Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Xie Ning had known all along there was a door connecting to the garage behind that dirt wall. She’d had them dig because the metal was buried under the earth, preventing her from using her superpower.

She had been to this place before. Even though their fall had been a chaotic, winding mess, she was sure of the general direction.

This hollowed-out dirt cavern connected directly to the adjacent underground level-two garage.

”Why in the world is there a door inside this dirt wall?”

’It’s because the planning for this damned facility was a total mess. Otherwise, why would they store finished goods in the underground garage!’

’What kind of factory does this? A warehouse on the east, a warehouse on the west, and even the garage is used as a warehouse.’

’Just pure chaotic management!’

A man who looked like one of the factory managers gave an awkward smile. ”The factory was originally going to expand the underground garage. The project was halfway done when the board of directors suddenly vetoed it and called a halt. The door was installed, but the expansion was never completed.”

”Does that mean we can get out this way?” A glint of hope appeared in the eyes of a young man in a white lab coat.

”Be careful,” Xie Ning whispered to Song You’ai and the others. ”You all saw that First-rank Ratman fall down here with me.”

”But it suddenly disappeared on the way down. That means it can burrow incredibly fast, and now we have no idea where it’s gone.”

A shiver ran down Song You’ai’s spine. ”Junjun and Tai Xian are still up there! I hope nothing happens to them.”

Song Shijun and the others were, in fact, in deep trouble.

Not long after Song You’ai’s group had harnessed up and started climbing down into the hole, a wave of rats swarmed out from behind the production department office.

They gnawed on everything in sight, their pairs of small, red eyes glinting with a bloodthirsty light.

Ji Taixian, trembling in fear, made a split-second decision. He pulled a barrel of gasoline from his Space and hurled it directly onto the rat swarm.

Just then, a group of rats chewed through the thick hemp rope Song You’ai and the others had tied to a machine.

As a result, Song You’ai and the other two, who had been descending slowly, didn’t have time to react before they began to plummet down the shaft.

After severing the rope, the rats charged toward the two humans.

Ji Taixian and Song Shijun became living targets for the rats.

Seeing the rats about to close in, Ji Taixian decisively tossed down a lighter.

The flames followed the trail of gasoline, and instantly, many of the rats fell into a sea of fire, squealing and scrambling in chaos. SQUEAK SQUEAK!

”Go!!” Ji Taixian bellowed.

He turned his head only to see that little rascal, Song Shijun, had already grabbed his backpack and sprinted dozens of meters away.

Uh...

Song Shijun sprinted to the metal door to open it.

To his surprise, the door was like it had been welded shut; pressing the button did nothing.

’It must have been damaged during the fight with the Ratman earlier.’

Ji Taixian rushed to the door and pounded on it, then pulled an axe from his Space and took a couple of desperate swings at it.

It didn’t budge!

The two stared at each other.

Song Shijun frowned. ”Looks like the only way out is down that hole!”

The fire was starting to rage. If they didn’t run now, they’d both be trapped in the factory and roasted alive.

”We don’t know what’s in that hole. Do you have a thick blanket or something to wrap ourselves in? It’ll reduce the friction as we slide.”

Ji Taixian tossed him a thick blanket.

As he wrapped the blanket around himself, Song Shijun said, ”I bet the Ratmen have hollowed out this whole area, so when we go down, try to lean back and keep your center of gravity low. We should...”

Before he could finish, he saw Ji Taixian wrap his own small blanket tightly around himself and, without a word, jump into the hole. PLOP.

He didn’t give Song Shijun any chance to react.

’So it’s true: every man for himself when disaster strikes!’

Song Shijun’s mouth twitched. He ran to the edge of the hole as the flames licked at his heels.

Placing his backpack in front of him to protect his chest, Song Shijun took a deep breath and jumped.

At that same moment, the metal door was forced open with a crowbar. CLANG!

Thick, billowing smoke assaulted their nostrils.

”Whoa, it’s really on fire,” Lou Dali exclaimed with a grin. ”Hope no one’s hurt, right?”

The two soldiers who had pried the door open turned and shot him a frowning glance.

Even a fool could detect the gloating in his tone.

”Oh, I’m just concerned for Miss Xie and her group, that’s all,” Lou Dali said with a smile, while inwardly cursing Xie Ning’s group for their insatiable greed.

’They knew they weren’t strong enough, but they just had to keep exploring. Serves them right for getting into trouble.’

’The worst part is, if they wanted to go get themselves killed, fine, but they took the car keys and left the rest of us stranded here.’

’So selfish!’

Lu Wei was leading several young soldiers forward when...

Gu Chen suddenly grabbed his arm, pulling him back. A bolt of Thunder Power shot from Gu Chen’s hand, striking two red-eyed rats that had darted out and frying them to a crisp.

The rats didn’t even have time to bite anyone before they were blasted into two blackened husks, dead on the spot.

”Ahh, rats!” Annie shrieked, stumbling back two steps with every hair on her body standing on end.

Annie was the type who would jump on a table and scream for help at the sight of a cockroach, let alone a rat this big suddenly darting out in front of her.

”Shut up,” Gu Chen commanded, ordering his men to grab fire extinguishers from the vehicle.

Thankfully, the fire wasn’t too big yet, and they managed to put out most of it in short order.

Just then, a mutated Ratman covered in stiff bristles let out a SQUEAK.

It stared at the crackling lightning in Gu Chen’s hand as if it were staring at something lethally dangerous, then turned and fled without a second’s hesitation.

”The garage,” Gu Chen said, his eyes fixed on the direction the Ratman had fled. He then took off after it with long strides.

Annie grew frantic when she saw this. ”Hey, where are you going? Hey!”

’Weren’t these people sent by their superiors to rescue civilians? How can they just abandon us here!’

”What do we do now?” Annie glanced at the scorched rat corpses on the ground. ”Is it dangerous to stay here?”

Lou Dali and his companions looked at each other. ”Maybe we should follow them and see?”

’That way, we’ll have protection if things get hairy, right?’

It was mainly because those fat rats from before had been utterly terrifying.

”Follow them for what? Didn’t you see how they completely ignored us?” Annie kicked the van in frustration. ”It’s not safe here. We should leave as soon as we can.”

”And how do we do that? Xie Ning has the car keys.”

’That she-devil who only knows how to boss us around!’

”We can find a working car out on the street. We’ll drive ourselves back to the Song Family Pavilion,” Annie urged the others. ”So? Are you coming or not?”

Lou Dali hesitated. ”You think that’ll work?”

”You coward. You want to stay with that wretched girl and let her keep ordering you around like a slave?”

Lou Dali gritted his teeth. ”Let’s go.”

The two of them called out to the others, and most of the group turned to leave with them.

In the end, only two people were left by the van, and they looked at each other.

”Mo Li, you’re not going?”

Mo Li, a young man who had previously been on the receiving end of Xie Ning’s Metal Spikes, still felt a lingering fear from the encounter.

For one thing, he was afraid of her. For another, he didn’t think for a second that going with this new group would be any safer than staying with Xie Ning. So he refused to join them.

”You’ll regret this,” Annie snarled, leaving them with that threat. She grabbed her own pile of supplies and stormed off.