Chapter 13
Chapter 13: Left for Dead
At the order, the truck stopped sideways across the road. The young soldiers jumped down in practiced rhythm, formed up, and opened fire.
The first line of zombies dropped, bodies snapping backward under the impacts.
Hearing gunshots, Zhao Chong Lin finally exhaled. Reinforcements.
Before this, they’d been supporting Gong Hai, sniping the horde to slow pursuit. But bullets were limited and manpower was thin. They’d escorted the convoy at full speed, rotating shooters between vehicles, trying to buy distance.
It still hadn’t been enough.
Ammo ran dry.
Zhao Chong Lin couldn’t send his subordinates to die—but he couldn’t abandon the civilians either. So he’d called for help. And for once, help arrived in time.
“Push forward!” Zhao Chong Lin shouted. “Open the distance! Give them time to set obstacles!”
“Yes!”
The order rippled through the line. Vehicles surged ahead, and the two forces finally merged.
Wu Lian Yi and Sun Wang, along with the other ability users, took positions among the soldiers, ready to strike.
Wu Lian Yi’s gaze kept snapping to the passing vehicles. She needed to find Yun Rou. But the cars flew by too fast—one blur after another.
If she couldn’t lock that woman down, Yun Rou might slip away again—right under this Ancestor’s nose.
A dry, electronic voice clicked into her mind. “Ahem. The mission target can be tracked.”
Wu Lian Yi’s jaw tightened. “So you finally decided to show up?”
“Magnetic field changes due to the apocalypse disrupted signal earlier—”
“Save it,” Wu Lian Yi cut in. “Track Yun Rou.”
A beat. Then a location map flashed into her mind.
Wu Lian Yi’s eyes sharpened.
Yun Rou was in the last vehicle in the convoy, running rear guard.
Without hesitation, Wu Lian Yi condensed a thunderball no bigger than a marble and flicked it toward the rear tire.
The bolt struck.
The vehicle fishtailed violently. The driver fought it, muscling it sideways and forcing it to a stop. Two people in the cab jumped out, stared at the blown tire, and sprinted toward the nearest support truck.
A replacement vehicle rolled in immediately. People transferred over in a rush.
Wu Lian Yi spotted Yun Rou during the shuffle. A slow smile spread across her face.
She walked to the captain nearby and spoke with practiced sincerity. “Captain, the woman named Yun Rou is my sister. Her superpower is strong—corrosive water. Perfect for group attacks. Massive killing power. And she’s a good person. She’ll be willing to support.”
The captain hesitated, surprised, but Wu Lian Yi’s expression was steady, convincing. He motioned for a deputy and called for Yun Rou on the spot.
A young soldier ran over and stopped Yun Rou just as she was about to climb into the new vehicle.
When Yun Rou turned and saw Wu Lian Yi, Wu Lian Yi even lifted a hand and waved.
Yun Rou’s face darkened like a storm.
“Fire!” someone shouted.
Gunfire thundered again, dropping the fastest zombies at the front. The tide slowed—just enough.
Vehicles loaded with civilians sped away.
Left behind were Zhao Chong Lin’s rear-guard squad and the disabled truck Wu Lian Yi had forced to stop. They parked vehicles sideways, forming a rough barricade.
When Yun Rou saw Zhao Chong Lin, she swallowed whatever refusal she’d been holding and agreed to the recruitment through clenched teeth. Her glare at Wu Lian Yi turned sharp and poisonous.
The soldiers rotated in waves, keeping a steady wall of fire. The ability users readied their powers.
Sun Wang’s hands were slick on his saber. Even the arrogant ability user looked pale now, finally understanding the scale of this.
For Wu Lian Yi—who’d survived beast tides—this was still manageable. In her eyes, the zombies were just moving targets. Keep your rhythm. Keep your aim. Cut them down.
“Ability users, support!” the captain called.
The front barricade vehicle was already being swallowed. Ability users rushed forward, powers flaring. With firearms backing them, the line held—barely.
Wu Lian Yi moved in with Sun Wang at her back. They fought back-to-back, cutting down any dead that broke through.
On the other side, Yun Rou stood under the protection of two soldiers. She flicked out a corrosive water ball. It burst midair and rained down in acid droplets. Wherever it landed, zombie skulls smoked and collapsed.
Wu Lian Yi watched her work and felt a grim satisfaction. Dragging Yun Rou into this had been the right move. At least the woman was killing zombies.
And Yun Rou kept edging closer, step by step.
“You really can’t stop yourself,” Wu Lian Yi muttered. Same ugly instincts, every time.
Then Yun Rou “stumbled” over a corpse. The next water ball shot out wild—no explosion, no spread—just a fast, tight projectile flying straight toward Wu Lian Yi and Sun Wang.
Wu Lian Yi didn’t flinch. “Sun Wang. Get me to Yun Rou.”
Sun Wang had been watching Yun Rou the whole time. He’d seen the approach, the angle, the timing. Without a word, he triggered teleportation.
The corrosive water ball slammed down where they’d been standing.
Yun Rou’s startled little gasp still hung in the air when she realized Wu Lian Yi and the boy had vanished.
A heartbeat later, Wu Lian Yi appeared behind her.
Wu Lian Yi drove her boot into Yun Rou’s back with brutal force.
Yun Rou flew forward—straight into the densest part of the zombie swarm.
“No! Save me!” Yun Rou’s scream was swallowed by wet snarls and clawing hands.
Sun Wang’s face went chalky. Two teleports in a row drained him hard, but relief flashed in his eyes. They’d dodged the trap.
The two soldiers assigned to guard Yun Rou panicked and lunged forward, but Yun Rou was already gone—lost in the moving wall of dead.
The voice in Wu Lian Yi’s mind cut in again. “Mission target’s life signs are weakening. Approaching death.”
“Tell me when she’s dead,” Wu Lian Yi snapped.
She raised Lei Yao and carved into the swarm like a machine. Sun Wang forced himself to keep pace, saber flashing, unable to use teleportation again.
Soon a vacuum formed around them—an empty circle of space littered with zombie corpses.
Then the communicator shrieked, urgent and metallic. “Warning! Warning! Tasker, the mission target’s soul has separated again! The mission target’s soul has separated again!”
Wu Lian Yi’s next swing went a fraction wide. The blade cleaved a zombie from shoulder to hip, splitting it like rotten wood.
Her face went cold enough to frost steel.
“What did you just say?”