Chapter 36

Chapter 36: The Emergence of Special Abilities

Gu Ning’s heart skipped a beat as she saw the black zombie dog lunging at her. Her hair stood on end, and she felt a chill run down her spine. This zombie dog was different from the massive one she had encountered before. It was the size of a regular stray dog, with a gaping hole in its belly, intestines spilling out, half hanging inside and half dragging on the ground, caked in dirt and forming a grotesque gray mass. Yet, it seemed completely unfazed, charging at her like a black lightning bolt from the darkness. If not for Gu Ning’s sharp senses and quick reflexes, she would have already been bitten.

Gu Ning had no time to think about what was happening at the school gate. She focused entirely on the zombie dog, which gave her no chance to grab the gun on her back. Fortunately, she still had a knife in her hand.

Before she could raise the knife, the zombie dog lunged at her again. It was incredibly fast, and in the confined space, its small size gave it an advantage. Unless she decapitated it or crushed its skull, attacking any other part of its body was useless. Gu Ning was forced into a desperate dance of evasion, barely managing to dodge its attacks without any opportunity to strike back.

Luckily, the room was cluttered with tables and chairs, and the dog, driven purely by instinct, had no intelligence to speak of. Gu Ning used the furniture as obstacles, creating a stalemate where neither could gain the upper hand.

If the zombie dog had any semblance of intelligence, it would have been infuriated by Gu Ning’s slippery evasions.

But Gu Ning had no patience for this. Her mind was preoccupied with the increasingly密集 gunfire and screams coming from the school gate. Her parents were still inside the school, and if the gate was breached, she didn’t dare think about what would happen.

Focusing her mind, Gu Ning watched as the zombie dog prepared to leap over the table toward her. Instead of dodging, she waited for the moment it jumped and then kicked the table with all her strength. The table slammed into the dog’s belly mid-air, sending it flying back. Gu Ning didn’t celebrate her success; she immediately followed up with another kick. The zombie dog let out a screech as it was sent crashing into the wall.

Gu Ning had used all her strength, and the table’s edge pinned the zombie dog against the wall. The dog struggled to free itself, but Gu Ning didn’t give it a chance. She jumped onto the table, using her weight to keep it in place, and without hesitation, she brought her knife down on the dog’s head, severing it from its body. She remembered Third Brother’s warning: even a gunshot to the head might not kill a zombie dog. So, she made sure to completely decapitate it.

The severed body fell to the ground, motionless, while the head rolled onto the table.

Gu Ning’s heart raced as she split the head open with her knife and began digging through the rotting brain matter. Finally, her knife hit something hard. She felt a surge of excitement as she pried out a small, pure white orb. Ignoring the filth, she wiped it clean on a rag and stuffed it into her pocket before grabbing her gun and running outside.

As soon as she stepped out, a female zombie lunged at her. With limited bullets, Gu Ning didn’t want to waste any. Instead, she used the butt of her gun to knock the zombie back, then quickly drew a small knife from her waist and stabbed it into the zombie’s face. This move, which she had practiced countless times, was executed with precision and strength. The zombie fell backward, lifeless.

Only then did Gu Ning have a moment to assess the situation. She quickly ducked back inside and closed the door, peeking through a crack to see what was happening outside.

The school gate was swarming with zombies. The front row was clawing at the iron gate, their hungry screeches filling the air as they desperately tried to force their way in. There were at least two to three hundred of them, and more were pouring in from the road outside. The smell of the dead zombie dog inside must have masked Gu Ning’s scent, as the zombies passing by just a few meters away didn’t notice her.

The gunfire continued, with rows of zombies being shot in the head and falling, only to be replaced by more. But what was truly terrifying were the dozens of agile zombies trying to climb the gate. The iron gate creaked under the weight of the horde, and the large lock hanging from it rattled ominously, threatening to give way at any moment.

Most of the gunfire was directed at the climbing zombies, but many of the shooters were inexperienced, often missing their targets or hitting non-lethal areas. Only the soldiers from Third Brother’s unit were consistently taking down the agile zombies with three shots or less.

Gu Ning also noticed the climbing zombies, their unnerving agility sending chills down her spine. She heard the constant gunfire, but it took several shots to bring down each climbing zombie. One even made it to the top before being shot down. Gu Ning’s heart pounded with fear. If the zombies broke through, the defenseless people inside, including her parents, would be in grave danger.

The only saving grace was the school’s high walls. Although some zombies tried to scale them, they failed.

The small restaurant had three floors, with the first floor being the eatery and the upper floors serving as residential spaces. Without hesitation, Gu Ning slung her gun over her shoulder and ran to the back door, finding the stairs and heading up.

Agile zombies were climbing the gate, covering it in a horrifying mass. Some even reached higher points before being shot down. Others were ramming a smaller side gate, which wasn’t sturdy enough to withstand many impacts. White Wolf had a dozen people blocking the gate with their bodies, his face grim as he glared at the group responsible for leading the zombies here.

The group of over a dozen people who had traded supplies for a place in the dormitory the previous night had rushed into the gathering place half an hour ago. Within ten minutes, the zombies had surrounded the school gate.

Now, they were surrounded by White Wolf’s men.

Yin Sang and the bespectacled man in a white shirt stood together, her beautiful eyes shooting daggers at the group. If looks could kill, they would have been shredded to pieces.

“If only Gu Ning and Third Brother were here,” Cheng Ming muttered, frowning at the endless horde of zombies at the gate.

Cheng Ming and Jia Daozhang had come out to assess the situation, while Xie Yuhong and Huang Mengyao stayed in the dormitory to look after Gu Ning’s parents.

Most people remained inside the buildings, listening to the gunfire and anxiously waiting—either for victory or for the zombies to break in.

A few, however, ventured out to see what was happening.

Gu Ning quickly reached the rooftop, about three hundred meters from the gate. She found a good vantage point, aimed her rifle at the climbing zombies, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet pierced through a zombie’s skull.

Gu Ning’s shot, though loud, was drowned out by the密集 gunfire. Even the sharp-eared zombies didn’t notice, continuing to surge toward the gate.

Gu Ning aimed again.

She fired every five seconds on average.

Out of ten bullets, at least eight found their mark.

The shooters inside the gate were puzzled by the sudden increase in their accuracy. Zombies kept falling from the gate, crashing into the horde below. But the zombies seemed endless, with more replacing those that fell.

However, the sudden clearing of zombies from the gate caught some people’s attention.

The man in the white shirt noticed a zombie falling backward without a bullet hole in its face, indicating the shot had come from behind.

His sharp eyes quickly locked onto the rooftop of the building across the street. “Someone’s on the rooftop over there,” he said calmly.

Yin Sang, standing beside him, followed his gaze and saw the figure with a rifle. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Is that her?!”

Gu Ning’s golden hair was hard to miss.

Unaware that she had been spotted, Gu Ning continued to focus on her targets, firing shot after shot, each bullet finding its mark.

More and more people noticed her.

“Jia Daozhang! Look! Gu Ning’s over there!” Cheng Ming exclaimed, pointing at the rooftop.

Jia Daozhang squinted and saw the flash of golden hair, confirming it was Gu Ning.

In this gathering place, Gu Ning’s name wasn’t well-known, but her distinctive golden hair made her easily recognizable.

A wave of惊呼 spread through the crowd.

White Wolf glanced at the rooftop, shot down a zombie, and then turned to Pei Jing, the leader of the group that had brought the zombies. “I’ll send you to your grave the moment this gate is breached,” he said coldly.

Yan Yu, standing beside Pei Jing, couldn’t contain her anger any longer. “Then you can die first!” she shouted, thrusting her hand forward.

Pei Jing tried to stop her, but it was too late. “Yan Yu!” he cried.

As Yan Yu pushed her hand forward, a fireball the size of a soccer ball materialized in front of her, flames roaring. The air around them grew hotter, and the sudden appearance of the fireball shocked everyone. With a flick of her wrist, Yan Yu sent the fireball hurtling toward White Wolf.

Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the fireball as it flew toward White Wolf, and a collective gasp rose from the crowd.

Gu Ning, watching from the rooftop, was equally stunned. She even forgot to fire her rifle as she watched the fireball streak through the air.

The fireball moved incredibly fast, closing the distance in an instant.

“White Wolf! Watch out!” Yin Sang and the man in the white shirt shouted simultaneously.

Even Gu Ning felt a pang of紧张.

White Wolf, however, remained calm. He raised his rifle and fired several shots at the fireball. The bullets shattered the fireball into pieces, which fell to the ground.

White Wolf stepped on the smoldering remains and aimed his rifle at Yan Yu, a cold smile on his lips. “Sorry, but you’ll be the first to die.”

Countless guns turned toward Yan Yu and her group. The once-confident group now looked nervous, except for the soldiers from Third Brother’s unit, who continued to shoot at the zombies outside.

The situation had taken a drastic turn.

Yan Yu trembled under the weight of so many guns pointed at her. She hadn’t expected her fireball to be shot down. With so many guns trained on her, she didn’t dare summon another.

“Wait! Don’t shoot!” Pei Jing suddenly spoke up, raising his hands in surrender to avoid being shot immediately.

He looked at White Wolf and said, “If you spare her, I’ll tell you the secret of the fireball.”

“Interesting offer,” White Wolf said, though he didn’t lower his gun. “But let’s deal with the pests first.” He was about to pull the trigger when the man in the white shirt stopped him.

“White Wolf,” he said, pushing his glasses up. “Keep her alive. She can help deal with the zombies outside.”

White Wolf glanced at the horde outside and narrowed his eyes.

Pei Jing quickly added, “We’ll take care of the zombies. And I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

White Wolf finally smiled, satisfied. He turned to the soldiers still firing at the zombies. “You heard him. Let them handle the zombies. Save your bullets for Third Brother.”

The soldiers hesitated but stopped shooting.

Gu Ning, though sharp-eared, couldn’t hear the conversation from her rooftop. She noticed the gunfire had stopped and was puzzled until she saw Yan Yu reluctantly step forward to the gate. With a wave of her hand, two fireballs appeared, hovering above her palms.

Yan Yu flung the fireballs over the gate, and they exploded among the zombies, setting their clothes ablaze.

She continued to throw fireballs, about twenty in total, each hitting a different part of the horde. By the end, she looked pale and exhausted, unable to summon any more.

But twenty fireballs were enough.

In less than three minutes, the fire spread rapidly, engulfing the zombies. The stench of burning flesh filled the air as flames shot skyward, mingling with the zombies’ agonized screams.

Gu Ning lowered her rifle, watching the zombies writhe in the flames and the thick smoke rising into the sky. She wasn’t sure how to feel.