"Little Mister, you’re back. You’re so slow, I get scared every time you go out." Seeing Tang Ye open the door and come in, Ning Yu’er sprang up from the stone bench. She embraced Tang Ye, her pair of eyes sparkling like countless stars, smiling brightly.
Tang Ye carried a bag filled with food in one hand, and gently patted her back with the other, weariness etched on his dreaded face lightened with a smile.
"Don’t go out anymore, it makes me worried..."
Tang Ye was unable to speak, yet he responded with a harsh, garbled sound. Silently, he issued an order in his mind to the zombies outside. After placing the bag full of food on the table, he took her hand, leading her towards the evacuation.
"Little Mister, what’s happening?" she asked, bewildered and uncertain of Tang Ye’s intentions.
The moment they stepped outside, Ning Yu’er was startled by the rows of zombies.
"What...what is this?" Her eyes welled up in tears, as she was overwhelmed by the spectacle outside where the zombies were standing face to face in two rows, forming a meandering path leading directly to the entrance of the canteen. Each one held a tube filled with firecrackers, as if waiting for some big shot to show up.
Tang Ye chuckled at the surprised look on her face. He led her through the ranks of zombies.
In the distance, a head peered out from the rails of a school office building, stupefied upon witnessing the scene on the other side.
"Hey! Hey, hey, you guys come out and see what those zombies are doing?"
"Holy shit, what’s up with those zombies?"
Drawn by his scream, some people started to emerge from their rooms, both men and women, each shocked and confused after seeing the spectacle.
"Isn’t that the guy who fought with the evolved zombie the day-before? His hand got ripped off, but now he seems unscathed."
"...Isn’t that a human?"
"How could anyone survive after taking that much damage?"
"If he isn’t human, then he must be a zombie? But why isn’t the zombie eating the girl?"
"That girl is really lucky!" a sour-faced girl remarked.
Ning Yu’er cautiously walked the path created by zombies, with Tang Ye leisurely following her. Feeling that it was now perfect, Tang Ye issued the final command to the zombies in his head.
A series of explosion noises sounded as the tubes in the zombies’ hands released colourful streamers into the sky. Ning Yu’er covered her mouth, tears welled up in her eyes as she walked through the pathway.
Halfway through, she suddenly turned and hugged Tang Ye. Tang Ye was slightly stunned at first, but then revealed a proud smile. However, it only served to make his face even more fearsome.
"Little Mister... Do you know? Only my dad has ever treated me this way... Thank you..."
Tang Ye’s smile faded slightly. Over the past few days, Ning Yu’er had shared her experiences with him. He was aware that this girl had lost her mother at an early age, and was brought up single-handedly by her never-married father who had devoted his entire life to her.
Seeing her suddenly break down crying in his arms, Tang Ye felt helpless. The only thing he could do was pat her shoulder and take her back to their room in the dormitory.
Meanwhile, a long convoy was locked in a brutal battle with countless zombies on the highway connecting Lin City and Yang City.
"Ammunition! We need more ammunition for the front wing! Where are the supply chain? Logistics Team! Get your asses over here!" Li Xiaojie yelled from atop of an armoured vehicle at the front of the convoy. His military uniform was unbearably filthy, but it was not enough to cover the determined expression on his face.
"Reporting to the commander, the Logistics Team is in trouble, look!" shouted a soldier from below the armoured vehicle.
"What?" Li Xiaojie exclaimed, promptly climbing to the top of the armoured vehicle to check on the logistics team. He saw four or five Level 1 zombies, moving with incredible speed, savagely attacking the team.
"Protect the Logistics Team, open fire!"
A barrage of bullets instantly reduced the Level 1 zombies stalking the logistics team to a bloody sieve.
With the logistics team now safe, Li Xiaojie turned his attention back to the zombie horde ahead. His eyes reflected his fatigue. His soldiers had been tirelessly fighting for the whole day. Some were so tired they could hardly lift their arms, yet they persisted.
"At this rate, when will we reach the Lin City safe zone?" he sighed inwardly. Zombies had already surrounded both ends of the convoy, and there were even some circling to attack from the sides, which was physically and mentally exhausting for him.
Ahead of the convoy, there were three bulldozers paving a bloody path, while soldiers at the back held the line by spraying bullets on incoming zombies.
"Kill them!" roared the soldiers as they fired their guns. The intense stress of the situation bared their teeth stained with blood.
Suddenly, a series of dull vibrations echoed. Every soldier turned to look behind the convoy where a giant figure was approaching them. It towered over them, a daunting three-metre tall.
"A zombie - an evolved one, it’s so tall!"
How could anyone be that tall? The dust raised by the horde of running zombies obscured their view of the colossal figure. Only when it came near were they barely able to see its terrifying form.
This zombie stood nearly four meters tall, its upper body naked. It wore tattered pants, and its body was corded with bulging black muscles glistening like rocks. Its head was surrounded by a large carapace of scab and sinew, and its huge arms, almost as big as a barrel, held a ladder as its weapon.
Upon noticing the soldiers, the monster emitted a deafening roar. Opening and closing its meaty carapace revealed its horrific head, and the ground quivered underneath each step taken.
"That’s a Level 2 zombie!"
"Commander! There’s a suspected Level 2 zombie behind us!"
"What? Damn!" Swearing, Li Xiaojie climbed down from the armour car and gazed behind the convoy. He was just a few steps away when he was confronted by the sight of the enormous figure.
"Fuck!" Cursing his bad luck, he turned back hastily, fetching a large-calibre sniper rifle from the armoured vehicle and proceeded back behind the convoy.
He aimed his sniper rifle, setting it on top of a vehicle. Through the scope, he targeted the massive carapacse on the second Level zombie’s head.