"...save... save me..."
Curled up in a dark corner, the frail figure trembled, emitting a vague and indistinct murmur.
How many days had passed since leaving the refuge, he didn’t know. His body was completely devoid of any strength, feeling as though he were dead... or more accurately, he was perhaps close to dying. The water he carried was all gone, and his throat, his tongue, it felt like every breath he took was searing pain. Though he still had emergency rations, he couldn’t swallow any of it.
His body could no longer move, sometimes unclear whether he was awake or dreaming, with only the terrifying voices of those "creatures" echoing in his ears. He had thought about escaping this place, but on the way to the station master’s office, he had twisted his ankle while trying to evade those creatures. To be honest, it was already lucky that he made it here alive.
But looking at it now, perhaps it would have been better if those creatures had caught and killed him there and then. The feeling of curling up in a corner and waiting to die was unbearably terrifying.
Suddenly, a fierce knocking sound came from the door, and with it, that figure trembled violently.
Though he had hoped they would come later, those things had noses more sensitive than he’d imagined... and now, he too was going to die here. Like the others, torn apart by the creatures, bitten to pieces, turned into unrecognizable chunks of flesh...
No matter how much he endured, no matter how long he waited, the rescue never arrived.
Perhaps he understood that there would be no rescue, that he might be the last living person in this world, that everything he did was in vain, that everyone who could have come to save him might already be dead. Maybe it was to deny his own thoughts that he made a move akin to suicide, leaving his friends, the sealed safe house, risking his life to seek help.
But now, all that should come to an end.
The box jammed at the door suddenly fell to the ground, and the thick fire door began to warp and deform.
Through the gap, he could hear that terrifying growl, if it were before, he would probably raise his hand to cover his ears. But now... he didn’t even have the strength to lift his hands...
The fire door started to cave inward, and with the help of the dim light, he could even vaguely make out several arms reaching in from the gap, flailing about. Their shadows grew and expanded, filling the entire space, like a giant beast made of shadow, eager to...
A deafening explosion rang out suddenly, followed by the monsters’ roars from outside. But this time, their roars did not sound as terrifying as before; instead, they seemed to be filled with anger and—fear? free𝑤ebnovel.com
The chaotic roaring rose again but was quickly drowned by the huge explosions and thunderous noise. After a brief moment, silence returned.
What on earth had happened outside?
He wanted to open his eyes, but at this moment, his eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, and no matter how hard he tried, he could only close his eyes, then...
It was unclear, but he could be sure that there was a voice coming from outside... not the monsters’ voices, but human voices!
"...is there anyone there?"
"It doesn’t seem like..."
Hearing the voice coming from outside the door, her originally blurred consciousness once again became clear, she opened her mouth and used the last of her strength to shout out loud...
Hearing this faint cry for help, Tina suddenly paused, then she reached out to press against the heavy fire door in front of her. With a light grip from Tina’s slender hand, the next moment, she completely removed the already deformed fire door from the wall.
Immediately after, Tina saw a young girl curled up in the corner beside the radio, appearing to be in a coma. She was dressed in a white blouse and a green skirt, looking like a student from some school; her brown shoulder-length hair was now completely disarrayed, her face was covered with stains and dust, and around the girl, there were empty water bottles and some food scattered around.
"Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you!"
Tina quickly rushed to the side of the girl, who then hazily opened her eyes and looked up at Tina, whispering.
"Water? Wait a moment... Midori, get a bottle of water!"
Upon hearing Tina’s request, Midori nodded, then she disappeared into the shadows. In a moment, the cat-eared girl reemerged from the shadows. This time, she held several unopened bottles of mineral water.
"I found these in a vending machine nearby!"
As she spoke, Midori took a bottle of mineral water and gently poured it into the girl’s mouth. Perhaps because of the cool sensation of the mineral water, the girl opened her mouth and started to drink eagerly. But after just a few sips, Midori took the bottle away again.
"It’s better for you to drink slowly, big sister... The book says that people who have been deprived of water for a long time can easily get into trouble if they suddenly drink a lot."
"Huff... Thank you... thank you..."
At this moment, the girl seemed to finally regain some spirit. She sat up, looking at Tina and Fumie Busei with astonishment.
"Did you... come to save me?"
Upon hearing the girl’s question, Tina nodded.
"Natsuse found your distress signal, so Brother Fang Zheng brought us here to check on you. It looks like we arrived just in time."
The girl smiled faintly at the two girls in response to Tina’s answer, and a look of puzzlement appeared on her face. Although she had considered the possibility of being rescued, she had never imagined that the ones who had heard her distress signal would be girls even younger than herself. How did they get here? And also...
"Brother Fang Zheng is dealing with those creatures; you don’t have to worry, big sister."
Tina seemed to anticipate what she wanted to say, and smiled as she responded. The girl still felt somewhat uneasy, for she knew all too well how formidable those creatures were. And now, with only a few people, could they really deal with those terrifying creatures?
Yet, as much as her reason defied belief, the fact was that the roaring of the creatures around her was indeed diminishing, and had even completely disappeared. This was something that, logically, should have been utterly impossible... Could it be that someone really had come to save her?
They were able to eliminate so many creatures; could it be... the Army had been mobilized?