He finished speaking, and someone reached out to take supplies, with the others lining up in order. Each person only took enough to fill their stomachs and said to him, “Thank you.” After the supplies were distributed, Jian Lexian didn’t eat anything, just closed his eyes to rest. Although his eyes were closed, he couldn’t sleep at all. Those who received supplies ate quietly, making almost no annoying noises. The night gradually deepened, leaving only the sounds of breathing and the wind. Until a white hue appeared on the horizon.
The tranquility was broken by that chilling “hissing” sound, growing closer with chaotic footsteps. Jian Lexian suddenly opened his eyes. He walked out of the cave and saw a group of zombies wandering in their direction. Jian Lexian quickly retreated inside. His heart raced, and one thought filled his mind: the zombie horde was coming!
He glanced back at the people still asleep in the cave. He gritted his teeth. “Everyone, stop sleeping! Zombies are coming! Get up quickly!” At the mention of zombies, everyone reflexively stood up, glancing at the number outside, their faces showing panic and urgency.
“We’re doomed! We won’t escape this time.”
“Wuwuwu, Mommy, I don’t want to become a little monster.”
“Stop dawdling and run towards the base,” Jian Lexian said, “As long as we can get inside, there’s hope.”
His words instantly awakened everyone. They rushed out of the cave, but no matter how quietly they moved, they attracted the attention of the zombies. The once slowly wandering zombies quickly charged towards them. Panic spread through the crowd, leading to a chaotic push and shove. Jian Lexian cursed under his breath.
“Don’t be afraid! Running around will get us all killed.”
He glanced at the zombies rushing towards them and used his spatial blade to decapitate the first few zombies. The others looked on in disbelief, filled with admiration and gratitude. Seeing their expressions, Jian Lexian couldn’t articulate his feelings. Among the survivors, those with abilities comprised only a small fraction, but having spent too much time in the base, he had forgotten how much luck he had that others did not.
But he hadn’t leveraged his abilities and supplies effectively, committing many foolish acts. A few children lagging behind fell to the ground during the chaos, and the zombies were about to reach them.
A spatial blade flew in. The zombies were suddenly decapitated, splattering a thick green liquid. Jian Lexian pulled one of the children up with one hand, “Run!”
He looked at the approaching zombies; fortunately, they were only the most primitive-level ones. Although his spatial ability lacked strong offensive power, he felt confident he could hold them off for a while. Just as Jian Lexian relaxed, he noticed a dark shape in the sky diving rapidly towards them.
A chill ran through him. A flying mutated zombie, with a layer of hard shell covering its wings. Jian Lexian summoned the highest level of ability energy and attacked it. He managed to create a hole in its wing, but sensing the pain made it more excited, and it adjusted its direction to attack Jian Lexian directly.
Cold sweat broke out on Jian Lexian’s face, his body felt weak, the side effects of overusing his abilities kicking in. He drew his handgun and fired multiple shots at it. “Bang bang bang!” The zombie was hit, but without striking its head, it pressed closer, knocking the gun from Jian Lexian’s hands.
Jian Lexian fell to the ground hard as the zombie lunged at him. Gritting his teeth, he drew out a dagger. As the zombie opened its rancid mouth to bite him, he raised his hand and jabbed the dagger into its mouth, driving the blade through its upper jaw and into its brain.
The zombie instantly went motionless. Jian Lexian quickly pushed it off, getting back up and running towards the base. However, those who arrived at the base entrance before him didn’t go in. They were blocked at the doorway, hearing the guards say, “Zombies? What does that have to do with us? We only follow the rules; if you don’t meet the conditions, we won’t let you in.”
A surge of anger rose in Jian Lexian. He rushed forward and grabbed the collar of the arrogant staff member. “Shut up! Open your eyes and see what’s behind you!” The man looked back, saw the throng of zombies, and trembled in fear.
“Oh my, how can there be so many?”
He shuddered and tried to run away, but Jian Lexian held his collar tightly.
“Unless you let everyone in today, we might as well die together.”
The man was startled by the fierce look in Jian Lexian’s eyes and stammered, “W-we’ll let you in right away!”
The gates of the base opened for them. After everyone rushed inside, Jian Lexian released his grip on the man’s collar and stumbled into the base, collapsing by the wall and kneeling down. The gates closed again behind them, trapping the horde of zombies outside.
Jian Lexian felt a burning pain in the back of his hand. He looked down and saw several small red scratches appearing under his gaze. The area around the wounds was starting to darken with bruises, veins bulging like twisted worms under his skin.
It was from the flying zombie. No, it can’t be!
He must be seeing things. Jian Lexian rubbed his eyes, but the wound did not disappear; in fact, it visibly spread.
Had he been scratched? Was he about to turn into a zombie?
Despair enveloped Jian Lexian. He didn’t understand why, after starting over, he had returned to the original ending.
Despite his hard work, nothing had changed.
He scratched at the wound, blood gushing out, yet he felt no pain. His mind was consumed by a singular thought: as long as he could remove the rotting things from the wound, he would be fine.