Dragon Star Pharmacy

"Mom!" Ding Jia rushed to her mother's side, hurriedly helped her up, and checked her condition. Then she looked up urgently. "My mom's in poor health. She needs blood pressure medication. Supervisor Tan, do we have any here?"

Tan Hui sighed helplessly. "This is a restaurant. We don't have that kind of medicine. What else do you need? I'll do my best to get it for you."

Ding Jia held her mother and checked her over, a chill spreading through her whole body.

"Medicine. She has to have medicine..." Muttering to herself, Ding Jia looked at Tattooed Arm and pleaded, "Please, could you help me? The Dragon Star Pharmacy is right across the street. There must be medicine inside. If you can get it for me, I... I'll do anything."

Tattooed Arm turned his head away, pushed Ding Jia aside, and silently sat down at a distant table.

"Someone help me! Please, I'm begging you!"

Ding Jia knelt and pleaded. Everyone in the dining hall kept their heads down, not daring to respond.

A few minutes later, Ding Jia rose, sobbing. Wiping her tears, she walked stiffly toward the rolling shutter.

The others raised their heads, their gazes following her.

Just as she reached the entrance and shakily bent down, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

She turned and saw Yue Hao's face.

"I'll go. You're too slow."

"Th-thank you." Ding Jia wept with relief and bent her knees to kneel in gratitude.

But he caught her and lifted her back up.

Yue Hao looked around. "I don't know how many more days we'll have to hold out here, but the government has already given up on us. We have to save ourselves. Sooner or later, we'll leave this place, and we're bound to need all kinds of medicine."

"I'm going to bring back enough to last us this time. The more people we have, the better our chances. Who's willing to come with me?"

One after another, they lowered their heads again. Only Tan Hui stepped forward.

"I'll go with you."

"Good," Yue Hao replied crisply. He went to the window, parted the curtains slightly, and surveyed the street. "It's not that dangerous. It's only across the street. Get a few knives and find a couple of long-handled weapons to protect ourselves. We'll be in and out."

"Okay. Give me a moment."

"Thank you, thank you..." Ding Jia kept thanking both of them, afraid to show even the slightest lack of gratitude.

"Go look after your mom first. Write down exactly what medicine she needs, including anything she might need." Tan Hui patted her shoulder and headed toward the kitchen.

He had just reached the bend in the corridor, before entering the kitchen, when Tattooed Arm called out, "Tan Hui!"

Tan Hui stopped and turned.

"There are some things I shouldn't say, but you saved my life, so take my advice and stay out of this mess. That old woman's going to become a burden sooner or later. If she goes now, it might even be better for her. And that woman's crazy. Can you trust anything a lunatic says?"

Tattooed Arm raised his eyes and looked straight at Tan Hui. "Stop trying to be everyone's savior. In times like these, people like you are the first to die!"

Tan Hui considered that for a moment, then gave an inexplicable smile. "The world's only going to get worse. If I do die, that'll be a release, too. At least I'll still have been human before I died... Thanks."

"I warned you. You're the one choosing to get yourself killed." With that, Tattooed Arm said nothing more.

A few minutes later, the two men were ready.

Tan Hui unlocked the rolling shutter's floor lock and tossed the key behind him.

Yue Hao tried to stop him, but he was a moment too late. Someone had already taken the key.

Clenching his fist, Yue Hao shouted, "Listen up! If we come back and can't get through this door, I'll lure every zombie outside right over here! Think carefully about that!"

Then Yue Hao walked over to Ding Jia and whispered in her ear, "The shutter makes noise easily. Go get five metal basins from the kitchen and take them to the third floor. Throw them toward the alley behind the restaurant, one every second. We'll move as soon as we hear them. Do the same thing to cover us when we come back. Understand?"

"Understood." Ding Jia nodded nervously.

Yue Hao forced a bitter smile.

Right now, his only choice was to trust someone mentally ill. The others really weren't reliable.

He returned to Tan Hui's side and said in a low voice, "I've got a rough idea of what's out there. It's not especially dangerous. Stay close behind me, and we'll make it across in one go!"

"Understood!"

Three minutes later, the dull clang of a metal basin hitting the ground rang out behind the restaurant.

The few zombies wandering the street reacted to the sound and headed in the same direction.

Watching through the gap in the curtains, Yue Hao judged that the moment was right. He crouched down and, together with Tan Hui, lifted the rolling shutter just enough to leave a gap.

They rolled outside, and the street lay before them.

At that same moment, urgent cries rose behind them.

"Close the door, quick!"

"Director, you said the Disguised Infected are hiding among people, and we're going to set up camp at a military base. That means we'll definitely be handing out guns eventually. What if... I mean, what if Elder Sun and Elder Wei's method can't verify everyone with complete accuracy? What happens if a Disguised Infected gets a gun and shoots us in the back?" In the vehicle, Fu Hu stared at the road ahead, his brow furrowed.

Su Jin looked at the devastation outside. "It shouldn't be a major problem. You need to trust their experiments. Suspicion is the greatest threat to the team right now. Besides, we've all gained different abilities. Maybe there's an ability that can spot something wrong with the Disguised Infected without any testing... Fu, you know Qing Dai is special. I suspect she might develop an ability like that."

Fu Hu fell silent. He didn't want his daughter getting too involved in things like this.

Su Jin noticed his reaction and was about to offer a few words of reassurance when Cheng Du spoke from the back.

"Actually, I think even if there really is an infiltrator among us, handing out guns won't be a problem. I have an idea that could reduce that risk."

"Oh?" Su Jin's eyes lit up. "Let's hear it."

"Adjust every gun so its shots go left of the aim point. If someone tries anything, they'll miss their first shot, and everyone else will have time to react."

"Genius!" ×2

The vehicle continued at high speed. There weren't many zombies on the streets, and with how fast they were going, they posed little hindrance.

But as they drove farther, the relatively relaxed atmosphere inside the vehicle vanished completely.

Fallen trees and scattered bricks littered the streets. Buildings were scarred, zombies roamed everywhere, and rubbish covered the ground.

It was worlds apart from the neat, orderly society that had existed before...

Fu Hu and Cheng Du had jaws clenched as hard as stone, sorrow filling their eyes.

The wounds in their hearts were torn open once more, raw and bloody.

The city where they had spent nearly half their lives had suddenly become like this in such a short time.

Their country was gone, their homes were gone, and the people were gone, too...

Su Jin rested his chin on his fist and stared blankly out the window.

He had discussed the Cold Firmament Missile strike with Sun Ya and Wei De. Only a small portion of the missiles had been deployed against the city.

Yet even that had caused such horrific devastation, and their current location wasn't even at the heart of the Cold Sky strike zone.

That night... it had truly been like the end of the world, both in reality and in what they saw.

Another two hundred meters on, a gleaming golden skyscraper came into view, towering above everything around it.

Su Jin's vacant gaze finally changed.

The Dragon Scale Tower was Longshan City's landmark skyscraper. Even on Earth, its specifications would have seemed exceptionally impressive.

"The Dragon Scale Tower's pretty sturdy. It's so tall, but not a single pane of glass on the top three floors has broken!" Cheng Du said in surprise.

Fu Hu picked up the conversation. "The Dragon Scale Tower was built as a commercial building, but the top three floors were never rented out or sold. They say those floors were reserved for people of distinguished status. Money alone couldn't get you in. Did you know that, Director?"

"Of course. Even the glass is clearly a different grade from the rest." Su Jin smiled. "Keep an eye on the road ahead. We're about a kilometer from the Dragon Star Pharmacy. Let's get the medicine first."