Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Setting Off Alone – The Door to Rebirth in the Apocalypse

Setting Off Alone

“Gu Ning, what are you doing?” As soon as Method returned to the car, he saw Gu Ning dumping all the supplies from her backpack onto the seat, piling them up into a small mountain. The backpack didn’t look particularly large, but its capacity was astonishing.

She casually picked out some food, left the medicine Zhuang Chen needed, and packed everything else back in. Then she turned to Method and Zhuang Chen and said, “I’m going back the way we came. These supplies are for you.”

“What do you mean? Are you planning to go alone?” Method asked in surprise.

Zhuang Chen leaned against the car with her arms crossed, saying nothing.

“Yes,” Gu Ning nodded.

Method said, “I promised to help you find your parents.”

“I don’t know how long it will take—maybe a month, two months? I’ll keep looking until I find them. If you were alone, I’d be happy to have you stay with me, but you have parents waiting for you at home.” Gu Ning turned to Zhuang Chen and said, “Method is trustworthy, which means he’ll never stab you in the back. The journey to the capital is long, and having a trustworthy companion is important.”

Zhuang Chen glanced at Method, nodded, and then said, “I promised you three days, and today is only the first day. I’ll wait for you at Times City in Nanning for two more days. If you don’t show up by then, we won’t wait any longer.”

Gu Ning smiled and said, “Thank you.”

“You said it yourself—a trustworthy companion is important. And compared to this cop, I think you’re more trustworthy,” Zhuang Chen shrugged.

Method stood to the side, speechless.

Gu Ning said sincerely, “I hope we can travel together again someday.”

Zhuang Chen nodded and said, “Have a safe journey.” Although she had spent less than a day with Gu Ning and exchanged fewer than a hundred words, she somehow instinctively felt that Gu Ning was someone she could trust.

“Be careful and stay safe,” Method said. Although he wanted to go with Gu Ning, she was right—he had parents waiting for him at home.

Gu Ning slung her backpack over her shoulders, picked up her knife, waved at them, and strode off in the direction they had come from. Her pace was fast, and she soon disappeared into the thick darkness.

Zhuang Chen and Method watched Gu Ning walk into the darkness until she was out of sight, then returned to the car. They looked at the considerable pile of supplies and sat in silence.

Gu Ning walked quickly. Although she had been jostled in the car all day, she didn’t feel tired—just hungry. Even though she had eaten a big bowl of noodles less than half an hour ago, she tore open a bag of bread and ate while walking. She ate four pieces before feeling somewhat full.

But Gu Ning vaguely felt a craving for meat, which worried her. If this was a side effect of being bitten by a zombie, would she eventually become like them, attacking living creatures?

Just the thought of it sent a chill down her spine.

But there was no solution, and Gu Ning had no choice but to push the terrifying thought aside and focus on the immediate problem.

They said her parents had gone looking for her, so they must have retraced their steps. With her father’s injured foot, they would have been delayed. The journey wasn’t safe, and Gu Ning couldn’t imagine how her mother could manage with her injured father. They must have set out with the intention of dying together with her… Gu Ning didn’t dare think further. She took a deep breath and quickened her pace.

At 6:30 in the morning, a sliver of light appeared on the horizon. Even in the apocalypse, the sun still rose in the east as usual.

In peaceful times, most people would still be asleep at this hour.

But this was the apocalypse. Screams, one after another, shattered the morning’s tranquility.

“Run, run, run! They’re catching up!” Amid the screams, a disorganized crowd of people ran desperately in the cold morning air. Behind them were hundreds of zombies, and what was even more terrifying was that about a dozen of them were running—not walking, but running! The running zombies were slightly slower than humans, but the horrifying part was that they never tired. Nothing could be more terrifying!

The hundreds of fleeing people outnumbered the zombies, but no one stopped to fight. Everyone ran for their lives, driven by a single thought: run, run, run! As long as they reached safety, they would be safe! Occasionally, someone lagging behind was caught and pounced on by zombies. Several zombies would stop to feed, emitting increasingly shrill screams that carried far on the night wind, sending shivers down everyone’s spines.

“Ah!!!! Cheng Ming! Save me!” A sharp female voice rang out from the back of the crowd. Hearing his name, Cheng Ming instinctively turned and saw Huang Mengyao being grabbed by a short zombie. It had seized her long, smooth, beautiful hair, and she couldn’t break free, struggling desperately to keep the zombie from biting her. People ran past her, but no one stopped to help.

Cheng Ming hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and turned to go back and save her. But after only a few steps, he was yanked back by someone running beside him. Jia Daozhang hissed, “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Going back now means dying with her!”

“Cheng Ming!!!! Help me!!!!” Huang Mengyao’s screams continued, drawing more zombies toward her. She looked over, seeing Cheng Ming being held back by Jia Daozhang. Realizing Cheng Ming wouldn’t come to her rescue, her tear-filled eyes showed not only deep fear but also utter despair.

By now, even if Cheng Ming went back, it would be too late.

Just as Huang Mengyao’s strength was about to give out and the zombie’s mouth was about to sink into her flesh, suddenly! The zombie, which had opened its mouth wide for a feast, let out a shrill howl! Its entire body was flung backward by a tremendous force from a rod that had seemingly fallen from the sky, piercing its chest!

Huang Mengyao, still dazed and unsure what had happened, was pulled to her feet by a strong hand. A cold voice sounded in her ear: “If you don’t want to die, kill them.”

She instinctively gripped the knife that had been thrust into her hand and turned sharply. In the morning light, she saw a slender, golden-haired girl holding a knife. The girl casually decapitated the zombie that had been impaled by the rod but was still trying to get up. Then, without hesitation, she charged toward the zombies closing in.

For some reason, watching that slender figure charge at the terrifying zombies, Huang Mengyao felt a surge of inexplicable courage. That courage drove her to raise the knife in her hand, close her eyes, and swing it down at the head of the nearest zombie.

Thud—a sickening sound.

Foul-smelling fluid sprayed out. Huang Mengyao trembled as she opened her eyes and saw the zombie in front of her, its face half-rotted, now with half its head cleaved off. The zombie’s grayish-blue eyes, devoid of any human light, seemed to show a flicker of surprise. With a thud, the zombie fell backward, hitting the ground heavily and moving no more.

Cheng Ming, who had been rushing forward, came to an abrupt halt two meters away from Huang Mengyao, staring in shock at the zombie whose head had been split in half.

Huang Mengyao stood stiffly, holding the knife and staring at the zombie she had killed. Her expression was blank, as if she hadn’t yet processed what she had done.

Until a harsh voice barked beside her: “Run! Do you want to die?!”

She snapped out of her daze, instinctively gripping the knife and following the golden-haired girl ahead.

“Quick, quick, quick! Run this way!” Jia Daozhang was frantically waving at them from about a hundred meters ahead.

The stragglers all ran toward him.

Ahead was a row of single-story houses, a narrow path that could only fit three people side by side, and an iron gate blocking the way.

“Gu Ning?!” Jia Daozhang’s jaw nearly dropped when he saw Gu Ning. “Where did you pop out from?!”

As the last person rushed in, Jia Daozhang quickly locked the gate. Within seconds, a running zombie slammed into the iron bars.

Jia Daozhang stumbled back, nearly falling, and hurriedly urged the others, “Run, run, run!”

But Gu Ning suddenly turned back. To everyone’s astonishment, she thrust her knife into the face of the zombie that was relentlessly bashing against the gate, piercing its skull without a second thought. She dealt with several more zombies in the same manner.

The looks of shock on the others’ faces turned to awe, especially Cheng Ming’s.

Gu Ning pulled the knife from the zombie’s head, and the corpse fell backward. She didn’t even glance at it before turning and walking away.

“Killing one more zombie now means one less threat later,” Gu Ning said succinctly, then led the way down the narrow path.

The others exchanged glances, each with mixed feelings, but they all followed.

Jia Daozhang had seen Gu Ning kill zombies before, but it had been at night, and he hadn’t seen clearly how she did it. This time, he saw it clearly, and his gaze at her back became inscrutable.

Cheng Ming, on the other hand, was the most shocked. In his mind, Gu Ning had always been a gentle, well-mannered girl. He remembered her smiling warmly when he first met her at the train station. It was hard for him to reconcile that image with the sharp, determined figure now walking ahead of him.

Huang Mengyao also watched Gu Ning’s back with mixed emotions.

The others, who had been with Cheng Ming earlier, silently followed Gu Ning.

While they were caught up in their complex thoughts, Gu Ning was feeling a bit annoyed.

She had traveled all night without finding any trace of her parents. At dawn, she had accidentally run into a horde of zombies and been chased by dozens of them. She had managed to outrun them thanks to her speed, only to run into this group.

She hadn’t even seen Huang Mengyao’s face when she saved her.

Saving someone wasn’t out of altruism. Gu Ning believed that in this world, saving one more person or killing one more zombie meant a bit more safety in the future.

As long as she could ensure her own safety, Gu Ning wasn’t “stingy.”

But after experiencing betrayal, Gu Ning was no longer as kind-hearted. She had shed her approachable, benevolent demeanor, becoming cold and distant.

She only hoped that one day, all the zombies would be killed, and the world would return to normal.

It was a form of psychological comfort, but only by holding onto that hope could she find the courage to keep living in this world.

The narrow path led to a courtyard with a three-story building. In the courtyard were two rows of cement flower beds, planted with flowers and two osmanthus trees. It was the season for osmanthus blossoms, and the trees were covered in tiny golden flowers. The fragrance was so strong that it filled the entire courtyard, masking the stench of decay.

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