"This place is not safe at all!" Luo Xiaole cursed silently in her heart.
She had managed to evade the zombie horde through her own efforts and speed, escaping the fate of stiffening just moments before. How could she have encountered another dangerous entity in this place? She couldn't help but wonder if she was just unlucky.
But the others couldn't hear her inner thoughts.
The young man with the yellow hair, panting, hurried over to Luo Shu and said, "Your team is really something. One of you lures the zombies to make us flee, and another can open this iron door to save us."
"Is it tiring, leading these 'two kids'?" the yellow-haired man asked surprisingly.
Luo Shu, also out of breath, couldn't help but chuckle, nearly bursting out laughing. He glanced at his "little captain," Luo Xiaole, and smiled, shaking his head. This wasn't a child he was leading; rather, it was a reliable captain who often surprised them at critical moments, helping the team escape danger!
"However, your 'matchstick' looks a bit strange. Everyone else is exhausted, but she's so calm? Not even out of breath. I didn't expect her stamina to be so good," the yellow-haired man exclaimed in surprise.
Luo Shu wiped the sweat from his forehead and paused when he heard this. He looked closely; Luo Xiaole seemed to have gone rigid again! Her eyes were vacant, staring straight ahead, unmoving, not even blinking. To outsiders, she truly looked like a recluse.
Luo Shu chuckled and waved his hand, "It's nothing, she's just resting." Luo Shu only knew that Luo Xiaole would stiffen whenever she encountered zombies. He thought she was frozen because of the zombies outside the door. Anyway, the stiffness would wear off in five minutes, and there didn't seem to be any danger here.
Luo Shu let out a relieved sigh and sat down to rest. Only Mo Chen, arms crossed, subtly glanced at Luo Xiaole a few times. He frowned slightly, a flicker of subtle worry in his expression, as if contemplating something.
"It's all your fault, you damn woman, for making us run so miserably!" someone suddenly shouted from the front, pointing at Zhu Hui and yelling.
"Li Song, there's no need to say such harsh words," a girl beside him tried to mediate.
Luo Shu also frowned. Zhu Hui was indeed in the wrong. Leaving the team without permission and attracting a horde of zombies were both fatal mistakes in a zombie-infested world. Even if others didn't say it, he and Luo Xiaole would definitely have to reprimand Zhu Hui severely later; otherwise, the team couldn't continue with her.
But now was not the time for arguments. They hadn't found any supplies yet, and this iron door could only temporarily hold back the zombies behind them; they didn't know if it would break. Finding supplies and leaving this place as soon as possible was the top priority!
"Alright, stop arguing," Luo Shu stepped in to smooth things over. "What's important now is to figure out how to get the supplies from the supermarket. You guys are here for supplies too, right?"
"Pah! What are you, her lover? Defending her like this. Let me tell you, with me, Li Song, here today, you won't get any supplies!" The man's face was full of hostility, making him very difficult to deal with.
"Alright, both of you, say a little less," the yellow-haired young man, Zhou Xiaojun, also chimed in.
"Why are you everywhere, Zhou Xiaojun? Get lost!" Li Song was also very rude to Zhou Xiaojun.
"Stop arguing. Don't you smell anything strange here?" Luo Shu's expression turned grim.
"What smell? There's a whole bunch of zombies banging on the door. Do you think that smell would be pleasant! Let me tell you, if any of you let them three take the supplies today, I, Li Song, will make sure you have a terrible time in the team!" The short-haired man with the aggressive demeanor spat. He walked straight towards the depths of the passage, and with a "click," the sound of a lighter was heard, followed by a puff of smoke emerging from within.
Luo Shu frowned in disgust. Even at a time like this, he was thinking of smoking. With someone like this in the team, the others must have a difficult time.
"Ignore him," Zhou Xiaojun said with a look of disgust towards the direction of the passage. "He relies on his uncle being an officer at a military base in the suburbs, and since we're classmates, he forces us to bring him along."
"It's the apocalypse, but people still hope for rescue from the army, especially since they have firearms... That's why everyone has been putting up with him. A few days ago, when there was a signal, he contacted his uncle. As long as we head towards that military base, we'll definitely be rescued by the military," Luo Shu mused, surprised by this connection.
The smoke flickered a few times and then fell silent. Listening to the constant banging and pounding of the zombie horde on the gate, everyone was extremely anxious.
"I... we should leave quickly. Will this door be broken down?" a girl from Mo Chen's team said, very worried.
"Li Song! Let's go, we're getting supplies," Zhou Xiaojun called out helplessly towards the passage.
But after waiting for a long time, there was no response?
"Li Song? What are you doing in there?" Zhou Xiaojun's patience was wearing thin. This guy was usually hot-tempered and couldn't stand being rushed. He had called twice, and there wasn't even a complaint. This wasn't right.
"Li Song?" Zhou Xiaojun called a third time.
Silence.
This time, everyone else realized something was wrong. Zhou Xiaojun took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it into the depths of the passage. The sight terrified him to the point of losing his soul.
He let out a scream, instantly threw his phone away, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, crawling backward in panic.
"What's wrong with you?" Luo Shu hadn't seen what was in the passage.
At that moment, the sound of fingernails scraping against the wall gradually emerged from the passage. Luo Xiaole's stiffening period had finally reached its five minutes, and all sensation returned to her limbs. Hearing the sound, she quickly looked towards the passage.
She saw Li Song, as if floating in mid-air, trembling and slowly moving towards everyone. No one had ever seen such a scene; it was far more bizarre than zombies. Everyone felt their hands and feet grow cold, gasping in unison.
As "Li Song" trembled closer, gradually emerging from the shadows into everyone's sight, others finally saw that Li Song's chest had been pierced straight through by a claw. The dark, greenish claw belonged to a giant zombie, which was now holding Li Song like a skewer, hanging eerily on the wall like a spider, and inching towards everyone. This was what created the bizarre scene just moments before.
Luo Xiaole's pupils widened. She saw a massive horn on the zombie's head! It was the wall-climbing zombie that had escaped a couple of days ago... it had hidden here!
The zombie finally released Li Song. Its charred, blood-red sharp claws instantly sliced through the major artery in his neck. Li Song's entire body was suddenly lifted by something, suspended like a puppet. For a moment, only the zombie's satisfied slurping and gulping as it drained his blood, and the sound of his blood pouring onto the ground like a waterfall, filled the air.
"Thud!"
Not long after, his body was thrown to the ground, making a sound like a dropped sack. His corpse had been torn into several pieces, lying there shattered and lifeless like a piece of rags. The remaining people instantly covered their mouths, beginning to retreat desperately.
After feeding on human blood, the zombie instantly gained energy. With a thrust of its legs, it lunged towards the nearest person.
"Get out of the way!" Luo Xiaole cried out, and in the next second, five thumbtacks from her pocket shot out, she exerting all her strength and hurling them fiercely at the zombie!
Only one managed to hit the zombie, firmly pinning its palm to the wall! Luo Xiaole heard the wind whistling past her ears. A white figure quickly zipped past her, leaping forward. It lightly touched the wall, launching itself into mid-air. The tip of its sword was unsheathed, and a sharp ringing sound cut through the air as it violently swung towards the zombie's head!
"Slash!"
But it only cut halfway... The wall-climbing zombie, whether it had evolved into a new species, had a smaller, parasitic-looking zombie covered in chitin inside its head. The smaller zombie, with a body as nimble as a weasel, dodged Mo Chen's blade, rolled upwards, and slid away along the wall! The massive body of the wall-climbing zombie crashed heavily to the ground with a "boom."
Luo Xiaole frowned. That thing had escaped. It seemed the wall-climbing zombie was merely a temporary host. This matter was far from over.