055 Brother, Don't Be Rash

Bang, bang, bang! The frantic hammering echoed endlessly.

Fortunately, zombies lacked the intelligence to pull doors open, and equally fortunately, they lacked the coordination to push as one; otherwise, a single concerted charge would have completely shattered the fragile unit door.

"Ah..."

A stifled shriek slipped out from behind Qin Ya.

"Don't shout!"

"Shut up!"

Zhang Su and Qin Ya both glared at Yu Nuo, who had made the noise.

Zombies possessed no intellect, but their primal instincts were razor-sharp. Much like violent criminals, the more their victims screamed, the more excited they became!

Yu Nuo hurriedly raised a hand to cover her mouth, her eyes brimming with uncontainable terror. The swarm of zombies just a door away left her gasping for breath.

Liu Xuanyu, the youngest of the group, turned an ashen gray. He pressed his lips tightly together, his fists clenched so hard they trembled, managing to keep completely silent.

"This door won't hold much longer. Up to the upper floors, quickly!"

Qin Ya urged the others, taking the lead as he sprinted toward the stairwell.

Zhang Su had initially intended to head down to the parking garage, but considering the chaotic situation, any unexpected danger down there would cut off their only retreat. Gritting his teeth, he led Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan running upward as well!

The dense, chaotic patter of rapid footsteps echoed through the stairwell. The group had barely reached the third floor when a deafening crash reverberated from below.

The unit door met its heroic end as zombies trampled the collapsed barrier and surged into the building, their horrifying howls instantly echoing through the stairwell.

The group exchanged nervous glances. Although they knew zombies climbed stairs slowly, they still couldn't help speeding up their ascent.

Qin Ya even scooped up the young boy, Liu Xuanyu, into his arms and bolted at full tilt, calling out urgently, "Ninth floor! We're heading to the ninth floor, hurry!"

By the time the group burst through the door of apartment 902, they all collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily.

"Damn it! My legs went completely jelly!"

The tall, muscular man leaned his head back against the wall, a hint of a wry, surviving-against-the-odds smile touching his lips.

Zhang Su did not sit down. His gaze swept the room and locked onto the middle-aged man cowering in the corner. With a single stride, he reached him, bent down, and grabbed him by the collar, hoisting him up.

With a heavy thud, Zhang Su slammed the man hard against the wall. *Whoosh!* The notched blade of his heavy ax instantly pressed against the man's neck, the jagged edge gleaming with a cold, merciless light.

The entire sequence of movements was executed without a single wasted motion. Before the man could even process what was happening, he felt the freezing bite of steel against his throat and began pleading loudly, "Ah... Don't kill me, I'm sorry, please don't kill me..."

The middle-aged man appeared to be in his early fifties, wearing the uniform of a milk delivery service and a matching cap—evidently a milkman. His face was etched with panic, clearly terrified out of his wits by Zhang Su's sudden violence.

"Brother, take it easy! Calm down, don't do anything rash!"

Qin Ya sprang up from the floor as if propelled by coiled springs, attempting to placate him. "Brother, from this fellow's perspective, not letting you in wasn't strictly wrong. Don't do something you'll regret for the rest of your life!"

The atmosphere in the living room grew tense in an instant. Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan, too exhausted to rest, hurriedly stood up and flanked Zhang Su, keeping a wary eye on Qin Ya and the others.

More often than not, survival wasn't about right or wrong; it was about positions.

Zhang Su shifted his cold, piercing gaze away from the milkman, turned to look at Qin Ya, and licked his lips. "You're right. From his perspective, locking us out was fine. So now, from my perspective, settling a score with him—is there a problem with that?"

"No problem at all!" the tall man sitting on the floor chimed in. He stood up, pointed at the milkman, and snapped, "You're way too selfish, buddy! But hey, brother, you live on the eighth floor, right? Cool your temper. There are kids watching here, just cool down."

Seeing the calm, merciless glint in Zhang Su's eyes, Qin Ya had no doubt that the man would dare to kill the milkman. Yet he felt thoroughly baffled, unable to understand why someone who had just risked his life to save them could be so ruthless.

"Brother, listen to me. Let's put down the weapons and talk this out properly... The disaster has struck, and the outside world is an absolute hellscape, just like the apocalypse. At a time like this, we need to twist ourselves into a single rope; only through unity and cooperation do we stand a chance of survival!"

"Do me a favor and spare him. I already gave him a kick earlier—and it wasn't a light one, either! You all made it to safety without harm, didn't you?"

Qin Ya spread his hands, looking at Zhang Su with absolute sincerity, before gesturing toward the window. "Why don't you take a final look at your home? It's about to collapse."

Zhang Su's lips twitched slightly. He hadn't expected this SWAT officer to have such a sense of humor. If the guy had swaggered in throwing his weight around and citing laws and regulations, there wouldn't have been any point in talking at all!

"Fine, I'll grant the SWAT officer this favor!"

With that, Zhang Su released his grip and turned to walk toward the window.

Or rather, it wasn't so much a favor to the officer as it was a concession to the firearm strapped to the officer's back...

The milkman slumped to the floor like a deflated balloon, staring with lingering fear at Zhang Su's back as he swallowed hard. He had felt the icy touch of death just moments before, and had no doubt that without someone interceding, he would have been a dead man.

"What the hell... Oh, damn it!"

Hearing Qin Ya's words, the tall man also hurried over to the window, staring in dumbfounded shock at the building opposite. Calling it "collapsed" was an exaggeration, but a raging fire had already engulfed it, consuming nearly the entire structure from top to bottom, save for the first and second floors.

In barely a little over ten minutes, the fire had already reached an uncontrollable state.

Even standing twenty or thirty meters away, the group could feel the scorching heat. Turning the building into a hollowed-out shell was merely a matter of time.

"Brother, my name is Duan Wuhu, I live in 401. Looks like we're truly homeless now!"

The tall man, Duan Wuhu, wore a bitter expression as he extended his hand toward Zhang Su.

Zhang Su sighed and shook his hand. "My name is Zhang Su. You're right about that—I lived on the eighth floor."

"Well, look at that. One big fire, and we even saved the trouble of cremation! Wife, Mom, rest in peace!"

With that, Duan Wuhu pulled his brother, Duan Sihai, down to kneel before the window, knocking his head against the floor three times in the direction of his destroyed home.

The people inside the room exchanged heavy glances, never imagining that the Duan brothers' family had suffered such a devastating tragedy. Yet a second thought chilled them: survival might not truly be a stroke of luck; the real torment was only just beginning.

"This is my younger brother, Duan Sihai. Are these two beauties also from Building Three? You look a bit unfamiliar."

Duan Wuhu stood up after kowtowing, pulling his brother over to introduce them to Zhang Su's group while asking about the two women accompanying Zhang.

"Yes, I'm Zheng Xinyu, Brother Su's girlfriend! Nice to meet you, Wuhu and Sihai."

Zheng Xinyu warmly responded to Duan Wuhu, shaking hands with him.

"I, um... I live in 802. My name is Zhong Xiaoshan. Hello."

Zhong Xiaoshan felt too embarrassed to claim Zhang Su as her boyfriend; the two of them had merely shared a bed, and their relationship wasn't clearly defined. She certainly couldn't brazenly announce herself as the "other woman," so she simply glossed over it.

"These two young ladies aren't ordinary..."

Duan Wuhu rubbed his palms together as a gesture to the two women. When shaking hands earlier, he had distinctly felt the calluses on their palms, suggesting they hadn't been idle over the past few days.