Getting Ready to Set Out

The area outside the gate was littered with zombie remains. There was hardly a whole zombie left. Heming and Sheni could now safely cross the street and enter the gun shop and travel agency.

"Whew... Heming... Heming... Please respond... Whew..." The radio crackled again. Rie sounded exhausted this time.

"Rie, this is Heming. What happened?"

"Our police station was suddenly invaded by a monster we've never seen before... As far as I can tell, only two others and I escaped through the back door... That monster was locked inside the station's armory... It didn't appear and attack us until we opened the door and went in... It's incredibly strong... I'm heading to the pedestrian street now... If you can, I'd like you to meet me there..."

"No problem, Rie. Be careful. I've made it out safely, and I'm heading to the gun shop and travel agency. As soon as I get a map, I'll come straight to you!"

"Okay... Talk to you later..."

The gun shop mostly stocked ordinary pistols and hunting rifles. After searching for a while, Heming finally spotted an American M16 rifle in an inconspicuous corner. It was undoubtedly a powerful weapon...

Unfortunately, the M16 didn't have a grenade launcher. It came with a bayonet instead...

Heming took the M16 and handed it to Sheni. He was clearly better suited to close combat, and it was the only decent weapon there. Sheni tossed aside Heming's pistol and picked up another one whose name she didn't know. Smiling at Heming, she said, "I forgot to tell you, my husband is a shooting instructor." She also made sure to take plenty of ammunition for herself.

Heming found a crossbow and about a dozen bolts. It was light, so it wouldn't hinder him in close combat.

"We've got everything. Let's go to the travel agency and get a map first." Heming headed out, with Sheni following close behind.

Sheni already knew what he meant without him having to explain. She wouldn't need to fire many shots; she would only have to help when Heming couldn't handle something. He could take care of the rest.

"Sheni, do you see that? By the travel agency's entrance—is that a human silhouette? It's transparent!" After encountering transparent monsters twice in a row, Heming had started watching every corner much more carefully.

There was indeed a silhouette at the travel agency's entrance. Sheni raised the M16 and fired several shots. Blood spurted from the figure, but it didn't fall. It charged at them.

Fortunately, Heming was ready. He swung his blade, and the figure was cut in two. From what he'd seen, these transparent creatures only attacked at close range. If they could attack from a distance, they would be much harder to deal with.

"My God, Heming, look! There are a lot of them coming from over there!" Sheni pointed toward another street corner. The fire there had been put out by zombies piling on top of it and smothering the flames with their bodies.

"Don't panic. I've still got two Molotov cocktails. Watch this!" Heming hurled both of them in an instant. In the blink of an eye, the zombies were engulfed in flames. "Hurry! Let's grab a map and get out of here. I noticed there aren't many zombies on the streets farther away!" With that, Heming quickly entered the travel agency.

The lights were still on inside, and the place had been ransacked. Heming guessed someone had been there not long ago—or perhaps someone was still upstairs.

Heming motioned for Sheni to stay close, and they went up to the second floor. Sure enough, two white men were rummaging through things up there...

"Hey, how's it going?" Heming called out suddenly. He wanted to see if either of them was an impostor.

One of the men suddenly turned around, while the other faced Heming and Sheni. Heming didn't attack because it would take him a few seconds to draw his gun...

Sheni once again showed off her incredible marksmanship. The impostor fell to the floor, green blood spilling from its body...

"Oh my God! What have you done? He was human! You lunatics!" The other white man shouted furiously when Sheni suddenly shot his companion.

"Hey, look at your companion carefully. That wasn't a person. It was some kind of monster. If we hadn't come along, it might have killed you. Look at its blood—it's green!" Heming explained.

The white man saw that his companion's blood really was green and immediately fell silent. He stared at the body on the floor and cursed, "God, you're a nasty piece of work! Damn you!"

Heming ignored him and started looking for a map while Sheni kept watch nearby...

"Hey, buddy, what are you looking for? A map? Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Yuese, an American, and a very skilled sculptor." Yuese took out a map and handed it to Heming.

"Thanks. I'm Heming, and this is Sheni." Heming took the map and briefly introduced them. Sheni smiled and greeted him. "Hello!"

Heming studied the map, focusing on several places: the school, the chemical factory, the police station, the hospital, the library, Central Park, the aquarium, and the pedestrian street.

Those places were the most likely to have survivors. But there was no point going to the police station now. Based on what Rie had said, that monster was beyond their ability to handle for the moment. Zeng from the Asian Twin Eagles was at the chemical factory, so that place should be fine. The nearest location was the aquarium, and from there they could head to the pedestrian street.

"Let's check the aquarium for survivors first, then go to the pedestrian street and meet up with my companion. How does that sound?" Heming shared his plan.

Sheni shrugged. "I don't mind. It's up to you!"

Yuese didn't seem happy with the idea. He loudly protested, "Who would go to a place like the aquarium? Who knows how many monsters we've never seen are there? We should find somewhere to hide!"

Heming hadn't really intended to listen to Yuese's opinion. He'd only asked as a courtesy. Since Sheni didn't object, he prepared to leave. He said coldly to Yuese, "If you want to come, follow us. If not, find somewhere to hide." Then he headed downstairs, with Sheni following him.

Yuese shouted after them, "Oh my God! How can you treat me like this? I'm a famous sculptor! Just wait—you'll regret not listening to me!" He followed behind Sheni as he spoke.

When they passed the gun shop, Heming picked up a pistol and tossed it to Yuese. Yuese grabbed a large pile of ammunition for himself. Heming couldn't be bothered to stop him and kept moving.

The fires on both sides had mostly burned out, and there weren't many zombies left either. Most had fled elsewhere because of the flames. Heming had already picked a route on the map; they only needed to cut through a few alleys to reach the aquarium.

In an alley, Heming took out the radio.

"Rie, Rie, this is Heming. Please respond!"

"Heming... this is Rie... Whew... There's a new kind of enemy on the pedestrian street... They're transparent, human-shaped... So far, they haven't attacked... They just suddenly grab people... Be careful..."

"I've already encountered that kind. I've got the map and was heading to the aquarium. If everything goes smoothly, I'll reach the pedestrian street soon."

"Don't go to the aquarium or Central Park... I met a survivor on the pedestrian street just now... He escaped from the aquarium... But he was poisoned and died not long afterward... Find a way to come to the pedestrian street first... We'll gather some people, then go to the aquarium together!"

"Okay, I understand. Wait a little. I'll contact you as soon as I get there!"

"Okay... Be careful... Talk to you later..."

Heming put away the radio and said, "Looks like we'll have to take a different route." He took out the map and began planning a new one.

Sheni said nothing. She was watching the few zombies slowly approaching them.

Yuese began shouting, "Shoot them! Those are zombies up ahead! Shoot them! I don't have enough firepower!" He raised his gun, ready to fire, but Heming stopped him, drew his Japanese sword, and charged.

One slash per zombie. In just a few moments, the zombies had been chopped to pieces. Yuese quieted down after that. Seeing how powerful Heming was, he didn't dare say anything else, afraid Heming might give him a slash next.

Putting away the map, Heming said, "Let's take Third Street, then go around the hospital to the entrance to the pedestrian street. I think that'll be safer. Any objections?"

Sheni nodded again. This time, Yuese said nothing either. He just nodded.