More zombies and survivors were blown down the stairs, smashing to pieces on the street. Zhou Rong exhaled a trembling, hot breath, surveying his blood-and-mud-covered teammates, suddenly roaring loudly: “Listen up, all remaining personnel—!”
“Underground parking garage, A zone, south corner, run with us!”
Zhou Rong took the lead, charging into the safety stairwell.
The stairwell was now in chaos, with many infected transforming into zombies midway, going mad and biting people in the narrow staircase. The number of those bitten increased geometrically, and the light bulb had been smashed at some point. In the darkness, zombie roars and screams of those being devoured were everywhere.
Zhou Rong cleared the path by hacking with a sharp fire axe, protecting Si Nan behind him. The stairs were slippery with blood and flesh, and in the confusion, he couldn’t tell how many corpses he had stepped on.
Seeming endlessly long yet also in the blink of an eye, Zhou Rong cleaved open the stairwell door with an axe and rushed first into the underground parking garage!
“Quickly, quickly! Everyone come out!”
A group of survivors stumbled out.
Zhou Rong kicked the safety door shut with a flying back kick, blocking the zombies’ staggering steps, then roughly counted the number of people and decisively said: “I’ll drive the biochemical vehicle, Yan Hao, you take the minibus. Go!”
This was the evacuation route they had discussed with Chun Cao the previous night—in case the helicopter couldn’t make an emergency landing on the rooftop, they would use this minibus they had dragged back from the street to transport survivors to the boarding point.
Yan Hao caught the keys with a raised hand, braking sharply in front of the minibus, catching his breath before looking at the panic-stricken crowd.
“Hurry! Open the door and let us on!”
“Don’t leave us behind!”
“Shut up!” Chun Cao burst out with a fierce roar: “Anyone who keeps arguing won’t get on!”
The noise stopped instantly. In the silence, a special forces soldier stepped forward, rolling up his sleeve, laughing: “I’ve been bitten, Rong Ge. Any bullets left? Give me one.”
Zhou Rong stared at his already rotting wrist, saying nothing.
Yan Hao tried to cover his mouth but ultimately let out a desperate sob, collapsing to his knees.
