A drenched bunny

After an hour of hair-raising flight, the two vehicles finally drove out of South City and into the outskirts.

The hillside was close now, but the zombie horde was still in relentless pursuit.

Fang Ci glanced in the rearview mirror and shouted:

"Captain, we have to find a way to hold these zombies back, or we won't be able to get up the hill."

"Just keep driving. Leave the rest to me."

Gu Cheng patted Fang Ci's shoulder and dragged a crate out from under the seat.

It was packed with bombs.

Gu Cheng slipped a few into his jacket pockets, tightened his cuffs, and pushed open the sunroof. Gripping its edge, he was just about to pull himself up onto the roof.

Suddenly, Gu Cheng paused and looked at the little bunny beside him.

"Bunny, want to throw some bombs with me?"

Ye Ruan went with Gu Cheng, climbing onto the roof of the biohazard vehicle.

Only once he was outside did he realize that the rear of the bus was practically brushing against the zombie horde as it drove. If it slowed even a little now...

Those snarling, clawing Level Two Zombies, the fastest of the bunch, would engulf the vehicle and devour it, passengers and all!

To make matters worse, the vast zombie horde had drawn in plenty of Level Three Zombies.

They were all sorts of disgusting amalgamations of monsters, and even from a distance...

Through the layers of rain, Ye Ruan could still see the black-and-red flesh on their faces.

And their rotting, sharp teeth.

Gu Cheng knelt on one knee to steady himself on the roof and gestured to Lu Jiayi.

Lu Jiayi nodded vigorously, his gaze resolute, and gave Gu Cheng an OK sign.

The bus accelerated until its front was less than a meter from the rear of the biohazard vehicle.

Gu Cheng took two steps back for a running start, then leaped onto the bus roof. Turning, he held out his hand.

"Little bunny, come on!"

Rain slid off the roof and snaked down the windows.

Ye Ruan found a firm foothold so he wouldn't slip and fall off.

A drop of water fell from his lashes onto his cheek. In the darkness, flickering light gleamed in the white-haired young man's eyes.

His rain-soaked clothes clung to his lean frame, making him look almost temptingly beautiful.

Gu Cheng was briefly dazed, just as the little bunny jumped with all his strength.

Instinctively, he spread his arms and caught Ye Ruan in a tight embrace.

Gu Cheng hauled him onto the bus roof with effortless ease.

Before they could steady themselves, the bus suddenly lurched violently.

Gu Cheng lost his footing and was flung off the roof. Just as he was about to fall into the zombie horde, he reached back and clamped onto the roof's luggage rack!

"Get up here."

Unable to find a good hold, Ye Ruan could only grab Gu Cheng's belt and pull hard.

Gu Cheng swung a leg up and climbed back onto the roof, then yanked Ye Ruan's hand away.

"Ow! Are you trying to wreck me?!"

Gu Cheng tugged at the crotch of his pants, his face twisting slightly.

"You're strangling me down there."

Looking innocent, Ye Ruan puffed his cheeks out by habit, like a little spiny pufferfish swelling into a ball.

He looked so blank and clueless that it made people want to tease him.

Gu Cheng immediately admitted his mistake. "Okay, okay, my fault."

He took a bomb from his pocket.

"Bunny, want a turn?"

Ye Ruan looked over. "A white phosphorus grenade?"

"Yeah. Throw it as far as you can."

As he spoke, Gu Cheng pulled out the safety pin, raised his arm high, and hurled it!

Then he wrapped an arm around Ye Ruan and pressed him down against the roof.

With a deafening blast, the White Phosphorus Bomb exploded, streaking the night with white trails that fell into the zombie horde and burst into flames.

White phosphorus ignited on contact with air. No matter how hard it rained, it kept burning stubbornly through flesh and bone!

Ye Ruan raised himself and glanced back.

White Phosphorus Bombs weren't much use against zombies that couldn't feel pain.

Even engulfed in flames, the zombies didn't slow down.

The Level Two Zombies were already fast enough that the flames on their bodies nearly reached the back of the bus.

At this rate, they were wasting grenades without accomplishing anything.

"White Phosphorus Bombs don't do much against zombies," Ye Ruan said.

Gu Cheng shot the nearest Level Two Zombie in the head. "I know, but this is all we have left."

"I have-"

Ye Ruan took a C4 plastic explosive out of his Storage Wristband.

"This."

The wristband belonged to Ye Ruan, and only he could retrieve the things stored inside.

Gu Cheng immediately took the C4. His gaze swept over the zombie horde as he asked quietly:

"Little bunny, how's your aim?"

Without another word, Ye Ruan lay prone on the roof, holding his gun in one hand and bracing himself with the other.

Gu Cheng raised his arm and threw the C4 toward the enormous creature rapidly closing in through the zombie horde!

It was a Level Three Zombie!

Rain fell into Ye Ruan's eyes the instant he fired, but his gun hand remained steady.

Flames shot into the sky in a blinding flash. The shock wave nearly blasted both of them off the roof!

Gu Cheng wrapped a powerful arm around Ye Ruan, holding him firmly and pinning him beneath his body, while his other hand clung tightly to the roof rack.

Amid the jolting and swaying, Ye Ruan remembered the question this wolf had just asked.

My aim is very good.

Mom taught me herself.

With his ear pressed against Gu Cheng's chest, Ye Ruan heard him utter two simple words through the ringing in his ears and the patter of rain.

"Great job."

The young man nestled in Gu Cheng's arms secretly curled his lips into a smile.

Mm, this wolf doesn't seem all that annoying.

The two vehicles safely reached the outskirts, twenty kilometers from the center of South City, where a secluded hillside lay.

The road was uneven, and the rain made driving even harder.

But they had broken away from the zombie tide and successfully escaped the horde's sight.

Halfway up the hill was a broad, level clearing, its weeds reaching calf height.

Yu Jingjing jumped out of the biohazard vehicle with two umbrellas in her hands.

"Little Ye Ruan! Boss! Are you two okay?"

"We're fine!"

The two jumped down, and Gu Cheng instructed her, "Have everyone stay in the bus for now. The rain's too heavy. Don't let them get out!"

"Okay!" Yu Jingjing replied.

Ye Ruan was soaked through. Now that his taut nerves had relaxed a little, his body had actually begun to shiver.

Only after they returned to the biohazard vehicle did Gu Cheng notice that the little bunny wouldn't stop trembling.

"Hurry up and change."

Fang Ci handed over a thick camouflage uniform. Seeing Ye Ruan's pale lips, he hurried to dig out the portable Cassette Stove to make some hot soup.

Rabbits had relatively frail constitutions and tolerated neither cold nor heat well.

Ye Ruan was a capable fighter, but his constitution wasn't particularly good.

It was because of this "shortcoming" that he had missed out on becoming captain of the second squad and instead become captain of the third, the weakest squad in the Special Humans Team.

There were only the three of them in the vehicle now, all men, so there was no need to be shy.

Gu Cheng stripped off all his wet clothes right in front of the other two and dried the rainwater from his body before getting dressed.

Ye Ruan stole a glance, then looked away, his mind filled with Gu Cheng's abs and chest.

And... sigh.

Ye Ruan lowered his head to look at himself.

Were carnivores... all this muscular?

Ye Ruan took off his top and pinched his arm, which was considerably slimmer than Gu Cheng's.

Comparison really did hurt.

"What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and change. Your lips are white from the cold."

Gu Cheng draped a dry towel over Ye Ruan's head and gently dried his hair with his fingers.

Ye Ruan gave a heavily nasal hum. His long, slender, cool-white fingers undid the zipper, and he first took off his jacket.

Next came the black thermal shirt underneath.

Ye Ruan sat on a seat at the back of the vehicle. With a turn of his head, Fang Ci could see what he was doing too.

Those slender fingers gripped the hem, and he lifted his arms to pull it off.

An expanse of snowy-white skin appeared without warning.

Gu Cheng and Fang Ci both froze. After one glance, they looked away in unison.

Ye Ruan didn't know why Gu Cheng had suddenly turned and walked away.

His back looked very stiff.

It wasn't just Gu Cheng. The husky looked stiff too.

The two grown men crouched beside the Cassette Stove, staring blankly, one stirring the soup with a spoon while the other watched.

Even when they heard the rustling of clothes, Gu Cheng and Fang Ci kept their eyes firmly forward.

Ye Ruan put on the slightly oversized camouflage uniform. Beneath it was a soft, thin sweater that felt wonderfully comfortable against his skin.

The waistband was three fingers too loose, but a belt held it in place.

To keep the drafts out, Ye Ruan tucked the sweater into his pants. With the belt cinched tight, his slender waist was especially noticeable.

As they watched him approach, two particular carnivores found their thoughts wandering.