“We’re both thinking of the same person right now, aren’t we.” Lu Dongnuan stared at the twisted figure of the monster.
Its massive claws had broken free from its fingers, the left side of its skull horrifically caved in.
Loose skin, stretched wide by bone, hung from its back.
Blood drenched its legs, and a jagged shard of glass was lodged deep in its thigh, forcing it to limp on one foot.
Upon seeing the two of them, the monster slowly lowered itself, taking up the poised stance of a beast preparing to pounce.
“Sister… Sister Jing, she’s turned into a Zombie!” Xiao Fang exclaimed in horror.
“Roar!”
“Ah!”
Lu Dongnuan reacted in a flash, instantly yanking off her backpack and shoving it into Xiao Fang’s arms before sprinting away without a backward glance!
“Crap!”
Xiao Fang caught it reflexively.
Seeing Sister Jing—now a Zombie—about to leap at him, he didn’t hesitate to hurl the backpack hard in the Zombie’s direction, then immediately spun around and bolted after Lu Dongnuan.
“Senior, I swear!”
Lu Dongnuan looked back to see Xiao Fang close at her heels, while that terrifying Zombie was chasing right after him, the gap between them quickly shrinking.
“Don’t follow me!” Lu Dongnuan shouted.
“No! We agreed to run together!” Xiao Fang’s voice cracked with desperation and stubborn resolve, “Don’t think about shaking me off!”
Lu Dongnuan wished she could kick Xiao Fang away, but escaping took priority.
Gritting her teeth, she ran with all her might.
“You threw the bag?!” she yelled furiously as she sprinted.
“What, you want me to wait around to be its snack?!” Xiao Fang shot back, sticking close behind Lu Dongnuan.
Behind him, Sister Jing—now a Zombie—let out a spine-chilling screech.
Though she was limping, her speed on all fours didn’t falter in the slightest.
That twisted figure closed in rapidly through the dim corridor, claws scraping the ground with a sound like a death knell.
The shouts from upstairs attracted the attention of the Brother Hao below.
Unaware of stairways, they began to swarm at the bottom, gathering in greater and greater numbers.
“Stop freaking yelling!” Lu Dongnuan barked a warning as she noticed the Zombies’ disturbance.
But after being played for so long, Xiao Fang seemed to have given up on everything.
“Screw you, you schemer! I’ll yell all I want! If I’m dying, we die together!”
“I give up!”
Seeing he wasn’t about to give up on her, Lu Dongnuan clenched her jaw and said, “Left turn! Into the emergency stairwell!”
On spotting a half-open fire door, she made a split-second decision.
The two dashed, one after another, into the stairwell.
Sister Jing’s Zombie, moving too fast, couldn’t turn in time.
That gave the pair a precious moment.
“Up or down?” Xiao Fang asked, panicked and uncertain.
“What, you wanna head down and feed the brothers? Up!” Lu Dongnuan growled, charging up the stairs ahead.
Her goal was the fourth floor—the only unknown place that might still hold a chance of survival.
However, Sister Jing’s Zombie had no intention of giving up on her delicious prey so close at hand.
She lunged into the stairwell right behind them, scuttling up the steps on all fours even faster than she’d moved on flat ground!
“It’s coming! It’s coming!” Xiao Fang whimpered, hearing the ever-louder scraping and howling behind him.
Lu Dongnuan heard it too.
Her sharp gaze darted to the stair landing—there were several idle fire extinguishers lying there.
“Xiao Fang, catch!” Still running, she grabbed a heavy dry-powder extinguisher and, without even looking, flung it backwards.
“Smash it! Aim for the head!”
“Bang!”
“Crap! Don’t aim for my head!” Xiao Fang narrowly dodged.
“Click, missed.” Lu Dongnuan clicked her tongue, a note of regret in her voice.
“Like hell you were aiming at it! You were aiming at me!” Xiao Fang was nearly scared to death—the heavy extinguisher had grazed past his ear, making his heart pound with fear.
He had no doubt—if that thing hit him, he’d be joining the Brother Hao gathering downstairs in no time.
“Don’t block the way, then!” Lu Dongnuan cursed without looking back, her feet never slowing.
“I’m behind you!”
As luck would have it, the heavy red metal canister tumbled and bounced down the stairs, gaining momentum as it barreled straight for Sister Jing.
Sister Jing’s Zombie tried to dodge, but the rolling extinguisher crashed into her front limbs.
Though it didn’t cause fatal damage, the impact threw her off balance, sending her tumbling messily down a few steps, her roars echoing in fury and confusion.
The two heard the chaos behind but didn’t dare look back, racing all the way up to the fourth floor.
Lu Dongnuan shoved open the heavy fire door.
They slipped through and, together, slammed it shut with a bang, locking it tight.
Xiao Fang nearly collapsed onto the floor, panting so hard it felt like his lungs might burst.
Lu Dongnuan leaned against the wall, chest heaving, sweat-soaked hair plastered to her forehead.
“Quick, which way out?” Lu Dongnuan asked hastily.
“Wait…wait, let me… catch my breath…” Xiao Fang waved a hand, struggling to get the words out between gasps.
“You’re a grown man, and you’re not even as fit as me?” Lu Dongnuan shot him a look of contempt.
“Huh?” Xiao Fang bristled, “I just fought Zhuo Lei! Now I have to run for my life, too!”
He caught his breath, then eyed Lu Dongnuan suspiciously, “Wait… how come you suddenly got so fast? Weren’t you weak just a while ago?”
That made Lu Dongnuan pause, too.
Yeah, ever since just now, an unnatural strength had welled up inside her, driving her forward.
That wasn’t normal.
After a moment of silence, Xiao Fang spoke again, voice a bit lower: “How did Sister Jing end up like that?”
Lu Dongnuan frowned and shook her head slowly, at a complete loss.
“Hey, Senior,” Xiao Fang suddenly changed the topic, his tone a little teasing after surviving the ordeal, “I always thought you were the super cold, hard-to-approach type, but turns out you’re just a bit of a closet show-off. When you first arrived, your face was so stiff it was like someone owed you eight million.”
“Can’t help it. I’m carrying a blood feud.” Lin Mo’s disgusting smile flashed through Lu Dongnuan’s mind.
Her whole persona had collapsed, now left so disheveled—all thanks to him.
“Once I get out of here, I’m going to kill him!”
Xiao Fang, still panting, struggled to stand up.
“I want to get out too. My little sister’s still out there… who knows how she’s doing…” As he spoke, he suddenly slapped himself hard across the face, full of regret.
“Damn! I never should have gone out today!”
He then slumped, defeated, “So tired… I don’t even know how much time has passed.”
Lu Dongnuan looked at him, saying nothing.
When Xiao Fang finally straightened up, he pointed toward the way to the rooftop.
Lu Dongnuan understood.
“Senior, did you really graduate from our University?” Xiao Fang suddenly asked out of nowhere.
“You keep calling me ‘Senior’, don’t you? Isn’t that enough?” Lu Dongnuan replied offhandedly, still catching her breath.
“So,” Xiao Fang turned his head, face hard to read, “were you just saying all that to seduce me?”
Lu Dongnuan looked at him, her face pale from exhaustion and without much expression, and simply replied: “Yeah. You didn’t really believe it, did you?”
“You’re scary.”
Lu Dongnuan looked at Xiao Fang in confusion and asked, “How am I scary? Isn’t this normal in the Apocalypse?”
“It’s only been a few days since the Apocalypse began, and you’re already this open.” He walked ahead, his face out of view.
“You killed Sister Jing, didn’t you.”
“Yeah.” Lu Dongnuan followed behind, answering honestly.
“So, would you kill me too?”