Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Song Kexin ate a piece of spicy chicken, a gossipy look on her face. ”Director Du was completely unmoved. He sent their little squad straight to Unit 98 to live with a bunch of other people.”

”That Young Master Zhong was even cursing people out before he left, saying the army was stealing their fruit and whatnot. Don’t you guys think that’s crazy?”

Everyone nodded in unison. ”Crazy.”

”Also, they cleared out another nest of zombies from Building 53 today. Apparently, the homeowner had bitten someone two days ago, but when the military went to check, the mother of the family insisted nothing had happened and absolutely refused to let them in.”

Song Kexin clenched her little fists. ”As a result, when they went back for a follow-up check today, not a single person in the family had survived.”

”Ah,” Song You’ai sighed. ”It’s all because of ignorance.”

”I joined the Song Family Pavilion mutual aid group today. Li Dawei posted in the group that he needed someone to cook meals, offering half a jin of rice each time. Every family in Units 98, 97, and 96 was fighting to take the job. In the end, they hired the family of Zhu Huizhen from Unit 98.”

...

So the third child in their family was truly ruthless. He had taken half of people’s grain, and now someone was offering to cook a huge pot of food for just half a jin of rice—with others fighting for the chance!

”Xinxin, you’re amazing,” Ji Taixian praised sincerely. ”Is the internet still working?”

”It’s spotty,” Song Kexin said with a grin. ”But it’s good to join and see what’s going on.”

”The family that runs the convenience store at Number 13 said someone was secretly trying to pry open their warehouse door last night.”

”Oh, right! Uncle Ge Liang’s second daughter awakened a Space Ability today!”

Her uncle, Song Youzhi, silently glanced at his daughter. ”How do you know everything?”

’You really are a little busybody!’

’Uncle Ge Liang’s second daughter... isn’t that Ge Yan?’

Xie Ning nodded, thinking that since the Space Ability was so common and well-known now, maybe she should also come clean to her family. It would make taking things out more convenient in the future.

She had collected so many things today, and afterward, she still had to put on a show and drag Tai Xian around for a walk.

It didn’t seem right to keep hiding it from her own family.

She looked at her mother, who was also looking at her.

Seeing her tilt her head, Song You’ai couldn’t help but smile, as if to say, ’It’s up to you. If you want to tell them, go ahead. If not, Mom can keep covering for you, and that’s fine too.’

Xie Ning’s eyes curved into a smile. She cleared her throat and suddenly said, ”Actually, I also awakened a small Space today.”

Everyone had been excitedly chatting about Uncle Ge Liang’s daughter, the Space Ability User Ge Yan, when their voices abruptly stopped.

Ji Taixian was the most excited. He turned his head to look at Xie Ning. ”Ms. Ning, did you have a secondary awakening? How big is your little Space?”

”Not as big as yours,” Xie Ning said humbly.

”That’s still not bad!” The idiot started laughing happily. ”After all, this is your second awakened superpower. Your main skill is still your Gold Element Attack System superpower! It’s normal that it’s not as big as mine! HAHAHA, after all, a genius like me who can reach fifty square meters with a level-zero Space is one of a kind in this entire military compound! HAHAHAHA!”

Everyone stared at him, their faces expressionless.

’This little brat’s gotten completely carried away.’

Wang Zongxuan slapped him on the top of the head. ”Tone it down!”

Xie Ning suppressed a laugh and nodded seriously. ”Yes, so the whole family will still have to rely on your Space System in the future. As for my Space Ability, everyone please keep it a secret to avoid unnecessary trouble.”

”We only need one Space Ability User on our team.”

”Understood, understood.” This was extremely beneficial for them.

”Good!”

”Okay, okay!”

Song Kexin made a zipping motion across her lips. ”Don’t worry, Sis. Our lips are sealed.”

”You’re the one we have to worry about the most!” her dad, a professional at undercutting her, immediately added. ”Don’t even mention it in your sleep.”

”Everyone get some rest tonight. We’re gathering at six tomorrow morning. The whole family is going for a run—run, run, run!”

...

’This is definitely not good news!’

Before bed, Xiao Gu suddenly ran over to electrify the top of their courtyard wall. The family pulled him aside to chat for a while before they all happily went to sleep.

8:30 PM.

Xie Ning was curled up on her bed. Sniffing her slightly sour-smelling clothes, she made a momentous decision.

’Tomorrow, I’m going to splurge and use a third of a bucket of purified water to give myself a quick wash. This smell is getting unbearable.’

The well water had become extremely murky now; it was useless for anything other than flushing toilets.

’If only Xiao Gu had a Water Ability User on his team, I could ask them for a few buckets...’

In the darkness of the room, Xie Ning drifted off to sleep, slumped against the headboard.

Meanwhile, the encroaching night gradually enveloped the empty fruit and vegetable supermarket.

Moonlight shone on several stiff corpses.

A light drizzle began to fall from the sky, pattering softly.

The bodies of the two burly men and Boss Pi lying outside the parking lot suddenly twitched their fingers in the raindrops.

On the first floor, one of Boss Pi’s henchmen, who had been shot in the head, lay on the ground with his mouth agape.

Wang Qingyao lay beside him, her body completely rigid, her eyes still wide open on her deathly pale face.

The metal wire around her neck had long since vanished, leaving only a few traces of blood on either side.

BZZZT! A strange sound of electric current emanated from within Wang Qingyao’s skull, accompanied by a cold, electronic voice.

”Host scan complete. Constitution: 0. Vitality: 0. Brain activity: 0. Host confirmed Zeroed, deceased. Initiating memory erasure mode.”

”Retracting Dimensional Space.”

”Retracting Beauty Potion.”

”Retracting item: firearm... Firearm model M1911-Custom Ver. 2, not detected in host’s vicinity. Firearm connection lost, connection lost, connection lost.”

”Main system transfer complete.”

”System rebooting.”

”Three.”

”Two.”

”One.”

”00008531, searching for next host.”

”Host target locked. Proceeding to target.”

The faint electronic voice emanated from Wang Qingyao’s skull as a finger-sized electronic spider broke out from deep beneath the woman’s scalp.

Glowing with a faint blue light, it waved its eight slender legs and SKITTERED toward the door.

”Environmental scan complete.”

”Continuing forward.”

”Target is 3.3 kilometers away. Estimated travel time: twenty minutes.”

SKITTER SKITTER SKITTER. The electronic spider crawled out the supermarket’s main entrance and charged into the increasingly heavy, ceaseless curtain of rain.

Flashes of lightning in the sky illuminated the area around the fruit and vegetable supermarket in a stark white.

Boss Pi and the two burly men slowly pushed themselves up from the ground, their necks lolling to the side, and let out a howl toward the brightly lit sky.

On several paths not far from the Song Family Pavilion, a number of zombies stood scattered about, wandering aimlessly.

At this moment, they were all standing in the rain, their heads tilted up dazedly, as if devoutly accepting a baptism by rainwater.

A rat’s head suddenly poked out of a hole, its small red eyes glinting.

SKITTER SKITTER SKITTER. The electronic spider crawled to the west gate of the Song Family Pavilion and slipped inside through a crack.

”Distance to target: 0.3 kilometers. Environment scan: no danger detected. Continuing forward.”

SKITTER SKITTER SKITTER! The electronic spider arrived outside the wall of Number 85, Song Family Pavilion.

”Abnormality detected, abnormality detected. Strong electrical current in courtyard wall.”

”Abnormality! Abnormality!”