Joyriding in the Apocalypse?

He paused by Carriage No. 2 for a moment.

The river crab on Wan Xing's chopping board had become the Skull Crusher in the Butcher's hands. She was now using a chainsaw to cut the bone hammer from the Skull Crusher's hand.

The chainsaw's buzz sent tiny flecks of flesh and blood flying. Before long, the hammer fell to the ground.

The Butcher put away the chainsaw, lifted her bloodstained mask, and smiled at Su Huan.

No matter how you looked at it, that smile was unsettling.

The girl's style seemed to be getting stranger and stranger.

But that was a Collector's daily life: dealing with all sorts of bizarre corpses every day—zombies, plants, Evolutionary Beasts, and perhaps Evolutionists someday.

There was no need to rush their career plans for now. He hadn't even reached the first rank yet.

Su Huan walked over to the corner, where a silver motorcycle was parked, like a metal beast crouching low.

He hadn't used it since repairing it.

Since he planned to go out alone today, this H2 was the perfect vehicle.

The mechanical supercharger roared alongside the howl of its four cylinders. The bike trembled slightly as it idled, and Su Huan couldn't shake the feeling that he'd forgotten something.

Had he left something out?

He quickly checked everything, muttering to himself as he went.

"Items carried: 1 first-rank Pan-Energy Crystal, 3 ordinary Pan-Energy Crystals, journal."

"Purpose of trip: retrieve the firearms from the fire truck."

"People going: Su Huan."

Was there anything else?

Nope.

All right, then.

He gave Wan Xing a knowing OK sign. She lowered the side ramp of the sightseeing carriage.

As the hydraulic supports slowly lowered it, a silver beast roared out.

It sped past the busy crowd, straight for the gap in the fence.

Huang Hai pushed his glasses back up, wiped the greasy sweat from the bridge of his nose, and checked the three-eyed quartz watch on his left wrist. The date had already advanced to the 21st.

He'd been surviving in this little supermarket for two weeks.

As a highly qualified professional, Huang Hai knew he was beyond saving.

Or, rather, there was no chance anyone would come to rescue him.

He huddled in a triangular nook formed by a toy shelf and a pile of adult diapers, wrapping himself in the soft items to feel a little safer.

The cans arranged by the stairwell suddenly clattered.

Huang Hai's heart leaped into his throat.

"It's the wind," the young man muttered from behind the checkout counter.

He was using a utility knife to whittle a mop handle. Wood shavings fell like snowflakes onto the mat printed with "Welcome."

Besides the two of them, there were two other men in the supermarket—customers who had come in to shop with him and gotten trapped here when the apocalypse began.

"If we keep waiting around like this, we're all going to die sooner or later." Huang Hai licked his cracked lips. They tasted of rust.

He picked up the bottle of mineral water beside him and took another sip.

Fortunately, he'd taken shelter in a supermarket. With all the supplies here, he'd managed to stay alive and live fairly comfortably.

But he felt like a dog locked in a cage, not knowing when its owner would return. He watched the sun rise and set, slowly sliding toward despair.

The young man didn't respond.

Over the past dozen days, they'd talked about plenty of things, from their hometowns and careers to the meaning of life and the cosmos. They'd even discussed in excruciating detail how they might die.

By the end, they'd run out of things to say.

Huang Hai looked through a crack in the boarded-up window. A dandelion swayed there.

When he'd nailed up the last board more than ten days ago, the plant had been no more than a green sprout in a crack in the concrete. Now its downy seeds glowed golden in the sunlight.

He was about to say something when the young man suddenly raised his sharpened stick.

"Shh..."

A sticky, squelching footstep sounded from downstairs.

Huang Hai gripped the fire axe beside him. He noticed the box of gold-foil chocolates on the shelf trembling slightly, its ribbon bow gleaming dully beneath the dust.

The young man gave him a look. "That zombie's back."

Huang Hai curled back into the pile of diapers. The second floor was protected by a metal door, and there was no way those zombies could open it.

"Bang—"

A violent crash, accompanied by the screech of twisting metal, jolted Huang Hai.

He pulled the diaper off his face and looked toward the iron door with bloodshot eyes.

A huge bulge had appeared in it.

It looked as if some terrifying monster had slammed into it with all its might.

"Bang!"

The explosive impact shook white dust loose from around the doorframe.

The noise startled all four people in the supermarket.

The other two men fled deeper into the aisles, leaving Huang Hai and the young man by the counter.

Huang Hai hurried toward the young man. Whether the sound had alerted the monster outside or not, the blows were coming more frequently and with greater force.

The flimsy metal door gradually warped under the assault. Huang Hai crouched behind the counter and peered toward its edge.

A vast expanse of iron-gray skin appeared behind the bent door. A massive foot, as powerful as a giant's, kicked against it.

A zombie's head squeezed through the warped gap, its scarlet eyes meeting Huang Hai's.

"Roar!"

Huang Hai's greasy, sallow face turned deathly pale.

The next moment, the head was smashed apart by a metal road sign.

The bloodied words "Yunan Road" were wedged in the metal door.

The Butcher yanked it free, dragged the ordinary zombie at her feet out of the way, and bent down to peer through the gap. A strange smile spread across her plump face.

Huang Hai covered his mouth and slowly slid down behind the counter.

His facial muscles had long since lost control from fear, his features twisted out of place.

"Boom!"

The metal door was kicked completely open, knocking over several shelves.

The Butcher, towering two and a half meters tall, squeezed into the tiny supermarket.

Her heavy breathing was like a wave of air crashing against the walls and gradually rebounding, echoing again and again.

Huang Hai couldn't understand why his damned heart was still beating.

He would've welcomed a heart attack if it could just let him go quickly.

The only thing that gave him any sense of security was the young man beside him, whose face was just as pale.

At least he'd have company on the road to the underworld.

As Huang Hai's mind raced, he suddenly heard a strange noise.

It sounded like the roar of the motorcycle that had once woken him in the middle of the night.

That furious rumble was drawing closer, as if cursing him to crash and die the very next second.

"Vroom, vroom, vroom—"

The sound grew closer and closer. Huang Hai's face lit up with uncontrollable joy. That once-despised noise now sounded so comforting that he wanted to hug the rider and kiss him.

Even if it was some tacky, dyed-blond punk on a scooter—the sort of person he couldn't stand.

But then a question occurred to him.

The world had ended, so who was being so reckless as to tear down the road on a motorcycle?

Su Huan, riding recklessly, felt a tickle in his nose.

But he could barely contain his excitement.

At first, he'd hesitated. But after shaking off six Night Demons and making two Blood Hounds run until they puked, he'd started to fall in love with the "wild horse" beneath him.