Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 122

The guards on the second floor were indeed, as Peng Min had described, tall and formidable. Their weapons were also extremely intimidating—two shoulder-mounted grenade launchers and portable cannons, clearly taken from Songming City’s original armory. There were also personnel patrolling the staircase between the first and second floors.

The first floor was a zombie viewing area, while the second floor and above were restricted. Placing such powerfully intimidating weapons here was likely intended to cow the citizens and freelance players.

Tang Yu, invisible, slipped past the patrolling guard and into the corridor as if no one was there. She was very thankful that she had walked through this hallway during the day, as most of the guards had already triggered the Zombie King mission, meaning she didn’t have to carefully calculate her distance from them.

Tang Yu scouted out the second floor. This level also had only three guards. Aside from their higher-end weapons and more robust builds, it was no different from the other floors. Tang Yu prepared to repeat her old trick: summon a shadow for a stealth kill, then slip away. But just as the thought crossed her mind, a commotion came from downstairs.

Seven players had already arrived at the inpatient building, and they were quite fast.

The player in the lead held a submachine gun. He and his teammates stood at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m here to take out the trash.”

He uttered this baffling phrase, and the guard at the staircase immediately lowered his weapon and let them pass. Tang Yu guessed that these guards had received prior instructions from Lou Yan and were now exchanging a code phrase with these players.

You’re the trash, Tang Yu silently retorted, crossing her arms and leaning against the stairwell door, waiting for the show to begin.

The players who were let through walked past the guard and headed for the third floor. Before the leader’s foot even touched the step, he looked down with a soft “huh?” and then turned to look around.

Tang Yu guessed this unfamiliar player had probably triggered the Zombie King mission. These new players were a real pain; Tang Yu didn’t know their strength, and she couldn’t get around or avoid them.

Seeing that the time was right, she switched to her panel and tapped out a message to Jin Ye: “Someone’s here. Let’s move.”

Three seconds after she sent the message, the sound of something crashing against iron bars suddenly echoed through the quiet inpatient building, quickly followed by the roars of zombies that reverberated through the empty corridors.

“Damn it, something’s gone wrong,” a guard exclaimed in shock. He grabbed the nearby cannon, shoved a player aside, and was about to run up to the third floor.

But the next moment, the lights in the corridor and stairwell flickered twice and then, for some reason, went out with a pop. Deprived of light, the windowless, unventilated stairwell was instantly plunged into darkness, leaving only the sound of zombies getting closer and closer.

The sudden turn of events threw the guards and players into disarray. In the panic, no one noticed someone lightly press a button on the controller hanging from a guard’s waist.

Tang Yu deftly pulled her hand back and silently retreated to the side. She had only pressed a button, so the system didn’t register her action as an attack. Thus, she remained invisible, already back in her original spot with her arms crossed, continuing to watch the show.

The controller on the guard’s waist could only manage five to ten zombies, likely serving as reinforcements. The controlled zombies were held in various locations and were few in number, but it was enough to create a little chaos.

Each floor had such a controller, managed by the head guard. The controllers from the third to the fifth floors had all been picked up by Jin Ye. Everywhere they went, the iron bars of the hospital rooms had also been broken by the locksmith, Jin Ye. These sturdy bars were all left ajar, just waiting for the moment the zombies inside went berserk.

In the time Tang Yu had spent scouting the second floor, Xiao Qi had flipped the main breaker, and Jin Ye had led Peng Min to release the zombies. The four of them, working together, had created a “small” accident in the inpatient building.

In that short span, at least forty to fifty zombies had been collectively awakened. Except for the still-secure rooms on the second floor, chaos erupted on several other floors simultaneously. The frenzied zombies trampled over the guards’ corpses, rushing toward the stairwell, drawn by the scent of the living.

These controlled zombies were agile, and the intense stimulus attached to their cervical vertebrae had them on the verge of a rampage. Aside from other zombies carrying control terminals, they saw all other living things as edible food.

A guard finally reacted, shouting into his wristband, “Alert! There’s a problem with the zombies!” After notifying Lou Yan, he tried to rally the other guards in the building, only to find that none of them were responding. He immediately realized that something had happened to his comrades upstairs, and now only the three guards on the second floor remained.

How could they possibly win? The lead guard, in a panic, grabbed a player who was trying to take the opportunity to escape, forcibly pulling him back.

“What the hell, I’m just passing by!” The players, who had come hoping for an easy score but got nothing and were now dragged into the mess, had faces full of terror. Lou Yan had told them the Zombie King had been injected with an inhibitor and a single bullet could take it down. They thought it was a freebie, but now it had turned into a death sentence.

Just as the player finished speaking, a dark shadow appeared at the turn of the stairs on the second floor. No, it looked like two dark shadows.

In the pitch-black darkness, no one could see anything clearly. The guard raised his grenade launcher, then thought better of it and switched to a submachine gun. He was about to fire when a woman’s voice cried out, “Don’t shoot, it’s me!”

“Nurse Peng?” The head guard recognized Peng Min. “What’s happening up there?!”

“The zombies suddenly went crazy and broke out… E-everyone upstairs is dead!” Peng Min described with embellishment. Jin Ye’s hand was on her shoulder, so she had to make it sound as exaggerated as possible.

“Everyone?! Are you sure?” The three guards huddled together, their hearts filled with terror. Everyone? Four or five hundred zombies? How could they possibly stop them?

But Peng Min didn’t answer. She screamed and rushed down the stairs, shoving past the players in her way and stumbling toward the first floor. Another figure followed her, never leaving her side.

The guard had initially thought the person next to her was another nurse, but as she passed them, she revealed a terrifying zombie face.

Jin Ye let out a howl, baring her teeth in a threatening display. The guard was so scared his forehead broke out in a sweat. Jin Ye didn’t hold back; as she passed them, she reached out and clawed one of their faces.

Something even more terrifying happened. A silver knife appeared out of thin air behind the guards. An agile zombie took the lives of all three guards in an instant. They were so terrified by the zombie outbreak that their wits had deserted them. Before they could fight back, in the narrow, dark corridor where it was hard to tell friend from foe, their weapons became useless.

By the time the remaining players came to their senses and turned around, they didn’t even see the killer’s face.

The zombie with the knife had vanished, and even the little nurse had run off faster than a rabbit.

Just then, the out-of-control zombies from upstairs appeared at the turn of the stairs. The tightly packed zombies lunged down from above. The players, unable to see, fumbled to respond, their combat effectiveness greatly diminished.

Screams and curses echoed through the stairwell.

Tang Yu, holding the scavenged grenade launcher and ammo box, jogged after Jin Ye and Peng Min, ducking into the greenbelt in front of the entrance.

Without lifting a finger, they had caught the enemy completely off guard. The combined strength of these players and guards might not have been less than theirs, but sometimes a fight isn’t won by strength, but by being in the right place at the right time.

The hospital’s greenbelt was planted with shrubs as tall as a person, completely concealing their figures. Peng Min poked at her skin, reddened by scratches from the branches, on the verge of tears. She felt that tonight’s experience was too surreal, causing her brain to short-circuit from time to time.

Like right now, the super-fierce zombie next to her was half-squatting in the bushes, a heavy weapon already loaded and resting on her shoulder.

At that moment, about a dozen players were heading toward the inpatient building. They had no idea what had happened inside, their faces still wearing smiles of confidence.

Without a word, Tang Yu aimed the grenade launcher at her target. The moment the dozen players stepped into the inpatient building, she pulled the trigger without hesitation.

A dark green, thick, round warhead shot out from the greenbelt, trailing fire. The close-range shot produced a massive explosion, shattering many of the inpatient building’s windows. The dozen or so players were eliminated on the spot, not even leaving behind corpses.

“Damn,” Tang Yu, whose shoulder was numb from the recoil, was also taken aback. This weapon was so destructive, yet those guards had dared to bring it indoors. It was a good thing they hadn’t fired it in the stairwell, or else everyone, friend or foe, would have been blown to bits.

She quickly slung the gun onto her back, deciding to carry the cumbersome thing with her for now.

Tang Yu recalled Song Lengzhu’s instructions. She pulled Jin Ye and Peng Min out of the greenbelt and sprinted toward the testing building. Xiao Qi popped out from somewhere and met up with them, panting, “Those zombies are a bit tough. They’ve already killed the players and are out of the inpatient building.”

Tang Yu quickly calculated. There weren’t many of these zombies, so Lou Yan and his men would probably intercept them in the hospital before they reached the streets. Jin Ye had taken their controllers, so to stop these zombies, they would either have to be eliminated with heavy weapons, or Lin Zhongqi would have to use the master controller to deactivate their frenzied state.

If it was the latter, Tang Yu might get a chance to see the master controller itself.

The testing building wasn’t far, and the commotion from the inpatient building hadn’t reached this area. Tang Yu smoothly reached the main entrance and found a small box in the greenbelt out front.

Inside the box were two items: a clip-on wireless walkie-talkie the size of a phone, and a lightweight wireless earpiece.

Seeing this, Xiao Qi’s face scrunched up. “No wonder Captain Song had the twins steal this stuff. Turns out it was for you.”

Damn, that’s annoying.

Tang Yu, however, beamed with joy. She put the earpiece in her left ear, clipped the walkie-talkie to her lower back, and pressed the power button.

The earpiece filled with noisy ambient sounds, as if the person on the other end was in a bustling market. Tang Yu said “hello,” but there was no response.

Before she could think further, shouts erupted from the hospital’s main entrance. “Hurry! Keep up!”

In an instant, several military-green trucks stopped at the hospital entrance. Guards holding guns poured out of the back and ran toward the inpatient building, vaulting over the hospital’s barrier gate.

Tang Yu gave them a quick glance. There were at least two or three hundred of them. The guards from the inpatient building must have sent the wrong information, making the General Administration think all the zombies had rebelled, which was why they had dispatched so many people to the hospital.

Seeing this formation, Tang Yu knew they couldn’t leave through the main entrance now. She leaned against a corner of the testing building and peeked out to observe the situation.

Someone raised the barrier gate at the entrance, and two portable lights were set up in the dark grounds. Soon, a black sedan drove directly through the hospital gate.

The person who got out of the driver’s seat was Lou Yan. With his Tang dao in one hand, before he could even sling it onto his back, he reached out to open the rear passenger door.

Lin Zhongqi emerged from the car. He shot Lou Yan a dark, dissatisfied look, seemingly blaming his subordinate for the poor handling of the situation.

Tang Yu and the others were hiding too far away to hear anything, and even faces were blurry. So, Tang Yu switched to her vision-enhancing ability and gave Lin Zhongqi a thorough look.

This man was just as Tang Yu had imagined, exuding an unpleasant aura. Even in the apocalypse, he insisted on pomp and circumstance, wearing a suit and striking a pose like a domineering CEO getting out of a car, which instinctively turned her stomach.

A guard in front of Lin Zhongqi bowed his head and said something to him. He suddenly flew into a rage, removed the end of his cane, and pressed it against the guard’s chest. It was a pistol.

The gunshot was exceptionally loud in the empty hospital entrance. The reporting guard collapsed from the shot. The others didn’t even flinch.

From a distance, a zombie had already rushed toward Lin Zhongqi’s car. A nearby guard quickly raised his gun to shoot but was pushed aside by Lin Zhongqi’s cane. He faced the zombie directly, his beard trembling with anger.

The zombie didn’t care about the man’s status or mood. It suddenly dropped low, lunged forward on all fours, and opened its mouth wide, aiming for Lin Zhongqi’s face.

Tang Yu only saw a blur of motion. The next moment, the attacking zombie was sliced in half by Lou Yan, who was standing beside him.

Lou Yan’s draw was incredibly fast. He swung the heavy Tang dao with one hand, the sharp blade cutting through the zombie’s body like tofu.

Nice, a high-tier weapon.

Lin Zhongqi glanced at Lou Yan, then finally pulled a black controller from his inner suit pocket and pressed it hard.

The frenzied zombies in front of him went limp as if their spines had been suddenly removed, stopping in place, some standing, some sitting.

Tang Yu’s judgment was correct. Lin Zhongqi was unwilling to just blow away these painstakingly modified zombies, so he came personally to use the least costly method to stop the riot.

This also meant that the “family of corpses” left on the sixth floor of the inpatient building were probably safe for the time being.

Tang Yu’s gaze locked onto the device in Lin Zhongqi’s hand. It was about the size of a palm, black, and looked almost exactly like Peng Min’s drawing.

Mission accomplished. Tang Yu didn’t linger. She pulled back, grabbed Jin Ye, and called for Xiao Qi and Peng Min to leave the testing building from the back.

Peng Min had been trembling ever since she saw Lin Zhongqi. She seemed to have an irrepressible fear of Songming City’s high-and-mighty leader, even more so than of zombies. When Xiao Qi asked what was wrong, she wouldn’t say, only dutifully leading the three of them.

The hospital had more than one entrance, and there were no walls outside. The four of them simply found a gap and left the area.

Once on the street, Xiao Qi pointed in a direction. “This way. I need to meet up with Captain Song. You all come too.”

Hearing this, Tang Yu happily followed.

The group moved between the buildings. Except for Peng Min’s white attire, the other three were like bats in the night, melting into the impenetrable darkness.

The streetlights were all off; Songming City’s electricity was reserved for essential places. Thus, at night, the streets were as empty as a ghost town, with no other residents to be seen besides hastily walking guards.

The fog still hadn’t lifted. The day-long humidity made the air heavy with moisture, as if it could rain at any moment. The strands of Tang Yu’s hair were damp.

Xiao Qi led the way. After winding through several streets, the four of them finally stopped in a dark, narrow alley.

This place seemed to be a commercial old town. The bluestone path on the ground was wet. Unlike other places, this vast area, which looked like a central street, was bustling with people and noise.

Two bright white lights were set up by a pool in the center of the open space. People were messily arranged in four or five lines, anxiously craning their necks and occasionally discussing something in low voices.

At the front of the lines were several large square tables. A square piece of cardboard with the words “Food Exchange Point” was taped to the corner of one table. The tables were filled with food, mostly canned goods and ham with long shelf lives, all sorted and clearly priced. There were no fresh vegetables, and very little meat.

A dozen or so armed guards stood uneasily beside the tables, watching over the food without distributing it.

Someone finally couldn’t hold back and shouted, “What’s going on? Why aren’t you handing out food yet?”

A guard shouted back even louder, “Shut up, or I’ll shoot you.” After saying that, he actually fired a shot into the air, clearly not in a stable mood.

The gunshot successfully quelled the anxiety in the crowd, and people huddled together in silence for a while.

There were too few people here. The guards left behind were sweating with anxiety.

Food distribution was the easiest place to incite a riot. Normally, more than fifty armed guards would be dispatched, but today, something had happened at the hospital, and personnel had been secretly transferred over.

The citizens, clutching their credit coins, were completely unaware of these matters.

Songming City distributed food once a day, at a fixed time and in a fixed quantity, not only to control the citizens’ consumption but also to take the opportunity to establish the General Administration’s authority. It had always been carried out very well in the past, and any players who wanted to cause trouble would have to consider whether they could outrun a bullet.

But today, an accident had suddenly occurred. The exchange event had already begun, and if they announced its cancellation now, the remaining personnel might not be able to handle a riot instigated by troublemakers.

After all, there were citizens who couldn’t afford food.

The guards could only call an emergency halt to the event, delaying the distribution time until they had enough manpower to proceed.

But who knew when that manpower would be transferred back.

The four of them hid in the alley, their figures successfully concealed by the dark night. They were some distance from the distribution point, and no one noticed a Zombie King hiding in the dark corner.

After her vision was enhanced, Tang Yu could easily see everyone’s expressions. She swept her gaze over the teeming crowd and got a general sense of the residents’ situation.

There were probably over a hundred citizens who had come to exchange for food. Those dressed as players were mostly at the front of the lines, while behind them were NPCs with dazed expressions.

These citizens had very twisted expressions, as if they were trying hard to smile or maintain a relaxed posture. But in this situation, tension and doubt should have been the most appropriate expressions.

A guard approached the person who had complained earlier. He held out his hand in front of the person, the muzzle of his gun pressed against their abdomen. The person resignedly placed a credit coin in the guard’s palm, forcing an ugly smile onto their face.

Tang Yu suddenly understood the reason. The citizens’ abnormal emotions were probably related to the credit coins. It seemed that complaining was not allowed in Songming City.

Her gaze shifted back and forth for a while, and she suddenly felt a gaze fall upon her.

It was a baseless sixth sense that made her heart panic, yet it also brought a strange sense of familiarity.

Just as Tang Yu was about to take a closer look, she heard Xiao Qi whispering behind her, “Ah, I think we’re standing a bit too hidden. Can Captain Song see me?”

Captain Song? Could Song Lengzhu be here? Did Xiao Qi send her their location?

Tang Yu’s breath hitched for a second. She looked up, searching for the gaze in the crowd, and then her line of sight passed over the people and settled on a certain spot, unable to move away.

In the bustling square, a tall, straight figure stood quietly, looking directly at Tang Yu from across the teeming crowd.

Thanks to her vision-enhancing ability, Tang Yu could clearly see the person’s loose, tea-colored long hair, damp with mist, the slight upward curve of her lips, and those eyes as bright as a river of stars.

The noisy background sound from the earpiece merged with her surroundings at that moment. Tang Yu heard a faint breath in her ear. Her eyes saw the face that had appeared in her mind countless times late at night, and her ears heard that familiar, smiling voice.

Song Lengzhu stood in the crowd, looking in her direction and speaking softly.

“Tang Yu, long time no see.”