Apocalypse Ground Zero: Refusing To Leave Home-Chapter 68: A Whole New World

The SUV was already moving when Lingyun registered what street they were currently on.

Chenghai drove with both hands on the wheel, his breathing controlled despite his ribs still yelling at him for every movement. It had been weeks since he was attacked in his own kitchen, but ribs were a bitch for months.

Jian Yuche sat in the passenger seat, his injured shoulder pressed against the door, his good hand braced on the dashboard as they swerved around objects in the road. Xu Zhenlan remained in the back beside Wei Lingyun, his eyes never stopped moving as he scanned the buildings on either side of the road.

The street wasn’t clear by any stretch of the imagination.

It was blocked in sections, making it more annoying to drive down than any rush hour. There were abandoned cars that were angled across lanes, some with their doors still open. Others appeared to have been crushed against light poles or storefronts.

Darting around cars was the easy part. They were easy to see. What wasn’t so easy was the debris that littered the asphalt. Suitcases were split open with clothing trampled into the pavement, shopping carts were overturned and stripped bare, and that was on top of twisted metal, sharp nails and broken glass.

The sidewalks were even worse if that was possible. The broken glass from store fronts were spread across the concrete in thick layers that made them look like diamonds the dull gray light. Storefronts were gaped open, their interiors dark and gutted while their business signs hung crooked or lying flat on the ground, their text still visible but meaningless now.

Chenghai slowed even more until they were going at almost a crawl as he maneuvered around a sedan that had collided with a fire hydrant.

The water had long since stopped spraying, leaving only a slow, steady drip that had carved a narrow path through the debris. Wei Lingyun watched it for a moment, tracking the movement out of habit before shifting his attention back to the street ahead.

More movement caught his eye.

Not one figure—several.

They were clustered near an overturned delivery truck about fifty meters ahead, their bodies swaying slightly, their heads turning in slow, uneven motions.

Lingyun counted six, maybe seven. It was hard to be certain with the way they overlapped, limbs tangling together as they shifted in tight packs. They weren’t standing still, but they weren’t moving with purpose either.

Just motion.

Like they were all waiting for something.

The noise from the engine carried farther than it should have in the empty street, echoing off the buildings. The cluster near the truck stilled as they got closer, their heads snapping toward the SUV in unison.

Then they moved.

They didn’t walk. They didn’t stumble.

Instead, these undead zombies started running.

Their strides were uneven as their bodies pitched forward. They closed the distance quickly, their arms reaching forward as if it would get them to the SUV that much faster... their mouths gaped open like black holes.

The sound they made was low, guttural moaning, building in volume with each step closer they got.

Chenghai took one look at them and slammed his foot on the gas. The SUV surged forward as he cut left around the truck, their tires skidding over debris.

The zombies in the back of the hoard slammed into the side of the truck they had originally surrounded, struggling to adjust their path. One hit hard enough to dent the metal. Another tripped and went down. The rest kept coming.

Wei Lingyun twisted in his seat, watching through the back window as the distance opened between them. But the zombies didn’t stop.

They kept running, following the path of the SUV even as they grew smaller in the distance.

Still moving. Still chasing. Still hungry.

He turned back around, his hands settling on his knees, fingers pressing into the fabric. No one spoke. The engine noise filled the silence as Chenghai guided the SUV forward, weaving between obstacles.

They passed a pharmacy with its front windows blown out, the interior stripped clean. Shelves lay scattered across the floor and medication bottles were crushed underfoot. A body slumped against the wall near the counter, its shape dark and still. Lingyun looked at it briefly, then looked away.

There were more bodies further down the street. Some alone. Some in groups.

He stopped counting when he hit the triple digits.

The next cluster of zombies came without warning, spilling out from an alley between two buildings. There was probably eight of them, maybe nine. They spread across the road, blocking the path forward before Chenghai could swerve around them.

Not knowing what to do, he slammed on the brakes and the SUV jerked to a stop.

The zombies moved immediately, hands slamming against the hood and windows. One hit the driver’s side glass, its face pressing close, its white eyes were unfocused, and its mouth working soundlessly.

Chenghai shifted into reverse, backing up slowly, carefully, his gaze fixed on the mirrors.

Lingyun scanned the group, his mind cataloging faces out of habit.

Most were strangers.

Then he saw Feng.

The recognition was instant. Feng’s face was pale, his eyes clouded, his mouth slack. He was still wearing the same jacket—dark blue, torn at the pocket from when he decided that he would take his chances in the street and not pick up Jian Yuche.

Beside him was Dao, his head tilted at an unnatural angle, his hands clawing at the air. Behind them, partially obscured, was Ming.

"Holy fuck," Lingyun grunted quietly.

But he didn’t look away. He couldn’t. It was like watching a train wreck.

Chenghai kept reversing, widening the gap between them and the zombies. Feng’s figure shrank, then Dao’s, then Ming’s. But they kept moving forward, following until Chenghai turned sharply down a side street, breaking line of sight.

The new street was narrower with cars packed tightly along both sides. The SUV edged through with barely enough clearance, the mirrors nearly brushing metal. Lingyun’s attention moved constantly—sidewalks, doorways, upper windows.

Still. Silent.

Then a scream cut through the air.

Sharp and sudden.

Chenghai slowed down and Lingyun leaned forward, searching for the source.

Movement appeared near a storefront up ahead.

Two figures.

A teenager straddled a middle-aged man, his arm rising and falling in rapid, efficient motions. The man struggled beneath him, trying to block the blows, but the teenager was faster.

The blade came down again.

And again.

Blood spread across the pavement.

Between them lay an overturned box of crackers, its contents scattered across the ground, some crushed underfoot.

"Do we help?" Zhenlan asked, his gaze never wavering from the two males.

Yuche didn’t take his eyes off the scene either. "Can we?"

A beat passed as the men really thought about what they were witnessing.

"Don’t you remember what happened last time we tried to help strangers?" murmured Wei Lingyun, his head cocked to the side.

No one answered as the SUV idled in the alleyway. Every man in that vehicle could hear Rouxi voice when she told them why they shouldn’t help the survivors.

They didn’t listen then....

But they weren’t going to make the same mistake a second time.

When the body under him stopped moving, the teenager stood, his chest heaving and the knife still in his hand. Blood covered his arms, his shirt, his face. He looked down at the man, then at the scattered crackers.

He picked up what he could, stuffing them in the box without caring about the blood and dirt on them.

Then he ran.

His feet pounded against the pavement as he headed for a fire escape, climbing quickly, disappearing onto the second-floor landing.

The man on the ground still wasn’t moving.

Blood pooled around him, spreading outward...

then shifted.

Not flowing.

Moving.

It gathered, pulling together into thin streams that lifted slightly before collapsing again. Water appeared within it, curling around the man’s arms and chest in faint, shifting patterns as if it was trying to get back into the body.

Lingyun watched, his mouth open but not a single word came out.

The movement stilled and the man’s chest rose once.

Then stopped again.

Zombies appeared at the far end of the street.

Three. Then five.

They moved toward the blood.

Chenghai shifted into drive and pulled forward, turning at the next intersection and leaving the scene behind.

Silence filled the SUV again.

Lingyun’s hands remained on his knees, his fingers pressing into the fabric as his gaze fixed ahead, scanning for movement, for threats, for anything that required action.

The street widened into an open avenue with fewer cars and more space to maneuver. A shopping complex came into view on the left, its parking lot dotted with abandoned vehicles. The main entrance stood open, glass shattered, but the structure itself remained intact.

Lingyun studied it as they approached.

There was loading dock in the back, a side entrance near the pharmacy, the upper windows were still whole.

"There. We go there."