Li Yougen shakily turned off the emergency light. In his panic, he almost missed a step and fell off the stool, but luckily he steadied himself. He peeked out of the window again, and sweat poured down his face like rain.
This was a rather large car wash, with a long row of two-story buildings. The ground floor had three especially wide doors, usually used for washing cars, which were currently covered by rust-stained metal roller shutters. The second floor served as employee dormitories, furnished with a few bunk beds. Outside, a courtyard was enclosed by a nearly two-meter-high brick wall. The courtyard had dirt ground with car repair and washing tools scattered in the corners. Walking further out, there was a large iron gate at the entrance, secured with three locks, two small and one large, all neatly locked. The largest one had a lock the size of a man’s fist, hung with a thick iron chain.
Under normal circumstances, such a sturdy gate would let those inside sleep soundly, but now things seemed different.
Under the pitch-black, moonless sky, all light seemed eerily swallowed, revealing only vague outlines. Outside this large iron gate, there were throngs of people, moving and writhing, pushing against the gate without tiring. The iron gate groaned dully.
Unseen, the three locks were quietly deforming.
Li Yougen hid behind the curtains of a second-floor dormitory, trembling as he peeked outside. Seeing that hellish scene, his sphincter almost gave way, nearly making him wet his pants.
He didn’t understand what was happening, or how he came to be in such a place. His last memory was of wearing his only decent suit, holding his briefcase on the way to work. Just after getting off the bus, he was thinking about how to flatter his boss based on yesterday’s speech while crossing the street, when suddenly an out-of-control truck charged at him. He closed his eyes in fright but didn’t feel any pain. When he opened them again, he found himself here, lying on the lower bunk in an employee dormitory.
Could he have traveled through time? Initially, Li Yougen was pleased. Considering the way that truck had come at him, he would have been lucky to survive with all his limbs intact, possibly spending years in the hospital. But now, this time travel seemed to have saved his life and money, which was quite timely.
However, just a day later, he couldn’t smile anymore.
There were monsters outside!
Li Yougen had a decent vantage point, able to see the scene outside the large iron gate from the second floor. He occasionally saw grotesque monsters coming and going. When he accidentally glanced outside, he locked eyes with the blue-white dead eyes of a zombie. Unlike Xin Meng, who was merely startled, Li Yougen’s legs shook like a sieve, and a hot wetness spread as he wet his pants.
Once he calmed down, seeing those monsters still couldn’t get in, he paced around the room, not even bothering to change his wet pants. He was anxious and afraid, sometimes cursing the heavens for sending him to the wrong place, sometimes tearfully praying for someone to rescue him. When he inadvertently saw the card on the table, he slapped himself hard, confirming he wasn’t dreaming, and almost fainted again.
Luckily, before nightfall, he saw the large painted characters on top of the mall through the window, but he didn’t dare leave. He didn’t even dare to go downstairs, only managing to find the emergency light in the room, trying desperately to attract the attention of those so-called “teammates” across the street, hoping they would come to rescue him.
But he seemed to have made a terrible decision, as those monsters, attracted by the light, rushed over like ants to honey or moths to a flame, crazily pounding on the gate!
The locks finally gave way completely, and with a loud “bang,” the gate was forced open. Countless monsters pushed and shoved into the courtyard, rushing towards the building like a breached flood, surrounding the roller shutter, emitting excited howls. Their fingers, dripping with rotten flesh and stinking blood, scratched on the metal door, producing an ear-piercing noise!
Terrified, Li Yougen threw the light away. The emergency light hit the wall, bounced onto the ground, and the lampshade shattered. The bulb flickered a few times and then went out, plunging the room back into darkness. The pounding of zombies below noticeably subsided, but Li Yougen didn’t notice these changes at all. He had completely collapsed on the ground, clutching his hair and howling, his face a mess of tears and mucus.
The monsters below, temporarily confused by the sudden loss of light, were again drawn to the human screams. Like being injected with high-concentration stimulants, they crazily pounded on the roller shutter. No matter how strong it was, it couldn’t compare to the main gate. It was soon riddled with dents, the thin metal twisted and deformed, and it would be completely destroyed soon. Once the zombies surged in, no matter how Li Yougen pleaded with God or Buddha, escape would be impossible!
“Ah—help! Someone save me!! Ah ah—” Li Yougen tried to cover his ears, but couldn’t stop the footsteps of death approaching. The hungry roars of beasts and the screeching noise of claws scratching metal invaded his ears through every finger gap. He collapsed on the floor, scrambling under the bed in panic, sweat, tears, and snot covering his face. He no longer cared about his expensive suit, curling into a ball under the dusty bed, shivering.
“Beep beep—”
Suddenly, a loud car horn sounded from outside the window. Li Yougen paused, seemed to realize something, and immediately rolled out from under the bed, crawling to the window. He saw a car coming through the main gate, knocking a few zombies away, and it was about to reach his building!
Upon closer inspection, he saw a young man with colorful hair leaning out of the passenger seat, waving in the direction of the second floor and shouting, “Hey! Is anyone there? We’re your teammates, don’t be afraid, we’re coming to rescue you!”
In the past, seeing such a “rebellious youth,” Li Yougen would have stayed away, spitting and criticizing the “degrading society” to show his own moral superiority. In reality, he looked down on people from underprivileged backgrounds, like this one who seemed to embody the rural-urban fringe. But now, he couldn’t care less about such things. He rubbed his swollen eyes, fearing the rescuers might not find him and leave, hurriedly opening the window and shouting, “I’m here! I’m your teammate! I’m on the second floor, come and save me quickly!”
Xiong Jiabao excitedly waved his hand at the window where the voice came from, turned, and cheerfully said to Xin Meng, “Found him! Quick, drive forward, let’s rescue him!”
Xin Meng wasn’t as optimistic. He was tense, gripping the steering wheel tightly while trying to keep the Land Rover balanced as they knocked zombies aside. The short stretch of road to the building wasn’t easy. The zombies originally surrounding the building were drawn towards the Land Rover when Xiong Jiabao impulsively honked the horn. Xin Meng watched helplessly as the zombies, abandoning the building, swarmed around the Land Rover. Xiong Jiabao even shouted more, making Xin Meng’s head throb.
“Quiet down, if the car gets surrounded, we won’t be able to escape.” Xin Meng stopped Xiong Jiabao, who also realized the situation was dire. The zombies threw themselves at the car without regard for their lives. Their decaying bodies left yellow-white smears on the glass. One zombie’s face pressed right against the passenger window, its pale eyes staring at Xiong Jiabao, who shivered in fear and immediately closed his mouth.
With the noise source gone, Xin Meng floored the accelerator, knocking away a few more zombies and controlling the Land Rover to circle the yard. The remaining zombies chased after the car, baring their teeth and claws, temporarily stalled. As the car passed under the building, Xin Meng rolled down the window and shouted to the second floor, “Come down quickly, we’ll cover you… Remember to bring the card!”
Li Yougen, who had been watching below, shivered, his fingers tightly gripping the windowsill, “No… I’m too scared… I can’t go down, those monsters will eat me! Y-you come up and save me!”
Xin Meng: “…”
He glanced at the large group of zombies trailing behind and the open gate, feeling increasingly anxious. The night was too quiet, amplifying the car’s engine noise. For now, only this many zombies were in the yard, but if they delayed further, who knows how many more would be drawn, and then the trouble would be enormous!
Seeing that the teammate wouldn’t come down, Xin Meng decided not to waste more effort and turned the car around, charging into the zombie horde, crushing them. The yard echoed with “bang bang” as the vehicle jolted over obstacles. The Land Rover bounced heavily, their heads hitting the roof repeatedly. Fortunately, Xin Meng had reminded them to buckle up, or they’d be bruised.
Despite this, Xiong Jiabao still held his head, wincing in pain. He glanced at Xin Meng, who remained expressionless beside him, full of admiration: “Little brother, you’re amazing, not fazed at all! I really admire you!”
Xin Meng twitched his mouth, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, flooring the gas pedal to the maximum. The increased speed added more power, sending zombies flying. Though not killing them, it disabled many limbs, hampering their movement.
After knocking them down, Xin Meng skillfully maneuvered the car, deliberately running over their heads or legs again. Even though they felt no pain, it greatly hindered their movement. They still tried to claw their way toward the humans but could only crawl slowly, giving the three plenty of time.
The frustrating part was, despite this, the teammate upstairs refused to come down, clinging to the window and shouting for them to come up and rescue him. Xiong Jiabao, almost without thinking, opened the car door and jumped out.
Xin Meng frowned, gritted his teeth, and got out too.
