​​Chapter ​​14​​

Dawn: 6:35 AM. The thrum of rotors blended with sunrise. The PTZ feed showed a small civilian helicopter.

Its range was maybe 200-250 miles, flight time under four hours. A safe zone was nearby. Our escape couldn’t be far off.

The plump man wedged himself into the vent. Ruan Tingting followed.

Drones lured the horde away with blaring music.

The helicopter lowered a rope ladder. Ruan Tingting climbed first—fast and agile. The plump man struggled up next, making the ladder sway violently.

Leaping zombies launched themselves.

The copilot severed the ladder. Ruan Tingting and the plump man plummeted into the seething mass below. Vanished.

I’d expected this. Without fresh blood, the music couldn’t hold the horde long.

I’d stayed silent because Ruan Tingting never made it to the vent.

Just before they left, Lin Ling killed her in the restroom.

Lin Ling was a black belt. I’d seen her skills at a company event. She could’ve saved her lover, Xing Dong, when Zhao Kai murdered him. She’d hidden instead.

Lin Ling was the true survivor—ruthlessly cold.

Pity such steel died to mindless ghouls.

We’d all heard Ruan Tingting’s death throes. But the hour before dawn… is the darkest.

We needed to move the body. The restroom door was barricaded. When Chu Zhan pried it open, the sight froze our blood.

Ruan Tingting’s eyes stared blankly. Blood and viscera pooled on the tiles.

Lin Ling had meant us all to die.

The moment the door opened, the coppery stench began to spread…

"Move! NOW!"

I grabbed Chu Zhan and ran.

Thundering footsteps echoed outside the door. Outside the windows. Frantic pounding shook the walls.

"Little Dai, don’t leave me. Please." Chairwoman Li clutched my arm, eyes desperate.

I hesitated a second. Nodded.

Qiu Ze was already scrambling into the vent.

Chairwoman Li moved slowly. Chu Zhan and I strained to push her onto the filing cabinets.

Security grating fell. Glass shattered. Zombies poured in—drawn by the blood, surging toward the restroom, missing us.

As we crawled into the duct, the steel door crashed inward. Filing cabinets toppled…