Chapter 12: Night Raid
By the time Chu Yang and Jiang Jue returned to the apartment, total darkness had swallowed the sky.
The residential block was deathly still, broken only by the bitter wind whistling through the empty, desolate corridors.
“Something’s off. Why is it so quiet in here today?” Chu Yang whispered, slipping his backpack off his shoulders. “Did those three actually turn over a new leaf and go out scavenging?”
The words had barely left his mouth when the door to the back bedroom creaked open.
Zhao Dayong shuffled out in a daze, rubbing his crusty, half-closed eyes. He looked like a man who had held his bladder for far too long and was making a desperate beeline for the bathroom.
Catching sight of the two standing in the living room, Zhao Dayong froze for two full seconds before mumbling a groggy greeting: “Brother Jiang, Brother Chu… you’re back…”
Without waiting for an answer, he ducked into the bathroom, leaving the door ajar as the sound of running water trickled out.
Chu Yang and Jiang Jue exchanged a knowing glance.
Those three hadn’t stepped foot outside. They had clearly spent the entire day sleeping their lives away in the warmth of the apartment.
Chu Yang curled his lip in disgust, just about to make a sarcastic remark, when he noticed Jiang Jue turning toward the bedroom, ready to close the door behind him.
His heart skipped a beat. Forgetting his complaints, Chu Yang lunged forward, caught the edge of the doorframe, and quickly offered a fawning smile. “Brother Jiang, can I… still crash in here tonight? The living room is freezing, and honestly, I get a little spooked out there by myself.”
Looking at his exaggeratedly pitiful expression—as if he were terrified of being cast out into the cold—Jiang Jue felt a strange mix of amusement and resignation. Without a word, he stepped aside, silently granting permission.
Chu Yang’s heart soared. He slipped into the room, cheering inwardly: Yes! No sleeping on the hard floor tonight!
With the power grid down, the bedroom was pitch black. Chu Yang pulled a flashlight from his storage space, clicked it on, and headed straight into the attached bathroom.
The bright beam swept across the dusty mirror, revealing a face smeared with grime and soot.
He leaned closer and grimaced. It had been days since he had last properly cleaned himself.
“Before, we didn’t have the luxury, but now we’ve got the means!”
Thinking of the bottled water and toiletries stockpiled in his space, his spirits lifted. He pulled out a toothbrush, toothpaste, a rinsing cup, and a small bucket of purified water, carefully pouring just half a cup to brush his teeth.
Once his mouth felt clean and refreshed, he looked at his dirty reflection. Pulling out a clean towel and a splash more water, he washed the grime from his face. The cold water made him shiver, but the feeling of clean skin was blissfully invigorating. He used the remaining water in the basin to wash his feet, immediately feeling lighter and renewed.
“Look at me, a model citizen saving water in the apocalypse!” he muttered proudly, seeing that more than half the bucket was still untouched.
Remembering Jiang Jue waiting outside, Chu Yang set out another fresh toothbrush, a new tube of paste, and a clean towel, arranging them neatly beside the sink.
He stepped out of the bathroom and called to Jiang Jue, who was smoothing the bedding: “Brother Jiang, I set up some water for you. You’ll sleep a lot better if you wash up first.”
Jiang Jue looked up. Chu Yang was smiling brightly, damp droplets clinging to the ends of his hair and glinting in the beam of the flashlight.
With a quiet nod, Jiang Jue stepped into the bathroom.
His eyes immediately landed on the fresh toothbrush, the clean towel, and the cup of clear water laid out neatly on the counter. He paused for a brief moment before reaching out to pick up the brush.
When Jiang Jue returned to the bedroom, the biting chill in the air had noticeably receded.
He glanced toward the foot of the bed and saw the diesel space heater running quietly, casting a warm, soft orange glow across the room.
On the mattress, Chu Yang was already sprawled out in a chaotic starfish pose. The duvet only half-covered his stomach, one leg dangled off the side, and an arm rested loosely across his forehead. His breathing was slow and steady, his lips curved into a faint smile as if drifting through a pleasant dream.
Jiang Jue stood by the bedside, watching him for a few silent seconds. He reached down, took the kicked-off blanket, and tucked it gently around Chu Yang’s shoulders before lying down on the other side of the bed.
The night deepened into a heavy, quiet stillness, with only the distant rustle of falling snow tapping against the window.
Suddenly—BANG! BANG! BANG!
A thunderous pounding exploded against the front door. It sounded less like human knocking and more like something heavy violently throwing its weight against the wood!
The doorframe rattled furiously, shaking loose plaster and sending clouds of white dust raining down from the wall.
“Wh-what is that?!” Wang Rui’s hoarse, terrified voice was the first to screech from the other room.
Jiang Jue shot up instantly, his hand already locked around the hilt of his straight blade. In a split second, he slipped silently to the side of the door.
Chu Yang snapped awake at the same time. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he saw Jiang Jue’s tense back by the doorway.
His chest tightened. He rolled out of bed, keeping his voice down despite the fog of sleep. “Brother Jiang, what’s going on?”
Jiang Jue raised a finger to his lips, signaling for absolute silence, before pressing his eye to the peephole.
In the dim gloom of the hallway, several twisted, shadowy figures were throwing themselves frantically against the door. Deep, guttural wheezing accompanied the sickening screech of rotten fingernails clawing against the exterior panel.
“Zombies,” Jiang Jue whispered, his expression turning grim. “Judging by the noise, there’s a group of them. And… they aren’t just at our door.”
As if on cue, chaotic screams erupted from the floor above!
Bloodcurdling shrieks, the crash of splintering furniture, a woman’s frantic wails, and the frenzied roars of the infected merged into a horrific symphony. Even through the concrete ceiling, the sickening sound of tearing flesh was horrifyingly clear.
“Help! Open the door! Somebody open up!” a woman screamed, her voice cracking as she slammed against a neighbor’s door. “Ah! Get off me! Don’t bite! Help!”
A man’s furious bellow followed, punctuated by the metallic clang of a pipe striking bone: “Get back! You monsters! I’ll take you down with me!”
Then came a dull, heavy thud, a choked gasp of pain as he was tackled to the floor, and total silence.
“Where is the government?! Where’s the army?!” another man’s voice wailed through the stairwell, thick with rage and despair. “It’s been days! Have they just abandoned us to die?!”
“Shut the hell up!” a neighbor hissed back in a panicked whisper. “Do you want to draw every single monster in the building to this floor?!”
Fear spread like a wildfire through the stairwell, impossible to contain.
BANG! BANG!
Two deafening slams shook their apartment door, causing the frame to groan as hairline fractures spiderwebbed across the surrounding drywall. It was on the verge of giving way.
Jiang Jue tilted his head slightly, his gaze locking onto Chu Yang. “The door won’t hold. When it opens, I’ll take the lead. Use your power to cover me and strike when you see an opening.”
Chu Yang nodded firmly, quietly focusing his spatial energy into his palm.
Wang Rui, Li Wen, and Zhao Dayong stumbled into the living room, trembling violently as they brandished wooden clubs and kitchen knives.
Jiang Jue glanced back once, then yanked the door wide open!
The moment the latch gave way, a gruesome figure with half its face decomposed stumbled forward. The rotting flesh on its cheek had peeled away to expose stark white teeth and dark red muscle. Its bulging, milky eyes locked onto the room, drool dripping from its open maw as it lunged straight for Jiang Jue!
Flash!
Jiang Jue’s blade whistled through the air, sinking cleanly into the creature’s temple with a sickening crunch.
The zombie seized up instantly, dark, foul-smelling blood spurting from the wound as it collapsed, blocking the threshold.
A second zombie shrieked from the left, scrambling over the fallen body to charge inside!
Chu Yang was ready. Channeling his energy, he drove a spatial blast straight into its skull!
Pfft!
The creature’s head caved inward with a dull pop, dark blood and gray matter bursting from its facial orifices. Its momentum died instantly, and it crashed face-first onto the tiles, stiff as a board.
Jiang Jue stepped forward, his blade carving a graceful silver arc that cleanly decapitated a third infected lunging from the right!
Two more burst through the doorway into the living room, one charging straight for Wang Rui!
“Damn it!” Wang Rui shrieked, rolling awkwardly across the floor to dodge the grasping claws. He summoned a small fireball in his palm and flung it wildly at the back of the monster’s neck.
The flame scorched the decayed skin with a violent hiss, filling the room with the pungent stench of burning flesh. The creature howled, its movements faltering.
“Look out!”
The final zombie lunged toward Li Wen, whose knees were shaking so hard he couldn’t lift his kitchen knife. Paralyzed with terror, he was seconds away from being tackled.
Chu Yang reacted on instinct. He grabbed Li Wen’s collar, yanked him behind his back, and delivered a powerful kick straight into the zombie’s chest!
The force sent the monster stumbling backward, slamming hard against the wall.
In that fraction of a second, Jiang Jue’s blade struck like a shadow. The sharp tip pierced the zombie’s temple, twisting once before pulling free. The creature went limp without making a sound, sliding lifelessly to the floor.
The five intruders were finally dead.
The living room reeked of dark blood and burnt hair. The survivors stood gasping for air, hearts hammering against their ribs.
Wang Rui slumped onto the floor, panting hard; Li Wen’s hand shook so violently he dropped his knife; and Zhao Dayong leaned heavily against the wall, his face pale with lingering shock.
Upstairs, the frantic screams and crashes showed no sign of stopping—if anything, they were growing louder.
Chu Yang turned to Jiang Jue with a questioning look.
Jiang Jue surveyed the carnage at their feet and gave a slow, deliberate nod.
A tacit understanding passed between them. As long as their own survival wasn’t compromised, they were willing to do what they could to clear a path of life for the remaining survivors in the building.
“We’re heading up. Hold the apartment,” Jiang Jue ordered, stepping into the hallway with Chu Yang close behind.
The stairwell was thick with the copper stench of fresh blood. Blackened stains splattered the walls, and the steps were littered with broken belongings and smeared gore.
As they rounded the landing between the third and fourth floors, they spotted a zombie in a ragged security uniform slowly climbing the stairs with its back to them.
Its movements were noticeably smoother and more agile than the others, and deep claw marks tore across its back—evidence of a previous struggle.
Without hesitation, Chu Yang raised his palm and fired a spatial blast!
Surprisingly, the creature possessed abnormal reflexes. It twisted sideways, narrowly dodging the blast!
Spinning around, it revealed a twisted, rotting face, its jaw unhinged to display rows of jagged teeth. With a feral hiss, it lunged forward, moving at more than twice the speed of an ordinary zombie!
“Careful!” Jiang Jue reacted in a heartbeat. He yanked Chu Yang half a step back while stepping into the attack himself, his blade flashing in the gloom—
Snap!
The creature’s left arm was severed at the shoulder, spraying black fluid across Jiang Jue’s sleeve. The zombie let out a high-pitched screech of pain, but its charge never slowed as it snapped its jaws toward Jiang Jue’s neck!
Seizing the opening, Chu Yang focused every drop of his remaining spatial power into a devastating blow aimed directly at its head!
BANG!
The evolved zombie’s skull burst like a crushed melon, splattering gore across the concrete wall. The headless body swayed twice before crashing down the steps, twitching briefly before going completely still.
“That thing… it was evolved,” Chu Yang panted, leaning heavily against the handrail with a look of lingering dread. “Its speed and reflexes were crazy. It was way tougher to handle than the normal ones.”
As he caught his breath, a thought suddenly crossed his mind: Could an evolved zombie have an energy core inside its head?
It was a staple in every apocalyptic novel he had ever read—ability users grew stronger by absorbing crystal cores found in mutated brains.
He crouched down, pulled a combat dagger from his space, and carefully pried open the ruined skull, sifting through the foul-smelling brain matter.
His fingers found only shattered bone, dark blood clots, and viscous tissue. There was no glowing crystal in sight.
“That’s weird… why isn’t there one?” Chu Yang muttered, his face falling in disappointment. “Isn’t this how it always works in novels? Evolved zombies are supposed to have cores.”
He sighed, cleaned the dagger against the corpse’s uniform, and pushed himself back up.
“Let’s keep moving,” Jiang Jue said quietly, continuing up the stairs.
Chu Yang hurried after him, still turning the thought over in his head: Did I remember it wrong? Or was this one’s evolution level just too low to form a core yet?
The fourth floor was in far worse shape.
The door to Unit 402 had been completely torn from its hinges. Two zombies were crouched in the entrance, frantically tearing into the mangled remains of a man.
The victim’s entrails had been dragged several feet into the hallway in a sickening, sticky trail. A pool of dark blood had soaked into the doorway, filling the air with a choking stench.
At the sound of footsteps, both creatures snapped their heads up. With chunks of raw flesh clinging to their jaws, they let out wet hisses, abandoned their meal, and charged.
Chu Yang and Jiang Jue acted in unison.
Chu Yang fired his spatial ability first, striking the left zombie in the temple and making it stumble; Jiang Jue’s blade flashed like lightning, piercing straight through the right zombie’s eye socket and out the back of its skull, killing it instantly.
A second later, Chu Yang closed the distance and drove his dagger deep into the temple of the stunned zombie, finishing it off cleanly.
From the third floor all the way to the sixth, the two worked with seamless coordination, clearing out every zombie wandering the landings and public corridors.
In every encounter, Jiang Jue would draw the threat and pin it down with his blade, allowing Chu Yang to follow up with a lethal spatial strike. Their teamwork was devastatingly efficient.
However, relying so heavily on his spatial power took a severe toll on Chu Yang’s stamina.
After firing seven or eight full-power blasts in rapid succession, his legs turned to lead. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, and dark spots began dancing across his vision.
He slumped against the wall, gasping for air, his face completely pale.
Jiang Jue, who had been monitoring his condition the entire time, frowned slightly. He stepped forward, caught Chu Yang’s shoulder to steady him, and asked with subtle concern, “Are you alright? You look terrible.”
“I’m fine,” Chu Yang gasped, forcing a weak smile as he pulled a bottle of fruit juice from his storage space. He twisted off the cap with trembling fingers. “Just burned through too much energy using my power. A little sugar and a short breather and I’ll be back on my feet.”
He tipped the bottle back and drank deeply. The sweet, refreshing juice slid down his dry throat, sending a welcome surge of energy through his body and easing the dizziness in his head.
As his strength slowly returned, Chu Yang looked down at the pile of defeated zombies, his mind buzzing once more.
He leaned in close to Jiang Jue, lowering his voice with renewed enthusiasm. “Brother Jiang, think about it! If evolved zombies are real and superpowers are real, maybe the novels were right all along—maybe there really are energy cores hidden inside their heads!”
Seeing Jiang Jue’s puzzled look—the man had clearly never heard of such a thing—Chu Yang quickly explained: “It’s an energy crystal formed by the virus! People say ability users can absorb them to level up their powers!”
He blinked earnestly, wearing a look that practically shouted trust me on this.
“Should we check a few more?”
Although Jiang Jue had never read web novels and knew nothing about crystal cores, seeing Chu Yang’s dead-serious expression and remembering how he had searched the skull earlier, he gave a quiet nod.
“We can check.”
