“Hungry? Want something to eat?” Qi Yue leaned forward, fawningly. “Thirsty? Want some water?”
Tang Ke raised an eyebrow. That attitude! So eager, what was he after? “Little Yueyue, where are the others?”
“The h*ll, don’t call me Little Yueyue!” Qi Yue bristled. He’d lived through dozens of lifetimes already. Sure, each one had been short, but he was definitely older than him! Anyone would be annoyed being called “little” by someone so much younger.
“Everyone else left. Just me and Sun Ling stayed,” he said, lifting his chin proudly, glancing at him from the corner of his eye with a hint of sarcasm. “Hmph, didn’t that classmate of yours say he’d ‘never abandon anyone’? Guess he’s not as good as someone you’ve only known for two days!”
“Heh. You actually believed that? Why shouldn’t they leave?”
Qi Yue snorted through his nose. Each lifetime I come back younger and younger, not just in looks, but even my mind’s regressing, he thought irritably.
“Anyway, you should rest first. Sit and meditate, it’ll strengthen your spiritual abilities. We’ll leave tomorrow.” Outside, the low growls of zombies echoed faintly.
“Yeah. Let’s go at dawn,” Tang Ke agreed. He’d noticed it too, tonight the zombies were even more restless than before.
It was now the ninth day since the apocalypse began.
Just as the sky began to lighten—
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion shook the entire building.
Qi Yue, who’d been half-dozing, leapt up in alarm. “What was that? What’s going on!?”
Tang Ke ended his night-long meditation and stood up calmly. His color had returned, his spiritual energy full. He looked toward Sun Ling.
Both of them turned just in time to see him rushing up the stairs, face pale, gasping for breath. “Bad news, the wall on the first floor collapsed! The zombies got in!”
Even as he spoke, he swung his blade and decapitated a zombie that had followed him up. “Eh? Tang Ke, when did you wake up?”
“Midnight.”
“No time! We need to move, follow me!”
He snatched a backpack from the sofa, slung it on, then darted into the kitchen, pulling out a large black plastic bag from behind a cabinet door. Without hesitation, he sprinted upstairs.
The three of them ran all the way up to the sixth floor. Qi Yue burst into one of the apartments and ducked into a room. The zombies staggered after them, but Tang Ke and Sun Ling stayed behind to guard the stairwell.
Zombies’ eyes were no different from human eyes, depending on the degree of decay, they could still transmit visual signals to the brain, though the brain processed them differently. Their hearing was sharp, able to detect not only sounds but their direction, about as far as a human’s range. Their sense of smell, however, was far keener. They could pick out the scent of living flesh anywhere, and with a favorable wind, even detect a fresh corpse from a mile away.
And these were just ordinary zombies.
As time passed, they would evolve, growing stronger, even developing abilities similar to (or stronger than) human ability users. Some would regain fragments of human thought.
Qi Yue had a bad feeling, the zombies were about to evolve.
Not every apartment had an attic, these were old-style buildings, and some residents had added their own makeshift lofts long ago. Nobody cared much to regulate them anymore.
They found a ladder leaning nearby and climbed through the attic window to the rooftop.
Qi Yue opened the plastic bag and pulled out a compact military crossbow, then took out an arrow attached to a rope. He looped one end of the rope around a concrete block on the roof, aimed at the building across the street, and whoosh!—fired.
The arrow embedded itself deeply into the opposite rooftop’s wall.
That building was newer, strictly managed, no extended attics so the rooftops were clear, perfect for a crossing.
Tang Ke blinked in surprise. “Little Yueyue, you’re really full of surprises.”
Qi Yue tugged hard on the rope, solid. He’d bought this gear from an underground black-market military shop after his last rebirth, sparing no expense. It seemed like it was worth every coin.
From the bag he took out three pulley handles. “One at a time! Tang Ke, you go first,” he shouted, handing one to each of them.
“You go first. Sun Ling and I have abilities, we’ll be fine. Hurry, stop dawdling.”
Qi Yue thought it over and agreed. Without arguing, he gripped the pulley and zipped across first. Sun Ling followed second, leaving Tang Ke alone on the roof.
By now, more and more zombies had climbed up, dozens at least, all surging toward Tang Ke. He alternated between releasing bursts of ice energy and slashing with his blade.
But his ice ability was still at a beginner level, his spiritual abilities limited, only a few ice spikes before exhaustion. As for his Level 1 plant ability, it was useless up here, no plants to work with.
Qi Yue and Sun Ling, now on the opposite building, saw the rooftop swarming.
“Tang Ke! What the h*ll are you doing!? Hurry up!” Qi Yue shouted, panic rising. “Behind you! Zombies!”
Tang Ke spun around, ducking low just in time as a zombie lunged at him. He slashed, cutting off its legs, then stabbed his blade deep into its skull. Yanking the knife free, he grabbed the pulley, took a short running start, and launched himself off.
He zipped across the rope, too fast.
Unable to stop, he slammed straight into Qi Yue, who’d been standing at the edge yelling at him.
He stumbled back a few steps and fell flat on his back with a thud. His head hit the ground hard, a huge lump immediately swelling at the back.
“Ah, d*mn it, that hurts!” His eyes watered from the pain.
Tang Ke, still half on top of him, smiled lightly. “Little Yueyue, were you that worried about me? You’re crying.” He blew softly against his ear.
Qi Yue shivered violently, his face turning scarlet, burning hot.
Tang Ke got up, still smirking. Qi Yue lay there dazed. “Get up,” he said gently. “The ground’s cold. If you want to sleep, wait till we’re out of here, I’ll sleep with you then.”
That d*mn pervert!
“You idiot! You couldn’t have landed more carefully!?” Qi Yue exploded. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was!?”
Tang Ke walked closer, step by step, until he was right in front of him. He leaned down, face nearly brushing his, voice low. “Why did you make me go first? You care about me that much?”
Sun Ling’s eyes lit up. He tilted his head, rubbing his chin, and grinned. “Oooh… what’s going on here~?”
What the h*ll! How come when you say it, it sounds so flirtatious!
Qi Yue puffed out his cheeks, sulking. I just wanted to stick close to a dual-ability user to survive longer! But he couldn’t say that out loud and couldn’t find a proper retort either.
Feeling wronged, he turned away sharply and gestured for them to follow.
On the building’s side, there was a fire escape. The three climbed down one after another.
There weren’t many zombies below, the majority had swarmed the building they’d just escaped from. The few scattered ones were easily dispatched.
They started eastward, that was the direction of S Base.
The sun was just climbing overhead.
The road ahead was long.
A new day just beginning.
