Chapter 39: Danger
“Not good! The car’s almost out of gas!”
Zhu Dafu, who was driving, went numb all over, his head covered in cold sweat from panic.
If the car stalled halfway because it ran out of fuel, wouldn’t they just become ready-to-eat snacks for those bees?
He really didn’t believe that a van like this could withstand so many bees.
Just a glance showed there were at least dozens, maybe even hundreds. Each one was the size of a human head!
And the stingers on their tails clearly spelled instant death if they struck!
“Find somewhere to hide!” Chaoyang shouted. “The bigger and more complicated, the better!”
Just as the van was about to run dry, Zhu Dafu drove into a middle school. To make sure they could get inside, he slammed the accelerator and used up the last bit of fuel, pulling the van right under the teaching building.
“Hurry, get out!” Zhu Dafu urged as he yanked open the door and rushed into the building.
As for whether there were zombies inside…
Of course there were!
But there was no choice—those mutant bees were about to sting their butts off. They had to run inside first!
The others also scrambled out of the van and rushed in. Chaolu and Chaoyang each grabbed one of Mibao’s hands, practically hauling him along so that he barely touched the ground every couple of steps.
The giant mutant bees chased close behind, and Chaoyang knew they would be caught at this rate.
“Find a classroom to hide in!”
He shouted.
There was no time to check if a classroom had zombies or not. They had to yank the door open and rush inside.
The three adults ran faster; they reached the second floor first and immediately darted into a classroom.
But just as Chaolu and Chaoyang arrived at the second floor, a zombie lunged at them right at the stairwell!
“Damn it!”
Chaolu cried out in alarm, letting go of Mibao’s hand as she dodged to the side. But the zombie immediately lunged straight at her!
“Sister Chaolu!” Mibao called out anxiously.
Chaolu drew her large machete to block the zombie. Hearing the buzzing rising from the stairwell below, she quickly shouted toward Mibao, Chaoyang, and Ye Duo:
“Don’t worry about me, you run first! I can handle this!”
They knew Chaolu wasn’t joking, so they nodded and continued to run upward.
Some of the bees flew directly into the second-floor corridor. The railings of the school’s teaching building were semi-open, completely useless at keeping the bees out.
So they had no choice but to keep going up.
From then on, Ye Duo and Chaoyang each pulled one of Mibao’s hands as the three of them ran upward together.
By the time they reached the third floor, Chaolu had already finished off the zombie with her machete, then slashed at the bees diving toward her, forcing them back before quickly dashing into a second-floor classroom.
Along the way, some bees chased after her. She managed to drive a few away with her blade, then hurriedly flung a door open and rushed inside.
Chaolu let out a breath of relief—only halfway before the growl of zombies echoed around her.
Chaolu: “…”
Seriously, not even a moment to rest.
So Chaolu immediately started clearing out the zombies in the classroom.
As it happened, this was the very same classroom the three adults had hidden in earlier. When they first entered, they had stumbled upon five or six zombies and had been so terrified that they bolted straight for the podium, cramming themselves underneath it and trying to fend off the zombies with chairs.
Luckily, Chaolu had arrived just in time—otherwise the three of them would have been done for.
With Chaolu attacking and the three adults doing what they could to help, the classroom zombies were quickly dealt with.
But they still couldn’t leave, because a large swarm of mutant bees had gathered outside and showed no signs of dispersing.
To stop the bees from smashing through the glass windows, Chaolu and the adults began moving desks to block them.
At the same time, Mibao, Chaoyang, and Ye Duo had reached the third floor, but just their luck—several zombies were already wandering the corridor. The moment they heard movement, the zombies charged straight toward them!
“Run!”
Chaoyang made the split-second decision to sprint directly toward the fourth floor.
The constant running had drained too much of the children’s strength. Mibao and Chaoyang were still too young, and both were nearly at their limit.
Ye Duo was several years older than them, with better stamina, so she grabbed one in each hand and kept running, panting heavily.
But the situation on the fourth floor wasn’t looking good either…
Even Ye Duo’s strength was running out.
Seeing the zombies rushing toward them, Ye Duo gritted her teeth and let go of Mibao’s hand, dragging only Chaoyang upward.
Mibao had already been struggling since the third floor, almost being dragged along with each step.
With Mibao weighing her down, Ye Duo truly couldn’t keep going.
She chose to abandon Mibao and hold onto Chaoyang instead—first, because she thought Mibao was nothing but dead weight; letting her go not only eased her burden, but would also slow down the pursuing zombies. Second, Chaoyang was smart. If she managed to hide with him, he should be able to think of a way out.
“Mibao!”
Chaoyang only realized halfway up that Mibao had been abandoned. His eyes widened in disbelief, and as they reached the landing, he caught only a glimpse out of the corner of his eye—the swarm of zombies charging straight at Mibao!
Fortunately, there were only two zombies on the fifth floor, and they were at the far end of the hall. It would take them a while to get over.
So Ye Duo quickly pulled Chaoyang into a corner classroom.
She let out a long breath and collapsed onto the floor, but the next second, Chaoyang shoved her hard, knocking her flat to the ground!
Ye Duo looked up and met Chaoyang’s furious eyes.
It was the first time she had ever seen such an intense outburst of emotion from him.
“…I know what you want to say,” Ye Duo said between gasps for breath. “But I had no choice. In that situation—if I hadn’t let go of her, the three of us would have died together!”
She felt a little guilty, but didn’t think she was truly wrong.
Better for one person to die than all three.
“You…” Chaoyang wanted to say more, but the next second Ye Duo yanked him, and he fell to the floor.
At the same time, a zombie slammed against the door with a roar!
Both Ye Duo and Chaoyang quickly dodged aside. Ye Duo pulled a baseball bat from her backpack and handed it to Chaoyang. Chaoyang grabbed the bat and climbed onto a desk, while Ye Duo hefted a chair and smashed it hard against the zombie’s head!
Bang!
The zombie reeled, dizzy and disoriented, unable to react before Chaoyang’s bat came crashing down.
One after the other—they smashed and struck—until the zombie’s head was a bloody mess, and it collapsed to the floor, motionless.
Afterward, the two of them sat in a corner, the classroom heavy with silence.
“…If you hadn’t let go of Mibao, we might still have escaped.”
Chaoyang’s voice was low and heavy, his head hanging.
“But the chance of all of us dying would’ve been greater,” Ye Duo couldn’t help but defend herself. “I wasn’t just—”
“Why didn’t you let go of me?”
Ye Duo froze for two seconds. “Because, because…”
“Because I’m more valuable?” Chaoyang gave a mocking smile, though it was directed at himself. “But honestly, I don’t really have the right to blame you.”
After all, in that moment, he hadn’t had the ability to protect himself either.
At that instant, Chaoyang felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness rise inside him.
He was too weak.
He had no right to blame anyone.
Yet even as he berated himself, a sliver of hope bloomed in his heart—
Mibao still had her alien brother. Her alien brother would protect her, wouldn’t he?
Mibao… should still be alive, right?
