The Two of Them, Skin to Skin, Pressed Close Together

Before long, Jin Zhaoye came back holding her phone.

She stood in the center of the dressing room, swept her gaze over the group, and announced a piece of good news: 'The military will be sending people to rescue us.'

Zhou Yu's face lit up. She clapped a hand over her mouth and gasped, 'Really?'

'Really.' Jin Zhaoye's own expression eased a little.

Having finished her call with Fu Yunsheng and learned what was happening outside, she felt the knot in her chest loosen somewhat. The whole country was in chaos, but the military was still holding on — the situation was manageable for now. Once the troops had a hand free, rescue operations could begin.

Liu Zhaoyang broke into a smile as well. As Jin Zhaoye's most devoted academic fan, the moment she heard the name A Yun, she knew exactly who had been on the other end of that call.

Fu Yunsheng — eldest daughter of the Fu Family, the youngest major general in the military, an S-rank Alpha, the dream partner of every Omega in existence, and Jin Zhaoye's fiancée.

If Major General Fu said she would send people, it was as good as done. They were going to make it out alive.

Luo Peishan let out a tiny cheer: 'That's wonderful — so we just have to stay here and wait for the military to come get us?'

Jin Zhaoye shook her head. 'The people on campus are too scattered. The military won't have enough manpower to search for everyone one by one. We need to find our own way to the Top Floor.'

'The Top Floor?' Zhou Yu sounded puzzled.

'Helicopters can only land in open areas. The Top Floor is the safest and most suitable option.' Jin Zhaoye explained.

Zhou Yu nodded thoughtfully, then raised a key question: 'Should we... let everyone know? There must still be a lot of people trapped on campus.'

She chose her words carefully — if the helicopter was only coming for Jin Zhaoye, there might not be room for everyone.

Jin Zhaoye glanced at Zhou Yu, reading her concern at once, and gave a firm answer: 'The country will not abandon a single person. Let's spread the word for everyone to gather at the Administrative Main Building.'

Xie Li had not joined the conversation since it began — she had been quietly turning over in her mind who that phone call had been for. It was only when she heard 'let everyone know' that she snapped back to the present, pulled out her phone, opened her chat with Lan Ran, and typed out a message.

[The military is sending a rescue team. We need to gather at the Top Floor of the Administrative Main Building.]

Lan Ran replied instantly: [Seriously? Where did you hear that? Don't let someone trick you into walking out there to feed the Zombies.]

[Your goddess made the announcement. You decide whether it's true.]

The chat window went silent for a full ten seconds. Then messages came flooding in like a tide.

[????]

[You're with her?]

[You ran into each other?]

[Is she okay?]

[Is she hurt? Tell me everything right now!]

Xie Li stared at the wall of messages and could perfectly picture Lan Ran on the other end, bouncing off the walls with anxiety.

She typed back at a leisurely pace: [Calm down. She's safe, and she hits hard. You should worry about yourself.]

Lan Ran fired off another string of messages that boiled down to one thing: protect my goddess and your own life!

Xie Li replied: [Yeah, yeah, I'll protect your goddess. You protect yourself too — see you on the other side.]

She pocketed her phone and looked up to find that the others in the dressing room had gathered in a circle, murmuring among themselves.

Jin Zhaoye stood in the middle, holding a marker she had produced from somewhere, sketching a rough map on the wall.

Her shirt cuffs were casually rolled up, baring a stretch of pale wrist — the tendons and bones balanced and even, the lines taut with the kind of definition that only years of training leave behind.

On that wrist sat a simple mechanical watch, its strap resting snug against the wristbone, shifting ever so slightly each time she raised her arm.

Xie Li realized, for the first time, that hormones could apparently seep right through a shirt. This woman had done nothing but expose a single wrist, and it was already almost unbearably attractive.

She stared at that wrist for a moment longer before finally pulling herself together and walking over to join the group.

Zhou Yu stood beside Jin Zhaoye, holding up her phone — on the screen was a floor plan of Nancheng University.

'We are here.' Jin Zhaoye drew a circle to mark their current position, then drew another circle elsewhere. 'The Administrative Main Building is here.'

Between the two circles stretched a considerable distance.

'In between is the main campus road, the Canteen, and the sports field.' Jin Zhaoye's pen traced several routes across the wall.

'If we go in a straight line, we'll be exposed on open ground for a long stretch and risk getting surrounded by Zombies. If we move through the buildings, we risk getting cornered by Zombies inside. Neither option is significantly safer than the other.'

As Jin Zhaoye laid out her analysis, the faces around the room grew tense.

Luo Peishan asked quietly, 'Can we... actually get there safely?'

Facing these young people, Jin Zhaoye could not bring herself to give a reassuring answer.

There were still over a hundred Zombies roaming outside. She might be able to break through alone — but bringing all of them along was a risk she could not calculate.

Xie Li watched the tight set of Jin Zhaoye's jaw and felt a sudden flicker of irritation.

Strange — why were these people putting all their hope on Jin Zhaoye's shoulders? She wasn't some savior. The Apocalypse was here. Whether you lived or died came down to yourself, didn't it?

'Hey!' Xie Li clapped her hands, drawing everyone's eyes.

'If you miss the military rescue, the food in this dressing room won't last you more than a few days.' She shrugged. 'Starving to death is no fun. You might end up fighting each other over scraps.'

The room went silent for a beat.

Every face in the room shifted into a complicated expression. Zhou Yu grabbed the Mineral Water off the table and hurled it at Xie Li.

'Xie Li, do you have to be so disgusting?!'

Xie Li caught the Mineral Water with a grin, twisted off the cap, and took a long swig. 'Thanks, Zhou Yu — how did you know I just woke up and was a little thirsty?'

'Who cares if you're thirsty! Don't you dare say anything that gross again!' Zhou Yu puffed up indignantly.

'Exactly!' Liu Zhaoyang nodded in vigorous agreement.

After the brief burst of laughter, the atmosphere in the dressing room actually lightened. Everyone agreed that Xie Li had a point — staying in the dressing room was a dead end.

Even if another rescue came later, no one knew how long that would take.

They were clear-eyed about their own situation: if Jin Zhaoye weren't here, the military would never have spared resources at the very start of the Apocalypse to rescue a group of unremarkable university students.

Jin Zhaoye watched the young people find their footing again, and something warm flickered briefly in her eyes.

She spoke: 'I have another plan.'

'What plan?' Xie Li jumped in immediately.

Jin Zhaoye looked at the rough map she had drawn. 'You wait in the Auditorium. I'll go get a car and come back to drive you all to the Administrative Main Building. That way we minimize the risk.'

'No way!' Xie Li was the first to object. 'If you go out alone, you're just shifting all the risk onto yourself. I don't agree!'

'Right, we can't just sit here and let you do everything.' Liu Zhaoyang chimed in.

Jin Zhaoye did not argue. Instead, she asked an unrelated question: 'Have you figured out how to notify everyone?'

Zhou Yu nodded. 'Just now, I posted on the campus forum. Quite a few people should see it.'

'But not everyone has their phone on them. A lot of people still won't get the message.'

Jin Zhaoye laid out her plan: 'There should be a Drone in the Auditorium. I need to go to the equipment room anyway — I'll find the Drone while I'm there, use the PA system to notify everyone, and then head to the Parking Lot to get a car. You all just stay here and wait.'

Her reasoning was sound, and the others looked at one another, unable to find a counter-argument.

Xie Li wasn't buying it — she was not about to be left behind: 'I'm coming with you. I came to the Auditorium to keep you company in the first place. Two people can watch each other's backs.'

'I want to go too.' Liu Zhaoyang worked up her courage and raised her mop handle. 'I can help.'

'That won't be necessary.' Jin Zhaoye did not want to bring anyone.

Xie Li refused to give up and kept pressing: 'Dr. Jin, we're teammates — how can you just abandon a teammate? No man left behind, remember?'

Jin Zhaoye, worn down by the pestering, finally relented: 'Then Xie Li comes with me.'

'Yes!'

Xie Li's face broke into a wide smile, her eyes curving like crescents — as if she had just struck a very good deal.

With the plan settled, Jin Zhaoye glanced at her watch. It was already past six in the evening.

'Eat something first. Build up your strength before we head out.' Jin Zhaoye said.

Xie Li opened her backpack — it was stuffed to bursting with supplies she had raided from the supermarket.

She rummaged through it and pulled out several squashed bread rolls, handing them around to Zhou Yu and the others. 'Eat the perishables first. Keep your spicy strips and candy — those give you sugar and salt, and in a pinch they're more useful than bread.'

Zhou Yu took the bread and murmured her thanks.

Xie Li dug further into her backpack and produced a can of eight-treasure congee, which she held out to Jin Zhaoye. 'Want some?'

'Thank you.' Jin Zhaoye reached out and took it.

They all settled in together to eat. Zhou Yu and the others had barely had anything all day — the morning's outbreak had come so suddenly that their nerves had stayed wound tight, leaving no room to feel hunger.

Now, with the sweet scent of bread in the air, they finally noticed the hollow ache in their stomachs. Even so, no one had much of an appetite; they chewed mechanically, going through the motions.

Xie Li, on the other hand, ate with genuine enthusiasm. The distance she had covered today, the Zombies she had fought, the energy she had burned — it was more than she had expended in any ordinary day by a wide margin.

She had woken from that nap with her legs still aching and her stomach growling loudly.

She tore into her bread and washed it down with Mineral Water, eating with obvious relish.

This body was young, after all — or perhaps it was simply that an Alpha's constitution was genuinely better than average. Not like the body she had inhabited before crossing over, which would be gasping for air after a three-kilometer run and unable to walk the next day from the leg pain.

Then again, if that body had been any good, she wouldn't have dropped dead from working a few extra days straight. A fragile university student — the reputation was well-earned.

Once she had finished eating and drunk some water, Xie Li stood up and stretched her limbs.

'I'm going to use the bathroom.' She called out to the group and headed toward the small door at the back of the dressing room.

The space they were in was a large dressing room with a private bathroom attached — enough to take care of basic needs.

Xie Li went in, shut the door, and checked the back of her head in the mirror. The lump was still there, tender to the touch.

She used the toilet, washed her face, and scrubbed away the remaining Iodine Tincture and Medicine Ointment — her skin was still mottled with color, but much better than before, and the wounds no longer stung the way they had earlier in the day.

Feeling put-together again, Xie Li stepped out of the bathroom, refreshed and alert. She fished two flashlights out of her backpack and handed one to Jin Zhaoye.

'So, Dr. Jin — are we heading out now?'

Jin Zhaoye took the flashlight. 'Let's go.'

Xie Li picked up her baseball bat and fell in behind her. The two of them walked to the door; Jin Zhaoye tilted her head and listened — outside was quiet, no sound of Zombie footsteps for now.

She eased the door open and peered out. The corridor was empty, the light even dimmer than it had been during the day, and the smell of rot a little thicker.

The two of them slipped out; Liu Zhaoyang pulled the door shut behind them.

As before, Jin Zhaoye took the lead while Xie Li watched their rear.

They moved with careful, quiet steps. They had gone no more than a few dozen meters when they came across several Zombies drifting through the corridor.

Jin Zhaoye made a gesture behind her back; Xie Li understood at once. The two of them held their breath, lightened their steps, and eased slowly toward the other side.

Just as they turned the corner, another Zombie came walking straight toward them.

Jin Zhaoye reacted instantly — she grabbed Xie Li and pulled her into a recessed doorway. The two of them pressed together, skin to skin, holding each other close.