Chapter 17: A Stench of Rotten Fish
1433 Words
The survivors on the 20th floor were all collapsed on the ground. Climbing ten floors in such a short time was nearly a fatal amount of exercise for these weak and hungry people. "Are you all okay?"
Chen Yang saw the two finally catch up and hurriedly stepped forward to inquire. Once he saw they weren't visibly injured, he breathed a sigh of relief. "We're fine, but that big zombie isn’t dead yet. It could rush up at any moment. Quickly, get everyone to the roof," Jian Ning said, no longer concerned about her earlier incident of being slapped. She helped the woman sitting in the corner and prepared to move upstairs.
"What’s wrong with you? You couldn’t even stop a few zombies! This isn't a rescue—it's putting us in danger!" The woman shook off Jian Ning’s hand, her face full of disdain, as if afraid the zombie's filthy blood might stain her.
Lin Yuan, who was busy cleaning zombie blood off himself, suddenly found her voice familiar and motioned for Chen Yang to come over. "Brother Yuan, what’s wrong?"
Chen Yang leaned in and quietly asked. Lin Yuan and Jian Ning’s actions in holding off the zombies had already earned his respect.
"Isn’t that woman the one who earlier mentioned her dad is Yang Chaoming?" Lin Yuan said, "The voice is almost identical, and it’s also in this building. No mistake about it."
Chen Yang glanced back at the woman still throwing a tantrum, then pulled Lin Yuan aside to the stairway, seemingly afraid of being overheard. "Brother Yuan, this woman is noisy, constantly complaining. Just don’t take her seriously."
Chen Yang didn’t answer directly, but the meaning in his words was clear.
"You risked your lives to rescue this?!" Lin Yuan muttered.
In such a crisis, not just any survivor could enjoy a special rescue team. Even the children of high-ranking officials didn’t have the right to summon a dedicated team, let alone a helicopter.
Unless, of course, this woman’s identity was very special.
"We weren’t sent to rescue her; we were sent for Professor Sun. Ah, no, our actual target is Professor Sun. He’s a biology expert, crucial for researching the zombie virus."
There were nine survivors on the 20th floor: Professor Sun, one of his students, the woman named Yang Jiaoli, her two male companions, and four others who were irrelevant.
"Something’s wrong! It seems like something is climbing up the elevator shaft!"
A bespectacled man standing close to the wall suddenly stood up, his face full of fear. He had been leaning against the wall, listening carefully, and the sounds inside were unnervingly clear.
"Everyone move upstairs! We’ll hold the line here and ensure no zombies break through!" Jian Ning stopped paying attention to Yang Jiaoli and ordered two of the team members to escort Professor Sun and his student upstairs.
"He must come too! I want him to protect me!" Yang Jiaoli, seeing no one paying attention to her, immediately darkened her expression. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, looking haughty.
Ordinary haughtiness can sometimes seem a bit cute, but her demeanor gave off a sense of detestable arrogance.
"Captain Chen, you’re not going to be much help here. Go on up."
Lin Yuan patted Chen Yang on the shoulder. "Rescue soldiers, out in the field, having to deal with people like this... What are we even doing?"
"No, Brother Yuan, I think she’s calling you!" Chen Yang still kept his voice low, but there was a hint of schadenfreude in his tone.
"Yes, I mean you! You look pretty capable—be my bodyguard from now on. Get me to the shelter, and I can get you whatever you want!" Yang Jiaoli pointed at Lin Yuan, her eyes filled with a predatory gaze.
Though she had been trapped in the building for seven days without contact with the outside world, she wasn’t stupid. She knew how valuable a capable person like Lin Yuan could be in the apocalypse. Even if it wasn’t for protection, having someone like him close by would certainly be more interesting than one of those big, dumb muscleheads. Most importantly, Lin Yuan had a warm and gentle appearance, but his aura was unique—probably due to the differences brought by the zombie evolution system.
"I'm a survivor, not part of the rescue team, and I’m definitely not interested in being your bodyguard." Lin Yuan didn’t like to stir up unnecessary trouble, but after clearly rejecting her, he walked over to the elevator door and kicked it open, revealing the empty shaft behind it. He stood ready for any attack.
Hearing Lin Yuan’s refusal, Yang Jiaoli’s face instantly darkened. Ever since she could remember, no one had ever dared to so blatantly refuse her "kindness."
Ignoring Jian Ning’s attempt to stop her, she pushed aside the people next to her and walked over to Lin Yuan.
"Do you even know who I am? Do you know how many benefits there are in being my bodyguard? If you do well, I might even consider making you my boyfriend!" Yang Jiaoli was attractive and not yet thirty, at the height of her playful years. But over the past few days, she seemed to have neglected her appearance—her makeup was sloppy.
"Could you stay a little further away? You smell like rotten fish!" Lin Yuan waved his hand in front of his nose in disgust. His enhanced senses from being a second-level zombie made all his perceptions sharper, and the stench of death was unmistakably coming from Yang Jiaoli.
"You!" Yang Jiaoli's face flushed with anger. She was enraged at having her dirty little secret exposed. She raised her hand, ready to scratch and throw a tantrum, as she often did. She had even made sure her nails were sharp enough for the job—she had used them before to ruin the faces of girls she disliked.
"It’s here."
Lin Yuan's lips curled into a smile as he took a subtle step to the side, easily dodging her attempt. At the same time, without her realizing it, he grabbed the collar of her shirt and yanked hard.
Yang Jiaoli had only meant to scratch him a bit to vent her anger. After all, the person she targeted usually didn’t fight back, just maybe pushed her away a little. If she scratched him, and maybe a bit of zombie blood accidentally got on him, it would be a death sentence with no cure. But this time, the person was gone, and she felt something tug her as she stumbled toward the elevator shaft.
The elevator shaft was twenty floors high, and who knew how many zombies were packed inside.
"Ahhh! Help!"
The only person who could save her now was Lin Yuan, who was closest.
"Sigh, sigh, sigh!"
Lin Yuan waited until Yang Jiaoli was on the verge of falling in before half-heartedly extending his hand, pretending to reach out, but not even coming close to touching her. "How did you get so clumsy? Really now!"
He walked closer to the edge and saw that Yang Jiaoli hadn't fallen all the way down. She was clinging to a steel rail inside the shaft, but her whole body was trembling with fear, and her face had turned pale.
"Help! Pull me up, quickly!" Gone was her earlier arrogance, replaced with pure desperation in her eyes.
"Captain Jian Ning! Save me!" She no longer dared to call out to Lin Yuan for help, her gaze now filled with fear when it landed on him. Yang Jiaoli wasn’t stupid—she knew there was no way she had fallen into the elevator shaft by accident. Only Lin Yuan, who was closest to her, could have done something.
"Quick! Someone help, find a rope!"
By this time, the other survivors had already been escorted to the rooftop. The only ones left were Yang Jiaoli's two male companions, Jian Ning, and Chen Yang. They exchanged a glance, knowing they couldn’t refuse, and hurried to the nearby fire hose cabinet to pull out a hose.
But it was already too late. A dark red zombie was quickly climbing up the elevator shaft, its figure becoming clearer with every passing second. The sound of trickling water from the hose soaked the red zombie, but it only increased its hunting desire. Its speed surged even more.
With a final leap, it grabbed Yang Jiaoli by the legs and sank its teeth into the middle of her body!
Her agonized screams echoed endlessly within the elevator shaft!
- Writer
