"Ahhh!"
The young woman hadn't even had time to react when her hair was suddenly yanked with force. Her head was violently pulled sideways, and she crashed hard onto the metal plate. Immediately, a sharp, intense pain shot through her scalp, and she couldn't help but scream in agony.
"Help me! Help me! I don't want to die!"
The middle-aged woman dangled midair, desperately clinging to the girl's hair, her face filled with terror as she cried out for help from those above.
But how could human hair bear the weight of an adult? The sudden force of the woman's fall had already torn a large piece of skin off the girl's scalp, instantly leaving a bloody, gruesome wound that looked nauseatingly horrifying.
And as the middle-aged woman continued to struggle, the wound on the girl's scalp only widened further. Her screams grew more and more agonizing, and her body was slowly dragged over the edge along with it.
The unbearable pain nearly made the girl pass out, but she didn't want to die like this—especially not dragged down by someone else. With a furious expression, she roared at the older woman still gripping her hair:
"Ahh! You old hag, let go of me!!!"
"Pum! Pum! Pum!"
Without waiting for a response, she quickly pulled out her pistol and fired wildly at the woman.
Although she was shooting blindly, the target was too big to miss. One bullet struck the woman directly in the shoulder.
Letting out a shriek of pain, the woman instinctively released her grip on the girl's hair and tumbled into the abyss.
Because of the sudden release of weight, and with half her body already leaning over the edge while holding the gun in one hand, the girl failed to grab hold of anything in time and fell as well.
Worst of all, as she tilted forward during the fall, she caught the leg of a man behind her, throwing off his balance just as he was about to steady himself, dragging him down with her.
"Ahh!"
"Bam! Bam! Bam!"
The three falling bodies screamed in fear and disbelief as they plummeted, their cries echoing across the street, followed by three heavy thuds as they hit the ground below. The infected beneath them erupted into chaos once again.
What had seemed like a complicated scene had actually happened in under a minute. Four out of seven people had fallen from the corridor. Everyone stood frozen in shock, mouths dry, swallowing hard in disbelief.
When the wind finally stopped and the corridor stabilized, the remaining three people trembled uncontrollably, unable to stand up straight.
Seeing the panic and helplessness on their faces, a few brave soldiers rushed forward and helped them back inside the conference room. Otherwise, they might have stayed there, paralyzed with fear.
Because of this accident, the small group of survivors who had yet to cross the corridor became extremely cautious, no longer daring to be careless after witnessing such a brutal scene.
"Jeez! What the hell is this?"
When the last survivor reached the office building, someone in the crowd suddenly exclaimed in astonishment:
"Look at that!"
Hearing the voice, everyone turned toward where it came from. A thin young man had his face pressed against the glass of the outer wall, eyes wide open, staring outside, murmuring in awe mixed with fear.
Up until now, everyone's attention had been focused entirely on the corridor, barely noticing anything else. But now, following the young man's gaze, one by one, they froze in place.
If what they had passed through before was a city devoid of life, then what lay before them now was a battlefield ravaged by bombs. Countless homes and buildings were shattered beyond recognition, the previously flat streets now cracked and broken into uneven mounds and depressions. Underground pipes had burst, sending water geysering forth like waterfalls, turning nearby craters into pools that had since frozen solid in the extreme cold.
This wasteland stretched for six or seven kilometers. Endless numbers of infected wandered among the ruins, though only certain areas were densely packed with them. Elsewhere, the infected were scattered. Surrounding the area was a perimeter fence, and beyond it lay mountains of infected corpses. Inside the quarantine zone, soldiers stood guard, watching the surroundings carefully.
Behind them, within the safe zone, most of the debris had been cleared to both sides, forming a flat path, although some craters remained unfilled. Parked along the road were rows of military trucks. Some sharp-eyed survivors even spotted tanks. Clearly, these vehicles were meant to evacuate the survivors into the containment area.
Finally, at the very center of the ruined expanse, stood a towering isolation wall built in less than a month. This was the final destination of their journey—the place where all the survivors were headed.
"We should stop wasting time here. The sooner we reach the safe zone, the safer we'll be," Tracy said impatiently, checking her watch and addressing the crowd.
Everyone finally snapped out of their shock. Under the soldiers' guidance, they left the conference room and took the stairs.
Perhaps because most of the infected had already fallen from the corridor outside, the group advanced without any trouble.
When they reached the lobby on the first floor, several soldiers began attaching suppressors—commonly known as silencers—to their rifles and pistols.
A suppressor doesn't eliminate sound completely—it merely minimizes the noise of gunfire. Though it slightly affects accuracy and power, it would become an essential tool for dealing with scattered groups of infected as they crossed several kilometers of ruined terrain, playing a key role in ensuring their safe passage.
However, due to the events at the hospital, much of the equipment had been lost, so only half the soldiers were able to equip suppressors.
"Piiu! Piiu!"
Bullets slid through the barrels, passed through the suppressors, and pierced the heads of the infected wandering near the entrance of the office building.
Tracy led the group across the snow-covered, uneven ruins. When they encountered isolated infected, they dealt with them using silenced shots. If the path ahead was impassable, they tried to go around it. If they couldn't, they formed human ladders to climb over.
At first, everyone was energetic and full of hope, but as time wore on and the terrain became increasingly difficult, even under the freezing cold, everyone was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. Some stomachs growled loudly with hunger, making them look pitifully exhausted.
"Mommy... I'm hungry..."
During the march, a boy of five or six held his belly and looked up at his mother with pleading eyes, tugging at her sleeve.
"I'm really hungry..."
The mother looked down at her son's thin face and instinctively searched her pockets for something to eat, but found nothing. No matter how many times she checked, her empty pockets offered not a single bite.
Desperately, she turned to the surrounding crowd with a begging tone:
"Does anyone have any food? My child can't take it anymore... Please, someone, give us something to eat?"
She and her son hadn't eaten properly in almost five days. After being separated at the hospital, she had lost her backpack while fleeing. Although the military camp gave them a single piece of bread last night, today's long journey had drained whatever little energy they had left. As an adult, she could endure, but her young son could not.
Most people in the crowd simply glanced at them indifferently and walked on without a word.
Only a few stopped, looking at the mother and child with sympathy. Some even considered offering food, but were stopped by their companions before they could act.
Tracy also noticed the situation, but the army's rations had already been distributed last night. Now, there was nothing left. She couldn't possibly force the survivors to give up what they carried in their backpacks.
With a helpless sigh, she approached, knelt down, and gently comforted the child, telling him to hold on just a bit longer, that there would be food waiting for them soon.
With her soft words, the child calmed down quickly, nodded firmly, and continued walking step by step alongside his mother.