The rabbit began his escape

"What happened? Are there zombies outside?"

Fang Ci and the others ran over with their guns.

Gu Cheng didn't answer. He reached out and pinched Ye Ruan's puffed-up cheek. It was so soft.

"All right, I was just worried you'd get hurt. Look at that pout."

Ye Ruan shook his head hard in anger, pulling free of his hand, then opened his mouth to bite the offending wolf's paw.

Laughing, Gu Cheng caught Ye Ruan's chin, swept him into his arms, and sank his fingers lightly into the boy's hair.

He teased, "Stroke Maomao's fur, stroke Maomao's fur. Don't be mad."

Ye Ruan ducked away as Fang Ci opened the recycling yard's gate.

When Ye Ruan had fired earlier, he hadn't seen exactly what was outside. He'd simply aimed at what looked like its head.

Curious, Ye Ruan followed them outside.

Before the iron gate was fully open, a monster toppled in.

Fang Ci hurried several steps back and snapped his gun up to aim at it. After studying it through his scope for a moment, he lowered his weapon.

"It's already dead," he said, puzzled.

Li Rang circled around to look at its front. "Boss, isn't this the Level Three Zombie we ran into that day?"

Yu Jingjing was baffled. "It can't be the same one, can it? How could it have found us here?"

"It is."

Wearing combat boots, Gu Cheng stepped straight onto the monster's corpse.

Just as they'd seen last time, it stood roughly two meters tall and had a man's body.

Eight enormous black jointed legs grew out of its body.

With his dagger, Gu Cheng pried open the Level Three Zombie's head, which Ye Ruan had already blown apart.

"This thing has corrosive mouthparts. If you see one in the future, give it a wide berth."

A few of the braver survivors gathered around.

Gu Cheng pulled the zombie's grayish-white mouth open for them to see.

"And here."

Ye Ruan pointed at the spider's two front legs.

Feeling everyone's eyes settle on him, Ye Ruan wanted to hide behind Gu Cheng.

But a certain someone was still crouching on the spider's corpse.

Ye Ruan pressed his lips together slightly and said quickly and quietly,

"The spider's front legs are venomous."

Little Bunny was far too shy. Amused, Gu Cheng took over.

"That's right. If you see this kind of zombie in the future, stay well away."

Yu Jingjing said, "Level Three Zombies—we avoid them when we see them. They certainly won't go provoking one."

At present, there were three kinds of zombies in City H.

The first were ordinary zombies, slow-moving and stiff-limbed.

These were the weakest. Biting anyone came down to sheer dumb luck.

Level Two Zombies were strong and fast.

The last kind was something even Special People feared.

The genes of zombies and animals fused, mutating them into troublesome Level Three Zombies.

They could also be called Level Three Monsters.

"All right, give me a hand getting this thing farther away!"

Gu Cheng jumped down. As he passed Ye Ruan, his hand wandered again, stroking the boy's soft, pale cheek.

Bunnies held an inexplicable attraction for wolves.

Perhaps it was the beast genes in a Special Person's blood, making a wolf want to pounce whenever he saw a rabbit.

He wanted to bite Little Bunny by the scruff of his neck.

To bully him, to rough him up.

Lu Jiayi found a handcart, and together they heaved the spider onto it.

Just then, a light rain began to fall.

The others shirked the chore, unwilling to make the trip.

Tang Yi's older brother volunteered, joining Lu Jiayi and Li Rang to push the handcart and dump the Level Three Zombie farther away.

"His name is Tang Cheng. Be careful around him," Gu Cheng warned quietly.

"Mm."

Ye Ruan looked up at him. "Captain Gu, when are we leaving?"

"We'll rest another day, then set out early the morning after tomorrow."

Gu Cheng rubbed between his brows. "First, we'll get out of South City. It's been hit hard."

Ye Ruan murmured an acknowledgment. Feeling a little cold, he covered his mouth and sneezed.

Gu Cheng laughed. "What's this? Is all that long fur just for show?"

Ye Ruan's voice was thick and nasal. "I haven't turned back into a rabbit. I don't have any rabbit fur on me, so of course I get cold."

Gu Cheng touched Ye Ruan's hand.

"You're this cold?"

Their hands met like ice colliding with fire.

This wolf was very warm. Ye Ruan blinked, thought for two seconds, and edged a little closer.

A jacket still carrying body heat dropped over his head.

"Put it on. I've never met a Special Person as delicate as you."

Ye Ruan pulled the jacket off his head, his hair tousled and the tip of his nose red. "I'm not delicate," he protested.

Gu Cheng laughed twice, giving him no face at all. He was about to say more when his expression suddenly changed.

Ye Ruan met his gaze, a flash of terror passing through his eyes.

The next second, a cacophony of howls rose outside the gate, followed by the distant scrape of countless footsteps dragging over concrete.

Lu Jiayi's voice rang out from beyond the gate.

"Boss! A zombie horde is coming!"

Ye Ruan jolted in alarm, immediately drawing his gun and starting to rush outside.

Gu Cheng swept a sturdy arm around his waist, lifted the boy clear off the ground, and strode out through the gate.

Not far away, a vast, dark mass of zombies was closing in!

The three who had gone to dump the spider ran back, panting.

Li Rang said in panic, "There are too many zombies to count! They're heading straight for us! This iron gate won't hold them!"

Gu Cheng said nothing. To make matters worse, the rain intensified, drops trailing down his hard, defiant features.

Ye Ruan rested his hand loosely on the back of Gu Cheng's. "We... need to leave."

The sky was darkening. Leaving the base that had sheltered them now, venturing into South City's danger-filled night, was no different from suicide.

Gu Cheng lowered his eyes to Little Bunny.

Soaked by the rain, Ye Ruan shivered with cold.

His slender, pale fingers tightened around his black gun.

"Move! Gather all the survivors! Get on the bus!"

Gu Cheng set Ye Ruan down, took his hand instead, and led him straight to the biohazard vehicle, pushing him inside.

"Get in."

Leaving those two words behind, Gu Cheng hurried back to keep order.

As the sounds of the zombies drew nearer, panic filled the survivors' faces, and they fought to squeeze onto the bus first.

For a moment, women's screams mingled with men's curses and children's cries in utter chaos.

Gu Cheng fired a shot straight into the sky.

The yard fell silent.

Gu Cheng's usual carefree smile was gone. His dark eyes looked particularly deep, a layer of ice gathering within them.

"If you want to live, stop shoving. Let the elderly and children board first!" he said coldly.

The dark muzzle lowered, cowing the crowd.

Before the army of the living dead came within a hundred meters of the gate, everyone had gathered the supplies and boarded.

Lu Jiayi and Li Rang got on the bus.

Gu Cheng took Yu Jingjing and Fang Ci with him in the biohazard vehicle.

Fang Ci slammed down on the accelerator and wrenched the steering wheel around, driving the biohazard vehicle out of the recycling yard first.

Through the window, Ye Ruan saw a huge swarm of zombies turn after the vehicles and pursue them with piercing howls!

Yu Jingjing shouted, "Boss! Where are we going?!"

Gu Cheng checked the tablet in his hand. "To that secluded hillside we scouted a few days ago!"

Fang Ci said, "There are too many zombies. We have to draw the horde away first!"

Gu Cheng said, "Just drive! The zombies are right on our tail. One second too late and these bastards will tear us apart, vehicles and all!"

Fang Ci followed the route they'd scouted several days earlier, with the bus close behind.

Scattered zombies dotted the streets ahead. The biohazard vehicle brutally cleared a path, practically driving through severed limbs and pulped flesh!

Ye Ruan opened the biohazard vehicle's roof hatch, braced his arms on the roof, and aimed at a zombie clinging to the bus driver's window.

He pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight through the zombie's skull!

Lu Jiayi, driving the bus, waved to Ye Ruan.

Ye Ruan drew back his gun and swung himself down into the vehicle.

The rain grew heavier, showing no sign of stopping.

Beneath the dark sky, South City's streets looked even more like an abyssal beast with its black maw wide open, waiting for them to walk into its trap.

The biohazard vehicle's high beams formed two dazzling shafts of light in the darkness.

Everyone's nerves were stretched taut as they drove toward the outskirts of South City...