Chapter 5: He Should Have Died in This Cold, Snowy Night
Night had completely fallen. Ji Ruwen, wearing night-vision goggles, carefully drove through the snow.
The area where he lived had only eleven residences, all owned by the wealthy, and the security there was excellent. For the time being, there were still no zombies inside.
Before long, he arrived at the entrance to the villa district.
“Hhhhhh…”
A low, guttural growl came from the guard room not far away. Further ahead, along the main road under the dim yellow streetlights, a few zombies could be vaguely seen wandering about.
Ji Ruwen’s expression was grave. If he were only going out himself, it would be simple—but he intended to find Mibao and bring her back. That meant he couldn’t risk damaging the gate.
Given the current situation, if he wanted to avoid alerting the zombies and letting them in, his only choice was to go out on foot.
He parked the car nearby, then carefully got out.
The iron gate’s system had every resident’s fingerprint recorded. Standing before it, Ji Ruwen pressed his own fingerprint to unlock the gate, slipped through quickly, and shut it behind him at once.
Everything remained silent—he hadn’t disturbed anything.
Letting out a breath of relief, Ji Ruwen continued forward.
But the accident happened in the very next instant!
“ROAR!”
A zombie lay sprawled at the gate, buried under a thick layer of snow. It didn’t stir until Ji Ruwen walked past, when it suddenly jolted awake and, without even getting to its feet, lunged straight for the delicious “fat meat” in front of it!
Seeing the zombie suddenly latch onto his calf to bite, Ji Ruwen was quietly thankful he was dressed in thick clothing.
The trouble was, the noise had drawn the attention of the zombies in the distance!
Frowning slightly, Ji Ruwen decisively swung the baseball bat in his hand, knocking the zombie clinging to his leg flying, then immediately bolted toward the direction with fewer zombies.
Perhaps because of the frigid weather, these zombies weren’t moving very fast, so Ji Ruwen soon managed to shake them off.
But without a vehicle now, relying on his legs alone to find Mibao would be difficult.
He stood still for a moment, thinking—then his gaze slowly fell on a shared electric scooter not far away…
Ji Ruwen: “…”
Honestly, he had never used one of these before.
But right now…
One minute later—
Riding the electric scooter, Ji Ruwen frowned as he headed toward the old family home. Judging from the time he had called the driver earlier, the car should now be somewhere near Zhu Hui Street.
So he didn’t waste any time and immediately increased the scooter’s speed.
And then—
Beep beep! “Your speed is too fast. Please slow down.”
The electric scooter’s overspeed warning chimed.
Ji Ruwen: …?
What kind of ridiculous noise was that?
Also… how was this fast?
Was he even going twenty kilometers an hour?
But there was no helping it—if he didn’t slow down, the warning would keep blaring, and it would only be a matter of time before it attracted zombies.
With a dark expression, Ji Ruwen was forced to ride the slow, sluggish scooter down the street—only to turn a corner and… run into a massive horde of zombies.
Ji Ruwen: “…”
He understood now—this was probably Heaven’s way of giving him his just deserts.
He had no choice but to speed up the scooter, which in turn made the warning chime go off nonstop.
And so, he found himself stuck in a vicious cycle—if he didn’t go fast, he couldn’t shake off the zombie horde; if he went too fast, the beeping would lure even more zombies.
Ji Ruwen felt a pounding headache coming on.
Snow began to fall again, fluttering down in thick flakes. On the street, an electric scooter that kept emitting overspeed warnings zipped ahead, with a massive horde of staggering zombies chasing close behind.
More zombies were being drawn in from both sides.
On another road, inside a military vehicle, Xiao Bai—who had been dozing off—caught the faint sound of beeping. He rubbed his eyes, woke up, and pressed his ear to the door.
“…Your speed is too fast. Please slow down. Beep beep! Your speed is too fast. Please slow down…”
“There really is a sound.” Xiao Bai was now fully awake. “Captain, there’s a survivor nearby!”
The captain, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them immediately and ordered the driver, “Turn around.”
Xiao Bai had the best hearing in the team. If he said there was a survivor, then there definitely was one.
At the same time, Ji Ruwen saw that more and more zombies were closing in, and Zhu Hui Street—the place he was heading—was now close. Gritting his teeth, he abandoned the shared scooter altogether and sprinted down the street on foot!
He might have been twenty-eight, but he kept up a regular fitness routine, so his stamina was excellent.
“Mibao… wait for Daddy!”
Ji Ruwen panted heavily as he ran, chanting Mibao’s name in his mind.
The intense running made his heart pound violently in his chest. The zombies were getting more and more numerous—and they were closing in.
His speed was indeed faster than the zombies’, but zombies never tired—humans did.
Under the pitch-black night sky, snow swirled thickly down. The street he wanted to reach was only faintly visible in the distance.
Plop…
He didn’t know when the tears had started rolling from his eyes. In his chest, his heart was pounding—full of regret and fear.
He couldn’t die…
At least, not here!
At the very least… at the very least, let him find Mibao…
“Hoh… hoh…”
“Roar!”
The sound of the zombies was now right at his back; Ji Ruwen could even smell the stench of rot drifting toward him.
Bam!
Ji Ruwen fell hard to the ground.
In an instant, the zombies that had been eyeing him hungrily pounced on him!
He hurriedly used his baseball bat to block the zombie’s head, stopping it from biting him.
But if he blocked this one, more zombies were still coming for him.
Was he… going to die?
Perhaps this was his retribution.
The face of his wife seemed to appear before his eyes—she looked at him in disappointment, as if silently asking why he had treated their daughter that way.
Why… had he abandoned the child that was the crystallization of their love?
Why… had he been so cold to the child she had endured so much to give birth to?
Ji Ruwen’s eyes burned hotter.
“I’m sorry… Wanwan… I’m sorry…”
Tears blurred his vision, and the strength with which he was holding the zombie back began to weaken over time.
Maybe… he really should die on this freezing snowy night.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, and the zombie that had been about to enjoy its meal was instantly shot in the head.
Rotten blood mixed with pale brain matter splattered across Ji Ruwen’s face.
He froze, unable to react for a long moment.
It wasn’t until a military vehicle pulled up in front of him and a strong arm yanked him up from the ground that Ji Ruwen finally snapped back to his senses—someone had saved him.
His eyes lit up at once, and he hurriedly grabbed the other person’s arm.
“My daugh—”
“Look out!”