Someone nearby objected: “You said women and children go first, men go in the next batch!”
Zhou Rong ignored them, forcefully pushing Si Nan forward.
A nearby white-collar worker with a disheveled suit angrily said: “Too much! What’s your name? I’ll report you to the military district!”
“Zhou Rong—!” Zhou Rong cursed: “Go ahead, report!”
Then he pulled Si Nan forward without further discussion.
“Full! No more!” The pilot’s shout came from the front of the crowd, closing the cabin door and blocking several young men desperately trying to get on. The four helicopters simultaneously took off, turned, and flew north.
A massive wave of cursing and sighs erupted. Zhou Rong silently cursed, exhausted, and sat down on the ground.
Si Nan pulled out the apple, took a bite, and leisurely offered: “Share?”
Zhou Rong took it without good humor and bit off more than half.
The two sat by the rooftop railing, sharing the precious apple bite by bite. Zhou Rong got up to maintain order and reorganize.
The survivors were extremely agitated, this batch left behind having experienced the hope of imminent rescue turning into abandonment again, making them particularly tense and uneasy. The desperate atmosphere spread through the crowd. The limited special forces couldn’t fully control the scene, and even the medical team had to help maintain order.
Yan Hao glanced sideways at him out of the corner of his eye. Si Nan’s demeanor was indeed far from elegant and delicate, instead quite similar to the special forces around him – sharp and decisive.
However, after a few interactions, one would discover some indescribable differences hidden in his every move, completely different from him, from Chun Cao, and even from Zhou Rong.
Yan Hao thought for a moment and changed the subject: “What did the captain talk to you about last night?”
“He probably only told you about the Omega youth who knocked him unconscious, tied him to a tree, apologized, and then stole his gun and hostage,” Yan Hao said knowingly. “As for the later flower-giving and confession…”
Si Nan asked curiously, “Flower-giving? Confession?”
Yan Hao leaned over and glanced. Zhou Rong was squeezed in the crowd, talking non-stop about why he wanted to put the medical team on the first helicopter.
“The reason Zhou Rong remembers it for so many years is that after the youth tied him up, he kissed him once to express his apology.”
Si Nan: “…”
“That was Zhou Rong’s only close-contact experience with an Omega in his life,” Yan Hao smiled. “So if he tells you he went to settle scores with that youth after the competition, he’d be lying… He actually bought flowers to confess, but later discovered the other had an Alpha, which made him furious and threw the flowers away.”
Si Nan slowly shook his head, sighing after a long while: “…How miserable.”
Yan Hao sympathized: “Isn’t that the truth.”
The sound of wind came from afar, and two helicopters returned.
“Line up! Line up! Quickly get on!” Roars erupted from the crowd. The exhausted pilots shouted through megaphones: “Medical team! Where’s the medical team—!”
Those nurses were pushed forward by the crowd, their faces ashen, almost forcibly pushed through the cabin door.
Zhou Rong saw this scene from afar and felt an unease rising in his heart. The scene was almost white-hot, everyone surging forward, roaring. Some smaller individuals were almost pushed to the helicopter’s tail, nearly swept by the high-speed rotating propellers, causing screams to erupt.
“Can’t fit anymore! Can’t fit!” The megaphone was deafening. The pilot shouted: “Go to the next one!!”
The pilot gave Zhou Rong a thumbs up, the cabin door slammed shut with a boom, and slowly rose into the sky.
Zhou Rong looked up and saw it off, suddenly seized by terror.
The wind sound suddenly stopped, and the world froze at that moment.
Zhou Rong turned back, his gaze meeting Si Nan’s rapidly constricting pupils.
The next moment, as if a death knell finally rang in the void, Zhou Rong suddenly sprinted: “Retreat——!”
The helicopter rotated and fell, crashing into the second helicopter with a devastating explosion amidst horrified screams!
Boom——
The airflow pushed numerous people off the rooftop, falling onto the street. Yan Hao was caught off guard and thrown over the railing, but at the last moment, his wrist was grabbed tightly by Si Nan.
“Climb up!” Si Nan shouted.
Yan Hao caught his breath, trying to climb up, but his expression changed dramatically: “No! Don’t mind me, run quickly!”
Si Nan, pressed against the iron railing, turned his head for a look.
The twisted helicopter cabin door was forced open, with numerous people running out engulfed in flames and black smoke, screaming and rolling. Behind them, more people stumbled out, grabbing the nearest survivors and viciously biting their necks.
— Infected individuals had infiltrated the helicopter.
A new wave of zombie virus was erupting before their eyes.
★ Chapter 7
Yan Hao grabbed the railing: “Run quickly!” However, Compass didn’t move, gripping Yan Hao’s hand and pulling up with gritted teeth. “Zom-zombies are coming!” Compass panted: “Stop talking nonsense.”
Yan Hao’s feet flailed in the air, repeatedly slipping on the wall, watching several zombies with flames staggering towards Compass, his voice rising in pitch: “Listen to me! Don’t care about me, run!” “How can I… not care…” “Zombies behind you!!” Compass was half pulled out of the rooftop, feeling a weight on his back, the zombie’s bloody breath close to his ear. At the same time, Yan Hao’s foot finally landed on the windowsill, and in a flash, he leaped up using Compass’s pulling force! Yan Hao flipped over the railing like a whirlwind, hugging Compass around the waist, crashing to the ground and rolling several meters! “Are you okay?!” Compass narrowly missed the zombie’s teeth, but after being rammed and pressed down by Yan Hao, it took him several seconds to catch his breath: “No… no problem.” Yan Hao was completely on top of Compass, supporting himself with his left elbow on the ground, forcefully turning Compass’s face with his right hand. There were injuries from his ear to his neck, but no blood when touched, just scrapes from rolling on the cement floor. “Not bitten.” Yan Hao buried his face in Compass’s neck, murmuring gratefully: “Thank goodness, not bitten.”
Let’s go, Rong Ge! We’re all infected!” Chun Cao ran against the flow of people, shouting shrilly: “Hurry! Back to the underground parking garage—!
A thunderous fireball rose to the sky, and the crashed helicopter underwent a secondary explosion in the fierce flames.
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.
