CHAPTER 19 ALIVE?
"How did that zombie get into the compound? What should we do? O-Okay... there's only one of them. We should be able to take it down, right, Arthur?" Jake asked, panic evident in his trembling voice.
Arthur didn't answer immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the monitor that displays the lone zombie wandering through the courtyard below.
"Arthur... talk to me," Jake urged, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
Arthur finally spoke in a calm voice.
"I don't think we have anything to worry about. It probably caught a faint trace of our scent around the manor, but it hasn't actually found us. We've stayed inside for weeks without stepping outside. Our scent should be weak by now."
Jake swallowed nervously and slowly nodded.
The zombie shuffled aimlessly through the compound, stopping every now and then as if searching for something. It sniffed the air, tilted its head from side to side, then let out a low growl.
The three of them held their breaths.
Not a single one dared to move.
Several agonizing seconds passed before the creature finally turned around. With one powerful leap, it cleared the compound wall and disappeared into the streets outside as silently as it had arrived.
A collective sigh of relief escaped the room.
"I seriously thought we were dead..." Jake muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Arthur leaned against the wall and exhaled.
Just then...
Ring! Ring! Ring!
The sudden sound of a phone ringing shattered the silence.
"God damn it!" Jake shouted, nearly dropping to the floor. "I almost had a heart attack!"
Arthur glanced at him.
"Is it Mr. Winfrey?"
Jake looked at the unfamiliar number displayed on his screen.
"I... I don't know. This number has never called me before."
His fingers trembled slightly as he accepted the call and raised the phone to his ear.
"Dad... is that you?"
Silence.
Jake's heart tightened.
Then a familiar female voice came from the other end.
"Hello, dumpling."
Jake froze.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
"...Xi... Xia?"
...
Meanwhile...
Henry still kept a reasonable distance from Xia.
Although she seem pretty normal and she doesn't seem infected , he couldn't completely trust her yet. His baseball bat never left his side, and his eyes constantly watched her every movement.
"So..." Henry began cautiously. "How exactly did you get here, Xia? From what I've seen, zombies are everywhere outside."
Xia's heart skipped a beat.
She knew she couldn't tell him the truth.
She couldn't tell anyone she was stuck in a facility that created the infected .
Not yet.
She forced herself to smile naturally.
"Well... I told you earlier that my father is a patient in the hospital so icame from my apartment. I tried contacting the hospital but I couldn't reach them"
Henry silently stared at her.
The story sounded... incomplete.
He could tell she wasn't being entirely honest.
Still, everyone had secrets during times like these.
He chose not to press the issue.
Instead, he simply nodded."I see."
Xia sat quietly on the hospital bed.Her thoughts drifted elsewhere.
There's so much to worry about...
Where's baba,even though it sounds like he's save , I can't help but worry "
What about Jake and Mr. Stowe ?
The questions kept piling up until she felt her chest tighten.
She suddenly looked up and called
"Henry..."
"Hm?"
"Do you have a phone with you?"
Henry hesitated for a second before reaching into his pocket.
"Yeah."
He slowly walked toward her, still maintaining a cautious posture, and handed over the phone.
"Here."
"Thanks."
Xia accepted it gratefully. She immediately began dialing Jake's number.
Jake had a strange habit of breaking or losing his phones every few months, yet somehow he always managed to replace them.
Because of that, Xia had long ago memorized his phone number.
The phone rang , with each passing second making her more anxious.
Please answer...please be alive...
Finally...
A worried male voice came through the speaker.
"Hello... Dad, is that you?"
Xia couldn't help but smile,
She chuckled softly before speaking, overwhelmed by emotions.
"Hey, dumpling."
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Jake's eyes widened as he gripped the phone tighter.
"...X-Xia? His voice trembled.
"It... it really is you?"
Xia smiled warmly.
"Yeah. It's me , silly . I mean who else could it be ?"
Jake felt his legs weaken. " How ?,how are you alive ?"
He collapsed onto the nearest chair, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
he muttered with a shaky voice. "Do you know how worried I've been?"
Arthur and Joe exchanged relieved glances as they watched Jake's expression change from fear to overwhelming joy,still Arthor still had a confused expression on his face " how did she survive ?" But he quickly pushed those thoughts away ,for the first time since the outbreak..hope returned to the silent manor .