I Hoard Supplies and Raise a Child in the Wasteland World by Drawing Cards (GL) - Chapter 17

Perhaps because they were attracted by the deafening music upstairs, there weren’t many zombies in the first-floor corridor. As Lin Ran and Mo Shuyu were about to reach the side door, two zombies darted out from a side corridor. Lin Ran’s body reacted almost instantly. She dodged to the left, toward the sinks in the restroom, and at the same time, she grabbed Mo Shuyu, who she had just said she wouldn’t help, and pulled her into her arms.

Mo Shuyu’s heart was pounding. She thought Lin Ran would really leave her behind. She looked up at Lin Ran, a mix of emotions welling up inside her. Lin Ran hadn’t abandoned her as she had said.

Lin Ran wasn’t interested in what Mo Shuyu was thinking. Her ears were focused on the noises outside. The two zombies seemed to have been attracted by the music as well and were now heading toward the stairwell.

Lin Ran didn’t relax until she was sure the two zombies were gone. She let go of Mo Shuyu’s waist.

Just as Mo Shuyu was about to thank her, the curtain of the men’s restroom was suddenly pulled back, and a male zombie in a nurse’s uniform darted out. The male zombie was missing one arm, and his face was covered in pockmarks from being bitten by other zombies.

Lin Ran pulled Mo Shuyu behind her, grabbed her Tang Dao, and rushed at the male nurse. She was also getting angry. It was too difficult to draw a card. So many zombies were all crowded upstairs. She didn’t know if she would be able to find the card-drawing machine smoothly later.

The male zombie had probably never seen a person this ferocious before. He was a half-beat slower than Lin Ran, watching a human and a zombie charge at each other head-on. By the time he jumped, Lin Ran’s Tang Dao had already slashed. The jumping zombie’s neck met Lin Ran’s blade, and it was cut in half.

Lin Ran angrily kicked the male zombie in the chest, then turned to look at Mo Shuyu. “Come and finish him.”

Mo Shuyu hesitated for a moment but quickly gripped the machete in her hand. She knew this was Lin Ran’s way of training her, and she didn’t want to disappoint Lin Ran. After all, she really wanted to go home with Lin Ran.

Seeing that the male zombie was still struggling, Lin Ran kicked him again, putting one foot on his chest to keep him from moving. She then said to Mo Shuyu, “Hurry up and do it.”

Mo Shuyu raised her machete and slashed at the other side of the male zombie’s neck. Her aim was correct, but Mo Shuyu’s strength was lacking, so she had to slash four times to finally kill the male zombie.

Lin Ran looked at Mo Shuyu and said in a cold voice, “Remember how that felt. There’s nothing to be afraid of with these zombies. As long as you don’t get caught by a large group, you have a chance to win against them.”

As Lin Ran spoke, she walked to the wall that was hiding them, peeked out, and, after making sure there were no other zombies, she gestured to Mo Shuyu. “Let’s go.”

The two of them tiptoed to the side door. Lin Ran pulled the door open, and they quickly slipped out.

The number of zombies outside the outpatient building was slightly lower than before, but there were still some zombies wandering around. They smelled the scent of living people and started to get excited, chasing after Lin Ran and Mo Shuyu.

Lin Ran grabbed Mo Shuyu and started running. At least a dozen zombies were chasing them. “How much farther to the fire escape?”

“We’re almost there. It’s at the next turn,” Mo Shuyu said, her heart pounding from the intense running.

Lin Ran continued to run with Mo Shuyu toward the fire escape, with at least a dozen zombies still chasing them. When she and Mo Shuyu finally turned the corner, Lin Ran’s heart sank. There was indeed a fire escape in front of them, but about ten meters away, there were at least a few dozen zombies wandering around.

Mo Shuyu’s heart almost stopped. Dozens of zombies were in front of them, and a dozen were chasing them from behind. It was just her and Lin Ran. They seemed to be in a hopeless situation.

Lin Ran only froze for two seconds. The next moment, she had already pulled Mo Shuyu and rushed toward the fire escape. The door to the fire escape was a locked iron gate. At that moment, the dozen zombies behind them were about to catch up, and the dozens of zombies in front of them had also smelled the living people and were rushing toward them.

Lin Ran picked up Mo Shuyu and carried her over the iron railing onto the fire escape steps. Then, she lightly pushed off the railing with her left hand, jumped nimbly, and landed on the iron staircase. The next moment, the zombies had rushed in.

“Run!” With Lin Ran’s shout, Mo Shuyu was already running up the stairs a few steps. Lin Ran followed closely behind Mo Shuyu, running upward.

The open-air fire escape looked a bit dangerous. Each step was a metal plate, but the vertical side was hollow. The railings on the side were also long, thin iron bars with quite a large gap between them. If a person wasn’t careful, they could easily miss a step and fall. No wonder the first-floor door was locked.

But Lin Ran and Mo Shuyu had no other choice. The zombies were crowded at the locked iron gate downstairs, unable to open it, but many of them had already climbed over the outer iron bars and were now climbing up with their hands and feet, chasing Lin Ran and Mo Shuyu.

Mo Shuyu was actually a little afraid of heights. The old iron steps made a creaking sound as she and Lin Ran ran up them quickly, as if to remind them that these steps couldn’t handle too much abuse.

As Mo Shuyu was running up quickly, her foot slipped. Her left foot went through the railing, and she was about to fall through the large gap in the iron railing. Lin Ran grabbed Mo Shuyu’s waist from behind and pulled her back forcefully. Mo Shuyu then held the railing with her shaking hands and stood steady. Her heart was pounding in her throat. She had almost died just now. If Lin Ran hadn’t pulled her back, she would have already fallen.

She and Lin Ran were now at least four stories high. Falling from that height would either kill them or leave them severely disabled.

In that momentary delay, the zombies behind them had probably already caught up.

“Let’s go!” Lin Ran said, kicking two zombies that had already climbed up behind her, sending them falling through the gap in the iron railing. The kicked zombies fell to the ground below, where red and white fluids splattered everywhere. They lay there like a puddle of mud, unable to get up.

At the same time, the stairs behind Lin Ran and Mo Shuyu were now covered in zombies. Lin Ran was kicking the zombies behind her while also turning around from time to time to slash at the ones that were catching up.

They still had to climb. Lin Ran was afraid of falling when she was slashing backward, so she had to hold the outer iron railing with her right hand and slash with her left. The force of the slash was much less than when she used both hands. Although many of the zombies behind her lost their footing and fell, even more were climbing up.

These zombies were literally climbing up, using both their hands and feet. There were even some zombies climbing on top of others to get to Lin Ran quickly. Their bodies were distorted, and they looked like wind-up dolls, oblivious to pain and unafraid of falling off the stairs.

As more and more zombies climbed up, Lin Ran’s heart grew heavier. They were only on the seventh floor. The loud music was clearly still coming from above. They might have to go all the way to the top floor to find the card-drawing system, and this outpatient building was 13 stories high.

Lin Ran took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. The zombies were right in front of her. If she turned and ran up, she would be knocked down and bitten the next moment.

Thinking this, Lin Ran turned to face the zombies, constantly kicking the ones that were right at her feet. While Lin Ran was focused on her feet, a female zombie, a few meters away, climbed up the backs of the zombies below and lunged at Lin Ran.

Lin Ran kicked her with all her might, and the female zombie was sent flying through the air by Lin Ran’s kick, falling straight down.

Lin Ran didn’t dare to be slow because the zombie at her feet had again opened its gaping mouth at her calf. This was not a viable plan. She and Mo Shuyu would die here eventually.

Lin Ran quickly kicked the face of the zombie at her feet while observing the mindless monsters. She noticed that the monsters were almost all connected, with some even stacked on top of each other, trying to climb over the zombies below to bite Lin Ran.

Without time to think, Lin Ran desperately kicked the zombie near her foot over the iron railing. As she kicked, she also stabbed the zombie with her long blade from time to time.

With Lin Ran’s persistent effort, half of the zombie’s body was now kicked out, and several zombies behind it were also twisted and crawling on the stairs. Lin Ran kicked it hard again, and the zombie finally fell. But at the same time, about two meters away from Lin Ran, a tall male zombie in a security guard uniform lunged at Lin Ran.

Lin Ran had a thought, and the Tang Dao quickly disappeared. She desperately held onto the iron railing with both hands and kicked at the male zombie. She had intended to kick the male zombie right off the stairs, but the zombie grabbed her leg instead.

Lin Ran was dragged by the male zombie and swung out over the railing. If her hands hadn’t been desperately holding on to the railing, she would have already fallen and become a puddle of mud.

Mo Shuyu didn’t have time to think. She only knew that if Lin Ran died, she would be finished, too. Without thinking about anything else, Mo Shuyu held the machete in her hand and, just like Lin Ran, desperately kicked the zombie that was about a meter away from Lin Ran. If this zombie got any closer, it could bite Lin Ran’s wrist, which was holding onto the iron railing.

But Mo Shuyu’s strength was too little. She used both hands to hold the machete and push, but she was still pressed hard against the iron steps by the zombie, and her back was in excruciating pain from the metal.

Lin Ran was still holding on, but it was all because of her willpower. She had killed so many zombies that she was already running low on energy. Now, with a zombie hanging from her leg, the zombie’s hand still grabbing her right leg, the two of them were swinging seven stories high, a sight more thrilling than any extreme sport.