Chapter 5: Returning Home

Zhen Chu rushed to the back door with the children, shouting, “The door’s locked! Where’s the key?” She anxiously looked around.

Without thinking, Fengyi Li called back, “Aren’t you holding something in your hand? Smash it open!”

By some chance, the heaviest axe had ended up with Zhen Chu as they fled, and she began hacking at the iron lock.

The lock was set into a dovetail groove made of two-millimeter-thick steel, making it difficult to break. Fengyi Li led the art teacher around in circles; never having experienced something like this, he didn’t know what to do. After pondering for a moment, he ran toward the school’s main gate, the art teacher following with a stride slightly faster than usual.

Reaching the main gate, Fengyi Li didn’t dare approach the crowd. He sprinted a few steps to put some distance between himself and the others, then held his breath and pressed himself against the teaching building behind the bulletin board.

He saw the art teacher’s legs appear below the bulletin board—thick with the smell of blood, the noise growing louder. He could faintly hear the art teacher’s heavy snuffling as she tried to catch a scent. Suddenly, she caught the overwhelming smell of fresh blood coming from the crowd.

Excited, the art teacher abandoned the chase for unattainable fresh meat and plunged into the throng.

Fengyi Li quickly slipped away from behind the board and ran toward the school’s back door.

He noticed that in this short span, the crying in the crowd had largely subsided.

Fengyi Li reached Zhen Chu, who was swinging the axe like a windmill, desperately trying to break through the door. With each strike, she shouted, “Ah! Ah!” The two-millimeter-thick steel groove was starting to give way; under the stress, Zhen Chu had found unexpected reserves of strength.

“I’ll do it!” Fengyi Li shouted.

He swung his hammer down on the lock several times. With a clang, the lock broke. The back door opened onto a small alley. On Friday afternoons, no one passed by.

Leading the group, Fengyi Li guided everyone toward Hepingli Central Park. Along the way, here and there, people were either frantically devouring others or desperately trying to evade capture. Most of those left were adults, and the park offered more space to maneuver than the school gate, making it harder to be caught. But the cries of those who were caught still rang out, loud and clear.

Those who had fallen ill hunted the survivors like hawks, while Fengyi Li, resembling a mother hen, shepherded the children through, evading the predators like chicks dodging an eagle.

The park stretched some 150 meters. At the far end, passing a restaurant to the west, they would be at the entrance to Building A5. Inside the restaurant, people were devouring their meals with frenzy. The blood splattering everywhere made it clear—they were feasting on human flesh.

The restaurant’s west door opened inside the gatepost of Building A5’s courtyard. From the post, it was another dozen meters or so to the courtyard gate. Usually, at this hour, five or six restaurant staff would be prepping food—peeling garlic and so on—or taking a break. But today, perhaps by luck or misfortune, only a single kitchen helper in a white hat was standing in a pile of garlic, maybe left behind to keep watch as the others went to help out.

The slope here was steep. Fengyi Li stopped the group, then advanced a few steps alone. The kitchen worker was already sniffing the air.

Sensing trouble, Fengyi Li quickly said to Zhen Chu, “Take the children and hide in the park for now. I’ll draw him away.”

Zhen Chu hurried the children back a few paces. Fengyi Li, feeling they were still too close, waved for her to retreat farther. She hesitated, then ran a bit further before stopping and shaking her head vigorously.

Fengyi Li remembered seeing, not far from the park exit, an elderly caregiver frantically devouring their own charge. He turned, tense, to watch the kitchen worker.

The kitchen worker had already spotted Fengyi Li and, excited, rushed over in pursuit of a feast. Fengyi Li was a dozen paces away.

This time, he took a closer look and saw dried blood beneath the worker’s nose, eyes bloodshot with no visible pupils, and teeth no longer normal but sharp, like triangular blades.

Backing away, Fengyi Li glanced behind him. Building A5 was located at the intersection of Subway Line 13, Tucheng Road, and Hepingli North Street—a T-junction courtyard. Tucheng Road and Hepingli North Street ran under Line 13, creating a steep incline where cars often slipped on snowy days.

The kitchen worker’s steps were hurried but unsteady as he rushed downhill. Fengyi Li descended to Hepingli North Street, leading the pursuer eastward, under the bridge.

Hepingli Central Park faced the T-junction, bordered by a high wall topped with iron railings. The southern side of the wall dropped steeply down to the bridge underneath, with exits on both the west and east sides.

Guiding the kitchen worker east, Fengyi Li reached the wall, over two meters high; from below, Zhen Chu and the others were no longer visible.

He shouted, “Zhen, take them home quickly!”

Zhen Chu responded, and hurried footsteps faded into the distance.

Fengyi Li lured the kitchen worker a few steps further, reaching the east entrance of the wall. Then he quickly dashed into the park, running from the north side of the wall to the western exit. Looking back, he saw the kitchen worker ascending the steps slowly—perhaps his legs were stiff?

Thinking quickly, Fengyi Li ran past the restaurant, where people were still feasting, and reached the iron gate of Building A5. Zhen Chu and the others had already slipped through the gate and were heading toward Unit 6. Fortunately, it was still before the end of the workday on Friday, so the courtyard was empty.

Lifting his legs high, Fengyi Li squeezed through the iron gate. From the guard’s hut, he heard someone scratching at the glass. Glancing inside, he saw the security guard frantically clawing and kicking, desperate to get out and eat.

The door opened inward, but the guard wanted out and couldn’t open it. Seeing no one else in the yard, Fengyi Li paused to observe.

The guard grew more frantic and suddenly lunged at the door. With a creak, the wooden door splintered. Startled, Fengyi Li hurried toward Unit 6. Passing Units 1 through 5, he heard the sounds of people inside gnawing on flesh and bone, mingled with crying and shouts.

He reached Unit 6 in one breath. Three empty carts were abandoned at the entrance; the door was electromagnetic, and Yutian Li had already led Zhen Chu and the others home.

With the crash of repeated impacts, the guard’s wooden door finally shattered, and the guard stumbled out, searching for prey.

Unit 6 was about seventy meters from the gatehouse. Fengyi Li noticed the guard twisting his head in all directions, bewildered, circling the hut.

Hearing no other sounds in the stairwell, Fengyi Li paused to watch.

The guard circled closer and closer to Unit 6. Fengyi Li raised his arm to sniff—a strong scent of sweat. He took out a bottle of medical alcohol from the school, swung his arm, and hurled it. The bottle shattered on the ground with a sharp crack, drawing the zombie guard’s attention, who lunged toward the noise.