“I can manage,” Zhang Yingjie said breathlessly, self-deprecatingly: “Soon I’ll… I won’t recognize you. Don’t let your teammates down, stay away from me.”
Chun Cao’s face was streaked with tears, silent. Zhou Rong at the front, his eye sockets red, didn’t look back, his voice remarkably steady: “Hang in there, Yingjie. We’ll get out within two hours. You still have a chance… at least to get back to the surface.”
They passed through the corridor, descending the stairs that had been nearly destroyed by zombie gorillas. Zhang Yingjie laughed, “Will we make it in time? I don’t really care. When a person dies, the light goes out, and it’s the same everywhere. I just really want to know if my wife and children are still alive. If I could just see them one more time…”
They moved through the long hallway connecting various laboratories. Suddenly, Chun Cao stopped and shone a light on the emergency exit sign overhead, saying in disbelief, “Look, area E.”
The three of them looked up simultaneously.
“North E Area” in green and white letters hung crookedly in the darkness. Had Si Nan, chased by the zombie King Kong, accidentally run into area E?
Zhou Rong tried to find humor in their situation: “Good, at least it saves us some travel time. This way.” Zhang Yingjie paused to catch his breath. Zhou Rong, disregarding his attempt to avoid help, reached out and supported him, whispering, “Area E has the latest antibody research materials.”
There might even be some original antibody samples left. Judging from when the base was destroyed, the antibodies might not have expired. If they’re still effective…”
Zhang Yingjie immediately responded, “I won’t take it, brother Rong. Don’t joke around. Exchanging the world’s hope for my survival would send me to the eighteenth level of hell after I die.”
“If there are two doses,” Zhou Rong said hoarsely, “If there are, I’ll definitely give you one.”
Zhang Yingjie was about to say something more, but Zhou Rong pulled him, “Let’s go.”
The flashlight illuminated the fork in the road ahead. On the six-meter-high ceiling, broken ventilation pipes hung like giant twisted snakes. Zhou Rong glanced at the tablet computer map in his hand.
