The sky was just beginning to brighten. Their group successfully cleared out the zombies on the fifteenth floor and took the elevator down to the B1 level.
The elevator doors opened.
Zhou Yu'an took the lead, using a dead zombie's body as a shield in front of him. With his other hand, he wielded a steel pipe, thrusting it cleanly and decisively into the fatal necks of the remaining zombies.
Yan Qingdu carried Chu Liuyue on his back, providing cover fire from behind. The bang, bang, bang of gunshots echoed endlessly.
Gu Man gripped her steel pipe, looking around cautiously.
Finally, they cleared a path.
However, Zhou Yu'an noticed a problem: his car was parked at the very back of the garage, right where the zombies were clustered the thickest.
At this rate of killing zombies, they would likely exhaust themselves before finishing them off.
Yan Qingdu saw this as well and offered, "I'll go to the other side and shoot to draw the zombies away."
Zhou Yu'an nodded. His gaze fell on Chu Liuyue as he said, "You go distract them. I'll carry Liuyue."
"Can you handle it?" Yan Qingdu looked doubtful.
"I can."
Zhou Yu'an didn't say much more, simply transferring her onto his own back.
Watching this scene, Gu Man could not hide the jealousy in her eyes.
At first, everything went smoothly.
Yan Qingdu fired his gun in the opposite direction. A couple of loud bangs successfully lured a large horde of zombies over.
Zhou Yu'an also smoothly reached his off-road vehicle, unlocked the doors, and was just about to help Liuyue into the back seat.
Right at that moment, Gu Man suddenly let out a piercing scream.
"Ah! Her... her eyes have turned completely white!"
This scream attracted a few nearby zombies that had just wandered away. They sluggishly turned their heads, then, as if catching a scent, began shambling excitedly toward them.
"Shut up!"
Zhou Yu'an slammed the back door shut, turned around, and climbed into the driver's seat.
Gu Man took the opportunity to open the other rear door, scrambling inside.
The headlights flicked on.
The engine roared to life.
Zhou Yu'an drove the SUV straight toward Yan Qingdu. The latter quickly pulled open the passenger door and nimbly slipped inside, while his other hand accurately fired at the zombies' heads.
Just as the car was about to shoot out of the underground garage like an arrow released from a bowstring...
Gu Man's eyes darkened. She looked at the completely unconscious Chu Liuyue beside her, who was letting out low, raspy sounds from her mouth.
Taking advantage of the two men in the front being fully focused on dealing with the zombies, she quietly and gently pushed her car door open.
With a forceful shove, she looked at the swarming horde of zombies behind them and unhesitatingly pushed the girl out.
She muttered under her breath, "You were going to turn into a zombie anyway."
"Sooner or later makes no difference."
"Don't blame me for being cruel. Blame your own bad luck!"
A heavy thud echoed as a body hit the ground. Zhou Yu'an, who had been driving with deep concentration, gradually eased off the accelerator.
He turned his head and asked, "What happened?"
Gu Man feigned composure and replied, "Nothing, it just felt like the car hit a zombie."
Yan Qingdu pulled back his hand holding the gun.
He turned around, looked at the empty back seat, and anxiously asked Zhou Yu'an, "Where is Yueyue?"
"I just put her in the back seat," Zhou Yu'an said.
The two men exchanged a glance.
They shot murderous glares at Gu Man in the back. By now, the car had broken through the zombie encirclement and exited the hospital's underground parking garage.
Behind them was a dense, swarming horde of zombies.
So that thud just now was the sound of Chu Liuyue being pushed out.
Zhou Yu'an took a deep breath, preparing to turn the car around.
Gu Man grabbed the steering wheel and screamed, "Are you crazy? There are so many zombies in there right now. Going back is suicide!"
"Besides, Chu Liuyue is going to become a zombie sooner or later anyway. Isn't it better to leave her at the hospital?"
"Get lost!"
Zhou Yu'an's face showed deep disgust, along with undisguised hatred.
Yan Qingdu, however, narrowed his eyes and stopped him from turning the wheel.
"If we go back now, none of us will survive."
"Let's leave first. I believe Yueyue will come find us."
Zhou Yu'an's face twisted in anger as he said, "She's unconscious right now, and she was force-fed that serum. With so many zombies, how can a weak woman survive?"
"Come find us? Yan Qingdu, even if you just want to save your own skin, there's no need to spout nonsense."
Yan Qingdu raised an eyebrow.
"She is very strong." It was a simple statement of fact.
He gripped the steering wheel and told Zhou Yu'an, "The viral load of the ASSR-1 genetic catalyst is massive, and its reaction time is extremely fast."
"If she were going to turn into a zombie, she wouldn't have made it through last night."
"Therefore, her symptoms mean she is currently awakening her abilities. During this catalytic period, her viral load matches that of the zombies, so she won't be in any danger for now."
"Let's get out of here first so we don't become a burden to her."
Hearing this, Zhou Yu'an was half-believing, half-doubting.
His scrutinizing gaze fell on Yan Qingdu's face. "Are you sure?"
Yan Qingdu nodded firmly. He crossed his index and middle fingers by his ear and said with absolute certainty, "I am sure."
"Let's head to the gas station by National Highway 316 first. If Yueyue wakes up, she will definitely come find us."
...
When Chu Liuyue was pushed out of the car, she was fully conscious.
It was just that the viral load had somewhat exceeded her expectations, rendering her completely unable to control her body.
It wasn't until she was shoved into the zombie encirclement that the white film covering her eyes gradually faded, returning to her normal brown pupils.
"Heh... heh..."
The zombies surged forward in waves, crowding around her and sniffing, but after a long while, they couldn't detect the slightest scent of a living human.
"Roar!"
The moment Chu Liuyue opened her eyes, a threatening roar erupted from her throat.
The surrounding zombies immediately halted in their tracks, then scattered in fear.
There was a strict hierarchy among zombies.
And one of Chu Liuyue's mental abilities was the power to simulate the brainwave frequencies of high-tier zombies.
If anyone had been there, they would have witnessed a marvelous sight.
A slender young woman sat on the ground in the underground passage, and a safe, empty vacuum radius of five meters formed around her as zombies scrambled away in the opposite direction.
"It seems my ability has leveled up."
Chu Liuyue had deliberately let Gu Man feed her the serum.
She had been craving it for a long time.
But with Zhou Yu'an around, he definitely wouldn't have let her drink it, and she couldn't figure out Yan Qingdu's stance on it either.
So using Gu Man's hands to get it was the best option.
Sure enough, as soon as the virus from the red serum entered her body, it felt right at home.
If mental abilities had levels, her previous attack and defense range was five meters; now, it had expanded to at least fifty meters.
She rested for a moment.
Chu Liuyue stood up and stomped her feet.
They were a bit numb.
Then, strolling as leisurely as if she were in her own backyard, she weaved through the sea of zombies and pressed the elevator button.
"Ding-dong—First floor!"
She returned to the first floor.
The moment the elevator doors opened, two ice blades were suddenly pointed straight at her head.
