Chapter 3: Please Come Back Safely
At the very moment the front door was about to be forced open by the living dead, the young woman finally climbed up and smashed open the vent’s grille!
“Quick!”
Straddling the vent, she grabbed hold of Mibao’s hand with one hand and hauled her upward with all her strength.
“Roar!”
A ferocious-looking zombie lunged at them, its hand clamping right around Mibao’s ankle!
“Ah!”
Mibao let out a shrill scream and kicked hard at the zombie’s hand below, but she was too weak to break free.
The young woman above clung tightly to her, straining as she shouted, “Hang in there, kid—”
With one final heave, she managed to wrench Mibao out of the zombie’s grip—though one of Mibao’s shoes was left behind.
But that didn’t matter. What mattered was running!
The young woman hugged Mibao and jumped down from the vent. It was a bit high, so they stumbled and fell, but luckily the winter cold had them bundled in thick clothes, so there was no real injury.
The situation outside wasn’t any better—screams and zombie howls echoed everywhere, pristine snow was trampled and splattered with blood, and even the evening sky had taken on an unnatural red hue.
“Go!”
Gripping Mibao’s hand, the young woman ran forward in a panic. She remembered there was a delivery van parked just behind the convenience store.
Normally, the delivery van would be gone by now—but today, by sheer luck, it was still there.
She thought, maybe this was a lifeline sent by the heavens!
Dragging Mibao along, she sprinted for the van. Without even splitting up to climb in separately, she yanked open the driver’s door, shoved Mibao inside first, and then quickly squeezed in herself!
In just that brief moment, three or four zombies had already been drawn over, pounding frantically on the van’s doors!
The young woman fought to keep her fear under control, started the van in haste, and slammed her foot on the gas, driving it forward!
Bang!
Barely ten meters out, the left rear tire exploded. The van spun out of control, skidding and veering straight toward the storefronts lining the street!
Crash—!
The deafening impact left both the young woman and Mibao dazed from the blow, but the young woman recovered quickly. She kicked the door open with one strong push.
“Run!”
She scooped Mibao into her arms and jumped out, ready to dash away—only for a zombie to suddenly lunge from the side the moment her feet hit the ground, sinking its teeth into her ear!
“Ah!”
Blood sprayed as the young woman let out a scream of agony—the zombie had bitten her ear clean off!
“Sister!” Mibao cried out in terror, her eyes wide.
Shoving the zombie away, the young woman’s face turned deathly pale. All around them, more zombies were closing in, drawn by the noise. Her expression was filled with despair.
“Mibao, live!” she choked out, shoving the girl back into the van. “Live…”
She knew the chances were slim, but…
Her consciousness began to fade, pupils shrinking.
“No… hhh… don’t… come… out… hhh…”
In mere seconds, the convenience store’s young woman had completely turned into one of the undead.
Protector and attacker switched places in an instant.
Roar!
The zombified young woman began furiously hammering at the van’s door. The window, already cracked from the crash, shattered into falling shards!
Countless hands reached through the van’s windows—rotting, reeking, the zombies crowding and overlapping as they clawed madly, desperate to seize Mibao!
Terrified, Mibao kept backing away, her wide eyes brimming with tears, staring blankly at the convenience store young woman who was closest to her.
“Sister…”
She was too young to understand why the convenience store sister had suddenly become just like those monsters—she only knew that her heart hurt terribly.
Instincts drove Mibao to shrink farther back, and soon she had scrambled from the front seat of the van into the back.
The rear windows were in better shape than the front, but under the pounding fists of the zombies, they were clearly on the verge of giving way.
Huddled into a tight ball, Mibao buried her face into her knees, eyes squeezed shut, not daring to look at those horrifying creatures.
“Mibao’s not scared… not scared… it’s just a dream… I’ll wake up and it’ll be okay…”
Her trembling voice repeated the words like a charm, but they couldn’t block out the sound of the snarls drawing closer and closer.
One of the zombies had already begun crawling in through the front window.
Mibao’s small body shook harder than ever, but there was nothing she could do—only clutch herself tightly and tell herself it was all a dream.
“Hhhrrr…”
The zombie’s guttural snarl was right beside her now, its rancid stench invading her nose.
Mibao couldn’t hold back anymore—she burst into loud sobs.
“Daddy… I’m so scared… Daddy!”
—
“I’m sorry, the number you’ve dialed is currently unavailable…”
Bang!
Ji Ruwen’s face darkened as he slammed his phone down onto the coffee table, a chill radiating from his entire body—and, almost imperceptibly, a trace of fear.
Judging by the time, if the van had headed straight back, they should have already returned by now. But forget the van—he couldn’t even get through on the phone!
With the chaos outside right now… could Mibao have…?
“Sir, you have to calm down!”
The housekeeper auntie quickly stepped forward to stop Ji Ruwen.
“Those monsters are everywhere out there. We may still be relatively safe here, but the neighborhood next door has already—”
She often bought groceries, so she had joined a supermarket group chat, and an auntie from the next neighborhood had shared the news there.
“They’re very sensitive to sound, sir. The noise you just made was far too loud.”
It… might attract those living dead here.
Ji Ruwen understood that perfectly well, but he couldn’t suppress the panic and regret churning inside him.
The man sat on the sofa in heavy silence for a long time before his eyes gradually hardened with resolve, and he stood.
“I’m going to find Mibao!”
Rather than sit here in torment, he’d rather go out and search himself.
Every extra second Mibao spent outside was another second of danger!
He quickly changed into a tracksuit, slung on a backpack, stuffed in a few essentials, then grabbed a baseball bat and a bow and arrows, ready to head out.
“Sir!”
Just as he was about to open the door, Auntie Zhao Lanxin hurried to block his way.
Ji Ruwen frowned slightly. “Auntie Zhao, you’re going to stop me?”
Zhao Lanxin shook her head, then handed him something she had just brought over.
Ji Ruwen blinked in surprise—it was a neck guard.
“Sir, I saw some videos other people posted in the grocery group—those living dead like to bite people’s necks,” Zhao Lanxin said. “This is brand new, never used. Please don’t mind.”
Ji Ruwen tightened his grip on the neck guard and gave a small nod. “Thank you.”
With that, he put on the neck guard and, without a moment’s hesitation, pulled the door open and stepped out into the freezing, snow-covered night.
“Sir… please come back safely with the young miss…”
Zhao Lanxin’s eyes grew damp as she murmured the words.