V1C4

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“D-don’t kill me, I’m alive, I wasn’t trying to do anything!” cried a panicked female voice.

“Get out!” Song Hanzhang snapped in reply, showing no inclination to let go of his knife.

The bush rustled and a pale-looking girl walked out, barefoot, wearing a mini-skirt and a thin shirt. Apart from a pair of black fur gloves and a scarf, there was nothing protecting her from the cold. She held a metal shovel on her right hand and looked nervously at Lin Jue and Song Hanzhang.

A draft of cold wind blew by. She shivered and lowered her head timidly.

Lin Jue glanced at her torn stockings and couldn’t help but shiver as well. That choice of clothing didn’t look very warm.

The girl looked like she was on the verge of tears. “I-I don’t know what happened; when I received that phone call, I was on my way back to the dorms. Everything suddenly became silent, and I-I was so scared. And those monsters…” As if reminded of that scene, she started shaking again.

“Where are your shoes?” Song Hanzhang asked.

“I threw them away, it’s hard to run in high heels…” The girl choked up, her tears smearing on her fur gloves. “Thank goodness there was a flowerbed under renovation nearby and I was able to find a shovel…”

Lin Jue couldn’t bear seeing a girl that flustered and crying and tried to comfort her. “You’re okay now, don’t cry. I’m Lin Jue and he’s Song Hanzhang. Who are you?”

The girl seemed to relax and looked at him in gratitude. She sniffled and said, “I’m Zhou Yuxiu.”

Song Hanzhang measured her with his eyes before turning his attention back to the gate far away.

The zombies were still loitering there with no intention of leaving. He frowned, thinking of a way to proceed.

“Our next step is the Time Plaza. What about you?” Song Hanzhang asked Zhou Yuxiu.

Finally seeing a sliver of hope in her fearful surroundings, Zhou Yuxiu screeched as if they were her lifeline, “I’m coming with you guys! Together! Don’t leave me!”

“Shut up!” Song Hanzhang chided her coldly. Zhou Yuxiu, who was hysterically releasing her fears, became dazed under his cold eyes and stepped closer to Lin Jue out of fear.

“The fastest way to get to Time Plaza will be through this gate. I don’t recommend going through any of the other entrances as there’ll be a high chance of meeting other zombies and there are no promises that the situation at any other gate will be better. I’ll go through the plan now and if there are any problems, feel free to correct me.” Song Hanzhang’s voice was still icy cold. The last part of the sentence felt like it was only there for courtesy, and only for Zhou Yuxiu.

“Lin Jue will be responsible for using his pipe to hit on the lamps- the zombies we’ve met are all sensitive to sound and smell. They’ll be drawn over by the sound, but as long as you stay away from them, their movements will remain slow. However, once they reach a specific distance, they’ll lunge towards you. That distance should be…”

“Three meters,” Lin Jue confirmed. “I was looking and the safety distance was around three meters. They’ll speed up any closer.”

Song Hanzhang glanced at him and nodded. “We can lead them in a circle. From the western-most lamp near Building 31, knock on every lamp you go past. You might attract some roaming zombies from the dormitories but don’t mind them: a safe passage is all that we need. We don’t have too much time and we should be able to leave them behind after a round across the block. Do you understand?”

Under the fierce gaze of Song Hanzhang, both Lin Jue and Zhou Yuxiu instinctively straightened their postures and nodded.

“Good. Lin Jue, you take the lead; Zhou Yuxiu, stay in the middle, it’s safer that way; I’ll stay at the back.” Song Hanzhang looked at the terrain around them. “I’ll estimate the distance between us and the zombies. Lin Jue, follow my instructions and control your speed so we won’t be chased too tightly, but don’t let the zombies lose their target and stop following you either.”

He weighed the kitchen knife in his hands, as if unsatisfied with the weapon. For creatures like zombies, knives were indeed not as useful as long-ranged weapons like metal sticks.

“That… If you don’t mind… you can take this for now,” Zhou Yuxiu said weakly. Seeing Song Hanzhang’s eyes on her, she swallowed nervously. “I don’t mean anything, it’s just that this is probably easier to use… Plus, it’s too heavy for me.”

Song Hanzhang looked at her for a few seconds, his eyes moving from the hand holding the shovel out to him to her obviously nervous face. A smile suddenly appeared on his face. “Thanks. Take this knife for self-defense.”

Zhou Yuxiu fearfully took it in both hands.

“Right, and Lin Jue,” Song Hanzhang suddenly called out, startling him who had been on guard.

“What?”

“Some zombies in front of you might also be attracted to the sound,” he said. “You’re walking at the front so keep your eyes sharp. If we do run into any, smash their sphenoid bone. That place is relatively weaker so it’ll be easier to kill them.”

“Sphenoid bone?”

“…Smash their temples.”

“Oh, okay.”

Song Hanzhang glanced at his watch. “20:25. “We can start now.”

The clanging of steel against steel began to sound. Lin Jue felt as if his entire hand was numb from shock. The zombies from the west gate were indeed moving towards the source of the sound though; their movements were still slow, but their huge numbers added another sort of pressure.

“Run!”

Song Hanzhang’s shout had barely left his mouth before Lin Jue began sprinting forwards. Zhou Yuxiu froze, wrong-footed, before following suit, her movements crippled from her wounds and lack of shoes.

“Slow down, they won’t be able to catch you,” Song Hanzhang called out from behind.

Lin Jue had already arrived at the next lamp and turned to look at Song Hanzhang and Zhou Yuxiu. Song Hanzhang on the other hand, was still standing where they were before, looking at the zombies. The furthest ones were still hidden by the darkness but the ones closest to him were almost approaching that three meter barrier, their ferocious faces clear, even under the dim lamps. They were no longer human. Even if they were once, they now chased what had once been their kin in this nightmarish night, heartlessly biting, murdering, and eating.

One bite would probably lead to an infection.

Even though he knew that the safety distance was three meters, it was no easy feat controlling the flight instinct. Lin Jue knew that Song Hanzhang was brave, but he still broke out in cold sweat watching him.

Song Hanzhang did some calculations in his head and gave up all thoughts of drawing away all of the zombies. He ran over to where Lin Jue and Zhou Yuxiu were.

Zhou Yuxiu’s face became even paler, her voice trembling. “That was way too dangerous; what would have happened if they lunged at you? Don’t stay so close to them!”

“It’s fine. As long as you keep three meters away from them, you’ll be fine. Now keep knocking.” Song Hanzhang looked around him and ordered Lin Jue onwards.

The ringing sound of pipe against lamp sounded again, drawing the crowd towards them. Even a few zombies roaming in front of them were attracted and started walking forwards. Lin Jue tightened his grip on the metal pipe, forcing himself to not run. Zhou Yuxiu looked like she was on the verge of fainting, her body shaking uncontrollably, not even daring to look at the zombies advancing towards them.

The feeling of being surrounded sure is awful. Lin Jue drew in a deep breath, shifted his weight to his feet, and sprinted. The zombie in front of him roared and jumped— now! Lin Jue swung the pipe with all his might against the side of the zombies head. The weak sphenoid bone was unable to withstand the impact and cracked with a dull sound. The feeling of true impact heated up Lin Jue’s mind, fogging it over. He swung the pipe again. This time, its entire temple sank in. The zombie shakily fell onto the ground and stopped moving after a few twitches.

Lin Jue released his breath. It turned out that as long as he was attacking the right place, the zombies weren’t as hard to kill as he had imagined.

However, before he had time to congratulate himself, the sound of Song Hanzhang’s voice rose up from behind him. “Are you an idiot? You can evade them by walking on the grass to the side.”

Lin Jue’s face was filled with the confusion of a man having had his achievement made useless. Zhou Yuxiu gave him a look of sympathy and walked into the greenery despite the pain in the soles of her feet.

The plan was now proceeding smoothly. They were able to see the west gate distantly after just half a round around Building 31, and there were only a few zombies left surrounding the gate. Song Hanzhang ran up to the other two and said, “Don’t knock on the lamps anymore, we’ll sprint over. If you get stopped by a zombie, just dodge them. Don’t stop after you get through this gate, run straight towards Time Plaza.”

“Now go!”

With that order, the three dodged the zombies following them and ran forwards. Due to the wind direction, the zombies in front of the west gate only started to draw in when the three had almost arrived there. Lin Jue smashed away the zombie closest to him and turned around when he ran past the gates. Song Hanzhang was pulling on Zhou Yuxiu with one hand, his other flipping over any advancing zombies.

“Careful!” Lin Jue saw clearly from the front that a zombie in the shadow of the communications building was less than three meters away from the two!

Zhou Yuxiu looked up in terror. Her right hand was being pulled by Song Hanzhang and she held the knife with her left. WIthout thinking, she threw the knife towards the zombie, but it bounced harmlessly off it. Song Hanzhang had now also realized the danger there, his grip on Zhou Yuxiu’s hand loosening as he slammed the shovel down onto the zombie’s face with two hands until its entire head reeled back.

“Run, quickly!” Song Hanzhang grabbed Zhou Yuxiu who had sunk into another haze of fear and crossed the west gate.

The three of them ran all the way to Time Plaza, crossing the bridge over the campus’ artificial stream, throwing endless zombies off, and rushing into the empty clock square in a single breath.

Something strange happened. When they ran into the area where the Clock Square was located, the zombies behind them suddenly seemed unable to sense their breaths. They stood there blankly, their ferocious faces no longer showing that bared expression when they found food. They growled unconsciously instead and scattered to wander around the area.

“We’re safe…” Zhou Yuxiu’s knees weakened and she knelt down on the tiles of the plaza.

Lin Jue hadn’t run so desperately even in the one-kilometer fitness test. Now as he relaxed, his legs and feet felt paralyzed to the ground. He doubled over, panting violently, his head buzzing.

Song Hanzhang looked at Zhou Yuxiu’s bloody feet and left the plaza.

“Hey, where are you going?” Lin Jue shouted.

He walked to just the edge of the plaza, immediately drawing the attention of a nearby zombie. The zombie roared and moved towards his direction. Song Hanzhang flipped it over without hesitation and chopped off its head with the edge of the shovel, his movements clean and bloody. Feeling the scent of the living, the surrounding zombies slowly drew closer, but when Song Hanzhang returned to the plaza, the zombie’s body in tow, they dispersed again.

Song Hanzhang took the female skater shoes from the zombie and hung them from his fingers, a disgusted frown on his face.

“Wear this,” he told Zhou Yuxiu.

Zhou Yuxiu gratefully took the shoes in both hands and put them on.

“There were people even earlier than us…” Lin Jue looked towards the clock tower in the centre of the plaza. There were three people there, walking towards them.

Vera’s Notes:

This week has been rather nasty… I’m glad I could get this out to you all through the burnout I’m feeling a tad right now!

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