Chapter 139: Survivors
Exiting the car slowly, they scan their surroundings only to discover no traces of zombies. With no need to be extremely cautious with every step, they quickly head towards the building. Although junk and scrap metal litters the floor leading to the lobby's entrance, the two men feel that compared to human remains scattered around, this mess is nothing.
The lobby of this residential building is very spacious. Peering through the closed glass doors, one can barely see the interior of the dark ground floor. While it may give off a sinister air to anyone looking inwards, there are no signs of undead roaming inside. The ground is rather clean, with no indication of human footprints disturbing the layer of dust on the tiles.
"The door is locked from the inside and the glass is made of anti-theft material. If there are any survivors inside, this is their first line of defence," Long Zhanye announces after studying the doors for a moment.
"The first line of defence can also act as a death trap." Looking at the locked doors, Huo Zaiyuan finally speaks. "If anyone within this building turns into a zombie, then it is extremely likely the survivors trapped here will not make it out of the building."
"Un, it makes sense. Sure enough, my little Yuan is very smart." Long Zhanye chuckles, drawing him into a hug and kissing his lips.
"Don't kiss me anywhere you wish," Huo Zaiyuan hisses in embarrassment, blushing as he pushes the sticky man away. "Take a look at where we are first and at least try to be decent. Quickly go and find a way for us to enter this building."
"Yes, my little senior officer. This subordinate will go at once." Saying this, Long Zhanye swoops down to steal another kiss before walking away, earning him a peeved glare.
"Rascal."
In the end, Long Zhanye discovers an air vent on the left side of the building. Tearing the metal cover off, the two squeezes through the opening.
The entire place is dim, illuminated solely by sunlight that manages to make its way through the various windows. The musky smell of dust permeates the corridors. Frowning lightly, Long Zhanye lifts his head and sniffs deeply.
"There is either already zombies here or dead bodies. The scent of rotting meat is covered by the heavy smell of dust."
"Un." Huo Zaiyuan nods. "The family we are looking for is on the third floor."
Although this building has over ten storeys, getting to the third level is not a difficult task. Keeping their guards up, the pair treads lightly up the stairs. Upon reaching the first floor, they find several corpses carelessly strewn on the ground, all of them sharing one defining feature. The skulls appear to have been smashed to bits by a heavy blunt force. The corpses are already withered and a layer of fine dust has settled over them. At a quick glance, one might mistaken them for mummies.
"Apparently, someone in this building understands how to kill the undead. And they seem to possess quite a bit of strength." Long Zhanye observes as he stares at the heads smashed into a pulp. Just as he is about to move closer, Huo Zaiyuan pulls him back.
"Don't go close. Although these zombies are definitely dead, the corpses still emit evil energy. If you breathe it in, it will negatively affect your body," Huo Zaiyuan says, eyes roving over the corpses. He can see a faint purple mist enshrouding each withered body.
"Let's continue onwards." Long Zhanye abandons the idea of examining the killing blow as soon as Huo Zaiyuan gives an explanation.
As an active field soldier, one must keep their body in peak working condition. If he becomes indisposed after inhaling the demonic energy, he will be a burden should anything happen on their way back to A City.
The condition on the second level is no different from the floor below, several withered bodies scattered around with heads smashed to a paste. It is smooth-sailing all the way up to the third level.
Stopping before unit 303, Huo Zaiyuan and Long Zhanye exchange a glance. Standing on either side of the door, Long Zhanye places a hand on the knob while Huo Zaiyuan prepares a talisman, ready to put down any undead that leaps out.
Breaking the lock is an easy feat. Pushing the door lightly, Long Zhanye quickly retreats back behind the wall. It swings open slowly, revealing a dark interior with no signs of life.
"No one's here…" Huo Zaiyuan whispers as he glances around.
"Go in and take a look." Tucking his pistol back into the holster at his waist, Long Zhanye unsheaths his sword.
"All right."
Even with minimal light shining into the house, the darkness is not an obstacle after their eyes adjust to the dimness.
There really is not a soul in sight. A thick layer of dust covers the surface of everything within and there are no signs of being disturbed. Searching the whole place once over, they meet in the hall, both shaking their heads.
"It been unoccupied for a while, and all the food has been taken with them." Long Zhanye hums in thought. "There was someone here with the knowledge of how to permanently kill zombies, and it quite possibly said person is an Ability User. Perhaps this Ability User rescued the occupants of this house and brought them somewhere."
"Then what should we do? Without finding his family, the mission would be a failure." Huo Zaiyuan's purses his lips.
"The glass door below is still intact and was locked from the inside. That means this entire block was already sealed in the early stages of the apocalypse. On top of that, there is someone killing the zombies in here, so the survivors are relatively safe. Unless they run out of food and water…" Long Zhanye analyses. "Let's search the floors above too. As long as they are within this block, we will find them eventually. Since we accepted this task, we should at least give the man some substantial information on whether his family is dead or alive."
"I know." Huo Zaiyuan intertwines his fingers with Long Zhanye's free hand. "Let's rest here for a bit. We'll leave the tasks of searching for survivors to 'them'."
A wave of his left hand and ten paper cranes appear. Flapping their wings, they begin to circle Huo Zaiyuan, glowing faintly silver.
"Go on." With a command from Huo Zaiyuan, the cranes fly out the door and down the hallway.
"Very convenient ah." Watching the last of them disappear out the door, Long Zhanye smiles. "My little Yuan is a treasure."
"Although this will save us the trouble of searching floor by floor, it is taxing in terms of spiritual energy. So I will be relying on you to protect me on the road back." Taking out an empty cardboard box from his space, Huo Zaiyuan lays it flat on the ground before sitting cross-legged on top.
"That's a given." Seeing Huo Zaiyuan close his eyes, he understands the other is concentrating on controlling the paper cranes. Therefore, he falls silent, standing guard over the youth.
Under his direction, the cranes search every room floor by floor. Through them, he discovers that the doors of many units have been battered down and any zombies found within lay dead, again with their heads reduced to pulp. Every food item in each house has also been taken by the person.
An hour passes and as he begins to feel his spiritual energy decrease past the halfway mark, his cranes finally arrive at the eleventh level. Indistinct sounds of human activity and faint conversations can be heard from within one of the units there. The voices sound weak and soft.
"I've found them. Eleventh floor, unit 1107." Beads of sweat gather on Huo Zaiyuan's brow, moistening the edges of his hair. Exhaling as he opens his eyes, he retrieves another tube of peach juice and drinks a mouthful of it to replenish his reserves.
"It's been hard on you. Rest a little first, then we'll head up." Crouching down, Long Zhanye pulls him close and holds a bottle of water in front of Huo Zaiyuan's lips for him to sip.
"Okay." Leaning against Long Zhanye's chest, he gulps down several mouthfuls of water. "The door is locked, so the paper cranes have no way of entering. But I could hear faints sounds from the inside. Their situation doesn't seem too good."
"If the survivors are all right in terms of personal safety, then the biggest issue is food and water. Although our mission is only to bring back that family if possible, we cannot disregard other survivors we come across," Long Zhanye says.
Surviving is everyone's main objective during the apocalypse, but this world does not only belong to one person. Humans are not meant to be solitary creatures. No matter how indifferent an individual is, if everyone else is either dead or turned into a zombie, then the lone survivor will surely be driven mad by the pressurizing environment coupled with eternal solitude.
Even if he is a soldier, Long Zhanye dares not call himself a good man. But if there is someone in need of rescuing right before his eyes, he can't not extend a helping hand. Let alone Huo Zaiyuan, who may seem indifferent to everything but actually possesses a soft heart.
Taking a few food items and water bottles from his space and stuffing them into the bag on his back, the two then sets off for the eleventh floor.
From the third level to the eleventh, one needs to climb upwards eight floors. Due to exerting quite a bit of energy when searching for the survivors, Huo Zaiyuan is panting heavily by the time they reach the ninth floor. At this moment, he is extremely grateful to the Ability User who cleared out all the zombies residing in this building. Or else, if he needs to kill undead as well as climb up these stairs, he would be suffering acutely.
"Do you want me to piggyback you?" Long Zhanye asks in concern, heart aching as he watches Huo Zaiyuan hunching over to catching his breath. "If you don't like that, I can always carry you."
"Don't need…" Leaning against the cool wall, he eyes Long Zhanye enviously. The man's breathing is still smooth and even as though he hasn't been walking up stair all this time.
After a small break, the pair continues their climb, quickly arriving outside unit 1107. Without Huo Zaiyuan controlling them, the ten paper cranes flitter aimlessly back and forth before the door. With a wave of his hand, the cranes disappear.
Long Zhanye lifts a hand and knocks on the door. "Is there anyone inside?"
Following the sharp rap, a series of noises erupt from within the house. A few moments later, a hoarse voice drifts out. "You…you are a human?"
"Of course. Zombies can't talk. Please open the door. A safe zone has already been established in B City's military district. All survivors are already making their way there," Long Zhanye replies.
Another series of noise rises, followed by the sound of heavy objects being moved. The door opens a tiny bit, enough for a dark eye to be seen peeking out.
"Really…they're really humans. Wearing military uniforms. The country hasn't given up on us…we're being rescued!" A raspy voice choked full of emotion rises.