Shelter

Georgia Emergency Shelter.

"I'm Professor Amrin from the Department of Electronic Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I've come to rescue you."

"If there's anyone here, please answer me."

As these words of rescue came through the loudspeaker, the previously lifeless Shelter suddenly began to stir.

The Shelter was not very large, covering roughly 1,000 square meters. The approximately 700-square-meter front hall contained sofas and beds, as well as separate restrooms and bathrooms, making it a space for resting. The approximately 300-square-meter rear hall combined a dining room and kitchen, containing only some tables, chairs, and cooking utensils. The two halls were separated by a sturdy Bulletproof Glass door.

In the front hall, more than a hundred rotting Zombies heard the voice coming from the entrance. In perfect unison, they turned their heads and stared at the huge Display Screen above the entrance. Seeing the suited figure displayed on it, they began snarling and slowly moving toward him.

In the rear hall of the Shelter, more than seventy haggard, dispirited people also heard the voice coming from the Display Screen.

The twenty-odd people nearest the glass door could not help but perk up. A trace of hope appeared in their dim eyes.

Among them, the leader was a gentleman in his fifties. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he pulled a white asthma inhaler from the pocket of his somewhat dirty suit and sprayed it into his mouth several times.

After taking several deep breaths, the old gentleman turned to the young people beside him and said:

"Students, there isn't much food left in the Warehouse. This may be our only chance to escape. If we can't get out, everyone will be trapped here until they die."

"I have a plan."

The old gentleman pointed at the Zombies in the front hall. His voice paused briefly before he said:

"These monsters are extremely sensitive to sound. Their eyes also seem capable of detecting light."

"While they're distracted by the voice from the Display Screen at the entrance, turn off the power to the front hall. I'll take a blanket, sneak out, cover myself with it, and hide in a corner."

He extended his somewhat aged arm and pointed at the Bulletproof Glass door separating the front and rear halls, continuing:

"Once I'm hidden, go strike the Bulletproof Glass and shout loudly to create noise and draw these monsters over."

"I'll use that opportunity to sneak over and press the red button beside the entrance. That's the button that opens the Shelter's main door."

As he spoke, he looked at the students before him with his already-clouded eyes. These students had followed him, refused to abandon hope, and remained strong and brave. A trace of carefree resolve colored his voice.

"If the rescuers outside can deal with this many monsters, then naturally, that would be best."

"If they can't handle these monsters, opening the Shelter's main door will at least give you a chance."

"You can continue waiting. Wait until something happens outside, or until something lures all the Zombies away from here, then escape. As for whether we live or die afterward, we can only pray for God's mercy."

The moment he finished explaining his plan, two graduate students grabbed his arms from either side. The siblings Peggy and Hillman blocked his path, and Peggy said:

"Professor Jacob, let me go."

"You're already old, and your body can't take it anymore. Have you forgotten? In the first half of this year, I came second in the school's 400-meter sprint. If it's me, I can definitely avoid those monsters' attacks."

Peggy's younger brother Hillman firmly shook his head and said, "Sister, let me go instead. A thing like this should be done by a man. I'm a starting player on the school football team. I'll definitely be fine."

Many of the other graduate students joined the argument, all looking as though they should be the ones to take the risk. But their words lacked confidence, and their eyes were filled with hesitation and fear.

Professor Jacob first smiled in relief, then firmly shook his head and said:

"Precisely because I'm old, even if I get out, I might not be able to adapt to life outside anymore."

"That's why I want to leave this opportunity to you. You're young and outstanding, and you all deserve a brighter future."

"My family has already passed away. I have nothing left tying me down, so let me go."

Seeing that the old professor was determined to leave, Peggy exchanged a glance with her younger brother.

Hillman understood immediately. He quietly raised his right hand and struck the old professor hard in the neck. After suffering the blow, the old professor's eyes rolled back, and he fainted. As an outstanding medical student, Hillman had long studied methods for knocking people unconscious.

Seeing her brother knock out Professor Jacob, Peggy gave a grunt and looked contemptuously toward the other corner of the rear hall. More than fifty people were huddled together there, seemingly indifferent to everything and as stiff as clay statues. She muttered under her breath, "Cowards."

She returned to her group and said to the other students:

"We'll follow Professor Jacob's plan. I'll open the Shelter's main door, and you'll make noise here to draw the Zombies' attention."

"Any objections?"

Seeing a girl volunteer for the most dangerous task, many of the male students looked ashamed. Yet they hesitated, unwilling to speak up and take the risk in her place. One after another, they agreed to support her from inside.

Peggy grunted again and silenced her brother Hillman's argument with a stern look. She took a blanket from a corner of the rear hall, walked to the Bulletproof Glass door, pointed at the electrical control switch on the wall, and signaled to her brother.

Click!

All the light in the front hall instantly dimmed, leaving only the sound and image still playing on the Display Screen by the entrance. Drawn by the sound and light, the Zombies had already crowded together at the entrance.

Peggy silently opened the Bulletproof Glass door, crouched down, covered herself with the blanket, and crawled halfway bent, halfway prone through the gap in the door.

The moment she stepped outside, the intense stench of corpses eagerly invaded the girl's nose. Peggy's courage, which had already been held together by sheer force, shrank violently. She desperately suppressed the urge to flee back into the rear hall, forcing her hands and feet under control as she crawled little by little toward a corner farthest from the Zombies.

Huddled in the corner, Peggy wrapped the blanket around her body, leaving only her eyes exposed. Using the light shining through the glass windows, she watched the Zombies' movements.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Accompanied by human curses and the pounding of the glass doors and windows, Hillman and his companions struck the Bulletproof Glass with all their strength, creating a tremendous amount of noise at the junction between the front and rear halls.

This sound, carrying the "scent of humans," seemed to attract the Zombies' attention more than the emotionless broadcast.

Soon, the more than one hundred Zombies gathered at the entrance began turning around one after another and walking toward the glass doors and windows of the rear hall.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Peggy stayed crouched in the corner and, without making a sound, moved little by little toward the entrance.

Slowly, she drew closer and closer. After passing beyond the herd of corpses, she arrived near the entrance.

Unfortunately, the girl did not know that Zombies searched for enemies through more than sound alone. Scent was also an important basis for locating prey.

The few Zombies at the very back of the herd suddenly seemed to notice something. They turned around and began moving toward the entrance again.

Peggy noticed this as well. Seeing several Zombies walking toward her position, she could no longer stay hidden. She stood up and pressed hard on the red button on the wall.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Amid the sharp alarm, the Shelter's steel main door began to move slowly.

But unlike what Peggy had imagined, the door opened extremely slowly. It could not possibly create an opening large enough for people to pass through before the Zombies surrounded her.

Realizing this, the girl's heart began pounding violently. At the thought of what would happen once the Zombies surrounded her, her legs began to weaken involuntarily.

Am I going to die here?