Former Colleagues

"This is it!"

Lin Xian cried out inwardly as he felt the train's roaring power. The shadow of last night quickly fell away. At that moment, he felt one with the entire train, filled with the exhilaration of being unstoppable!

Clack-clack, clack-clack...

On the open tracks outside University City Station, several zombies in tattered uniforms wandered about. Now they seemed to notice the strange noise coming from the tunnel at the same time. The rails beneath their feet had begun to tremble.

"Urgh... ah..."

"Guh... cough..."

The sounds seemed to squeeze from windpipes as rotten as dead wood. As though pulled by invisible strings, the zombies slowly turned their heads and fixed their clouded, lifeless eyes on the dark tunnel mouth.

Whooo!

The whistle blasted like a roar from the abyss. The crimson mechanical beast thundered out of the tunnel like a god of war awakening from an ancient slumber, carrying boundless fury and power sealed away for years!

"Urgh! Ah!"

Howling, they surged toward it like a pack of frenzied beasts. But their rotting brains could not grasp that the source of that deafening sound was no prey. It was a steel monster with a terrifying 18,500 horsepower!

Crunch! Crunch!

The accelerating Infinite plowed through them, sending blood and flesh flying. Severed limbs scattered everywhere. In the cab, Lin Xian's gaze trembled. The gloom he had held in for over ten days finally broke free!

"Hell yes!" Lin Xian shouted.

For a moment, he felt the supreme thrill of breaking through the night into dawn!

It meant his plan had taken its first successful step.

Clack-clack! Clack-clack!

His heart pounding with excitement, he drove the heavy locomotive down the tracks, scanning the ruined city for useful information.

The zombies wandering the streets posed relatively little threat to most people, unless they formed a large-scale Corpse Tide.

Of course, animal zombies such as dogs and wolves were often far more troublesome than ordinary humanoid zombies.

Beep, beep...

Chen Sixuan's phone could no longer be reached.

Unable to get through, Lin Xian put away his phone and prepared to go straight to her home.

He was not one to second-guess himself. Once he had a plan, he would not hesitate without good reason. Unless Chen Sixuan was already dead, he would not change it on a whim.

The subway tracks were far clearer than he had expected. Perhaps because rail lines were generally closed off, and no one was foolish enough to drive a car onto them, he encountered no obstacles along the way.

The nearest subway station to Jade Water Garden was called Sports West. It had once been a packed transit hub. As the train entered the underground tunnel, Lin Xian slowed it down.

He still had to get off and find someone. If he made too much noise and drew too many zombies, moving around would become difficult.

Hiss...

Lin Xian stopped some distance away instead of pulling into the platform.

He went to Carriage 2 first and found the girl still fast asleep. That struck him as odd.

What normal person could sleep for so long?

"Hey!"

Lin Xian patted her cheek. No response.

So he gave it a pinch. Her young face was soft and springy. Even with blood smeared across it, her delicate features were unmistakable. She would grow into a beauty.

Who knew what wealthy family she came from?

Forget it. Let her sleep.

After a moment's thought, Lin Xian sealed the doors to Carriage 3 and Carriage 1 to be safe.

Then he picked up his short blade, carefully checked his surroundings, got off the train, and ran along the narrow path beside the tracks toward the platform.

Jade Water Garden Building 3, Apt 901.

Chen Sixuan had not slept all night. The crushing strain left her haggard, her pretty face utterly drained of color.

She sat curled up in a corner of the sofa, her head buried against her knees.

Books about the Orbital Ring lay piled around her. Her gaze was vacant, and her dry lips kept moving as she murmured under her breath.

"Jiangyu Line, number HX05681, total length 1,256 kilometers. Primary stops along the route: Jiangning Station, Yubei Station... Secondary stops: Yushan Station, Beiwan Station..."

Ever since that final phone call yesterday, Chen Sixuan had pinned all her hopes on waiting for that train to come racing toward her.

But as time slipped by, despair ate away at the last of her composure.

"North Bay Station, maintenance section..."

Her murmuring stopped abruptly, and a flicker passed through her eyes.

She thought of the student she had never paid much attention to.

He came from an ordinary family, had a warm smile, and was usually reserved. He was not particularly good at socializing or sports...

Everything about him had seemed so ordinary.

Then she recalled his plan for a "rail train": to start up a heavy locomotive and escape along the Orbital Ring...

Didn't that sound a little too much like science fiction?

"Can he even drive a train? If he has that much fuel or energy, wouldn't a car be easier?" she muttered. Every question cut into the hope inside her like a sharp knife.

What would they do if the tracks were broken? Could he, a student, repair them? Or could she, a foreign-language teacher?

One terrifying question after another surfaced, gradually overwhelming her. The little hope she had left began to feel absurd...

Huge tears welled in her eyes and fell, drop by drop.

But Chen Sixuan could not bring herself to give up. She clenched her teeth, fighting back her tears, and repeated to herself:

He promised... He'll come...

"North Bay Station. One main line, two arrival and departure tracks..."

Chen Sixuan's murmuring once again echoed through the empty living room...

Knock, knock, knock...

A knock broke the silence like a stone striking a still lake, sending ripples through the room. In the empty apartment, it sounded deafening.

Chen Sixuan raised her head, delight rising in her eyes.

Was it him?

She ran barefoot from the sofa to the front door, but could not bring herself to look through the peephole. Panic showed on her face as she called out.

"Who... who is it?!"

But the voice that answered from outside belonged to a middle-aged man.

"Teacher Chen, it's me, Liang Wei. I've called you for two days and you haven't answered. I was worried, so I came to check on you."

Chen Sixuan's heart sank into an icy abyss.

Director Liang had been Chen Sixuan's colleague. He was a sanctimonious hypocrite whose eyes had constantly roamed over her at school. She had also heard that Liang Wei had taken advantage of several female students. He was a predator through and through.

Perhaps he had powerful connections; somehow, a man like him had become an office director at the university. Chen Sixuan loathed him and rarely dealt with him.

Unfortunately, Director Liang lived in the same building as she did. Since the apocalypse, Liang Wei had called her every few days. At first, he had sounded perfectly respectable, saying they needed to stick together in a crisis. He had plenty of supplies, he said, and she could ask him for some if she ran short.

But his true colors gradually showed. After learning that Chen Sixuan was running low on supplies, he became especially eager to tell her to move upstairs and stay with him.

Now, hearing Director Liang's voice, Chen Sixuan felt a sudden wave of nausea. Perhaps it was the disappointment, or perhaps it was her growing frustration. She answered coldly.

"I'm fine."

Bang, bang, bang!

The pounding on the door grew harder.

"Fine? Didn't you tell me you were running out of food?!"

When Chen Sixuan still did not open the door, Liang Wei pressed his face to the peephole and peered inside. Seeing him move closer, she frowned and stepped back.

But Liang Wei spotted her figure inside. His eyes lit up, and he called out at once.

"Teacher Chen, are you hungry? I've still got plenty of bread, biscuits, canned beef, and bottled water. If you want some, I can bring it down right now."

Bread, biscuits, canned beef, bottled water...

The names of those foods reached Chen Sixuan's ears with a temptation that threatened to overwhelm her reason.

She... had not eaten in two days.

But she knew that whether Director Liang was telling the truth or not, opening the door would make her this disgusting scumbag's plaything for the rest of the apocalypse.

Yet which mattered more: dignity or survival?

Perhaps because he had received no answer for so long, Director Liang lost the last of his patience. His expression changed, and he suddenly slammed his palm against the door!

Bang!

"Chen Sixuan, you bitch! Stop fucking acting so high and mighty! Nearly everyone's dead in this world. Stick with me and you might live a few more days. I'm not gonna fucking eat you! What are you scared of?"

"Open the damn door!"

Bang, bang, bang!

As he shouted, he began kicking the door instead of pounding on it. The violent noise left Chen Sixuan deathly pale. She turned, grabbed the fruit knife she kept on the shoe cabinet for protection, and held it against her chest, her eyes filled with uncertainty.

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