To the Start of a New World

3.9

In one night, F City became hell on earth.

Screams and wails erupted in a dissonant chorus, as if the city itself had come alive in agony. The hundreds of thousands of residents scattered, running and hiding, curling themselves into corners and praying that someone would save them.

And in this dark night, an armored jeep rolled into the city.

A man sitting in its passenger seat flicked his fingers. Bolts of lightning streaked through the air like arrows. Wherever the car passed, zombies fell over with precise and charred holes in their heads.

That was one of the most distinct memories survivors had of that first horrible night.

In their most hopeless moment, the passing lightning struck. The armored jeep rumbled by, leaving only a fleeting glimpse of the man sitting beside the rolled-down window.

The two men in the car were Lu Hao and Hong Sheng. Hong Sheng drove the jeep, his handling smooth and quick to react to the chaos in the city. Their goal was the university in the southern part of the city, not far from the road to the villa.

Blood streaked the gates of the university campus. Lu Hao quickly dispatched the zombies at the front gate. His energy reserves weren't as large as he was used to, so he carefully portioned his ability use to only a needle's worth of lightning.

The zombies at this point were all freshly turned, weak, and confused. They only acted on instinct, and they were slow. By the old timeline's standards, they were level 0 zombies. But still, their exponentially growing numbers meant an element of danger still hung in the air. Hong Sheng directly drove over the curb into the university grounds, the car bouncing before gliding smoothly over the pavement.

He parked the car ahead of the student dormitories. Hong Sheng threw a quick interested glance over the layout of the dorm building, knowing that Lu Hao had once resided there.

"I'll take point. Stay safe and cover the rear," Lu Hao ordered. Hong Sheng nodded, gripping in his hands a strangely-constructed firearm. Hong Sheng had secretly built his own weapons arsenal while Lu Hao pretended to be unaware, but Lu Hao still put on a concerned face and asked, "Where did you get that? It's not going to backfire on you, is it?"

He held back a laugh at the look Hong Sheng gave him, like he was a little depressed and insulted. "I made it. It'll work."

"Are you sure?"

Hong Sheng just answered by raising the strange gun and firing past Lu Hao's shoulder. A zombie had come hurtling at them as they walked to the dormitory door, but the blast stopped it in its tracks. The back of the zombie's head exploded, splattering on the ground.

"Hong Sheng, you're like an action hero!" At Lu Hao's praise, Hong Sheng pursed his lips, a blush rising. Hong Sheng cast a judgmental glance at Lu Hao like he was wondering, why is he still talking? Aren't we here to save people?

Lu Hao cooperatively quieted, and a serious look entered his eyes. Once they entered the dorm, Lu Hao quickly eliminated the zombies standing out in the halls. He then listened in with his enhanced hearing, searching for the remaining survivors. When someone was in immediate danger, he manipulated his lightning to burrow straight through the walls and skewer the zombies.

This had the unfortunate side effect of piercing through some of the plumbing and wiring, and Lu Hao heard the burst of water from some pipes in the walls,. Steam poured out from the miniscule holes Lu Hao had torn open. The lights flickered, and the remaining students screamed in their dorm rooms.

The noise alerted some of the other zombies in the building, and any that came into view were killed by Lu Hao and Hong Sheng. After the students quieted into whimpers, Lu Hao knocked on a wall and raised his voice, "My name is Lu Hao, and I'm here to help. Don't leave your rooms, keep the doors locked. I'll be doing a sweep of the building. Once the zombies here are dead, we'll get you out."