Chapter 60: Awakening
The old man paused for a brief moment, drawing together the last dregs of his strength before speaking again: “After Grandpa is gone… go find Big Brother Chu Yang and the others… Those young men… they are kind-hearted… and capable. You… you have an ability now too… you won’t be a burden to them. Go beg them… ask them to take you in… follow them… only then can you… survive…”
“Grandpa, stop talking! Please, stop talking! You’re not going to die! Don’t leave me behind!” Little Yu wept hysterically. He pressed both hands desperately over the deep wound on his grandfather’s neck, but the warm, dark blood continued to gush uncontrollably through his small fingers.
His grandfather’s eyes began to lose their focus, yet he fought with everything he had to keep looking at the boy. “You must survive… live a good life… don’t be afraid of hard work… don’t complain of exhaustion… listen to Big Brother Chu Yang… be someone useful…”
His voice grew fainter with every word, until the final syllable faded into a breathless whisper.
Then, the cold hand that had been resting on Little Yu’s hair slipped away, dropping lifelessly to the mat.
“Grandpa? Grandpa?” Little Yu gently shook the old man’s shoulder, but there was no response.
He pressed his ear firmly against his grandfather’s chest, but heard no heartbeat.
He held trembling fingers beneath the old man’s nostrils, but felt no breath.
Under the pale moonlight, the old man’s eyes remained half-open, completely devoid of life.
Little Yu knelt numbly beside the bed, feeling as if his very soul had been torn from his body. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Silent tears streamed down his cheeks and into the corners of his lips, tasting bitter and salty.
He had no idea how much time had passed—perhaps a few minutes, perhaps only a few seconds.
From the burrow in the corner of the room, that sickening rustling sound started up once more.
Three more mutant rats crawled out from the dark, their blood-red eyes searching the room. Driven into a frenzy by the overpowering stench of fresh blood, they exchanged rapid, excited squeaks in the shadows. Their greedy red eyes scanned the floor, instantly locking onto the fresh “prey” lying still on the bed, and they scrambled forward in a ravenous rush!
Little Yu slowly lifted his head.
Tears still tracked down his dirt-streaked cheeks, but the look in his eyes had completely changed.
The helplessness and childish terror were gone, replaced by an icy, deathly stillness.
His small fingers clamped white-knuckled around the blood-drenched fruit knife.
“It was you…” he muttered under his breath, his voice hoarse and hollow. “You bit my grandfather to death… you filthy, damned beasts…”
Outside, frantic screams and the chaotic sounds of battle erupted from the surrounding bungalows.
The mutant rats had not targeted only their room.
Over in the bungalow shared by Zhang Qiang and Li Yu, Zhang Qiang had been jarred awake by a full bladder after drinking too much melted snow water earlier that evening.
Sitting up groggily, he was just about to slip out of bed when his ears picked up an unsettling noise.
Squeak… skitter-squeak…
It was nothing like the scurrying of ordinary rodents. This sound was sharper, more aggressive, and accompanied by the rapid crunch-click of sharp teeth aggressively grinding against solid wood. The noise seemed to be coming from right outside their door—or even directly beneath the threshold!
Every trace of sleepiness vanished in an instant. A cold sweat broke out along his spine.
He reached out and gently shook Li Yu beside him, his throat tight as he whispered, “Li Yu, wake up! There’s something moving outside! Something is wrong!”
Li Yu was naturally a light sleeper. Her eyes snapped open, full of sharp vigilance. “Is it zombies?”
“I don’t know, but it’s definitely bad news.” Keeping his voice low, Zhang Qiang crept toward the entrance, both of them standing tensely behind the wooden door.
Wang Li, who had been resting in the corner, woke up as well. She scooped the sleeping Niu Niu tightly into her arms, while her other hand reached down to grip a sharpened iron rod leaning against the bedframe.
“Sister Li, keep Niu Niu safe,” Zhang Qiang whispered, pressing his ear against the wood to track the movement outside.
Just then—CRACK!
The lower section of the wooden door was violently gnawed and shattered from the outside, bursting open in a shower of flying splinters!
Through the jagged hole, a grayish-black blur darted in like lightning, lunging straight for Zhang Qiang’s calf!
“Damn it!” Zhang Qiang cursed, lashing out with a heavy kick on pure reflex.
Thud!
The creature took the full force of his boot and was sent flying, crashing hard against the wall with a piercing squeak.
In the dim moonlight, they caught a clear view of the attacker—it was a rat, but grotesquely massive, with vicious, glowing red eyes.
“Rats! Mutant rats!” Li Yu gasped in horror.
Before the warning had fully left her mouth, two more crawled through the opening. One lunged toward Zhang Qiang, while the other bared its fangs and charged toward Wang Li and the child in the corner!
Zhang Qiang snatched up a wooden club from the floor and swung hard, but hit nothing but empty air. The beast was terrifyingly agile, twisting its body mid-leap to dodge the blow and lunging straight for Li Yu instead!
“Watch out!” Zhang Qiang bellowed. Without a second thought, he threw himself in front of her.
Perhaps it was the extreme terror that unlocked his hidden potential, or perhaps a latent power had simply been waiting for the right moment to awaken—Zhang Qiang thrust both hands forward in desperate defense!
An astonishing phenomenon occurred.
The earth beneath them suddenly surged!
A small patch of packed dirt directly in front of Li Yu’s feet rose into the air as if alive, instantly solidifying into an earthen wall half a meter high and twenty centimeters thick!
The charging mutant rat couldn’t stop its momentum in time and slammed headfirst into the solid barrier with a dull thud. It dropped heavily to the floor, stunned and twitching, unable to get back up.
Zhang Qiang stood frozen with his hands still outstretched. He stared dumbfounded at the wall of solid dirt, then looked down at his own palms, his eyes wide with utter shock and disbelief.
“Zhang Qiang, you…” Li Yu was equally stunned, shifting her gaze between the earthen barrier and the young man, momentarily forgetting the danger.
There was no time to process the miracle.
Three more mutant rats squeezed through the shattered door, bringing the total in the room to six. Their crimson eyes flickered maliciously in the dark, forming a loose perimeter around the survivors.
“More of them are coming!” Zhang Qiang made an instant call. Grabbing Li Yu’s wrist, he shouted toward the corner, “Sister Li! Stay right behind me! We’re breaking out! We need to get to Brother Jiang Jue’s side!”
Wang Li nodded fiercely. Though her face was drained of all color, her expression turned remarkably resolute. She wrapped Niu Niu tightly in the worn quilt, pressing the child against her chest with one arm while gripping the sharpened iron rod like a weapon of last resort.
Zhang Qiang took a deep breath, fighting off a wave of sudden dizziness. Concentrating with absolute focus, he pressed his palms toward the ground once more.
Following his intent, the solid earthen wall blocking their exit slowly parted down the middle, opening a narrow passage just wide enough for a person to squeeze through!
“Go!”
The three moved in single file—Zhang Qiang leading the charge, Li Yu right on his heels, and Wang Li guarding the rear with the child—bursting out of the compromised room into the open night!
Outside, the small village had descended into complete pandemonium.
Almost at the exact moment Zhang Qiang and the others broke into the courtyard, the door to Chu Yang and Jiang Jue’s quarters was violently pulled open from the inside!
Jiang Jue had been the first to awaken. The moment the claws began scratching at the exterior door panels, his eyes had snapped open, his hand already resting firmly on the hilt of the straight blade beside his pillow.
Chu Yang had jolted awake right behind him. Trading a sharp, wordless look of complete mutual understanding, the two grabbed their heavy coats and weapons, charging out into the snow to face the swarm.
