Chapter 20​​

I set my phone to play music on a timer and secured it to the drone.

The first few seconds were just white noise. By the time I flew the drone over the zombies' heads, the playlist switched to heavy metal.

The pounding rhythm instantly drew the zombies together. But it also alerted Xu Ningyu and his crew outside.

"Trying to lure zombies up here? Bitch! Save your breath! We locked every door behind us!" he yelled.

I ignored their taunts. I piloted the drone higher, hovering it outside the second-floor fire escape window.

The trio outside had somehow procured an electric saw and were attacking the door lock with it.

My heart hammered against my ribs. I focused intently on the red-eyed zombie.

It fixed its gaze on the drone and let out a piercing shriek.

I glanced down. The zombies pressed against the building wall, scrambling over each other towards the drone on the second floor.

When I saw the first zombie tumble into the stairwell, I guided the drone slowly upward.

Stimulated by the noise, the zombies moved twice as fast as usual. They swarmed up the stairs rapidly.

Xu Ningyu and the others heard the commotion. They turned just as the first zombies reached their landing.

"Fuck! Fuck! How did they get up here?!"

"Xu Jia, you bitch, just you wait!"

Seeing the approaching horde, Xu Ningyu shoved the screaming Yuan Jing and the fleeing Old Li straight into the mass of zombies. He turned and bolted down the stairs.

But the stairwell held far more zombies than he’d anticipated. He didn't make it two steps before vanishing under a wave of undead.

I exhaled sharply in relief. I steered the drone out through the window and landed it on an open patch of lawn in the complex garden.

Most of the zombies in the stairwell followed the sound. The drone was trampled and destroyed.

But the immediate threat was over. Yuan Jing and Old Li were devoured, bones and all. Xu Ningyu had become one of them.

"Jiajia! Look! Xu Ningyu, he…" Tian Tian shouted, pointing at the camera feed.