Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Just as Xie Ning predicted, the virus erupted inside Ma Xiaotian’s body in under half an hour, turning her completely into a zombie.

Martin couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

His daughter had been perfectly fine half an hour ago, but now she was a mindless zombie. It was a difficult reality for him to accept.

When Ma Xiaotian went berserk, she bit three more men. Now, she was bound to a table with thick ropes, struggling desperately.

Tears streamed down Martin’s face, his bloodshot eyes filled with hatred. ”Where is Miss Huang?”

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

’That damn Miss Huang will die with my precious daughter!’

”Miss Huang... I think she’s still wandering around the villa district. Said she wouldn’t be back for dinner,” a club member stammered. When he saw his boss’s murderous glare, he quickly added, ”Miss Huang must think the air outside is better than it is in here.”

”Th-that’s why she’s always... she came back really late yesterday, too.”

”Miss Huang must take full responsibility for my daughter’s death!” Martin said coldly. ”She deserves to die.”

”Boss, so we’re not taking her to Chaoyang Base to trade for supplies anymore?”

”Xiaotian wasn’t even bitten by a zombie, so how on earth did she get infected?”

”Does finding out why even matter now?” Martin roared in agony. ”My daughter is already like this! Nothing else matters! Nothing!”

He turned to look at Ma Xiaotian, still bound by ropes, still thrashing and roaring.

Her face was no longer recognizable as human. It was a ghastly, bluish-pale visage, marred by the creeping traces of the virus.

The virus was rampaging through her body, destroying every inch of her skin and organs, accelerating the decay of her flesh.

Martin stared at his daughter, covering his face as he let out an anguished cry. ”Xiaotian!”

Xie Ning and Beichen spent the night clearing out the villa district.

The villas were far more infested with zombies than the apartment buildings she had cleared out before.

Fortunately, these First Rank and Second Order zombies were basically walking Crystal Cores to her, so she was quite happy with her haul.

”Are we going back today?”

’Honestly, finding any villa to crash in for the night would be much better than returning to that dark, damp underground club.’

”Then let’s not go back,” Xie Ning agreed with a nod. ”Martin and his crew will definitely take all their anger out on us. We’ll let them cool off for a night.”

Beichen scoffed. ”And if they still haven’t calmed down by tomorrow?”

”They haven’t calmed down?” Xie Ning found a random bedroom and went inside, planning to make a bed on the floor to crash for a night or two.

”Then we won’t go back tomorrow either. We’ll wait until they’ve calmed down.”

For some reason, Beichen felt the urge to laugh.

’This girl is really something else...’

And so, Xie Ning led Beichen in a game of hide-and-seek with Martin’s group. For the next two days, they happily cleared out the villa district. Thanks to her spiritual power, she was always able to avoid an early run-in with Martin and the others.

It wasn’t until the morning of the third day that the two of them casually returned to the underground club.

The moment they walked into the club, a crowd swarmed them, trapping them in the center.

Everyone glared at them with hostility, as if afraid they’d vanish into thin air again.

Martin and Ms. Hao pushed through the crowd to stand before Xie Ning and Beichen.

There was no longer any trace of grief on the burly man’s face.

Seeing Xie Ning, he somehow managed to suppress his anger, even offering her his signature, deceptively charming smile.

”Miss Huang, Mr. Zhong, where have you two been these past couple of days?”

”We’ve just been wandering around the villa district.”

”Wandering for two days and two nights? Why don’t you tell us, Miss Huang, what’s so interesting out there that you had to wander for so long?” Martin remained silent, but Ms. Hao’s sharp gaze locked onto Xie Ning.

Because her vision was extraordinary, she could often see things others couldn’t.

Ms. Hao’s intuition screamed that the young woman before her was extremely odd.

’Extremely odd!’

She had been searching for any trace of them for two straight days and nights, yet had found absolutely nothing.

And yet, they hadn’t run away. They had actually come back.

’These two feel so strange. It’s like they’re ethereal and fleeting, completely impossible to pin down.’

For a moment, Xie Ning grew nervous, subconsciously reaching out to touch her backpack.

This small gesture immediately drew everyone’s attention.

All eyes fell on her bulging bag.

Then they looked at Beichen and saw that the taciturn man’s backpack was also stuffed full. It was obvious they had scavenged some things.

”You went inside the villas?” Martin’s gaze bored into Xie Ning.

Xie Ning lowered her head, looking slightly embarrassed. ”Sorry. The beds in the villas were just so comfortable, I ended up oversleeping.”

”Which house did you go to?” Ms. Hao stepped forward, her expression eager, looking like she wanted to grab Xie Ning by the collar. ”Was there anything inside?”

”Th-the one at the southernmost end.” Xie Ning seemed startled by the old woman, clutching her bag and taking a step back. ”The lock was already broken when I got there; the door just pushed right open. I figured you all would find it eventually, and I could tell you about it then...”

At this, Xie Ning gave Martin and the others a strange look. They all looked like they were constipated. ”But I waited and waited, and you never showed up.”

”W-we didn’t take everything. There’s still more...” Before she could finish, Martin was already leading his people in a frantic rush out the door.

About an hour later, the group returned to the underground club, their faces beaming with joy.

Ms. Hao was still scrutinizing Xie Ning and Beichen. After a long moment, she sighed. ”We’ve spent the last two days trying to break into houses in the villa district ourselves.”

”Unfortunately, we tried several houses and didn’t find a single thing...” At this, her eyes, filled with suspicion, landed on Xie Ning and Beichen again.

It was just too much of a coincidence.

’We were searching for supplies in the villa district, and so were Miss Huang and her companion.’

’We found nothing, yet Miss Huang just happened to push open an unlocked door?’

’Could there really be such a coincidence in the world?’

”Miss Huang is a Gold Ability User, so I wonder... what about Mr. Zhong here?” Once a seed of doubt is planted, it’s impossible to stop it from growing.

Martin and the others all turned to look at Beichen, a smirk playing on their lips.

”Mr. Zhong isn’t a Space Ability User, by any chance?”

Xie Ning’s face instantly flushed red as she glared at Martin and his group. ”You! How dare you suspect us? If Zhong were a Space Ability User, why wouldn’t we have just taken everything?”

Gong Pingfan sneered. ”Space Ability Users have different Ranks, and their Spaces have different sizes. Maybe it wasn’t that you didn’t want to take it all, but that you just couldn’t fit any more?”

Xie Ning was so furious she looked like she might faint. She clutched her chest, her face contorting with rage.

After a long moment, she choked out, ”Fine, think whatever you want! I thought we were going to be traveling together, that we should naturally share anything good we found. I can’t believe it! Is this really what you think of us?”

”I try to do something nice, and this is the thanks I get! If I’d known you’d be like this, I never would have told you!”

”Miss Huang, Miss Huang, please don’t be so angry.” Martin jumped in again, playing the peacemaker with a smile. ”I’m sorry, Miss Huang. It’s just that everyone’s luck has been terrible these past few days, so we’re all a little on edge.”