead or alive and just ran forward as fast as he could.
But he soon saw many more zombies coming toward him from the front. He was forced to enter another classroom.
This time, zombies were rushing in from both the front and back doors. As Lin Yuzhi ran, he pulled desks and chairs to block them, buying himself more time.
Despite his efforts, the zombies continued to pour into the classroom. There was nowhere left to go; the only path left was the window in front of him.
But this was the third floor. Jumping out meant certain death.
He stared at the window directly ahead, noticing the heavy curtains hanging beside it.
His heart sank, but he gritted his teeth and threw his baseball bat and backpack to the side. In the next instant, he sprinted and lunged toward the window.
Mom!
He couldn’t help but scream in his heart. Simultaneously, he grabbed the curtain and jumped out of the window without a moment’s hesitation.
The moment he jumped, he felt like a kite with a broken string falling toward the ground. But because he was holding the curtain, he didn’t plummet instantly; instead, he slammed heavily against the wall. A wave of heat surged toward him, mingled with the stench of decay.
The sensation of weightlessness was terrifying; he didn’t even dare to look down.
The curtain couldn’t fully support his weight, and he began to slip. Fortunately, the curtain didn’t tear away completely, and he only dropped a short distance.
Still, it scared him until his face turned pale. He quickly grabbed onto the slanted concrete ledge outside the window frame—a feature every classroom window had. Back when he had nothing to do, he used to pour water on it just for fun—not too much, or he’d get yelled at by the people downstairs.
He never expected that this ledge would end up saving his life.
He stopped falling, but clinging to the wall like this was agonizing. He had no choice; if he didn’t hold on, the curtain wouldn’t be able to sustain him.
Below him was a drop of several meters, and beneath that were countless zombies. If he fell, he would surely die today.
At the same time, the zombies chasing him also rushed out the window. Just like what he had seen in the corridor, they fell out one after another.
The previously intact window glass was now completely shattered, making a piercing sound as shards rained down.
Lin Yuzhi quickly turned his head away and tucked himself into the crook of his arm to avoid the falling glass.
He was truly praying to every deity he could think of. Fortunately, the large shards missed him; only a few small pieces slid off his body, but since he was wearing thick clothes, they didn’t cause any harm.
From the crook of his arm, he could see the situation below. Countless zombies were hitting the ground. Some landed on rocks and stopped moving entirely, while others, though twisted and broken, managed to crawl back up.
When a large piece of glass fell, a zombie happened to be standing right under it. It was instantly sliced open, the flesh falling to either side as gore and intestines spilled out.
The scene was so gruesome it nearly made him vomit.
Lin Yuzhi quickly looked away. If he kept looking, he really would throw up.
He looked upward. He was practically pressed against the wall. At that moment, a zombie falling from above happened to pass his position and slammed right into him.
There was no way to dodge. He could only lower his head again to avoid a direct blow to his skull.
The zombie slid off his body, but its flailing hands grabbed onto his leg.
Lin Yuzhi felt his body sink. The sound of tearing fabric came from the curtain; it felt as though he was about to fall along with the zombie at any second.
He turned his head quickly and saw the zombie gripping his leg, its bloody mouth hanging open as it tried to climb up.
He glanced up at the curtain and knew clearly that if he didn’t deal with this, he was going down.
He immediately used his free leg to kick the zombie, all while trying to avoid being bitten. It was exhausting.
Sweat poured down his face, but he didn’t dare stop.
Finally, after a moment, he managed to kick the zombie off. His body finally felt light again.
He looked up once more and swallowed hard, trying to calm his emotions.
But he was still hanging in mid-air and couldn’t calm down at all; he even felt his legs go weak.
Seeing that there were no more zombies at the window, he didn’t climb up immediately—even though his hands were numb and aching—because there might still be zombies lurking near the frame. If there were, climbing up now would be a death sentence.
He waited for a while until he truly couldn’t hold on any longer before he started to climb.
Jumping down was easy, but climbing back up was difficult. It was like rock climbing, but not quite, especially since he had never even tried rock climbing before.
He didn’t even know if the curtain would hold. He climbed while holding his breath, knowing full well that if he failed, he would either be bitten to death or fall to his demise. If he died instantly from the fall, so be it, but the thought of being paralyzed and enduring the pain of being eaten was more than he could stand.
His face turned bright red from the effort. Finally, after a moment, he scrambled through the window. The classroom was empty; it seemed all the zombies had fallen out earlier.
The classroom was a mess, with desks and chairs overturned everywhere.
Lin Yuzhi didn’t care about the mess. He tumbled over the windowsill and collapsed onto the floor. It hurt, but nothing compared to the pain in his hands, which he couldn’t even move anymore.
His face and neck were soaked in sweat, his bangs were wet, and his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Not only that, but his legs were trembling too. He didn’t even have the strength to stand up.
After a long while, he reached out with a trembling hand to grasp the small jade pendant around his neck and laughed breathlessly. “Thanks, Mom.”
To be honest, he didn’t know he was this strong—that he would dare to jump out a window without any safety measures and then manage to climb back in.
He had truly reached his limit. He really had to thank his mom; if it weren’t for her protection, he probably would have fallen to his death. But then again, he was her only son; she had to look out for him.
Panting, he sat on the floor for a while longer. Only when he felt some strength returning to his legs did he slowly crawl up.
The front and back doors were open, and there were definitely plenty of zombies outside. Staying here would eventually attract them.
He didn’t think he’d have a second stroke of good luck to escape again; he needed to leave quickly.
Furthermore, this wasn’t Class 12. If he was going to rest, it had to be in Class 12. He was currently running on pure adrenaline, and once that faded, it would be bad.
Picking up his backpack and baseball bat, he hurried toward the back door.
By now, there were very few zombies outside, but some remained.
Lin Yuzhi slapped his trembling hand. Endure it, brother. We’re almost at Class 12.
If you’re going to shake, wait until we’re safe.
Gripping his baseball bat, he held his breath and sprinted toward Class 12.
A few zombies heard the noise and rushed over. Lin Yuzhi took them out one by one with his bat. For those he didn’t have time to hit, he kicked them away. Meanwhile, zombies that hadn’t been lured out of the other classrooms began to pour out as well.
Suddenly, it was a sea of corpses again. Finally, with a sliding tackle, he reached the front of Class 12. Without checking for zombies inside, he scrambled up, dashed in, and slammed the door shut. He immediately dragged desks and chairs to barricade it, then rushed to the back door, closed it, and blocked it with desks as well.
The sound of impact came from the door, and the growls grew clearer. Zombies appeared at the windows.
Lin Yuzhi hurriedly took out the floral water and sprayed it everywhere, especially near the doors.
The room was instantly filled with the scent of floral water, masking much of the stench of decay.
He turned around quickly, holding his baseball bat with high alertness.
Fortunately, there were no zombies in Class 12. Perhaps because it was closer to the corridor leading to Building No. 2, most of them had run out, and those that hadn’t were still in the hallway.
At the same time, the banging on the door lessened, eventually leaving only the low growls of the zombies.
To avoid being spotted by the zombies at the windows, he retreated to the door and leaned against it, panting heavily.
That was a close call. He had almost died here.
Lin Yuzhi was currently too exhausted to speak, his body drenched in sweat.
He didn’t even have the strength to wipe the sweat away. His fingertips trembled, and his palms were shaking. He couldn’t tell if it was from fear or from the vibrations of the baseball bat hitting the zombies.
At the same time, he felt a wave of sleepiness.
Setting his backpack aside, he wanted to sleep for a while.
But just as he was about to drift off, he remembered that the power bank he had found hadn’t been charged yet. He hurriedly took the power bank and charger from his backpack, crept over to the teacher’s podium, and plugged it in underneath.
Then he sat under the podium and peeked toward the window. The zombies hadn’t left; they were wandering around nearby.
If he wanted to move freely in here, he had to cover the windows.
He quietly returned to the door, took out a bottle of water, and gathered some scattered test papers and books from the floor.
Once the zombies near the window dispersed slightly, he cautiously approached. He splashed water on the glass and stuck some completed test papers onto it. As for the blank ones, he had collected them to use for practice later.
Soon, all the windows facing the corridor were covered. He went to a corpse in the corner and gave it two extra hits with his bat before sitting back down behind the door. He looked at the familiar classroom—it was a wreck. Desks and chairs were overturned, and the floor was covered in books, papers, and blood.
There was still unfinished English writing on the blackboard. It seemed Class 12 was in the middle of an English lesson when the incident occurred.
He didn’t have the energy to organize the books and papers yet; he planned to rest before doing so.
Leaning against the wall, he sent a message to Xu An.
Fish Cracker: Arrived safely at Class 12. Feeling a bit nostalgic.
XA: Why go to Class 12? Does it matter?
Fish Cracker: Mainly for the sense of security. I’m too tired; I’m going to rest for a bit.
After sending a sleeping emoji, Lin Yuzhi stuffed his phone back into his pocket and leaned his head back to rest.
At the hospital, Xu An breathed a sigh of relief seeing that Lin Yuzhi was safe.
However, he didn’t understand why he had to go to Class 12. If it was just for the atmosphere, any safe classroom that was easy to escape from would have worked.
In truth, he was more inclined to believe that Lin Yuzhi had a specific reason for going to No. 5 High School.
But since Lin Yuzhi didn’t seem to intend to tell anyone, Xu An didn’t press him. He sent another message telling him to be careful.
A “QUICK OK” came back soon after, and Xu An put his phone away to continue writing his notes.
Lin Yuzhi leaned against the wall and drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when he was suddenly startled awake by a piercing scream, followed by the roar of zombies.