Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”You’re hurt?” Xie Ning drew close to the man, leaning in to sniff all over him.

Watching his girlfriend sniffing around the crook of his neck and his chest, Gu Chen had a hard time controlling his wildly beating heart. Even the tips of his ears secretly turned red.

”Xie... Xie Ning!” Li Dawei, completely missing the mood, howled. ”Watch your conduct!”

Before his big mouth could finish howling, his sister, who was standing beside him, slapped him on the back of the head and shut him up.

Gu Chen quickly reached out to pull away his girlfriend’s restless little hands. ”I-It’s fine. It’s just a small wound.”

With one hand, Xie Ning yanked open his black overcoat, revealing his abdomen wrapped in a layer of bandages.

The bandages were stained with specks of red, an extremely jarring sight.

She narrowed her eyes. ”A small wound?”

For some reason, Gu Chen started to stammer. ”Yeah, it’s just that the Healers are... are really busy. It’s only a flesh wound, so, so... I’ll go find a Healing Ability User to treat it right away.”

He didn’t even know why he felt so guilty. He just panicked for no reason when he met his girlfriend’s dangerous glare.

”Boyfriend, who managed to hurt you?”

”It was a Fifth Rank... possibly even a Sixth Rank Mutated Ice Zombie. I was just careless and got hit by a sharp piece of ice. It’s not a big... deal.” Gu Chen’s voice trailed off, growing quieter and quieter under his girlfriend’s stare.

”Where is it?”

Gu Chen quickly held her hand down. ”I came to get you so we could see how to deal with this thing.”

Lu Wei silently took half a step aside, blocking Li Dawei and the others. ”What are you going over there for?”

Just then, a Power-type Superpower Team leader ran up and grabbed Li Dawei’s arm. ”What are you still standing around for? Go, go, go! All Power-type Superpower Users, with me.”

Xie Ning crunched through a thin layer of snow, following Gu Chen toward the top of the city wall.

”We discovered that the Mutated Ice Zombie has been staying within a specific area of activity.”

”It seems to be systematically organizing the zombie horde to attack the western wall first.”

The two of them moved through the crowd like the wind, heading straight up the stairs.

Zhuang Xinyi, who had brought over a small stool and was sitting by Zha Peng’s leg, suddenly saw Xie Ning walk past and hurriedly stood up.

”What’s wrong, Xinyi?”

”I... I saw Xie Ning walk by.”

Zha Peng followed her gaze and saw only the backs of Xie Ning, Gu Chen, and their group.

Zheng Feina ran over, covered in sweat. ”They’re saying over there that the Wood Element Superpower Users should fall back for now. We need to prepare some fruits and vegetables to supply everyone later.”

”You...” Zheng Feina frowned at Zhuang Xinyi. ”Weren’t you told to stay home? Why did you come here again?”

Seeing Zheng Feina’s disdainful expression, Zhuang Xinyi immediately pouted, looking wronged. ”I... I was scared all by myself in the small apartment...”

”Aren’t Xu Ling and Zhao Yanran staying at home? How are you all by yourself?”

”Hey, Feina, Feina.” Zha Peng stepped forward and pulled her back. ”Stop it. You should get going. I’ll watch her here; nothing will happen.”

”You just spoil her.” Zheng Feina glared at him irritably, then turned, gave a nod to Zheng Heng and the others, and ran off.

Zhuang Xinyi bit her lip, on the verge of tears. ”Feina despises me more and more now. Just because I haven’t awakened a superpower, she can’t stand the sight of me anymore.”

Zha Peng could only try to gently soothe the fragile little princess. ”It’s okay. Feina’s just blunt. She was worried you might get accidentally hurt up here on the wall.”

”I can protect myself,” Zhuang Xinyi muttered, still biting her lip.

”Zha Peng, the Earth Ability Users reshaping the wall are short-handed. Go over and help them for a bit.”

Zhuang Xinyi quickly picked up her small stool and got up, following Zha Peng like a shadow, not daring to leave his side for even a second.

Several Superpower Users running back and forth nearly collided with her head-on.

A Power-type Female Superpower User cursed impolitely, ”What’s an ordinary person doing up here? Just causing trouble! Get down from here and go help in the kitchen.”

”You want me to go to the kitchen?” Zhuang Xinyi’s hands, gripping the small stool, twisted together tightly.

The female Superpower User glared, her eyes raking up and down.

Zhuang Xinyi was wearing a snow-white down jacket, washed spotlessly clean. The tiered skirt she wore underneath had been worn for over a year and was starting to fray from so much washing.

It was the only presentable outfit the little princess had, and she wore it all day, every day.

Although the collar was slightly yellowed, the little princess with her delicate makeup still looked very beautiful and perfect compared to the brawny Power-type Female Superpower Users in front of her.

The female Superpower User’s gaze scanned her rudely, a sneer forming at the corner of her lips. ”Who do you think you are? Getting in the way here all day. What’s wrong with being told to help in the kitchen? Everyone’s working their butts off right now. You think you’re special or something?”

”I...” Zhuang Xinyi’s tears began to fall, PITTER-PATTER.

Zha Peng quickly stepped forward, pulling her behind him. He cursed at the brawny-faced female Superpower Users, ”What are you doing? Whether someone from our team works or not is none of your business! You’re really overstepping your bounds.”

”Oh, so she’s got a man to protect her.” The women looked Zha Peng and Zhuang Xinyi up and down with suggestive gazes.

One of the female Superpower Users stepped forward and bumped Zha Peng with her shoulder. ”Then you’d better keep a good eye on her and stop blocking the way. We’re all busy here. What’s she doing? Brought a little stool to watch the scenery from the top of the wall?”

”You!”

”You what? Moron.” The woman rolled her eyes, scoffed, and said, ”Get lost. You’re an eyesore.”

Zhuang Xinyi burst out crying with a ”WAAAH!”, shrinking behind Zha Peng and trembling uncontrollably. It seemed the female Superpower Users had given her quite a scare.

Zha Peng, furious, was about to go confront the women when He Zhi rushed over and stopped him. ”Xinyi, we’re quite busy here. Why don’t you go home for now? Zha Peng, the situation is urgent. Let’s follow orders for now. We can deal with everything else after the zombie tide recedes.”

As she spoke, Li Xiang came running over, shouting frantically, ”Where’s Xie Ning? Where is Xie Ning? Have you seen her?”

He Zhi froze for a moment, then pointed toward the stone stairs. ”I just saw them heading that way...”

”Xie Ning! This is bad!” Li Xiang took off running toward the stairs, waving his arms and yelling, ”Xie Ning, Xie Ning!”

Xie Ning was standing at the highest point on the western side of the city wall, carefully observing the Mutated Ice Zombie below.

This zombie had truly become intelligent, directing a huge pile of regular zombies to push it forward.

Amidst the tide of bodies, hundreds of zombies piled on top of each other, hoisting the Ice Element zombie forward.

Just as she was contemplating a strategy, Li Xiang’s familiar voice reached her ears. ”Xie Ning, oh, Xie Ning...”

He came fleeing toward her, wailing her name like a tormented spirit.