Back to the Apocalypse

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

"What happened?" Bai Jing was vigilant as he quickly activated his spiritual power. Unlike psychic ability users, he needed to consciously use his spiritual power in order to explore their surroundings.

"I don’t know. It just feels wrong." Xiao Sa frowned tightly. His intuition was telling him that danger was approaching. Ever since he became a third-level ability user, his intuition had grown more sensitive.

A sense of dread swept through them and made everyone's hair stand on end. The entire area seemed to freeze, leaving only endless darkness that seemed to flash with sharp teeth and claws, wanting to swallow everything in the vicinity.

"Ah--!" A sad scream pierced through the night sky!

"F*ck! Run--!" The noises came from behind them. Because it was the middle of the night, everyone could hear it clearly even though it wasn't close by. The place where the scream had come from was precisely the place they had just left. It had only been a few minutes since then, and they were only a few hundred meters away. If they had been one step slower…

Everyone’s heart was frozen. If they had been one step behind, they would probably be zombie food right now!

Li Ran was wide-eyed as he stared at what was taking place in horror, forcing himself to keep his composure and suppressing his scream, "Zom… Zombies… A lot of zombies, quick, drive faster--!"

At the end of the day, Bai Jing wasn't a psychic ability user and couldn't see things as clearly as Li Ran. He wrinkled his brow slightly, and he quickly calmed himself down, "Speak clearly and tell us the details!"

Perhaps his expression was too calm or his voice was too cold; Li Ran suddenly felt clearheaded, and he calmed down instantly. He carefully observed the situation in the distance, then opened his mouth to report clearly, "Huang Xiong was trying to catch up with us and had just boarded their coach when they were all surrounded by zombies. There are a lot of them, and I couldn't keep count. There isn't enough light to see any further away, but there are at least two thousand zombies behind us."

"Two thousand…" Wang Fan swallowed and felt an encroaching sense that life was dark and there was no light on the road ahead. “We're gonna die. Will we also encounter a zombie tide?"

“Get lost. Stop using your crow's mouth." Yang Lin retorted immediately, his eyes sparking with a raging fire as he cautiously took in the movements around him.

Only Xiao Sa was expressionless as he calmly switched on the walkie-talkie, “Everyone be on guard. Don't move about randomly. We're speeding up!" His voice was calm and steady, carrying with it a soothing force that calmed everyone down.

“Roger--” There was a tense reply on the walkie-talkie, and they could hear how nervous the speaker was just from their tone of voice.

Li Guoqing stomped on the throttle under his foot and charged forward. He really wished that the car would sprout a pair of wings.

The scent of blood wafted over on the night breeze, and they could see multicolored flashes as ability users used their powers in the distance from the rear-view mirror. It was clearly a very beautiful scene, but it was also a cruel one as one ray of light after another was snuffed out. Unwillingness, resentment, and despair spread through the air, and they could feel it even from their position so far away.

Huang Xiong’s eyes were red as he fought to get into the bus first. Only one out of the four coaches was still intact; the one that hadn't had time to open its doors before the attack began. Others saw the situation and also scrambled to get in.

“Damnit, hurry the hell up for Lao Tzu." Huang Xiong shouted hoarsely. At this time, he was no longer the self-satisfied character from before. Fear plagued his mind, and the bitterness in his heart seemed to have taken root and sprouted. He hadn't believed that the zombies would attack so suddenly, nor had he believed that Bai Jing and his group would have left in such a timely manner. When faced with the threat of death, he didn't even know if he would live on or not, but even if there was no hope for survival, even if it meant death, he would make sure to drag the people in front of him down with him.

More and more zombies swarmed together, and the ground was dyed bright red with blood. Pieces of corpses were scattered everywhere, and the zombies' mouths gaped open wide like starving beasts as they gnawed frantically at the fresh food in front of them.

A stomach churning odor spread through the air. Clearly only a few minutes had passed, but for Huang Xiong and the others, it seemed like it had been a century. Out of a team of more than a hundred people, there were only a few dozen people left. At this very moment, it was such an easy matter to give up on their teammates and betray those around them.

“Close the door--We're leaving--!"

After his roar, the people in the bus didn't hesitate to shut out their teammates who were still fighting the zombies outside. There were angry shouts full of despair, but what was the use of that? The bus charged forward and ran over the zombies up ahead, breaking out of the encirclement. It didn't dare delay for a single moment as it quickly sped away.

Seeing that the prey they had almost grabbed hold of was fleeing, the zombies' attacks grew even more vicious. The remaining ability users who were still alive fought like trapped beasts, killing until their eyes were red. In order to survive, they didn't hesitate to throw their teammates to the zombies. The flashes of light from the ability users came less and less often, and soon after, the night was once again restored to its original darkness, so quiet that not even the smallest ripple could be seen.

Li Ran had turned pale while watching the fierce battle taking place in the distance. "Huang Xiong is catching up. He's being followed by a large number of zombies. A total of about thirty people managed to escape."

Bai Jing raised his eyebrows and looked back, gazing coldly at the car lights that were following at a distance. "They were lucky."

Li Ran looked like he was having a little difficulty dealing with the sights he'd just seen. He looked at Xiao Sa and asked, “Brother Sa, did you know early on that the zombies would launch an attack tonight?"

Hearing his question, the people in the car all pricked up their ears. They were also curious about this, but Bai Jing was a little unwilling as he asked in a displeased tone, "Do you think we're that cruel?”

Li Ran hurriedly shook his head, “No, Huang Xiong didn't have good intentions, and I don't feel any sympathy for him. Only, it's a bit hard watching the zombies eat people."

Wang Fan sighed and patted Li Ran on the shoulder. He spoke with great solemnity, "Child, if it hadn't been a zombie raid tonight, perhaps we'd still have been attacked. Huang Xiong is not a simple character. He is very calculating and was definitely planning out how to take advantage of us and reap some profit. Don't think too much. Those people deserved what they got."

Li Ran was astonished. How could this be?

Yang Lin sneered and rubbed his little head. “Little brother, kindness is a good thing but don't be naïve! Be careful and avoid the big gray wolf."

Li Ran's expression was stiff. His face twitched slightly, and he couldn't help shouting in his heart: Little brother?! You're the little brother! Your entire family are all little brothers!!

Bai Jing pursed his lips and smiled, then said nothing more. Li Ran was still young, and even though he had experienced the end of the world, his heart still preserved a little purity. If it was five or ten years from now, he wouldn't be thinking this way. Currently though, although supplies were scarce, he could at least find food to eat. Wait until a few years after the apocalypse when food ran out, and people began to eat each other; other than numbness, no feelings of compassion, sympathy, and love might ever appear on human faces again.

Xiao Sa quietly stared out the window and finally answered in a very indifferent tone, “I didn't know about the zombies' night raid. We set out at two in the morning just in case. According to the information about zombies attacking cities, they usually act at night. If I haven't guessed wrong, we would be surrounded by zombies right now."

“What did you say?” Yang Lin’s body tensed up, and the hair all over his body stood on end. His entire being was ready for battle.

Xiao Sa frowned and gently pressed his fingers against his forehead, “The zombies have indeed developed intelligence. If we hadn't left ahead of time today, it wouldn't have been long before the zombies attacked."

Wang Fan’s mind turned, and he immediately came up with the answer, “You mean to say that the zombies were going to surround us and then destroy us, but they hadn't expected that we would suddenly leave and disrupt their plan. The zombies then couldn't hold back and attacked Huang Xiong and the others instead. That way, at least they would still have caught a batch of people even if another group had escaped."

“You’re right.” Xiao Sa nodded and did not deny it.

“Tsk!” Wang Fan mourned for Huang Xiong and unexpectedly felt a little sympathy for him. With Xiao Sa’s means, it seemed that even if Huang Xiong escaped the zombie encirclement, he still wouldn't be able to escape tonight. He spoke with certainty, "You took in Huang Xiong's team as scapegoats right from the beginning, to use them to delay the zombie attack and give us time to escape.”

Xiao Sa's gaze was calm as he looked at him impassively. That had been the general idea.

Wang Fan let it go, "Okay then! In that case, Brother Sa, what should we do now?"

Wang Fan felt that he must have gone mad. Clearly, the situation was so tense, but he didn't feel worried at all. After speaking with Xiao Sa, he inexplicably felt that this man with the paralyzed face would definitely be able to bring them out of this predicament. Where the hell did this damned trust come from——?

“I don’t know.” Xiao Sa replied indifferently. No hint of emotion could be heard from his mild tone.

“You actually said you don’t know--” The veins on Wang Fan's forehead pulsed as he exclaimed. The feeling of trust he had felt just now must have been an illusion.

Xiao Sa frowned, “At present, the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light. We can only wait for the zombies to come out before we make any plans."

“Ah­­--” Li Ran suddenly cried out.

“What’s wrong?” Wang Fan looked concerned. He thought that Li Ran must have seen something again.

Before Li Ran could speak, Li Guoqing braked sharply and looked ahead with wide eyes. He stammered, “The… the zombies are here!"

All of them turned their heads and cursed. The car's headlights illuminated the scene up ahead where a densely packed horde of countless zombies was slowly dragging their rigid bodies forward.

“F*ck! This time, we're really going to die." Yang Lin was dumbstruck. He realised in desperation that in the face of thousands of zombies, breaking out of the encirclement was nothing but a fool's dream.

“How could this happen? Huang Xiong wasn't as unlucky as Lao Tzu. There were only two thousand or so zombies before. Damnit, could it be that that scum has a better character than Lao Tzu?" Wang Fan was depressed as he cursed hatefully before vigilantly looking around. He hesitated for a second, “Should we turn around and go back?”

“No, going back is even less safe." Bai Jing firmly rejected this suggestion. He was deeply relieved in his heart; these zombies were stiff, and they were nothing but the lowest level, ordinary zombies. As long as guns and bullets worked, dealing with them wouldn't be difficult. He exchanged glances with Xiao Sa, his eyes full of determination and self-confidence.

When Yang Lin saw their calm looks, his eyes darted back and forth as he asked, “What do you guys have in mind?”

“Kill our way out.” Bai Jing opened the car door and jumped down with sharp movements.

“You’re crazy!” Wang Fan shouted even as his outstretched palm grasped empty air. He had only managed to catch the corner of Bai Jing's clothing.

Yang Lin was tongue-tied, his head turning towards Xiao Sa. Bai Jing was so precious to him; Xiao Sa would never ignore his lover's safety.

“Everyone pay attention. Get ready to fight. Don’t let the zombies get close to you.” Xiao Sa ordered lightly, then followed Bai Jing and also jumped out of the car.

“Damnit.” Wang Fan clutched at his head in agitation. He didn't know what he was supposed to do when faced with these two self-indulgent people. What was going on?! He hatefully picked up his weapon and hurried to follow suit, "Lao Tzu is going to risk it all!"

Yang Lin grinned, picked up his beloved little wife, told Li Ran not to move, and casually jumped out of the car. He didn't believe that Xiao Sa and Bai Jing didn't know what they were doing.