“Stop right there! Who said you could leave? You can’t leave! You have to take us to the police station and guarantee our safety!” Seeing that she was about to walk away, a woman reached out and grabbed Mu Yining’s arm.
“Me? Guarantee your safety? On what grounds?” Mu Yining shook off the woman’s hand with utmost disgust.
“You! You’re completely fine, dodging those monsters with ease, so what’s the harm in taking us along? Who knows, maybe we’re the ones protecting you! Don’t be so ungrateful!” another person chimed in.
“Alright, alright, stop arguing! How about this—I’ll give you five hundred thousand to take me to a safe place. You don’t need to worry about the others.” A middle-aged man in a sharp suit spoke up as he pulled out his wallet, signed a check, and handed it to Mu Yining.
“Heh, your life is worth five hundred thousand? Not bad. But I suggest you get a reality check. A street full of zombies couldn’t care less about your five hundred thousand. Starting today, all of these things of yours are nothing more than waste paper!” Mu Yining tore the check to pieces without a trace of mercy. Not to mention now, even before the apocalypse she was never short of money like this. Did she have extraordinary ability? That was something she had traded her life to obtain.
Several students in the crowd suddenly blurted out, “Zombies? I’ve watched *Resident Evil*—the zombies in there seem to be just like these monsters right now. Once you’re bitten, there’s no cure! Why did things suddenly turn out like this?”
“Then what are we supposed to do? Let’s get out of here, I don’t want to die…”
Everyone burst into bitter wailing. Why? What were they supposed to do, and who was going to save them?
“Your own life is in your own hands.” Refusing to say another word, Mu Yining picked up the child in her arms and walked toward Alan in the distance.
Since Mu Yining had saved him, she couldn’t just stand by and watch him become zombie food. He was still a child with no ability to protect himself, unlike those adults who only knew how to rely on others.
After finding a safe spot, Mu Yining set the child down and looked at him solemnly. “Where are your mom and dad? Where did they go?”
“Xiaoyao doesn’t know either. Mommy and Daddy said their stomachs hurt and went to the pharmacy over there. They told me to wait obediently in the car for them.” The child pointed toward a store in the distance. The pharmacy was small, with a green storefront and signboards that were easy to spot at a glance.
“Your name is… Xiaoyao?” A novel name.
“Sister, my name is Mo Yao. Can Sister help Xiaoyao find my mommy and daddy? Xiaoyao saw everything earlier—there were so many uncles and aunties biting people randomly. Xiaoyao was scared.” Mo Yao spoke with a pitiful expression, yet there wasn’t a trace of fear in his eyes. Perhaps he truly believed they were merely “uncles and aunties.”
She was helpless; she had it so tough, somehow forced into playing the good person. Mu Yining had no choice but to take Mo Yao to the pharmacy to look for his parents.
Alan cleared the way up front, using his massive body to ram aside any zombies that approached.
Everywhere she looked, people were being tackled and pinned down by zombies. A fresh, living life was devoured clean in less than five minutes. Perhaps those victims were someone’s family or friends.
Many people suffered complete mental breakdowns and cried hysterically, unable to accept how a life that was vibrant just moments ago could turn around the next second to bite fellow humans like a demonic ghoul. Terror and revulsion filled their entire minds.
Sensing the little figure trembling in her arms, Mu Yining pressed his head gently against her neck. For such a young child to endure this with such restraint—neither crying nor making a scene, only letting tears fall silently—she couldn’t help but view him in a new light. Thinking back to her past life when she first witnessed a scene like this, her legs had trembled so hard she couldn’t even walk; she hadn’t been much better than these people.
Having lived a second life, she understood the fear these humans were experiencing right now, yet she had no way to help them. Only this child felt different to her—her heart didn’t reject him the way it rejected everyone else.