Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Killing – The Door to Rebirth in the Apocalypse – Full Book Online

Killing

The military truck only came to a slow stop after completely shaking off the horde of zombies.

Third Brother, Gu Ning, and Luo Long climbed down from the roof of the truck one by one, returning to the cabin before the truck continued forward.

Everyone in the cabin rushed to greet them.

Except for Xiao Yunyun and a few others who looked a bit uneasy, the rest were filled with excitement and enthusiasm.

“Gu Ning, we owe you this time,” Third Brother said, not expressing too much gratitude, but his gaze at Gu Ning was much friendlier than before.

Gu Ning replied honestly, “No need to thank me. I was just saving myself.”

“Gu Ning, your hand!” Huang Mengyao suddenly exclaimed, rushing over to grab Gu Ning’s hand.

The bandage on Gu Ning’s injured right hand was completely soaked in blood. She had been naturally letting it hang by her side, so no one had noticed. But now, Huang Mengyao’s shout drew everyone’s attention.

“Are you okay?” Third Brother asked with concern.

Gu Ning shook her head, “I’m fine.” Then she turned to Huang Mengyao, “Could you help me rebandage it?”

Huang Mengyao quickly dragged Gu Ning’s backpack from the corner, found the medical supplies, and carefully removed the blood-soaked bandage. She cleaned the blood around the wound, and when the blood was cleared, the wound was revealed. Everyone around couldn’t help but gasp. The already deep wound on Gu Ning’s hand was now torn to shreds, with flesh hanging out, a truly horrifying sight.

Huang Mengyao’s hands trembled, and she couldn’t help but look up at Gu Ning. Meeting Gu Ning’s light-colored eyes, she suddenly calmed down, smiled at Gu Ning, and then skillfully applied medicine and bandaged the wound.

With a hand like that, it would be impossible to hold a knife for a while.

Third Brother thought, looking at Gu Ning, who was frowning deeply at her increasingly severe hand, seemingly worried.

Third Brother said, “Gu Ning, as long as you’re in the gathering place, I can guarantee your safety until your hand heals.”

Gu Ning was momentarily stunned, then replied gratefully, “Thank you, Third Brother.” However, the worry on her brow didn’t lessen. She wasn’t concerned about her own safety.

As if sensing her concern, Third Brother continued, “I know you’re worried about your parents’ safety. Our gathering place’s search and rescue team has hundreds of people. They go out every day to look for survivors. I’ll have them pay special attention to your parents’ whereabouts. I believe we’ll have news soon.”

Gu Ning could only say gratefully, “Thank you, Third Brother.” This was undoubtedly a reassurance for her. Compared to her aimless searching, the search and rescue team had a much higher chance of finding her parents.

Third Brother said lightly, “No need to thank me. If it weren’t for you today, none of us in this truck would have survived.”

“Yeah, Gu Ning, we owe you,” Luo Long chimed in.

Gu Ning felt a bit awkward. She hadn’t intended to save anyone; her only goal was to save herself.

After this harrowing experience, no one could sleep. Everyone sat in the cabin with their eyes wide open, waiting for the truck to stop.

About half an hour later, the truck finally came to a halt.

“Third Brother, we’re here!” Zhang Yang’s excited voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Everyone in the cabin perked up.

Outside, there was the noise of a bustling crowd.

Then came the sound of an iron gate opening, and the truck started moving again.

Third Brother couldn’t help but smile, saying to Gu Ning and the others, “We’re about to enter the gathering place. Once we’re here, we’re completely safe.”

A smile also appeared on Gu Ning’s face, but it froze just as it reached her lips. Her keen ears picked up voices outside the truck through the rear door.

She heard a familiar voice she had known for over twenty years, crying and pleading, “Please! Let us in! Please! I’ll kowtow to you!”

“Stop the truck!” Gu Ning suddenly stood up from her seat.

Third Brother looked at her strangely, “What’s wrong?”

Everyone in the cabin looked at her in confusion.

Gu Ning directly snatched the walkie-talkie from Third Brother’s hand and shouted into it, “Stop! Zhang Yang! Stop!”

The truck screeched to a halt.

Gu Ning unlocked the latch, pushed the door open, and jumped out, running towards the big iron gate!

“I’ll go check!” Jia Daozhang said, lifting his robe and jumping out after Gu Ning, shouting as he ran, “Gu Ning! Wait for me!”

“I’m coming too,” Huang Mengyao said, jumping out of the truck and following.

Then everyone in the cabin, along with Zhang Yang and Cheng Ming who had jumped out from the front, all ran towards the gate.

This survivor base was a school.

Lishui No. 2 High School, located in the suburbs, was notorious for its chaotic management before the apocalypse. The entire school had four classroom buildings and two dormitory buildings, surrounded by a three-meter-high wall to prevent students from climbing out to go online. After the apocalypse, this wall became a perfect defense against zombies.

Now, it served as an ideal gathering place for survivors.

The school gate was a sturdy, hollow iron gate with a small side door for students to pass through during normal times. The big iron gate only opened during holidays. Next to the small door was the guard room. At this moment, the iron gate was closed, only opening for the search and rescue team’s military trucks. Twelve people stood guard on either side of the gate.

Four men stood by the small door, responsible for receiving survivors not brought back by the search and rescue team.

Now, a long line of people suddenly erupted into a dispute.

A disheveled, middle-aged woman knelt on the ground, kowtowing to the guards, crying and pleading, “Please, let us in! His leg injury isn’t from a zombie bite, it’s been over half a month! Please! Have mercy on us! If this continues, he’ll die! Please! Even if we die, let us find our daughter first! Please! Show some compassion!” Her head banged loudly on the ground, quickly bruising her forehead, evoking pity.

Some in the crowd behind her showed sympathy, while others clearly grew impatient. Someone even shouted, “They said no injured people allowed! If you can’t get in, move aside and let those who can enter!”

Next to the middle-aged woman lay a man, clearly unconscious, with cracked lips and a rolled-up pant leg revealing a festering wound below the knee. A red-haired middle-aged woman stood beside her, trying to persuade the kowtowing woman. But the kowtowing woman seemed oblivious, continuing to bang her head on the ground.

One of the guards looked somewhat moved, while the other wore a disdainful and impatient expression, looking down at the woman, “Listen! These are our rules! Even if you kowtow to death here, no one will bury you! Go kowtow somewhere else! Don’t dirty my place!” With that, he kicked the woman hard in the shoulder!

The kick sent the kowtowing woman tumbling into the crowd. The crowd gasped and quickly scattered.

The woman groaned, helped up by the red-haired woman, and silently knelt down again, continuing to kowtow.

The crowd fell silent.

But the guard wasn’t done. As if insulted, his expression turned vicious, “Damn you! If you want to die, I’ll kick you to death right now!”

“Stop! Stop!” The red-haired woman rushed to intervene.

The guard pushed her away, shouting, “Get lost!”

“Enough, no need to go this far. We’re all human,” another guard stepped in to mediate.

“Is she your mother?! If not, get the hell out of my way!” The man pushed the guard aside and raised his foot to kick the kowtowing woman in the head!

Just as his foot was about to connect!

A gunshot rang out!

The man’s foot never reached the woman. He let out a blood-curdling scream, his body slamming into the wall, then clutching his leg, writhing in pain on the ground!

A bloody hole appeared above his knee, blood gushing out.

The crowd erupted in chaos!

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the gunshot.

A young girl in sportswear, with golden hair, was running towards them, holding a gun! She was the one who had fired!

The red-haired woman looked up and saw the golden-haired girl running towards them. She felt a sense of familiarity, then upon closer look, let out a shocked cry! She knelt down and shook the kowtowing woman, shouting, “Jiaodi! Stop kowtowing! Get up and look! It’s Gu Ning! It’s Gu Ning!”

The kowtowing woman suddenly stopped at the mention of Gu Ning’s name, raising her bloodied head in confusion, looking towards the direction. Then, her eyes widened in disbelief. Blood soaked her eyebrows, flowing into her eyes, turning her vision red. In this red haze, she saw Gu Ning running towards her!

She opened her cracked lips, her dry throat struggling to produce a voice, trembling with disbelief and joy, “Gu… Gu Ning…”

“Mom!”

Gu Ning hugged her bloodied mother, trembling all over, her voice choked with tears, “Mom!”

“Ningning… is it really you, Ningning? Am I dreaming?!” Gu Ning’s mother couldn’t believe her eyes, her right eye completely red from blood, looking terrifying, but she couldn’t bear to blink, greedily holding Gu Ning’s face, afraid that if she blinked, Gu Ning would disappear.

“It’s me. It’s me. Mom, it’s me. I came too late!” Gu Ning couldn’t hold back her sobs, tears streaming down her face.

Third Brother, Jia Daozhang, Cheng Ming, Huang Mengyao, and the others who had arrived couldn’t help but stop, watching Gu Ning, who usually killed zombies without blinking, who didn’t shed a tear even with such a severe hand injury, now crying like a child. The scene was deeply moving.

But for some reason, it only made everyone feel an overwhelming sadness.

“What are you all standing there for? Come and help!” Gu Ning shouted at the line of people standing there.

Huang Mengyao snapped out of it, pushed through the crowd, and rushed over with Gu Ning’s large backpack. She knelt down, pulling out medical supplies from the backpack. Cheng Ming, who had also run over, helped support the weak Gu Ning’s mother as Huang Mengyao began treating the wound on her forehead.

The others quickly checked on Gu Ning’s father, who was lying on the ground.

The onlookers, seeing so many people suddenly rushing out from the school, all seemingly connected to the kowtowing woman, couldn’t help but feel regret. If they had stepped in to help earlier, they might have been able to forge a connection with these people, who were clearly armed and likely part of the gathering place.

Gu Ning slowly stood up, her face still wet with tears, her eyes red but her gaze icy cold. She scanned the crowd, and those who met her eyes couldn’t help but feel a chill, quickly looking away. Finally, Gu Ning turned her gaze to the man writhing on the ground, her eyes filled with murderous intent, her voice cold, “You deserve to die!”

“Gu Ning!” Third Brother couldn’t help but shout, instinctively trying to stop her.

But Gu Ning’s icy gaze froze him in place.

“You can’t kill me! I’m Wang Jizhong’s nephew! If you kill me, he’ll kill your whole family!” the guard screamed in terror!

Gu Ning didn’t even blink. Her mind was replaying the scene of the man kicking her mother, her mother’s bloodied face. All she could think was that this man had to die.

Then, under the man’s terrified gaze, Gu Ning raised her knife, sneering, “Too bad, I don’t know Wang Jizhong.”

“Stop!!!” A loud shout came from a group of people rushing over, led by a middle-aged man in a black long-sleeved shirt.

The guard’s eyes lit up with hope! He shouted towards them, “Uncle! Save me! Save—ah!” His voice was cut off as he looked down in disbelief at the knife piercing his chest, then slowly looked up at Gu Ning’s expressionless face, his eyes filled with terror and despair—

Then, with a “shick!” sound.

The long knife was pulled from his chest.

Gu Ning, holding the blood-stained knife, turned to Third Brother, who was standing there stunned, and slowly cracked a smile, “Third Brother, I saved your life on the roof. Now it’s your turn to save me.”

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