Chapter 7

After a long moment, Madam Xu exclaimed in surprise: "You, you are..."
"Oh, it's a kind of supernatural ability. Some people turn into monsters, others gain superpowers. Mine is one of the latter," Lin Tantan explained simply. This family had taken her in; it was the least she could do, nothing special.
Madam Xu murmured, "So I wasn't mistaken earlier, you really did fling two green cords here."
Lin Tantan was puzzled that no one seemed surprised by her ability; it turned out the old woman thought she'd simply been mistaken.
"So my husband's illness is cured?" Madam Xu asked.
"It only relieved it temporarily. If you want it cured, it needs treatment for a while," Lin Tantan said. In the past she'd treated many chronic patients, after a few visits and a course or two they'd be bouncing around; she charged handsomely, of course. Now she was lower-level; chronic bronchitis like this would take at least a few months to treat.
"Sister, can you teach me? Then I could treat Grandpa," the Xu granddaughter said crisply.
Lin Tantan liked the polite, fair-skinned child and said, "I can't teach you. Whether you get the ability isn't up to me, it's up to fate."
Then they bombarded Lin Tantan with questions about powers; she couldn't act as if she knew everything, so mostly she answered that she didn't know or wasn't sure.
After eating her fill, Lin Tantan returned to her room and absorbed the golden-core crystal, which produced a golden spike. The spike drove into the wall like a nail. Lin Tantan climbed down, brushed it with her hand, the spike dissolved into a golden mist and the energy flowed back into her. She inspected the tiny hole in the wall; it was about two centimeters, and she felt a little relieved.
Tomorrow was the day to go in, she had to fight her way out.
Unfortunately there were no more crystal cores; she'd have to find a way to get some.
She closed her eyes, tried to block out the noises the zombies made outside, and forced herself to sleep.
...
Some chose the night to rest and conserve strength; others chose to move under cover of darkness.
Ye Xiao's team were clearly the latter type. By taking control of the city's surveillance, they could see the zombies growing stronger and more numerous by the hour; the longer they delayed, the harder the rescue would become.
And because they'd hacked into the surveillance system, they had countless eyes across the city, which made their operations much easier.
Two hours earlier.
Their first target was the two scientists, not only because they were crucial, but because their lab was near the suburbs and closest to the squad at the time.
It was a new office building, only six stories high, elliptical in a ring shape, its design and materials felt high-tech and sturdy, with many rooms of various sizes on each floor.
Beside it stood a newly built commercial complex, impressive in scale. Not far from the two buildings were clusters of residential developments, some completed and lit up at night, others under construction. Further out, the land was mostly bare lots and low-rise housing.
Dusk hung in the air; Ye Xiao took it all in through his binoculars, eyes narrowed as if in thought and alert to his surroundings. Whenever a zombie approached, he'd raise his gun and take it out.
Behind them, in an abandoned factory, a hulking man and a slender, somewhat effeminate-faced man were fiddling with packages as if rigging explosives.
"All set." The two emerged.
"Go." The three slipped away. Soon loud noises burst from the factory, cars, a clamor of voices, like a train station had been stuffed inside the little building.
The sound was amplified through multiple loudspeakers, drawing the agitated zombies that grew restless as night fell; they swarmed toward the source, and many even spilled out of the high-tech office building.
The three returned to the third floor of a half-built building. The rough brick-and-concrete walls and scattered debris meant the whole level was visible at a glance, there was no worry about unseen zombies lurking in corners.
The remaining five were already there. Bai Cheng sat with someone banging on a laptop, muttering at the screen. When they returned, Bai Cheng looked up: "Everyone who could get out has gotten out, but there's still a lot inside. I'll tell you the locations in a minute. Professors Zheng and Wu are in the underground lab; the entrance is surrounded by zombies, and their lab has plenty of them too. You need to move fast."
Ye Xiao nodded. "Xiaotian, Meimei, Xu Li, are you ready?" he named them directly.
Xiaotian was the laptop-tapping guy, his name was Jiang Xiaotian, an unremarkable face that would disappear in a crowd. He was a hacker expert; anything remotely related to this field he could handle. He was the one who'd brought the city's surveillance down.
He closed his laptop and stood: "Okay, we can go."
Meimei was the hot-tempered one, full name Mei Baisheng, but he clearly disliked the pretentious, awkward name and had given himself this nickname. He patted his gun and chuckled, "I've been ready for a while."
Xu Li was a shy-looking, soft-featured young man, seemingly no sturdier than Cheng Qinan who'd joined the team mid-way, but he packed the second-most lethal punch after Ye Xiao. Unlike the others, though he had a gun holstered at his waist, he wasn't holding it, he held an antique-sheathed long sword.
Ye Xiao looked again at the tall, burly man who had come back with him. "Da Zhong, we'll leave this place to you."
Da Zhong was the roughest-looking member of the team, a genuine Northeastern fellow. He usually wore a quiet, good-natured expression and didn't say much, but in a fight he was fiercely formidable. His full name was Zhong Xiong, a man who truly fit his name.
Mei Baisheng, Xu Li, Zhong Xiong, and their leader Ye Xiao made up the seven-man squad, now eight, with Zhong Xiong serving as the team's firepower. The others weren't weak, just not as adept in combat. Since Ye Xiao planned to take the two people up front with him, he naturally left someone behind; he couldn't bring himself to leave the place unguarded.
Zhong Xiong grinned sheepishly. "Don't worry, boss."
Bai Cheng also said, "Don't worry about us, you guys be careful."
Ye Xiao nodded and led the three of them toward the office building.
Night had fully fallen. Only a few motion-sensor lights inside the office building flickered now and then, but they all wore night-vision goggles and had Bai Cheng feeding them updates over their earpieces. They quickly wiped out every zombie they encountered on the way down to the basement.
Often no one else needed to act; Ye Xiao would just wave his hand, a gust would cut through the air, and a zombie would collapse.
Mei Baisheng watched enviously and whispered to Jiang Xiaotian, "This superpower is really handy. When are we going to get something like that?"
He was responsible for protecting Jiang Xiaotian and couldn't leave him for a step. Xiaotian, clutching his laptop, was full of fantasies. "Could a superpower be an insanely powerful processor?" He wasn't into fighting, he just wanted a supercomputer.
Mei Baisheng rolled his eyes; he and that guy never saw eye to eye. He turned to the rear guard, Xu Li. "Xu Li, " but in his night-vision he watched Xu Li spring forward like a hawk, his long sword flashing as he cut down a zombie that had suddenly leapt up from behind, like some ancient swordsman in a storm of steel. Afterwards Xu Li turned back and asked softly, "You called me?"
He looked a little dazed.
Mei Baisheng rolled his eyes again, the kid was basically a walking superpower glitch.
Ye Xiao barked, "Focus!"
Everyone straightened up.
They reached the entrance to the underground lab, sure enough, there were plenty of zombies. Ye Xiao and Xu Li moved in together; it was too close for gunfire, and if they started shooting heads off they'd spray everyone. One used wind blades, the other his sword, and within minutes it was over. Mei Baisheng pulled Jiang Xiaotian aside to hang back and keep watch.
When all the zombies were down, Jiang Xiaotian stepped up. He pulled out a pile of gear from his bag, connected it to the electronic door at the entrance, fiddled at his laptop for a moment, and in under two minutes the lock clicked and the door opened.
The moment the door opened a foul, bloody stench hit them. Ye Xiao hoisted Jiang Xiaotian and tossed him to Mei Baisheng, then blew a zombie off the door with a gust and, together with Xu Li, stepped inside.
Ten minutes later every zombie in the basement had been dealt with, bodies strewn everywhere. In the innermost storeroom they found their target, the two scientists they were looking for, huddled with five or six staff members.
When those people saw Ye Xiao and the others, they reacted like they'd seen saviors, each one visibly shaken with relief.
The older Professor Zheng gripped Ye Xiao's hand tightly. "Thank you, thank you, we can't thank you enough! Where will we go now?"
"We have other missions and won't be leaving for now. This lab is relatively safe. We'll clear the zombies from the rest of the building and settle you here for the time being," Ye Xiao replied; he had already thought it through.
Professor Zheng blinked. "That's fine, that's fine. I can't bear to part with all my equipment either. Xiao Wu!" He called to the younger colleague, only to see the man had already put on gloves and gone to collect samples from the zombie bodies.
The research fanatic couldn't resist; he was itching to work and, after a few words with Ye Xiao, went over. Ye Xiao knew the two professors: Professor Zheng worked in life sciences, and the younger Professor Wu was skilled in drug research. The higher-ups had prized them, hoping they'd develop a vaccine for the current situation.
Afterward Ye Xiao stepped out and brought the four people waiting outside in.
Once the group had reunited, the first thing they did was secure the building's exits, then begin clearing out the zombies.
Luckily it was New Year's Day, and there hadn't been many people in the building to begin with. They couldn't spare the energy to go room to room freeing those trapped inside, so they focused on open areas, hallways, corridors, bathrooms, lounges, and kept at it well into the night.
At the same time they rescued everyone still alive in the building, just over twenty people in total.
They settled these people into several rooms on the second floor.
The eight of them also set up a place to rest. The space had once been a small export company and was nicely furnished, two sets of sofas in the reception area and a break room with a shower and a bed. Whoever wanted a bed took one; others slept on sofas or the carpet. They each found a spot they liked and sprawled out lazily. Guys like Mei Baisheng and Zhong Xiong fell asleep in a second, snoring away like competitors.
Those who cared more about hygiene took turns showering.
"A Xiao, come look." Bai Cheng set his laptop on the coffee table and beckoned Ye Xiao over.
Ye Xiao sat down and set his bag on the table. It was full of scavenged food, mostly instant noodles and other quick rations; nothing fancy.
Bai Cheng was watching a surveillance feed. The nighttime image was a bit grainy, but the streetlights were still on so it wasn't impossible to make out details. Right now the screen showed zombies surrounding a villa.
"This is the Jingfeng Villa District. If I'm not mistaken, this house belongs to Old Master Xu."
Ye Xiao's brows knit. "That's a lot of zombies."
"Old Master Xu said earlier that he has a lot of people in his house, they probably drew the horde. The question now is how long that wall will hold."
Bai Cheng switched between several feeds, some wide shots, some close-ups. Every angle was swarmed with zombies; the villa's iron gate was dented and wobbling, making anyone watching break into a sweat for those inside.
Ye Xiao asked, "Can you still get in touch with them?"
"We just contacted them. Right now, including the Xu family, there are seven elderly people, four children, two middle-aged women, and one female college student, fourteen people in total."
Ye Xiao's frown deepened, not because of the numbers but because that particular mix sounded worrying.
Bai Cheng said, "Old Mr. Xu seems fairly lucid. He says the female college student has a superpower, seems to be healing-oriented, and she's also pretty nimble."
Hearing "superpower" surprised Ye Xiao. His own ability had surfaced suddenly that afternoon just as the plane was about to crash, with no warning. So far they hadn't encountered anyone else with a similar gift, not in their team, nor among those they'd just rescued from the building. To be honest, he was still feeling his way with it and was only using it instinctively.
So learning there might be someone in a similar situation stirred him, if they had the chance, he could trade notes.
Before they even met, he'd already made a mental note about that "female college student."
He asked, "What's the situation getting from here to Jingfeng?"
Bai Cheng pulled up a digital map; the route was already marked. Not too far, but not close either, roughly twenty-odd kilometers. Camera-covered spots were flagged with little icons; you could pull up the footage for each. Some places were quiet, others patrolled by swarms of zombies; some were scenes of carnage, others clogged by abandoned cars.
Ye Xiao took the laptop to study it more closely. Bai Cheng tore open several packs of instant noodles and poured in water fresh from the kettle. "Xiaotian and I are finding the best route. You rest for a bit; we'll have a plan before dawn."
"Waiting until dawn will be too late."
Ye Xiao switched back to the villa feed and pointed out several zombies that looked like they were about to climb.
These things were evolving fast. When they'd cleared the floors earlier they'd already met zombies that could handle stairs, whereas the ones they'd seen before would trip over a small step.
Ye Xiao had no doubt: give these zombies a few more hours and they'd learn to scale walls.
At that moment, one zombie stepped on the shoulders of others to climb up, grabbed the railing, vaulted over the wall and landed hard. It quickly scrambled back to its feet and headed for the villa.
Ye Xiao sat bolt upright, his grip on the laptop tightening. He grabbed his phone to call Old Mr. Xu, even though he knew it might be useless, how could a house full of elderly and children stand against such an agile zombie?
Seeing this, Bai Cheng stopped fiddling with the noodles. "What's wrong?" He glanced at the screen; his face darkened. "Shit!"
But before Ye Xiao could dial, on the monitor a ground-floor window diagonally opposite, the direction the zombie was heading, suddenly flew open and something long and pole-shaped shot out.
The feed was washed in gray from poor lighting, but one end of the object glinted with a pale golden sheen, it looked like an axe. In an instant it swept across the zombie's skull and stuck into the wall.
It drove in solidly, embedding itself firmly into the wall.
Even though the camera had no sound, they seemed to hear a dull thud.
The zombie that had just clambered over the wall seemed frozen in place. Moments later, the part of its head above the nose peeled away like a lid off a pot and fell to the ground. The half-headed corpse then collapsed forward, motionless.
Ye Xiao: "......"
Bai Cheng: "......"
One teammate walking past behind them: "What the, !"
The next moment, the monitor showed a girl-shaped figure pushing off the windowsill and sleekly jumping out of the window.
Her movement was very effortless and debonair, though she hadn't quite judged the drop and twisted her ankle a little on the landing.