"Rong-ge," Si Nan called out in a low voice.

The four special forces soldiers formed a line, moving stealthily with their bodies hunched, walking along the railway tracks to the area below the platform. At the front of the team, Zhou Rong responded in a low voice: "What is it?"

"Yan Hao, why did he..."

Si Nan found it a bit difficult to speak. Zhou Rong stood on his toes and peered out. A dozen or so zombies were wandering on the spacious platform, heavily decomposed. Forty meters away, an escalator led up to the exit, but it had stopped running.

Zhou Rong quickly calculated the distance and time, switched his submachine gun to single-shot mode, and said softly while aiming, "You saved everyone, and you saved Yan Hao's life on the mall rooftop..."

With a few soft whooshes from the suppressor, all the zombies near the escalator were shot and fell to the ground with dull thuds.

"It's only right that he's grateful to you." Zhou Rong raised his submachine gun, waved to signal it was safe, and was the first to leap onto the platform.

The few of them swept across the platform like phantoms, stepping over the twice-dead zombies and rushing up the escalator like a gust of wind.

The uniformed ticket inspector in front of the exit gate had turned into a zombie. Its back was to the escalator as it let out low, guttural sounds. The men glanced past it and saw the station hall outside, which was alarmingly packed with hundreds of the Living Dead, aimlessly shuffling around in the dim, spacious area.

The oxygen level was low and there was no air circulation, so the zombies hadn't yet noticed the presence of a few living people.

But there was no doubt that once discovered, this place would instantly turn into a hellscape with zombies swarming over them like a tsunami.

"I feel like Yan Hao still has strong feelings for you, Rong-ge." Si Nan pressed close behind Zhou Rong, speaking so near he was almost nibbling his ear. He asked while observing their surroundings, "How did you two meet?"

Zhou Rong was fully focused on the station hall and didn't notice the abnormality in the previous sentence. "I was demoted to Unit 118 to replace their captain who died in the line of duty. That's how I met everyone, including Yan Hao. Damn, why are there so many zombies here?"

"Demoted?"

"Yeah."

"And before that?"

Zhou Rong felt the warm breath on his ear, and the muscles in his cheek tensed involuntarily. He retorted, "Since when did you have so much to say to me, Comrade Xiao Si? We're still a twenty-minute drive from our destination in West B District. How are we supposed to get through this..."

"Let's just chat," Si Nan said.

"...I was in charge of the State Guest Guard," Zhou Rong said helplessly. "Comrade Xiao Si, although I'd welcome you getting a little closer, under the close watch of several hundred zombie friends, I have the will but not the nerve. How about after we get out of here, we find a private place? I guarantee you'll have a great user experience..."

The ticket inspector zombie seemed to have noticed something and slowly turned its highly decomposed face.

In an instant, with a crisp crack, Si Nan struck like lightning, twisting the zombie's neck a hundred and eighty degrees.

"What kind of experience?" Si Nan asked casually as he supported the zombie's body, letting it fall silently to the ground.

"..." Zhou Rong said sincerely, "Nothing."

"So why are we staying here?" Si Nan asked. "Can't we go from above?"

Everyone looked up in unison. In the heavy shadows above the underground space, several rows of thick cable conduits and ventilation pipes were intricately intertwined, crossing the station hall and extending into the distance.

A few minutes later, on the ceiling, Chuncao was first, Si Nan second, Zhou Rong third, and Zhang Yingjie fourth—the team was arranged by body size, squeezed into the narrow gap between the cables and ventilation pipes, crawling forward while hugging the pipes.

Below them was the jam-packed hall. If any of them slipped and fell, they would instantly startle the hundreds of oblivious zombies.

"Yingjie, you've actually gotten fat," Zhou Rong said through gritted teeth, letting out a strained grunt as he crawled through a particularly narrow gap.

Zhang Yingjie, out of breath, replied, "It's you who got thinner... Rong-ge... Eek—!"

Zhang Yingjie's head and face were covered in dust by the time he finally squeezed through the section where two cable conduits were almost pressed together.

"Another hundred meters in this direction is the fire service access way. When we get there, I'll jump down and blast the safety door. You guys provide covering fire." Chuncao hugged the ventilation pipe tightly and wormed his way forward. "Everyone, hang in there. The number of zombies ahead is estimated to be..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Yingjie was trying his best to inch forward at a corner. His tactical pack scraped against a steel clamp on the ceiling that held the cables in place. A sharp, broken edge of a steel bar silently sliced through the left strap of his pack.

The tactical pack tilted to the right and hit the ventilation pipe below.

CLANG—DANG—!

The impact was infinitely amplified by the hollow pipe. The zombies all looked up at once, then let out hungry roars!

The forty-kilogram tactical pack was held only by his right shoulder. Gravity pulled Zhang Yingjie off to the right, and he instantly began to fall.

Zhou Rong shouted, "Yingjie!"

With a thwack, Zhou Rong grabbed Zhang Yingjie's backpack strap, hoisting him and all his gear into the air with a single hand!

Chuncao cried out, "Rong-ge!"

Luckily, this was at a ninety-degree corner; otherwise, Zhou Rong would never have been able to reach Zhang Yingjie behind him, and he would have been torn to shreds by the hundreds of swarming zombies.

Even so, the unimaginable downward force nearly pulled Zhou Rong off as well. At the critical moment, he gritted his teeth and hugged the ventilation pipe, wrapping his legs tightly around it to barely stop his fall.

Chuncao roared, "Yingjie, quick! Climb up!"

In the hall, the zombies shrieked and howled, desperately reaching upward. Zhang Yingjie was suspended in mid-air, his toes only a few centimeters from the zombies' fingernails. No matter how he tried, he couldn't reach the ventilation pipe. A cold sweat broke out on his brow. "I... I can't do it, I..."

Just then, a RRRIP— sound, exceptionally sharp amidst the rising and falling shrieks of the zombies, made everyone's nerves snap taut: Zhou Rong's field jacket couldn't withstand the strain and had torn at the shoulder and back!

Zhang Yingjie roared, "Rong-ge, let me go!"

Zhou Rong gritted his teeth and held on, his arm trembling violently.

"Hurry, Rong-ge!" Zhang Yingjie watched, his eyes wide with desperation, as Zhou Rong's body tilted down a little more. "Let me go!"

Si Nan raised his gun and aimed, shouting, "Jump—!"

The Type 89 Heavy Machine Gun spat furious flames, its bullets sending a circle of zombies flying in all directions!

This was a life-or-death gamble. The men all leaped down from above. The moment they landed, more zombies pounced, their brains splattering as they were shot by Zhou Rong and Zhang Yingjie's submachine guns!

"Run!" Si Nan roared, and a second volley of bullets crossed the hundred-meter space, shattering the fire escape's safety door!

The four of them ran for their lives through the tide of zombies. Chuncao and Zhang Yingjie took the lead, with Zhou Rong bringing up the rear. Relying on suppressive fire, they carved a bloody, muddy path, empty shells tracing countless arcs of light like blooming fireworks.

In the chaos, everyone felt zombie bodies slamming into their chests, limbs, and backs, but there was no time to check if they'd been bitten. They could only frantically unload their bullets into their surroundings, sending rows of approaching zombies flying backward!

The short hundred meters were covered in the blink of an eye. Si Nan shouted sharply, "Get out of the way—"

Chuncao and Zhang Yingjie, working in perfect sync, simultaneously veered sharply to the left and right, their submachine guns sweeping out a horizontal fan of uninterrupted fire.

At the same time, Si Nan hefted the Type 89, the ammo belt like a giant python dancing in the air. The heavy firepower tore a rift in the zombie tide in front of the safety door!

Zhang Yingjie roared, "You guys go! I'll cover the rear!"

Si Nan grabbed Zhou Rong by the back of his collar, his iron-like grip dragging him toward Zhang Yingjie. "Stop wasting time, run!"

Zhou Rong staggered back and was grabbed by both Zhang Yingjie and Chuncao. He practically leaped out of the hall and into the fire escape.

Their sprint from take-off to landing took no more than two seconds—but in those two seconds, the tide of zombies, no longer suppressed by gunfire, surged forward and engulfed the lone man covering the rear in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Rong whipped his head around. "Si Nan!!"

His roar was heart-rending. He broke free from Chuncao and ran back recklessly!

Chuncao and Zhang Yingjie both lunged out in unison, grabbing him around the waist from behind.

At that very moment, an automatic machine gun suddenly roared to life. The zombies in the hall were sent flying in all directions, severed heads and limbs raining down from the sky as a lean figure shot up from the ground—

Si Nan was practically stepping on the heads of the zombies. He carried fifty kilograms of equipment on his back, but every leap was as swift as lightning. In an instant, he charged through the safety door!

"What are you standing there stunned for?!" Si Nan roared, his head and face covered in zombie blood.

Zhou Rong froze for a second, then immediately took off up the stairs. "Don't let them catch up, run!"

The zombies in the hall milled about blankly for a moment, then rediscovered their target and staggered after them into the safety door, initiating a chase through the dark fire escape stairwell.

Six flights of stairs connected each floor of the shelter. The four men were carrying nearly two hundred kilograms of military equipment among them, but they ascended the stairs at the speed of a hundred-meter dash, quickly leaving the stiff-kneed zombies far behind.

As he ran, Zhou Rong pulled an electronic ID card from his inner breast pocket. He stopped to swipe it at every security door they passed, but not a single one would open. Chuncao was furious. "What's going on? Is the emergency power out, or has the central computer malfunctioned?!"

"The power supply is insufficient! All the access controls are shut down!" Zhang Yingjie shouted. He turned and fired a burst, knocking the pursuing zombies down the stairs.

Si Nan pushed Zhou Rong aside and raised the heavy machine gun to blast the door, but Zhou Rong grabbed the barrel with his bare hands. "Wait, there are shuttle vehicles in the top-floor plaza. Follow me!"

They were now in the central transportation hub. When the virus broke out, at least ten thousand people had been crowded here. With all the light rail services suspended, the probability of fighting their way through these tens of thousands of zombies to reach West B District was close to zero. They had to use a vehicle.

Zhou Rong took the lead and charged upstairs. The moment his foot landed, a huge sound came from above—BOOM!

The ground shook and the walls trembled, sending dust falling. Then came another, closer—BOOM!!

Zhang Yingjie staggered, and a burst of bullets instantly sprayed diagonally across the ceiling.

Si Nan and Chuncao both stopped in their tracks. Just then, Zhou Rong, like a giant bird in the sky, grabbed the railing of the upper escalator and leaped down.

He landed without even a pause, got up, grabbed Si Nan, and charged back downstairs. "Everyone, turn back!!"

Chuncao: "What's happening?!"

Zhou Rong: "Gorilla!!"

A beast's furious roar sounded out, practically right above their heads.

The upper staircase shattered, showering the four special forces soldiers with chunks of concrete. Against the greenish backdrop of their night-vision goggles, a Giant Zombie Gorilla, a full three meters tall, poked its head out of the darkness. Blood dripped from its fangs. It rolled its murky eyes and stared straight at them.