To the Start of a New World

2.10

When Yu Qiu said those words, Hong Sheng froze.

Then, he burst into action.

He shoved the documents into his bag, and when he pulled out his hand, it held a metal canister. Hong Sheng twisted and turned the canister around too fast for Yu Qiu to see. He threw the canister on the ground, and as Yu Qiu watched it roll beneath the desks and cabinets, Hong Sheng hurried out of the room and seized Yu Qiu's arm. "What should we—" Yu Qiu asked as Hong Sheng pulled hard and dragged her away.

Yu Qiu shut her mouth. She ran quickly to keep up with Hong Sheng's pace as he guided her through the labyrinthine halls, wincing at the pressure put on her twisted ankle. Hong Sheng only stopped to rattle the door handles of rooms they came across, only to find that they were either locked, or had no lock at all.

Whatever Hong Sheng had done seemed to have bought them time. The zombies had beelined to the room they had been in before, and Yu Qiu listened to them tearing apart the room, howling as they failed to find human flesh.

While searching for a place to hide they took so many turns that Yu Qiu's head spun. All she knew was the sound of their two pairs of footsteps slapping the ground, and the sound of zombies shrieking behind them.

How did they get in? Why did the zombies notice them so quickly? Without a leader to boost their ability, zombies like the ones out in the cave weren't smart enough to open doors or to notice them from so far away!

They had taken too long and still hadn't found a place to hide. A loud screech sounded behind them. A speed zombie dashed on all fours, crashing into the wall right behind them from the intersecting hall. It opened its mouth in a snarl. Yu Qiu screamed, and she threw a fireball right at the zombie's face. Lit on fire, the zombie collapsed to the ground as it screamed—but it was only a temporary pause. That little bit of fire wasn't enough to kill it, and soon it'd be chasing after them again.

They were running out of time. The rest of the zombies would be coming after them soon, and fast. Hong Sheng's hand was cold and clammy, his breathing quick as he overexerted himself from running.

It was then that Yu Qiu's leg gave out; the pain was burning in her ankle, and she collapsed against Hong Sheng's back. She could hear the zombies getting closer. The scrabbling, shifting, shrieking sounds of the hellish monsters were right around the corner. She couldn't help but sob, "They're right behind us."

All the hope she had when Hong Sheng brought her to the secret base now disappeared like smoke.

Hong Sheng's grip on her hand tightened painfully, and then, as if he'd come to a tough decision, Hong Sheng grabbed her and slung her over his back. He shuddered, cringing as Yu Qiu wrapped her arms around his neck, but he kept his grip steady as he ran the opposite direction.

Hong Sheng was noticeably slower and clumsier carrying someone on his back. It would have been smarter for him to leave Yu Qiu as bait and save himself. Yu Qiu cried, grateful and guilty in equal proportions.

Up ahead in the hall was a double-doored entryway, and there didn't seem to be any locks on it. Hong Sheng barreled through the doors. Through her tears, Yu Qiu could barely recognize that they had entered a kitchen.

It was a large room cluttered with counters, metal racks, and stoves. It was a setup for a communal kitchen meant to be used by several people. It hadn't been used in a while: dust and grime had started gathering on the surfaces. Carrying Yu Qiu the entire way, Hong Sheng dodged between the counters and racks, head swinging back and forth as he looked for another doorway. Eventually he made his way to the back of the room.