Chapter 11 – Zombies and Stairs
“Bang, bang bang!” Several gunshots rang out behind a bar.
“Damn it! Which idiot made such a racket!” A man with gold-rimmed glasses pressed his forehead, complaining to the small gang of underlings following him.
“Brother Kun, looks like it was Wang Heng’s people. They were working security at Nightshade Club last night—they all had weapons on them.”
The man called Brother Kun’s face darkened. Hearing the name Wang Heng, he gave a cold snort. “What a brainless fool. Making that much noise—he’s just asking to die…”
Before he finished, one of Wang Heng’s men pointed over at Brother Kun’s group, whispering something to the burly man in the middle.
That man pushed aside his lackeys, a big, broad-shouldered figure with a vicious grin—he looked every bit the gangster.
“Brainless fool? Asking to die? Wu Changkun, yelling insults so loudly—you’re the one looking for death!” The man smirked, strolling forward with his hands clasped behind his back, walking in an arrogant swagger.
Wu Changkun’s pupils shrank behind his glasses, his eyes narrowing as a cold smile spread across his lips. “Brother Wang, what are you talking about? This little brother doesn’t understand.”
“Doesn’t matter. After today, you won’t need to.” With a mocking laugh, Wang Heng stretched out his right hand, palm up. Before everyone’s shocked gaze, a fireball ignited in his palm!
An ability! He had awakened an ability! No wonder he was so arrogant!
“Boom!”
“Crack—”
A bolt of lightning split down in the fireball’s path, intercepting it.
Wang Heng, who had looked smug a moment before, took a half-step back, his expression turning cautious as he eyed Wu Changkun slowly lowering his hand. Wu’s lips curled into a cold smile.
“What a pity, Brother Wang. Didn’t expect it, did you? Heaven isn’t favoring just you…”
*
“Dormitory Building No. 3 cleared!”
“Fourth squad assembled!”
“The cafeteria is being cleared…”
“Report, Lieutenant General—the wounded have been sent to the west side of the plaza. Medical staff are doing their best!”
A uniformed officer stood at a window, binoculars trained on the dorms, his brows tightly furrowed.
“What’s the situation? How many have turned into… those things?”
“Report, Lieutenant General. Thirty-three have been killed. More than ten bitten, and over thirty scratched.”
“Thirty-three…” The middle-aged officer fell into thought when a soldier outside the door called for entry.
After saluting, the newcomer reported: “Report, Lieutenant General Han! Dozens more soldiers have been found with super… abilities. And many others say their strength, hearing, and vision have noticeably improved!”
General Han’s eyes lit up. That morning, when the first strange abilities appeared, the army had quickly contained it, worried these men might lose their sanity like the undead. But hours had passed, and those with powers remained clear-headed—and now even more soldiers were awakening abilities?!
“Release the ability users who were under separate observation, return them to their squads, split up and begin clearing operations…”
Before Lieutenant General Han could finish, another soldier rushed in, “Report! Report! General! The dozen or so police dogs in the unit have gone berserk! Their symptoms are identical to those infected soldiers who bite people! They’re faster and even harder to capture or put down!”
*
Most TV channels were still looping the pre-scheduled shows and advertisements from last night; the daily morning news hadn’t appeared at all.
The radio was filled with static—only a few channels could be received, endlessly looping music.
Luo Xun, holding the little one in one arm and a pair of binoculars in the other, was standing on the balcony, scanning the surroundings.
Looking southeast from the balcony, he could faintly see the army compound walls—that would later become the main force of the Southwest Base. Right now, they were probably busy cleaning out the zombies inside their own camp. As for the artillery regiment, it was even farther away from here.
Luo Xun remembered: later on, that unit expanded outward and absorbed both the personnel and equipment of the artillery regiment. Supposedly, there was even a military factory nearby, not far from the compound, though Luo Xun didn’t know its exact location. He only knew that it was thanks to that factory that, after the apocalypse, the Southwest Base had the ability to be self-sufficient. Weapons were still in short supply, but unlike other bases that lacked equipment and quickly ran out of strength, this base could at least keep going.
Looking south from the balcony, there weren’t many buildings—just farmland behind the Hongjing community, though it was hard to tell what crops had been planted there. To the north and west were clusters of residential complexes and buildings, getting denser and more prosperous the farther north one went. To the east stretched a large area of flower greenhouses and a district of one-story houses.
Luo Xun walked back to the bedroom and peered through the window toward the community’s entrance. Most residents, even after realizing something was wrong in the morning, hadn’t dared to go out. But now, some who had processed the situation were sneaking downstairs, preparing to scavenge resources.
A shrill scream rang out below. Luo Xun lowered the binoculars and spotted the source: a young woman in her twenties or thirties, beside a man about the same age—likely a married couple. Not far from them, a zombie staggered toward the pair.
It had been so long since Luo Xun had witnessed such a scene that he’d almost forgotten—sometimes, a woman’s shriek could be more terrifying than the zombies’ guttural roars.
In the apocalypse, women were rare and precious—treasures to be protected. A popular joke circulated later on: “In the apocalypse, there are no dinosaurs; every woman is a beauty.”
Simply because women were so few. Seeing one at all was difficult, and any attractive ones had long since been “collected” by ability users. Ordinary people never even got the chance to meet them. Anyone who could marry someone on the level of “Sister Feng” or “Sister Furong” would be considered blessed by heaven.
As Luo Xun’s thoughts spun wildly, the woman below screamed while hacking at the zombie with her kitchen knife. Slash after slash after slash… until the zombie collapsed. Even then, she kept chopping, shrieking at the top of her lungs.
*
Alright then. Luo Xun decided to take back his earlier thoughts—women weren’t weak at all. In some cases, their combat effectiveness could be downright terrifying.
The man beside her had gone weak in the knees the moment he saw the zombie, only getting up shakily after the woman had hacked it to pieces. Trembling, he tugged at her sleeve.
The woman turned her dazed eyes toward him, making him flinch back half a step. He muttered something, and the two quickly rushed to a car, drove off, and left the community.
As they left, the earlier screaming had drawn the attention of many survivors peeking from their windows. Seeing others leave, those without much food at home began considering sneaking downstairs to do the same.
But that scream had attracted not only human attention. Zombies, lured by the noise, were beginning to gather.
When more people tried to drive out, zombies emerged from stairwells and corridors—some unlucky residents even came face-to-face with them indoors.
There were quite a few zombies in Luo Xun’s own building, especially on the 14th floor. At least five or six had already wandered out of their apartments. Still, Luo Xun wasn’t too worried they’d climb up to the 16th floor, because—low-level zombies weren’t very good at stairs.
After all, they were corpses. Their knees and arms could bend, but were stiff. Climbing stairs, which required bending with every step, was simply too difficult for them.
Of course, not being able to climb didn’t mean they couldn’t go down.
Not only could they go down, they were terrifyingly fast at it.
Just imagine: zombies lurching toward a stairwell, missing a step, tumbling head over heels. Even if they broke an arm or leg, as long as their brains weren’t destroyed, they’d just stagger back up and continue rolling down the next flight. Compared to that, what human could beat their speed?
So, after hearing the woman’s scream, the zombies, as though responding to a declaration of war, began tumbling downstairs en masse, clattering and crashing as they shuffled toward the outside.
Screams, banging, car engines, and crashes filled the air.
In a sense, humans had remarkable adaptability—especially now, with their lives on the line.
Thanks to the modern internet, movies, novels, and games, even if most hadn’t seen zombie fiction, they’d at least heard of zombies. The rules were simple: aim for the head, and a bite might turn you.
Remember those two points, and low-level zombies weren’t too hard to deal with. Their faces turned gray and bluish after zombification, looking very different from normal humans. Sure, killing them would leave psychological scars, but in a life-or-death moment, most people could still swing the weapon—at least against strangers.
About half the zombies wandering the community were wiped out this way.
While marveling at the survivors’ adaptability and courage, Luo Xun quietly considered—should he help with the cleanup?
Hongjing community was where he planned to live long-term. He knew the army would eventually come to clear the place, but for peace of mind—and to reduce the chances of more neighbors turning into zombies—it would be best to eliminate the infected as soon as possible.
If one of them evolved beyond the low-level stage into a mid- or high-level zombie, it could pose a real threat to him.
As he was weighing this, a sudden burst of barking came from the community gate. Startled, Luo Xun quickly raised his binoculars. From his living room, he could just see the street outside the gate. Several stray dogs bounded past the entrance…
He couldn’t tell whether they’d zombified, but one thing was certain—the outside world was far more dangerous than he’d expected.
