In the vast warehouse of Taoli, Zhou Feng slowly regained consciousness. His phone, with just a sliver of battery left, displayed several messages from Li Yanqi.
Fearing they might be self-deleting messages, Zhou Feng read each one with utmost care.
The messages explained news reports about humans awakening special abilities, and how her companions had also gained powers after experiencing fevers. She urged him to pay attention to any changes in his own body. The final message outlined her plan: she would arrive at Taoli in a few days with Fu Ying and others, and he should wait for them there.
After reading, Zhou Feng was surprised to find the messages weren’t self-deleting. However, his phone was about to die, and the warehouse seemed to have lost power. He quickly typed a short reply:
“I’m fine, phone’s dying, waiting for you.”
…
Outside the iron gate of Dormitory Building 3, a horde of zombies had gathered again. When Fu Ying and the others learned this was the doing of people from Building 7, they were furious.
“In this apocalypse, humans should help each other. How could they treat this as a joke?” Guo Rongrong said indignantly.
“No worries. We’ll clear out those zombies ourselves,” Li Yanqi said with a cold smile, knowing full well it wasn’t a prank.
To others, it might look like they were fighting over an unclaimed vehicle, but only she knew the truth: she had arranged for this car to be here. It was fully fueled, with extra fuel reserves and supplies she had prepared. There was no way she’d let anyone else take it.
“But that’ll waste a lot of time,” Fu Ying said. They could handle the zombies, but over a hundred would take a while.
“No need. Just cover me. If more come, we drive out,” Li Yanqi said, her eyes sharp and determined. She was ready to escape today, no matter what.
…
In Dormitory Building 7, Chen Wendong and his group had been closely watching the situation since early morning. With zombies swarming outside Building 3, they were sure no one could get out.
Five figures emerged from Building 3. Guo Rongrong was in charge of driving, while Gu Yao opened the car doors to cover the group.
Zhang Tao quietly followed Li Yanqi and Fu Ying, while upstairs, Chen Ming and the others watched with mixed feelings.
“They’re insane,” Ren Yulan said.
“I bet they won’t make it out. The whole campus is crawling with zombies, just like when we got here,” He Ruorui said, leaning against the windowsill with a sour tone.
Zheng Yu watched the three figures advance below. For some reason, he felt an urge to join them. Following Li Yanqi and fighting zombies felt exhilarating, and now…
“Fu Ying, use your metal ability to open the gate later. Zhang Tao, cover my surroundings,” Li Yanqi instructed.
In truth, she didn’t need protection, but Zhang Tao, who had just awakened his ability, thought she was being reckless. When they practiced killing zombies before, it took several people to handle one. Now, just the three of them against over a hundred? How could they manage?
Even Fu Ying wasn’t fully on board, but Li Yanqi convinced them both. While they were talking, she had already used her makeshift daggers to take down over a dozen zombies.
The gate swung open.
Chen Wendong and his group watched the zombies pour out, a sight they’d only seen when school let out and students rushed to the cafeteria.
'Slash!'
Li Yanqi kicked a zombie in the chest, launching herself into the air with agility. Wielding a long blade, she spun and struck, decapitating six zombies in one fluid motion as Zhang Tao and the others looked on in shock.
“Yanqi’s incredible!” Fu Ying exclaimed, inspired by Li Yanqi’s calm confidence. No longer nervous, she conjured sharp blades from her hands and slashed at the zombies in front of her.
Zhang Tao couldn’t yet use his ability to attack, but he hurled nearby rocks to distract approaching zombies, giving the others a moment to breathe.
Chen Wendong’s group was speechless. The fierce woman leading the charge wielded a dagger in one hand and a long blade in the other, with zombies falling around her.
“They… they’re not even thinking about luring the zombies back to us,” Lin Yanyi muttered. None of them had expected the group to forgo retaliation and focus on killing zombies instead.
Not one person in their group had ever killed a zombie.
“Yanqi, that’s enough! Get in the car!” Gu Yao shouted from inside the vehicle. In just over twenty minutes, the zombies outside the iron gate were mostly down. Guo Rongrong seized the moment, flooring the gas pedal and driving over the corpses.
“Get in! Let’s go!” Li Yanqi called to the others, sensing more zombies gathering.
“Got it!” Fu Ying grabbed Li Yanqi’s hand and jumped into the car through the door Gu Yao held open. Zhang Tao climbed into the front passenger seat.
'Bang! Bang!'
Guo Rongrong, eyes shut, rammed through a few zombies and sped down the road.
The survivors in Nancheng University watched a silver car drive off, their initial excitement turning to shock.
“I thought someone was coming to rescue us,” one said.
“Me too, but it looks like they’re escaping,” another replied.
“Escaping? It’s even more dangerous out there…”
…
Looking through the rearview mirror at the fading sign of Nancheng University, Guo Rongrong felt a wave of emotion. She never imagined she’d be relying on a few students to survive.
“Teacher Guo, find a safe spot up ahead, and I’ll take over driving,” Li Yanqi said. Guo Rongrong was visibly nervous on the road, and Zhang Tao didn’t know how to drive. Plus, Li Yanqi knew the route best.
“Okay,” Guo Rongrong agreed, not wanting to push herself. She soon switched places with Li Yanqi.
“Wow, there’s so much food back here!” Gu Yao exclaimed, discovering a stash of supplies behind the seats.
“Really? We got that lucky?” Guo Rongrong said, thrilled. They’d only packed instant noodles and sausages in Li Yanqi’s backpack, and she’d been worried about how they’d survive.
“And cookware? What’s this?” Gu Yao asked, holding up a heavy black box.
“Portable battery,” Fu Ying said, flipping it on. The screen showed: '100% charge remaining'.
“I’m starting to think this was packed by someone planning a long camping trip, and we just got lucky,” Gu Yao said, stroking her chin.
“Maybe. Didn’t the school have that travel vlogger visit? This stuff looks like it’s for outdoor trips,” Li Yanqi said with a smile.