The sound of the car engines was especially loud in the still of the night. Both vehicles had their headlights on, lighting up the surroundings so brightly that everything could be clearly seen from inside the building. Two vehicles were parked by the gas pumps, a sedan in front and a mid-sized bus behind it.
Four or five strong men got out, each holding some kind of weapon, dividing their duties clearly between keeping watch and refueling the vehicles. Standing at the front of the car was a tall, heavily built middle-aged man scanning the area. A young man soon got out and approached him, the two murmuring quietly while occasionally glancing toward the house where Qi Yue and the others were staying. The big man nodded to the young one, then turned to signal the rest to get back into the vehicles. Soon, the engines started up again and the cars slowly drove toward their location. It seemed the newcomers intended to stay there overnight too.
Inside, the three people exchanged glances, wordlessly agreeing that Tang Ke should be the one to go talk to them. There was no other choice, among the three, he looked the most steady and approachable, and because of his past job, he had better people skills.
Tang Ke, however, was not thrilled. Before the apocalypse, he’d had an agent to handle all social dealings for him. Reluctantly, he opened the door and stepped out. The two vehicles had already pulled up beside theirs, and several people were getting out. The tall middle-aged man stood in front, clearly the leader.
After exchanging some basic information and confirming neither side posed a threat, they agreed to share the supermarket building for the night.
The big man’s group entered first, instructing the rest of their people to come down from the bus. One after another, more people came in — there were about sixteen or seventeen in total, a mix of men and women, young and old. Most were young men, though there was one older man around fifty and a chubby five- or six-year-old boy with big round eyes, the big man’s son.
The big man was the owner of a repair shop. Most of the group were his workers, while a few were survivors they’d met on the road. They were from Gaizhou, a neighboring city to Yicheng. When the apocalypse broke out, they’d hidden in the repair shop for a few days. Two days ago, they heard a radio broadcast saying that Liaocheng had established a safe base, so they were traveling there. To avoid the zombies in the city, they took a longer route, adding two extra days to their journey. Among their group, six people had awakened abilities. The big man himself had a strength-type ability.
Liaocheng Base was a mid-sized base in S Province. Before the apocalypse, it had been a prison, later converted and fortified into a military-protected base. Under normal circumstances, it would only take a day and a half to get there from here.
Once inside, they searched through the supermarket again, picking up leftover supplies Qi Yue’s group had missed. When they learned Tang Ke’s team hadn’t yet scavenged the restaurant area, everyone grew excited, saying they’d go there in the morning to collect more. With so many mouths to feed, they needed all the supplies they could get.
The two groups agreed on the night watch schedule: Tang Ke’s group would guard until midnight, and the newcomers would take over until dawn. Once the shifts were set, the big man’s group went upstairs to rest.
Time crept by. Near midnight, everything outside remained calm. The door to the rest area on the first floor was open. No one spoke. Tang Ke stood by the window watching outside, Sun Ling sat on a chair by the table, polishing his long blade used for cutting down zombies, while Qi Yue leaned back on the sofa, dozing off. The sofa faced the front door, giving him a clear view of the entrance and the dimly lit sales area.
Clack.
The sound of a lock turning made all three jump up in shock!
The door had been opened from the inside! The big man’s son, that little boy, suddenly bolted out, running straight toward the building that housed the restaurant. In a blink, he was gone. What was happening?!
They rushed upstairs to wake the big man and the others. The man’s face went pale with panic, his wife had died of illness two years ago, leaving only his son. The boy was his entire world. Without hesitation, he gathered three ability users and two skilled fighters to search for him.
Qi Yue didn’t want to go, but Tang Ke insisted. It had happened during their watch, so they bore some responsibility. Since Tang Ke was going, Qi Yue naturally followed. He always felt safest near him, a dual-ability user. Sun Ling had no objections and joined too.
The restaurant building had two floors. The first floor was a hall for travelers to rest, with several smaller rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, an office, and a storage room. The second floor was the restaurant itself.
The big man’s group went ahead, Qi Yue’s group followed behind. The moment he entered, Qi Yue felt a chill crawl up his spine, something was wrong. He tugged at Tang Ke’s sleeve. He turned, eyes alert, and gave a small nod. Yes, they were being watched.
A sound came from upstairs. The big man and his men immediately headed up, and Tang Ke’s team followed. The noise was coming from a private room in the restaurant, the boy’s voice, whispering to someone. When they gently pushed the door open, only the boy was there, facing the doorway, eyes wide and muttering under his breath. They couldn’t make out the words.
Suddenly, a scream.
One of the big man’s men had opened another door, and dozens of zombies poured out, pinning him to the ground. Blood gushed from his mouth as he was torn apart, his intestines spilling onto the floor. The scream had come from him.
“D*mn! There’s at least forty or fifty of them! Are all the zombies in the service area here? Have they… developed intelligence?”
Otherwise, how could they have all gathered in one room, waiting?
The stairway was already blocked. There was no choice but to fight their way out.
The sounds of abilities unleashing, blades slicing, curses, shouts, and zombie growls all blended into chaos. The surprise attack had thrown everyone off balance. Tang Ke shielded Qi Yue, fighting fiercely, whether with his powers from afar or his weapons up close. Having trained in Taekwondo since age four, his reflexes were fast and his movements precise. Qi Yue, lacking any ability, stayed close behind him.
After a brutal battle, only three of the big man’s group remained including himself. Two ability users and one ordinary man were dead. One survivor was bitten and infected.
Just when everyone thought the danger was over, Qi Yue suddenly caught a stronger, sickening stench, his unusual heightened sense of smell kicking in.
“Careful!” he shouted.
A dark figure lunged from the shadows, too fast. It bit into the neck of an exhausted ability user before anyone could react.
A Level-One Zombie.
Qi Yue’s heart sank. This was at least a month earlier than in his previous life. And not just any, this one had telekinesis. He was certain it had used its psychic power to control the other zombies, making them hide, and even manipulated the boy to lure them in. But zombie psychic powers shouldn’t work on ordinary humans, only on ability users. Was the boy… also an awakened one, just undiscovered because of his age?
“Don’t give it time to use its power!” Qi Yue shouted.
Sun Ling, a speed-type ability user, dashed forward in a blur. “Plant Bind!” Tang Ke summoned vines that coiled tightly around the zombie’s legs, holding it in place. Then he launched ice shards to draw its focus while Sun Ling attacked at close range. The big man charged from behind, slicing off one of its arms. Sun Ling cut the other, and Tang Ke finished it by severing its head.
The danger was over.
Of the six people the big man brought, only he remained alive. The bitten one had already turned and been put down.
While the others descended the stairs, Qi Yue discreetly went back, cracked open the zombie’s skull, and dug out a small black crystal nucleus, about the size of a fingernail. He slipped it into a plastic bag and hurried to catch up.
Downstairs, they prepared to leave. The big man carried his son, whose eyes were still blank, face pale, lips moving silently as if muttering, everyone assumed he’d been frightened speechless.
But as they stepped outside, a terrible scream erupted from the supermarket.
They rushed to the door, too late. Inside, corpses lay strewn across the floor, blood smeared along the doorknob. A zombie crouched in the center, devouring flesh, its mouth dripping red. Another Level-One Zombie.
They attacked again, quickly killing it, it was a strength-type, luckily. Otherwise, in their exhausted state, they might not have survived. Tang Ke’s powers were drained by the end, and he collapsed onto a sofa, panting heavily.
Then —
“Ahhh!”
Sun Ling screamed, jumping back and clutching his hand. The little boy had bitten him.
“What—?” The big man dropped to his knees to grab his son but the boy lunged first, biting deep into his father’s neck.
In the dim moonlight, as the boy moved, a bite mark was faintly visible on the back of his neck.
Tragic. So many had died trying to save him.
The boy had been infected all along.
Even in death, the big man’s eyes stayed wide open in disbelief, staring at his son. Qi Yue stepped forward and ended the mutated child’s life.
Sun Ling was infected too.
In the distance, dawn was breaking faintly.
The big man’s group, gone. All of them.
In the apocalypse, sometimes… you can only gain by losing.
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