Crouching low, I slipped through the entrance of the mall.
This mall had only one main entrance—I'd been here many times before.
If we didn't want to go on a killing spree every time we came back, we had to clear out the entire place today.
As long as we closed the door on our way out, it'd be fine.
After all, those walkers couldn't open doors.
There were two of them at the entrance.
Suo Tian moved quickly through their blind spot.
I stepped out on the other side to draw their attention.
They were two young women, or at least they used to be—but now, they looked downright hideous.
Suo Tian struck fast.
In just an instant, the two grotesque heads rolled to the ground.
Farther in was a large discount and promotion section.
The sightlines were clear, which also meant the few wandering walkers quickly spotted Suo Tian and me.
There's a kind of heroic spirit in every human heart—one that's long suppressed during times of peace.
But once given the chance, that sense of heroism transforms into strength and courage, surging through the nerves like a current.
I was influenced by Suo Tian's swift and decisive skills.
Subconsciously, I began to believe that the walkers were easy to handle, that I too could take them down effortlessly.
They staggered toward us, mouths torn and tattered, growling as if to tell us how hungry they were.
But we had no intention of feeding them with ourselves.
With the promotional display stand as the center, Suo Tian and I each approached from one side.
That surge of heroic spirit instantly boosted my confidence.
Gripping the knife tightly, I lunged forward and stabbed with all my might…
The blade fell, brains splattered—the walker instantly fell silent and collapsed to the floor.
Compared to Suo Tian's long blade, the short dagger in my hand felt unwieldy and cumbersome.
And every strike required me to get in dangerously close, making it a very risky endeavor.
I made a mental note to find a more suitable blade at the first opportunity.
Past the promotional area was a whole row of snack shelves.
Scattered around the mall were plenty of shopping carts, so I no longer had to carry everything in plastic bags.
With Suo Tian covering me, I loaded up the cart as much as I could with essentials like cookies, beef jerky, milk, and bottled water.
Things like toilet paper might not be absolute necessities, but at the moment, we definitely couldn't go without them.
Before long, I had filled ten whole carts.
Including the rice and flour, I estimated—conservatively—that this stash could feed the four of us for several months.
It took several trips back and forth to get everything loaded into the car.
Then I suddenly thought of Rongrong... there were no clothes at home that she could wear.
That pink top she was wearing had been stained with quite a bit of blood.
It had to be replaced.
"The children's clothing section is on the second floor. We need to get some clothes for Rongrong."
Suo Tian frowned and scanned the area before shaking his head.
"No, it's too risky. If there are more walkers upstairs and we take them down, how much strength will you have left afterward?"
"It's fine. Lend me your blade—I'll go up and take a look. The weather's going to get colder, and there aren't any clothes at home for her. Who knows if those clothes will still be there next time we come? Someone else might get to them first. There were only a few walkers on the first floor, so there can't be many upstairs either."
Suo Tian seemed to think my reasoning made sense. "Alright, let's go. I'll go with you."
The children's clothing store was the third one to the left from the entrance to the second floor.
Suo Tian led the way as always, and I scanned our surroundings to make sure it was safe before heading straight for the store.
A sound came from the fitting room in the corner.
Suo Tian held his hand down, signaling me to keep my steps quiet.
He moved sideways to the front of the fitting room, his back against the wall, and used his long blade to nudge the door open.
His movements were incredibly gentle, and the fitting room door slowly creaked open...
Inside stood a small walker, covered in blood.
Tiny, with a rotting face, it had been motionless in the fitting room, but as soon as it saw me, it bared its teeth and lunged forward.
Caught off guard, I stumbled, nearly tripping over some discarded clothes on the floor.
Suo Tian swung his blade.
The small walker's head was cleanly severed from its body, and once again, my clothes were splattered with a disgusting mix of brain matter and blood.
The stench nearly made me gag.
Steadying myself, I stared at the little head on the floor, feeling a wave of unease.
My hands started trembling again, involuntarily.
I'd almost ended up in that little monster's mouth.
I quickly grabbed a few sets of clothes, then rushed next door to the men's section and stuffed in whatever I could find without thinking too much.
Not daring to linger, we made our way back to the car.
Before leaving, I shut the mall's glass doors behind me.
Hopefully, this cleared-out mall can sustain us—and the other survivors—for a while.
On the way back, I noticed that there were almost twice as many walkers on the road compared to before.
It seemed that the closer we got to home, the more walkers there were.
That was not a good sign.
Suo Tian slowed the car down—the number of walkers ahead could only be described as dense.
A thick crowd of them stood ahead, packed tightly together.
"How did this happen?" Just an hour ago, there had only been a handful here.
Suo Tian looked ahead a few times, eyes narrowing. "Someone's trapped!"
His words startled me, and I looked toward the area with the highest concentration of walkers.
Vaguely, I could make out what seemed to be a car in the middle.
There really was someone inside!
No wonder the walkers were all swarming toward that spot.
"We have to save them."
I was getting anxious, nearly pressing my entire body against the windshield, trying to get a clearer view of the car surrounded by walkers.
"No!" Suo Tian suddenly gasped sharply.
Then he quickly turned the steering wheel, making a sharp turn and speeding off in the opposite direction.
"What are you doing?!" I asked, rubbing my head from where I'd hit it.
"The people in that car didn't steal from anyone! If we don't help them, they're as good as dead!"
"If we don't get out of here right now, we'll be dead in less than five minutes too!"
"No! I have to save them. They're not like the people holed up in that building—they're already trapped with no way out."
Suo Tian turned and glared at me. "How? You're going to save them? With that many walkers, how many can you kill? One? Ten? Fifty?"
I was a little stunned.
Right… With so many walkers, how was I supposed to save them?
Watching the swarm of walkers shrink into a black dot in the rearview mirror,
a strong sense of helplessness welled up inside me.
There were two living people in that car right now.
They were isolated and helpless, and we were just going to leave them to die.
What if… what if we were the ones surrounded right now?
I bit my lip hard, then let go and said,
"Suo Tian! We have to save them.
Even if this really is the end of the world, we still have to hold on to our conscience.
Otherwise, what's the difference between us and those walking corpses?
The two people in that car—they saw us show up and then just leave.
How hopeless must they feel right now?
If you were the one in that car, wouldn't you be praying for someone to come save you?"
Suo Tian pressed his lips tightly together and said nothing.
Half a minute later, he suddenly jerked the wheel and muttered,
"Chen Yang, you really don't understand what it takes to survive."
Even though Suo Tian agreed to go back and save them, it didn't make me feel relieved.
On the contrary, I became even more anxious.
To be honest, I had no confidence at all in rescuing the people in that car from the swarm.
I was acting purely on the hot-blooded impulse I had suppressed for years as a teacher,
and the raw instinct of human decency.
"Seal the windows, grab my long blade, and open the sunroof—once they start climbing on, cut every last one of them off!"
I followed his instructions, quickly grabbed the blade, opened the sunroof, and stuck my upper body out.
The swarm of walkers ahead was getting closer and closer, and I could vaguely hear the sound of an engine running from inside.
Even heaven wants them saved!
"Suo Tian, their car is blocked in but the engine's on! If we can draw away the walkers in front, they should be able to make a break for it!" I shouted into the car.
"Hold on!" Suo Tian warned, then floored it straight into the horde.
The intense momentum threw me backward—I slammed into the edge of the sunroof, pain shooting down my spine as I gasped in pain.
In an instant, we plowed through more than a dozen walkers.
The rest, who had been crowding around that other car, started turning and swarming toward ours instead.
Suo Tian reversed the car sharply, pulling back about ten meters—just enough to lure the walkers away from the surrounded vehicle.
"Hey, you ugly freaks! There are delicious meat's right here—hurry up or there won't be enough of my meat to go around!"
I shouted wildly, trying to draw more of the walkers toward us.
The people in the car seized the opportunity and suddenly sped out of the encirclement.
Their car was practically covered in walkers, which made my scalp crawl.
A few skillful drifts shook all the walkers off cleanly.
Whoever was driving that car was definitely an expert.
If it were any other time, I'd probably be squealing with my bestie over how cool the driver was.
But right now, I had no interest in wondering whether that driver was a handsome guy or not.
After slicing down a few walkers clawing at our windows, I quickly ducked back into the car and shut the sunroof.
"Follow their car."
We drove onto the less-populated third ring road of the county.
On either side of the road were farmlands.
If there were any walkers nearby, we'd see them from far away.
The car ahead came to a stop, and a young man and woman stepped out.
They looked quite similar—probably siblings.
Suo Tian and I got out of our car.
From a distance, I could already hear the girl sobbing, her voice strained and trembling, filled with the lingering fear of barely surviving.
The man looked at the two of us, face pale, voice shaking. "Th-thank you… so much…"
I returned to the car and grabbed a bottle of water to hand to him.
He took it and gulped down over half the bottle before finally calming down a bit.
"Really, thank you both so much. If it weren't for you, my sister and I wouldn't have made it out of there alive."
"You're welcome."
The man gently comforted his still-sniffling sister, then turned to us and said, "Sorry, she's a bit timid… what just happened really scared her. Oh, right… my name is Shen Feng, and this is my sister Shen Xue. And you two are…?"
"Suo Tian."
"I'm Chen Yang."
"Chen Yang?" The girl who had just stopped crying lifted her head, revealing a pitifully delicate and slightly familiar face.
She studied my face carefully for a long moment.
"What is it?" I asked, puzzled.
"You're Chen Yang? You went to XX Middle School, right? Wait… it is you, you haven't changed much at all. Do you remember me? Shen Xue, Crybaby Shen Xue. You were the one who started calling me that, remember?"
I stared at her for a couple of seconds, a few blurry memories flashing through my mind, and soon her face matched one of them.
"Shen Xue! Crybaby… I remember now! Oh my god, I can't believe the person we saved turned out to be you."
"Ughhh… Chen Yang… If it weren't for you, I would've been torn apart by those ugly freaks just now."
Shen Xue's jumping thoughts and wildly shifting expressions were exactly like they were back in junior high.
That sudden change of expression caught me off guard.
I guess I really was pretty perceptive back then—she really was suited for that nickname.