"*Pant, pant...*" Inside Longxing Grand Pharmacy, Tan Hui's chest heaved up and down.
Catching his breath, he looked at Yue Hao beside him. "I didn't think it would be this easy. Way easier than I imagined!"
Leaving Yingbin Restaurant, apart from two brief pauses behind cover along the way, they had sprinted to Longxing Grand Pharmacy almost in a single breath.
Except for two zombies chasing them just as they neared the entrance, everything had gone remarkably smoothly.
On top of that, Yue Hao's footwork had been slick and agile, looking extraordinarily professional.
Yue Hao drew a few deep breaths and gave a wry smile. "Don't get too optimistic. Those things out there may have no brains, but their vision and hearing are razor-sharp. If there were more of them, it wouldn't have been nearly so simple."
"Hey, what did you do before? You move so fast."
"Trained in the military before... Keep watch behind me and light the way with your flashlight. This place might not be safe."
Yue Hao gave the brief instruction and led Tan Hui deeper into the pharmacy.
Longxing Grand Pharmacy covered a massive area.
Rows of shelves stood packed with all sorts of pharmaceuticals and health supplements, alongside a sizable medical equipment section.
The two moved forward cautiously, one behind the other.
After patrolling the entire ground floor and finding no trace of anyone, they finally let out a sigh of relief.
Tan Hui pulled several plastic bags from his pocket and began picking medicines off the shelves.
Yue Hao stayed vigilant at his side, though he asked, "Tan Hui... do you have a death wish?"
Tan Hui's hands paused for a moment before resuming their task. "Why do you ask that?"
"A gut feeling. Out of everyone, you act like the most well-adjusted, running around helping people. I can tell you're kind, but it's bordering on excessive. It looks more like an overcompensating stress response."
"I... I don't want to die... I just don't know how to keep living..." Tan Hui's eyes welled with tears, though his hands never stopped gathering medicine. "Everyone's dead. I've lost touch with my family and friends, and the country is gone. What are we supposed to do from now on? I really don't know. I can't bear to see any more dead people, and on my own... I can't survive."
As he said this, Tan Hui's tears spilled over despite his efforts.
Yue Hao rubbed the bridge of his nose and said mournfully, "Things will get better. The country will come to save us. This disaster struck suddenly and on a massive scale... but to a modern army, those walking corpses are nothing. A lot of military units are self-contained bases that wouldn't have been hit by the rain.
"Once they receive word from the outside, they'll take the cities back. Longshan is bound to be a top-priority target. As long as we hold out, there's hope."
"Yeah." Tan Hui gave a tearful nod.
They quickly finished collecting the needed medicines from the ground floor.
The two headed for the second floor, with Yue Hao still leading the way, blade drawn.
Just as he stepped onto the final stair of the second floor, Yue Hao's expression changed abruptly. He reached out to bar Tan Hui behind him. "Don't move!"
"What is it?"
"I think I saw a dark shadow flash past. Did you see it?"
"I didn't see anything." Tan Hui immediately tensed up, sweeping his flashlight all around.
"Retreat! Forget the rest, we're heading back right now!"
Yue Hao made an instant decision, wheeling around and pulling Tan Hui back down the stairs.
Just as their feet hit the second step down, both men froze.
A faint sound of weeping drifted from upstairs.
"It's a child," Tan Hui said, looking at Yue Hao.
Yue Hao pondered for a second, then nodded and crept back upstairs.
Hugging the side of the room, they swept their flashlights across row after row of shelves.
Near the middle, they spotted the figure of a child lying over a corpse.
Yue Hao bypassed it directly and kept checking the remaining shelves.
Only after scouring every corner and confirming there were no other living creatures besides the child did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"Mm... looks like it was just this kid earlier. He's the only one. Let's go take a look."
The two stepped forward, finally getting a clear view.
It was indeed a child, dressed in children's clothes, weeping over the corpse of someone who appeared to be a pharmacy worker.
There didn't seem to be any danger—after all, zombies couldn't cry.
Both men crouched down simultaneously, and Tan Hui reached out toward the child.
"Hey, kid—*spurt!!*"
Before the words left his mouth, horror struck!
A small, slender arm plunged straight into Tan Hui's chest. Before Yue Hao beside him could react, the tiny figure lunged, jaws snapping toward his neck!
The mouth was small, but the teeth were razor-sharp!
"*Ugh... kack...*" Yue Hao's eyes bulged as blood erupted from his throat.
A rapid squelch of writhing flesh was followed by the sharp crunch of shattered bone.
The child's entire face buried itself into Yue Hao's neck, biting clean through the cervical vertebrae.
Tan Hui had not yet drawn his final breath. He watched in helpless horror as Yue Hao's throat was torn apart, his head dangling by a scrap of skin at the nape of his neck.
When Yue Hao's severed head flopped backward against his back, the last spark of light faded from Tan Hui's eyes, and the pharmacy fell dead silent once more.
Inside Yingbin Restaurant, Ding Jia waited anxiously by the crack in the window blinds.
More than ten minutes had passed. Normally, once they had the medicine, they would have hurried back.
Yet there was no sound at all... Had something gone wrong?
Ding Jia looked outside, then glanced back at her mother, who remained unconscious.
Every second was sheer torment.
As she watched, Ding Jia's pupils suddenly dilated. A car pulled into view, stopping right outside the pharmacy.
Three heavily armed men stepped out, carrying bows and slinging guns.
The leader turned to speak. Catching a faint glimpse of his face, Ding Jia's heart pounded furiously.
Almost beyond her control, she spun around and shouted, "The aliens are here to save us! The alien—*mph!!*"
"Shut your fucking mouth! You threw those damn basins around and drew all the zombies over," the tattooed man snapped, stepping up and clamping a hand over Ding Jia's mouth. "Crazy bitch! You have to lose your mind multiple times a day, don't you?"
"*Mmm, mmm!*" Ding Jia pulled the tattooed man's hand away with all her might, crying excitedly, "They're right outside! Look for yourself if you don't believe me!"
The tattooed man poked his head toward the window, then shot Ding Jia an irritated glare. "There's nobody out there! Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're a psycho. If you spew any more bullshit, I'll beat you senseless!"
"I told both of you to put your helmets on. What was the point of bringing them if you're not going to wear them?" inside the pharmacy, Su Jin spoke with irritation.
"Aren't you not wearing one either?" Cheng Du grumbled with a pout. "That thing is stuffy as hell and blocks my view—I can't even spit fire properly with it on. There isn't much danger right now anyway. Why don't we put them on when we get to the hospital?"
"Yeah, Director, don't stress over it. We're different from you; you're the only one who really needs a helmet."
"Heh, keep pissing me off, damn it... Turn on your flashlights! Go straight to the second floor for the medicine, then we leave immediately."
"Aren't we grabbing any common medicines?"
"We scavenged a ton from the residential complex—more than we could ever use. No need to waste time and space. You two take the front; I'll watch the rear."
Bringing up the rear, Su Jin unzipped the bag slung across his chest with his left hand.
With a sweep of his right arm, a long row of unidentified medicines rattled as they clattered into the bag.
Before heading out, he had deliberately cleared out space inside.
Hearing the racket behind them, Cheng Du and Fu Hu turned around at the same time, looking at Su Jin in confusion.
"Just scraped against something. It's nothing, keep moving!"
The three made their way toward the second floor. Halfway up the stairs, they stopped in unison and tilted their heads back.
"There's a kid crying? A survivor!" Fu Hu took the stairs several steps at a time, rushing upward.
Su Jin frowned. With a running leap, he kicked off the wall, vaulting directly up to the second floor and cutting Fu Hu off.
"What's the rush! Let me check things out first."
"That's a kid, Director... What could go wrong?"
"Shh! Check for risks first."
Hugging the side of the room, the three swept their flashlights across row after row of shelves.
Finally, the beams halted at the center, converging on the small child lying on the floor, softly whimpering.
Three corpses lay in this spot, surrounded by pools of blood. All three seemed to have died only moments ago.
"This kid sure is lucky. Good thing he ran into us!" Fu Hu remarked, turning to Su Jin. "Director, why don't we take him along? Putting him in the trunk should be fine."
Su Jin took a step forward, his eyes fixing on the child while his other hand pressed against the grip of his gun..."
Chapter 49