A "creak, creak" sound rang
out, but what caught my eye was... a wrapper in the corner by the iron door.
"Is that... the wrapper from the candy I gave little Juan'er?"
It looked like the woman really had taken Juan'er away. That was good, though. At least I no longer had to worry about
them. I hoped... the little girl would make it
safely to the Armed Police Detachment.
Gripping my military knife, I slowly pressed myself against the iron door and peered through the gap. Beyond it lay
an empty street, with cars abandoned
everywhere, newspapers and torn clothes scattered about, and several corpses swarming with flies.
I gave the iron door a slow push. Nothing blocked it from behind. I cautiously poked my head out, my
knife ready to strike at any moment!
I darted forward and shoved the door open, raising my knife high. If anything looked wrong, I would
drive it straight down.
But... there was nothing waiting for me except the wind and a swarm of flies.
Buzz!
A huge cloud of flies had been feeding on something. The gust from the door must have startled them into flight!
There were so many that I had to keep waving my hand to drive them away.
A corpse lay on the ground, almost completely rotten. Nothing remained of its head and limbs but stark
white bone. Several fat maggots wriggled in its
empty eye sockets, eagerly devouring what little flesh remained. In a place like Hua Nation, an outbreak
like this was especially dangerous because its population was so large.
That was why I saw bodies everywhere I went.
I stepped around the corpse and headed down. By now, a mere body or two no longer held my attention.
After all, I had seen so many disgusting zombies and faced seven or eight of them head-on. I had grown much braver—
A Desperate Situation
The stairs had an iron frame, with steps made of sheet metal welded into place on either side. Walking
on them, even in sneakers,
made a clanging sound.
I could see the area below clearly. Just as I had hoped, the iron stairs led straight to the hospital's back entrance.
Better yet, there were almost no zombies
there. I occasionally spotted one or two wandering outside the entrance, but they were far away.
I crouched slightly. I knew zombies had keen hearing, but I still wasn't
sure how good their eyesight was. If they could see
just as well, daytime might be even more dangerous.
I crept down five flights of iron stairs, occasionally passing a corpse. I left them alone, checking only
that they were truly dead before going around them
and continuing on.
Even without anything blocking my way, it took me nearly ten minutes to descend the five flights.
At the bottom, the building wall stood to my left, while a garden stretched out to my right. I could see across it at a glance; there was
almost nowhere to hide.
After a moment's thought, I simply walked out in the open.
The hospital's so-called back entrance was a passage cut through the ground floor of the building, like an underpass. Quietly, I walked
up to a pillar beside the entrance and leaned against it,
peering outside. I saw nothing but a few dust-covered cars.
After watching for a while and making sure it was safe, I carefully entered the passage, keeping
an eye on my surroundings as I walked, though there
was nowhere inside for anyone to hide.
But... as I emerged, my gaze fell on a swaying shadow. In an instant, cold sweat broke
out all over my body!
A zombie!
It wasn't wandering. It stood with its face turned outward and its back to the passage, less than a meter
away from me.
That was close... Thank goodness I had stayed alert. If I had made even the slightest sound in the passage, the
zombie would probably have charged straight in!
Holding my breath, I adjusted my grip on the military knife and approached in a half crouch.
Then I struck!
With the knife held in a reverse grip, I raised it high and drove it sharply downward!
Thud!
The blade sank almost to the hilt. The zombie jerked violently and started to topple forward without making a sound.
I hurried half a step forward and grabbed its collar.
Holding on to it, I slowly lowered the dead zombie to the ground. That was one reason I had been so cautious: I couldn't
make too much noise, especially in
an open place like this. If nearby zombies heard and came running, I was dead.
Once I had laid the body down, I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and let out a long breath.
Then I looked up. I thought I saw something... a shoe? Two... shoes?!
A zombie!
I jerked my head up and met a pair of blood-red eyes!
Roar!
Oh no!
The zombie was a dozen or so meters away. I had no time to stop it from roaring. The next instant, its cry
rang out in every direction, and answering roars
rose all around me!
Were they communicating?
Maybe the zombies' cries were some way of calling their companions. The distant roars were
rapidly drawing closer!
I stood at the hospital's back entrance, which opened onto a street. The entrance was right in
the middle of it, so
running either way looked dangerous!
Should I run back?
No! This might be my last chance! I couldn't give up now. If the zombies forced me back inside, I might
never get another chance to escape!
I looked at the zombie that had spotted me first. It was a woman wearing high heels, which made
her relatively slow. She could barely keep her balance.
But she paid no attention to her ankle, which had twisted completely out of shape, and kept charging toward me.
"You're asking for it! Then I'll kill you!"
That zombie was the reason I was trapped. I gritted my teeth, pushed off hard, and charged straight at
her—
"Die!"
Thud!
The zombie lunged, but its unsteady footing made it easy to dodge. At the same time, I drove the military knife in my right hand
into her brain.
She fell. When I looked to either side, I finally saw the horde...
Beep, Beep, Coming Through
Compared with the countless zombies in the hospital's front courtyard, there weren't many charging in from either side. I took a quick
count as I looked up:
around forty, perhaps...
But for me, even in that extraordinary state, killing that many zombies was impossible. Even escaping
would be difficult!
Small shops lined both sides of the street: clothing stores, Chinese restaurants, and even an adult shop!
But I didn't dare enter any of them. I didn't know the layout of the buildings nearby. If a shop had no
back door, I would be dead!
I glanced both ways. The zombies were still over a hundred meters away. I had no idea where all the other zombies
in the area had gone. A street like this
shouldn't have been so empty, but at least it gave me a little time to think.
Roar!
Their incessant cries made it impossible for me to steady my nerves!
I looked from side to side, gritting my teeth as I prepared to retreat into the hospital. Then my hand caught on something. The thing at the waist
of the zombie I had stabbed through the temple caught my eye!
The female zombie had a small shoulder bag at her waist, the kind women carried. I didn't know what it was called, but it seemed