(Heurn Province- Fagong City)
(Inner Region- Garren District)
Two cars slowly drove through the ruined city where dozens of zombies could be seen roaming around in the distance.
Fagong city was now merely a shadow of its former glory.
Skyscrapers had collapsed, there were large cracks in the road and broken windows could be seen everywhere.
Fires raged in the distance and sewage pipes had exploded leaving suspiciously brown pieces of sludge in the drains.
Some survivors had spray painted cries for help or obscenities on the walls that were still barely standing.
Corpses were littered on the ground in various states of decay.
It was hard to look at the ones from young children who were still being held tightly in their parents' arms.
Not all of the corpses were the result of zombie attacks.
There were some with shards of ice in their skulls or pieces of metal embedded in their throats.
Qin Lan glanced at the driver seat mirror and saw the mother daughter pair sleeping blissfully in the back seat without a care in the world.
Perhaps they had not gotten any sleep for the past few days and now a wave of exhaustion was affecting them both.
The car behind them was driven by Gong Li and it was carrying the three remaining women who were rescued from the blood hound gang.
It was fortunate that there were quite a few abandoned cars with keys still in their ignition port and gas left in their tank.
Slash!
In front of the cars, Eve and Liu Yifei were currently fighting the zombies that wandered over because of the loud noise.
Sweat ran down the sides of Liu Yifei's brows as she held a knife in her trembling hands.
She took in a few deep breaths as she tilted her head to the side and narrowly avoided a zombie's outstretched hands.
The scent of rotting and decaying meat filled the air which caused her nose to wrinkle up in disgust.
Eve had already dealt with the zombies on her side and was looking at Liu Yifei with an air of casual indifference.
Qin Lan had told her to only intervene in the case of a life and death situation because Liu Yifei needed to learn how to fight on her own.
Liu Yifei rolled on the ground ungracefully as she dodged a rotting foot that was swung in her direction.
She scrambled to feet and ignored the dirt and grime that covered her legs. The zombie in front of her was a middle-aged man with a large gaping wound in his stomach.
Pinkish intestines spilled out of his body and yet the zombie seemed to be completely unaffected by the damage.
Liu Yifei rushed forward and used her momentum to cut off the zombie's neck in one fell swoop.
She then raised up her foot and slammed it down on the still blinking head with all the strength that she had left.
The head exploded and one could see a tiny purplish-black crystal hidden inside the foul-smelling brain matter on the ground.
Liu Yifei turned away and vomited. She felt sick.
Everything about this situation made her want to give up and return to the lake.
And yet the teenage girl forced her head to turn around and walked towards the zombie's crushed skull to collect the crystal.
She needed to get stronger.
She needed to be able to protect Gong Li.
"Good job. I will take the rest from here," Eve bluntly replied as she swung her black claws and neatly bisected an incoming zombie in half.
Liu Yifei wanted to argue but her trembling arms and legs told her that she was in no state to continue fighting.
She thanked Eve who gave her a small nod before walking towards the cars that were following close behind.
Liu Yifei passed the car that Qin Lan was driving and entered the shotgun seat of the second car.
She let out a heavy sigh and grabbed a bottle of water from the ground.
"Are you okay?" Gong Li asked with concern evident in her voice.
The three passengers in the back seat of the car gagged slightly since the zombies' foul odours were still clinging on Liu Yifei's clothes.
Of course, none of them dared to mutter a word of complaint since they were all afraid that these rescuers would leave them behind.
"Yeah… I just… still getting used… to all this…" Liu Yifei muttered quietly as she gestured towards the ruined city.
"I know it can be a lot… but I'll always be by your side," Gong Li promised solemnly as she gave Liu Yifei's hand two quick squeezes.
Liu Yifei shot her girlfriend a grateful look and then unscrewed the top of her water bottle. She took a small sip and the cool liquid instantly made everything a little bit better.
Gong Li was tempted to kiss Liu Yifei on the lips, but she didn't know how her girlfriend felt about public displays of affection in front of strangers.
She lightly stepped on the pedal and the car moved further into the city. Gong Li hummed softly as she tried her best to navigate the destroyed roads.
She was a decent driver but could not avoid going over some bumps that made the car ride quite unpleasant.
After around five hours of travelling, Qin Lan could see a large mall in the distance that was surrounded by a makeshift barricade.
Cars had been piled up to form the first layer of protection while the second layer was a large wall made from rock and stone.
There was only one entrance leading to the mall and it was guarded by men and women carrying knives and machetes.
A few survivors dressed in rages or damaged clothing would approach the entrance and be directed to a side passageway where a man wearing a white lab coat would examine them.
Qin Lan stopped the car a few hundred meters away from the entrance but had already attracted the attention of the guards.
A woman with a hideous scar across her face muttered something to the man beside her and walked towards their vehicles.
"Are you sure that this is your son's base?" Qin Lan asked the woman in the back seat who was now awake.
"Yes… he told me that his base was the old mall in the heart of the city," Sun Li replied with a trace of hesitation in her voice.
Qin Lan sighed and unbuckled her seat belt. She opened the car door and approached the woman with an emotionless mask on her face.
"What is your purpose?" the female guard asked sternly.
"We're here to drop off your boss' family. A woman called Sun Li and her daughter do those names sound familiar to you?" Qin Lan replied in an even tone.
There was no hint of fear or panic in her voice at the sudden interrogation.
This was due the confidence that Qin Lan had in her ability as well as the fact that Eve was hiding just out of sight.
One false move by the female guard and the zombie empress would kill her and everyone else that tried to hurt her favourite human.
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