Xie Li on the Zombie, the Zombie on Jin Zhaoye

Xie Li pressed down on the Zombie, and that Zombie pressed down on Jin Zhaoye.

Jin Zhaoye glanced at Xie Li, who had thrown herself recklessly to her side. A flash of complicated emotion crossed her eyes, but only for an instant—it was quickly suppressed. There was no time for overthinking now.

She swept her gaze across the chaotic rest room and spotted her handbag by the sofa.

'The bag is on the sofa, by the armrest—brown handbag. Xie Li, go grab it. You can't hold this door.'

Xie Li didn't argue. She knew exactly how strong Jin Zhaoye was. If she said it couldn't be held, then it definitely couldn't be held.

Her feet pivoted sharply. She lunged to the sofa, snatched up the bag, and in the same motion swung it up into the vent. Then she bent low and shoved the sofa toward the door.

The sofa scraped across the floor with a screeching sound, agitating the Zombies at the door even more.

After pushing the sofa, Xie Li went for the vanity table. The solid wood vanity was much heavier than the sofa. She gritted her teeth, veins bulging on her neck, and somehow muscled the vanity over to the door as well.

The two heavy pieces of furniture leaned together, temporarily blocking that tottering door.

Outside, the Zombies' impacts grew more violent with each hit. The sofa and vanity kept shifting. It was obvious these wouldn't hold for long either.

Xie Li threw herself to Jin Zhaoye's side. Face to face, they both reached out and pressed against the door panel.

Their bodies pressed together, breaths tangled.

Jin Zhaoye tilted her head to avoid the hot breath Xie Li exhaled between gasps. Even in her peripheral vision, she could still catch it—the little Alpha's cheeks flushed crimson, the veins standing out on her neck looking impossibly alluring.

She pressed her dry lips together and asked hoarsely, 'Why did you jump down? You were safe up there.'

'Huff...' Xie Li drew in a deep breath. 'Wait...I haven't caught my breath yet.'

Jin Zhaoye waited a moment, then spoke again: 'Aren't you afraid of dying?'

Once she'd steadied her breathing, Xie Li looked up at Jin Zhaoye. Her eyes were bright, as if brimming with starlight.

'Afraid. Terrified. So scared my heart's gone haywire.'

'Then why did you still come?'

Xie Li looked at her and broke into a grin.

'What can I do?' Her tone carried a note of helplessness. 'Dr. Jin said she was leaving her back to me. I can't exactly drop the ball at the critical moment, can I?'

Jin Zhaoye seemed momentarily dazzled by that smile. She was quiet for a beat before saying, 'Count down from three. We let go at the same time and run for the vent.'

Xie Li nodded at her.

'Three, two, one—run!'

They released the door simultaneously and spun around, sprinting toward the vent.

Behind them, the sofa and vanity were knocked further askew by the Zombies' battering. The gap in the door widened considerably.

Jin Zhaoye reached the spot beneath the vent, bent her knees, and cupped her hands together—a foothold for Xie Li to step into.

Without hesitation, Xie Li planted her foot in Jin Zhaoye's hands. With the upward boost, she leaped, caught the edge of the vent, and hauled herself up.

The instant she was inside the duct, she turned and reached down. 'Get up here, quick.'

Jin Zhaoye sprang up and gripped her hand. But before she could climb, the door was smashed open by the Zombies, and a flood of them poured in.

'Quick, don't worry about them. I can pull you up.' Xie Li shouted down urgently.

'No time, Xie Li. Let go—the Zombies will drag you down from the duct.' Jin Zhaoye released her hand of her own accord and swung her axe at the closing Zombies.

Her body swayed in midair, surrounded on all sides by Zombies. Xie Li couldn't hold her and could only watch helplessly as Jin Zhaoye fell back into their encirclement.

'DDr. Jin, I'll help you!' Xie Li clung to the vent, gripping her Baseball Bat and ready to jump down.

'Xie Li, don't come down. Go to the bathroom!' Jin Zhaoye called out while fighting, slowly retreating toward the bathroom.

Xie Li caught on immediately—there was another vent in the bathroom. She scrambled frantically through the duct, crawling toward that side. The wound on her knee banged against the metal plating, pain stabbing through her, but she couldn't spare it a thought.

The bathroom vent appeared before her eyes in no time. Xie Li lunged toward it, and the moment she saw the opening, a flash of panic seized her heart.

This vent was too small—far smaller than the one in the rest room. Only slightly larger than an average person's head. A small, slender child might be able to squeeze through, but an adult of Jin Zhaoye's height and long legs definitely couldn't fit.

Xie Li lay flat against the vent, peering down through that narrow slit.

Jin Zhaoye had already retreated to the bathroom doorway. Her back was to the bathroom door, one hand gripping her blood-dripping Fire Axe, the other braced against the doorframe, breathing hard.

Before her, the Zombies kept gathering, those pale faces swaying in Xie Li's field of vision, the excitement of an imminent catch thrumming through their snarls.

Jin Zhaoye swung her axe, mechanically hacking at the Zombies lunging at her. Her movements were no longer as crisp as before—she seemed to be at her limit.

Xie Li's eyes reddened. She shouted down: 'Dr. Jin, you can't fit through here.'

Jin Zhaoye didn't react. Perhaps she heard, but had no time to respond. She kept swinging her axe, Zombie heads dropping one after another before her.

Xie Li spun around instantly, scrambling on all fours back through the duct. The rest room vent was just ahead. She threw herself out of the opening.

Her landing produced a dull thud. Several Zombies turned their heads in unison and snarled as they lunged at her.

Xie Li glanced at them, ignored the Zombies charging toward her from behind, and scrambled to her feet, running for the door.

The door was still wide open, and the corridor outside was temporarily empty—the Zombies had all been drawn to Jin Zhaoye. But if she didn't shut the door, the noise here would attract every Zombie in the backstage area.

Xie Li reached the door and slammed it shut with all her might, locking it.

Behind her, the Zombies had already lunged. Xie Li had no time to turn around. On pure instinct, she rolled sideways and crashed onto the sofa.

A Zombie's claw grazed past her shoulder as it lunged, slamming into the door panel with a muffled bang.

Xie Li rolled off the sofa, pushed off the floor with her palms, and sprang up. She snatched up the Baseball Bat that had fallen to the ground and swung at the Zombie lunging at her again.

The bat smashed into the side of the Zombie's face. The shaft sank into the rotting flesh, chunks of meat and black blood spraying.

The Zombie lost its balance and toppled forward.

Xie Li gave it no chance to get back up. She raised the Baseball Bat high with both hands, aimed at the back of its skull, and brought it down with everything she had.

Two heavy thuds, and the Zombie finally stopped moving.

Xie Li didn't even have time to catch her breath before a sudden weight slammed onto her shoulder.

A grayish-white hand clamped down hard on her shoulder. The stench hit her. The Zombie opened its jaws wide and snapped toward her neck.

'Xie Li, careful!' Jin Zhaoye's anxious voice came from the direction of the bathroom.

'I'm fine. I'll be right there to help you.' Xie Li shouted back at her, then reversed her grip and jammed the bat backward into the Zombie's constantly opening and closing mouth.

The Zombie's teeth clamped down on the metal shaft with a series of crunching sounds.

That noise rang right by Xie Li's ear, making her scalp prickle. That bite force—if it had bitten her, she'd probably have died on the spot.

Before Xie Li could break free of the Zombie's grip, another one lunged at her from the front. A pale face, hollow eyes, jaws gaping wide, snapping toward her throat.

'Hey, could you guys show some sportsmanship? Who taught you to gang up on people?' Xie Li roared, snapping her leg up in a vicious kick.

Bang!

The kick landed square in the chest. The Zombie staggered backward several steps.

After dealing with the one in front, Xie Li gripped the arm of the Zombie on her shoulder with both hands. 'You—get off me too!'

She clenched her teeth, muscles straining. She bent forward and executed a clean shoulder throw.

The Zombie was hurled off her shoulder and crashed into the one that had just gotten back up. The two Zombies rolled into a tangled heap.

Xie Li grabbed a chair from the rest room, swung it with both hands in a wide arc, and smashed it down on those two Zombies—again and again—until they stopped moving.

She dropped the now-deformed chair, bent to pick up the Baseball Bat covered in bite marks, and ran toward the bathroom.

At the bathroom doorway, Jin Zhaoye was still swinging her axe. But her movements had slowed.

The axe sank into a Zombie's skull and had to pause for a beat before she could wrench it free.

Her breathing was rapid, her cheeks flushed, fine sweat beading at her temples. She looked like she was at her limit too.

Nearly ten Zombies still surrounded her.

Xie Li charged in and brought the bat down hard on the back of a Zombie's skull.

A sharp crack. The Zombie pitched forward. The instant it fell, Jin Zhaoye's axe came down and split its head from its body.

A gap opened in the encirclement. Xie Li slipped through and took her place at Jin Zhaoye's side, back to back with her.

Both of them were gasping for air. Through a layer of clothing, they could feel each other's equally frantic heartbeats.

The Zombies never tired, but they were flesh and blood. After round after round of fighting, their stamina had long since hit its limit.

Xie Li's arms and knees were shaking. She could barely keep her grip on the Baseball Bat.

Jin Zhaoye was even worse—burning up all over, her vision going black in waves. If not for sheer willpower keeping her upright, she would have been torn apart and devoured long ago.

'Still good?' Xie Li swung her bat to knock away the claws of the Zombie in front of her, asking the woman behind her.

'Mm.'

Jin Zhaoye responded, her voice low and hoarse. She gritted her teeth and swung her axe with everything she had, cleaving another Zombie's head from its body.

'Hold on a little longer. We're almost done.' Xie Li shouted encouragement, swinging her bat at the Zombies.

The two of them worked in perfect sync—Xie Li took out the knees, Jin Zhaoye blew off the heads. No words needed, as if they had fought side by side a thousand times before.

Zombie heads rolled across the floor. Soon, only two remained in the rest room.

'One each.' Jin Zhaoye barked low, swinging her axe at the one on the left.

The instant the axe came down, her arm suddenly went limp.

A cramp.

The strike didn't cut through. The blade lodged in the Zombie's skull, failing to finish it in one blow—and instead trapping the axe.

That Zombie, axe embedded in its head, black-red blood streaming down its forehead, looked even more grotesque.

It threw its jaws wide and lunged at Jin Zhaoye.

Jin Zhaoye bore the agony of the cramp and wrenched at the axe with all her might. The blade was locked tight in the skull—she couldn't pull it free in one go, and it had trapped her. The Zombie was already on top of her.

Instinct told Jin Zhaoye to sidestep and dodge, but Xie Li was right behind her, back to her, fighting the other Zombie.

If she dodged, that Zombie would tackle Xie Li.

Jin Zhaoye froze in place. She released the axe handle and drove her fist into the Zombie's head.

'Bang!'

Her fist smashed into the blood-and-flesh-covered face. The Zombie swayed from the impact but didn't fall. Instead, it seized the moment to grab Jin Zhaoye's unguarded arm and lunged, jaws snapping toward her.

'!!!'

Xie Li's eyes were wide with terror. She had just finished off her own Zombie, and the moment she turned her head, this was the scene that greeted her.

She threw herself forward without a second thought, using her own body as a weapon, slamming into that Zombie.

The two of them and the Zombie tumbled into a heap. Xie Li pressed down on the Zombie, and that Zombie pressed down on Jin Zhaoye.

Without a moment's hesitation, Xie Li shoved her own arm straight into the Zombie's gaping jaws.