Discovered

Then a shadow suddenly appeared before me.

A Zombie!

Luckily, we had both kept our voices down, and we were talking outside the iron door. It seemed our voices hadn't carried

into the corridor. As for that Zombie,

it merely wandered near the iron door for a moment before slowly moving away.

This was bad. There were Zombies in the corridor, and to reach the Emergency Outdoor Iron Staircase, I would have to cross it

to the other side.

I thought for a moment and glanced back, only to find that the mother and daughter had somehow retreated to the corner

of the stairs above. If anything went wrong on my end,

those two would probably leave me behind and run.

"Come down!"

I was pissed off! But I had no choice. I was the one who had agreed to the deal.

After I called softly to her, Bai Xiaoxiao hesitated again and again before leaving Juan'er at the corner and coming down alone.

That woman was too clever for her own good. Were even her eyelashes hollow? Why did she have so many schemes

running through her head?!

I raised an eyebrow, angry, but this wasn't the time to lose my temper. I forced it down and asked, "Where did you

come in? How did you get up

here?"

Bai Xiaoxiao thought for a moment. "We came through the main entrance, but there were too many of those things in the courtyard. My husband had no choice but to drive

straight into the lobby. That was how

he got us upstairs."

Straight into the lobby... Too many Zombies in the hospital courtyard... I thought for a moment, then asked, "Did you happen to notice

whether there were any Zombies on the iron stairs outside the hospital, or which way

the exit faced?"

Bai Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and shook her head. "We really didn't notice. The courtyard was too chaotic."

So that was it... The courtyard was a mess, with so many Zombies that they'd had to drive into the lobby. There was no way we could use the main entrance

now. Plenty of Zombies had to be

wandering around there. There might even be a few mutants.

"Seriously... Were you two stupid? Couldn't you have found some way to lure the Zombies away? You just charged in without thinking

about how you'd get back out!" I couldn't help complaining about Bai

Xiaoxiao, and about her dead husband too. Those two adults had been stupider than children!!

"Big Sister! Do you mean those green iron stairs?"

While I was still turning all this over in my head, Juan'er had somehow come downstairs.

"Go back! It's dangerous here!"

"You know where they are? Tell me, quick!"

Bai Xiaoxiao and I spoke at the same time. Little Juan'er froze, looking from one of us to the other, at a loss

for words. In an instant, her big eyes

filled with tears, and she looked ready to burst into sobs!

Seriously, troublesome kids were such a pain!!

I gritted my teeth and stroked little Juan'er's head. Then I crouched until I was about

her height and asked softly, "Juan'er,

tell me what you saw."

"I... I saw that there weren't any of those things on the green stairs. And... and I don't think the stairs came out

in the courtyard..."

"Did you see where they led?" I kept my voice calm, trying to sound as gentle as possible. But I hadn't expected

that gentle tone to startle

even me.

Wasn't that a little too gentle? That smooth voice paired with such a tender tone had a certain charm!

Ugh! No!

Was I flirting with myself now?

"No, I didn't... Those things were too scary. Juan'er was afraid to look."

Little Juan'er sniffled as she did her best to tell me what she'd seen.

Discovered

"Mm... Okay. Juan'er, you did great. There, don't cry. Good girl..." I took a piece of candy from my pocket. "Here

you go. You really did great!"

"Really, Big Sister?" Juan'er reached out with her small, grubby hand, took the candy, and looked up at me.

"Mm... At least you did better than adults who can only think in straight lines." I glanced sidelong at Bai Xiaoxiao. She

seemed to catch the look

and gave an awkward little smile. There was no mistaking how embarrassed she was.

We couldn't go downstairs. Even though that man had risked his life to clear a path, the lobby was probably packed with Zombies

by now. Going down there meant certain death.

That left one route. I didn't know where it led, but the iron stairs probably didn't open into the front courtyard. Ideally,

they would lead to the back courtyard, which was

closer to my home. I knew the roads there better too.

The city hospital stood a little south of the city center, while my home was to the southeast, closer to the eastern side. Going through

the back courtyard would be a detour,

but that wasn't what mattered now. What mattered was getting out of this hospital, this hell full of starving demons.

Which meant... I would have to take a few risks.

"Bai Xiaoxiao, take your daughter up to the corner on the floor above... No! Go to the sixth floor and be ready to help me." As I spoke,

I drew the fruit knife. But its blade was stained with blood and chipped, so I lowered it. I wasn't going to throw it away,

though. I tucked it back into my waistband

and picked up the combat knife I'd taken from that man.

It was long, with a blade over twenty centimeters and a handle nearly ten. I could almost fit both hands around it.

Instead, I drew my pistol with my right hand,

holding a gun in one hand and a knife in the other.

"What are you doing?!" Bai Xiaoxiao stared at me in shock, her voice full of fear.

"Roar!"

Perhaps Bai Xiaoxiao had spoken too loudly. A low growl suddenly came from behind the iron door on the fifth floor.

"Shut up, you stupid woman!" I jumped and shot her a glare, then quickly aimed my gun

at the iron door. After a moment, footsteps approached.

They stopped briefly, then moved away. Only then did I relax.

Women were such a pain!

At that thought, I glanced back at Juan'er, who was standing there in a daze, and added feebly to myself, Troublesome kids are just as bad!

"Now! Do exactly as I say. Don't hesitate. If anything goes wrong because you do, I'm not responsible!" I kept my voice low

as I snapped at them and pointed upstairs.

"Go up!!"

My quiet, furious order must have frightened Bai Xiaoxiao. Was she afraid I'd stop looking after her and her daughter? Or did she

think I'd gone mad and drawn my weapons

to fight the Zombies head-on?

I couldn't read minds, but Bai Xiaoxiao was clearly looking at me like I was a lunatic. There was fear in her eyes

and a trace of disgust.

But that stupid woman would never understand that in this world, which had turned into a living hell,

sometimes you had to be a little crazy to survive!

Before, that might have sounded like a joke. Now it felt like the truth.

By chance, the first crisis I'd faced had been a green monster, a creature with strength far beyond any ordinary person's.

I'd survived it, and that had

given me some confidence. Killing those dozen or so Zombies had given me more.

Add in my enhanced body, a pistol, and a sharp combat knife, and I was starting to get carried away.

But I knew that wasn't good. A little boldness was fine, but I couldn't afford to get careless!

With that in mind, I took a deep breath. I wanted a cigarette to ease the pressure, but both my hands were full

of weapons, so I gave up on the idea.

"In... out..."

A sudden stench entered my nose, and my body instantly went rigid.

A shadow stood on the other side of the iron door. Through the gap, a pair of crimson eyes

was staring straight at me!!

I sucked in a sharp breath. That gaze startled me, and at the same moment, a roar erupted

from the other side of the door.

"Roar!"

With that roar, the entire fifth floor erupted. By the sound of it, there were dozens of them!

"Shit! How many are there?"

I cursed under my breath, but it was too late for regrets. The Zombie that had spotted me was already hammering

at the iron door. It hadn't been

locked, and with a bang!, it flew open!