Feeling enraged, Zheng Minghui felt like he had been played. The two of them met with the same intent, quickly brawling on the spot.
"You tricked me, f*ck!"
After a while, both of them stopped their tussle, sitting on the ground, panting heavily.
"Want to fight more?" Zheng Minghui said.
"No more, no more, ah...wasting energy!"
"Huh, that’s a coincidence, me! Zheng Minghui!"
Shen Mingke gave him a curious look.
"Your name also contains ’Ming’ (bright)?"
"Yeah, like ’ming’ in ’Ming Tian’ (tomorrow)"
"Same here, what a coincidence!"
"What are you doing in this place?" Zheng Minghui asked.
"I was working on the sewers. God knows what happened that day. I’ve been here ever since. Whenever I get hungry, I sneak out and grab something to eat." Shen Mingke shook his blue work clothes and pointed to a dog hole.
"Can you get out from there?"
"There’s a supermarket above, and the zombies inside are more numerous than the hair on your balls. Whether or not I can steal some food depends on my luck." Shen Mingke said, clearly discontented.
"Ah, by the way, did you just come in through this door?" Shen Mingke asked curiously, looking at Zheng Minghui.
"Don’t look at me like that, that’s how I got in. What’s up?"
"Didn’t you encounter any monsters?"
"You know, the ones that crawl... they’re taller than us even when crawling! Did you encounter such large monsters?"
"No, no! What monster are you talking about?" Zheng Minghui replied impatiently, continuing to eat his spicy snack.
The chewing sounds in Zheng Minghui’s mouth made Shen Mingke’s mouth water uncontrollably. It seemed like he hadn’t eaten anything for a couple of days.
"Brother... Can you spare some for me?"
"You’re dreaming! I don’t have much left either. Go outside and get some yourself. I won’t share!" said Zheng Minghui.
Shen Mingke rubbed his nose and shot him a sideways glance before pulling a dark, hard piece of bread from his bag to munch on. He couldn’t help but glance at Zheng Minghui’s greasy snacks every now and then.
Why? Why does he get to enjoy delicious spicy food while I have to eat this damn bread? It’s not fair.
"Are you sure that the only thing outside that dog hole is zombies?" Zheng Minghui asked.
"Why don’t you go out and see for yourself?" Shen Mingke retorted sarcastically.
Zheng Minghui’s eyes filled with fear. He looked outside, his heart full of restlessness. He didn’t want to stay here with Shen Mingke forever.
"Can’t stay, I need to go! You can stay here if you want!"
"Where are you going? Hey! There are monsters outside!"
Zheng Minghui retorted and then walked towards the door. He turned the doorknob and left. Looking at his retreating silhouette, Shen Mingke hesitated for a moment but then got up and followed him out.
"What are you doing? Following me?"
"Are you sure you didn’t encounter that giant monster?"
"What monster, what the hell are you talking about? I just came from there, I didn’t encounter anything!" Zheng Minghui pointed to the direction he came from.
"Oh, it’s okay if you didn’t encounter it. I’ll go with you!"
"Let’s go then!" Zheng Minghui gestured with his knife and moved forward.
"But what? There aren’t any zombies here?"
"There aren’t any zombies, but there’s a..."
"Just one? What are you scared of? I’m here with you. Hold this gun, it’s real. It’s out of bullets, but there’s a chance to grab a few hundred more!"
"Are you bullshitting me?"
"F*ck off!" With a smirk, Zheng Minghui’s joke lightened the mood in the dark hallway.
"The exit? It’s everywhere! Let’s go!" Shen Mingke responded.
They both swung their flashlights around, winding through the darkness. They went on and on, turning corners, taking this way and that.
"Are you sure there aren’t any zombies here?" Zheng Minghui asked a bit nervously, as the pitch-black surroundings were really frightening.
Shen Mingke looked around with his flashlight, not noticing anything unusual. Relieved, he said, "No, not at all, there’s just that monster! As long as we don’t run into it, we’ll be fine!"
Just as he finished speaking, a bone-chilling howl came from behind them.
"Shit, it’s coming!" The moment Shen Mingke heard this sound, his heart started pounding. In a panic, he shouted, "Run!"
Shen Mingke started running ahead, with Zheng Minghui following. Out of curiosity, Zheng Minghui turned his head and shone the flashlight behind them, only to see a gigantic shadow in the distance.
The flashlight was only capable of illuminating so far. He could see a face, a bloated face as if the creature was puffing its cheeks. It opened its repulsive mouth full of rotten black teeth and drooled disgustingly as it chased them.
"Holy shit!" Terrified, Zheng Minghui stepped up his pace, quickly running to the front.
"This way, this way! That way is too far! Go this way!" Seeing Zheng Minghui, Shen Mingke shouted, and then turned a corner. Hearing his shout, Zheng Minghui quickly stopped and followed him.
The sound of objects falling to the ground behind them kept echoing. Zheng Minghui could imagine the havoc the monster wreaked behind him!
"What the hell is that thing? Jeez!"
"Zombie! An evolved zombie! On the day of the outbreak, it was one of our colleagues. After turning into a zombie and eating a lot of people, it became !"
"What the f*ck, evolved? It can evolve?" Zheng Minghui said in surprise. When it comes to evolution, he thought of that fast-as-a-mad-dog dwarf zombie.
Perhaps it was their imagination, but the "bang bang" sound of the monster behind them started to get closer. They both turned around to look and noted the giant monster had significantly narrowed the distance. They both picked up their pace.
Shen Mingke led Zheng Minghui around another corner, and they could finally see a bright light not far off. They were overjoyed, as if they had just seen the incarnated god after all the suffering they had experienced. Their eyes shown with enthusiasm.
"Run faster!" Zheng Minghui hollered, he overtook Shen Mingke and ran towards the light, climbing up the staircase in a few steps.
"Give me a hand!" Shen Mingke called from below.
Zheng Minghui hesitated for a moment, but in the end, extended a hand to him. Shen Mingke grabbed it, and with a pull, Zheng Minghui helped him up.
"Thank...thank you, f*ck! That was so...uh..." Out of breath, Shen Mingke gasped. But before he could finish his sentence, he noticed they were surrounded by bloodthirsty gazes from all around...