The helicopter carrying the four was already airborne. Just as they flew out of the underground Base, Wang Zhi noticed the location was in a jungle area.
Looking at the lingering smoke rising from the distant city, the four felt a complex mix of emotions. Not long ago, it was a thriving city; in just a few days, it was shrouded in smoke and gradually falling. What would become of humanity's fate? Where would they go?
Wang Zhi took out his binoculars and observed the crazed people on the ground. At this moment, his lingering thought that this was all an illusion shattered.
On the plane, Old He once again emphasized the precautions for parachuting. Skydiving is no joke. Although this was the first time for Wang Zhi and Fatty to jump, having two experienced hands guiding them eased some of their worry.
"We are approaching the destination. Current altitude is 3,000 meters. Repeat, altitude 3,000 meters. We will reach the vicinity of the destination in one minute. Prepare to jump. Repeat, prepare to jump near the destination in one minute!" the pilot's voice crackled over the radio.
After the pilot finished speaking, the four approached the side door of the helicopter.
"In a moment, our target is the largest rooftop in the center! Don't be afraid, just follow my command! 3, 2, 1, jump!" Old He shouted loudly.
As soon as Old He finished speaking, the four held hands, forming a neat line, and jumped out of the helicopter.
After Old He and Ying had stabilized their center of gravity, Old He's voice came over the radio.
"Let go, spread out, maintain some distance, open your parachutes!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The four deployed their parachutes simultaneously.
Wang Zhi nervously controlled his direction, trying his best to stay aligned with Old He and the others.
"Fatty, stay away from me!"
At this moment, Ying's voice came through the radio.
Fatty and Ying were a little too close at this point, and to avoid their parachutes tangling, Ying had no choice but to alter her descent path.
Ying's descent brought her lower and lower. Seeing that she was about to miss the optimal spot above the roof, the hearts of the three tightened.
Just then, Ying seemed fully prepared, throwing out the Grappling Hook strapped to her waist!
Clang! The Grappling Hook successfully caught onto the rooftop railing.
Ying yanked the rope, then pulled out her Dagger to cut the parachute off her body, before climbing over.
After landing, the three quickly took off their parachutes and rushed to the railing. Seeing Ying pull herself up successfully, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fatty, do you want to die!" Ying said through gritted teeth.
"I'm so sorry, Sister Ying, I... I'm still not very skilled, I'm sorry..." Fatty kept apologizing; he knew his operation had been flawed just now.
Wang Zhi watched that scene. Fortunately, Ying reacted in time. If it had been him, he would have either ended in Mutual Destruction with Fatty mid-air or failed to reach the roof and fallen below.
...
Somewhere on the campus.
"Senior Student! I just saw a helicopter fly over here!"
"A helicopter flew by? Aren't there enough planes in the sky lately? Zhang Xiaowei, you don't really think they've come down to rescue us, do you?" a nearby classmate interjected first.
"No! It wasn't just a helicopter! Four people jumped down from the helicopter!" Zhang Xiaowei said excitedly.
"What? Is that true?"
"Where are they?"
"Let's go out quickly, let them discover us!"
The people inside the room began expressing their opinions one after another.
"Shh! Keep it down!" The Senior Student Zhang Xiaowei was referring to made a gesture.
At this moment, everyone realized they had been too extreme. There were still so many Zombies outside, and they all began praying not to attract them.
But things went against their wishes. At this moment, two Zombies outside the hallway, drawn by the recent commotion, had arrived outside the wooden door, clawing at it and emitting a grating squeak!
"If this continues, all the other Zombies will be drawn here. Waaah, we're doomed."
Some students couldn't help but start crying.
"Stop crying. We still have the Senior Student. If you keep crying, the Zombies will eat you first," said a male student beside her.
"Open the door!" the Senior Student said calmly, gripping the iron blade in her hand.
After the Senior Student spoke, no one dared to step forward to open the door. This disappointed her slightly. She turned and said to Zhang Xiaowei, "Xiaowei, you go open the door."
Called out by the Senior Student, Zhang Xiaowei had no choice but to walk fearfully toward the wooden door.
Hoo~ After taking a deep breath at the door, Zhang Xiaowei pulled it open and immediately ran behind the Senior Student.
Roar! Sensing the scent of prey, the Zombies became even more frenzied. Just as they were about to grab Zhang Xiaowei who had opened the door, the Senior Student lunged forward.
With a diagonal slash, the head of the leading Zombie was immediately severed and fell to the ground.
Then followed a thrust, piercing directly through the head of the second Zombie!
Thud! Both Zombies fell to the ground.
In just these few seconds, two bloody corpses were added to the room.
After executing a flourish with her blade to shake off the blood, the Senior Student walked to a corner to wipe down her iron knife.
Although they had been constantly facing bloody scenes these past few days, some people inside the room still couldn't take it and had started dry heaving.
"Let's move locations," the Senior Student said.
"Senior Student, there's no... no place left. If we move again, we can only go to the rooftop," Zhang Xiaowei replied.
"Then the rooftop it is!" With that, the Senior Student led everyone toward the roof.
.....
On the rooftop, Wang Zhi unfolded the map of S University and surveyed their surroundings.
"We are currently on top of the Office Building! The school is divided into four zones: East, West, North, and South. The North and South zones contain the teaching buildings, while the East and West zones hold some dormitories, sports fields, and dining halls," Wang Zhi said, looking at the map.
"So, where should we head first?" Fatty asked.
"No rush, let's observe the surroundings first." As he spoke, Wang Zhi picked up binoculars and looked down from the eight-story-high Office Building to assess the situation below.
A campus population numbers at least tens of thousands, and these Zombies are mostly concentrated near the teaching buildings and dormitories.
"Given such dire circumstances, those who managed to survive are incredibly lucky," Old He remarked somberly.
"Captain Wang, in your opinion, how did they manage to survive under these conditions?" Fatty leaned closer and asked Wang Zhi.
"Fewer people means naturally less danger. It seems they hid in areas with sparser populations," Wang Zhi analyzed.
"Fatty, go watch the entrance to the Rooftop. Don't let any Zombies rush up," Ying ordered Fatty, worried the Zombies below might break through.
Wang Zhi picked up the map again, studying it closely, trying to find a breakthrough point. The teaching buildings had too many people; they were likely all infected, and almost no one inside would survive.
The cafeteria was possible because there was plenty of food and it was right next to the supermarket, ensuring they wouldn't starve. But the opposite was also true: when everyone knew there was food there, they would all flock there, leading not only to failure to survive but also an increasing number of infected.
That left only the Library and the Gymnasium. These two places usually had few people, and the interior environment was relatively safe; as long as supplies were sufficient, there was still a chance of survival.
"Did you find anything?" Wang Zhi asked the two of them.
"Nothing. It's all Zombies around here," Old He replied.
"I did see two children, but they were just bitten to death over by the supermarket," Ying said dismissively.
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhi also raised his binoculars and looked in the direction of the supermarket Ying had indicated.
On the road, a group of Zombies was tearing at the two students, forming two clusters. The scene was so bloody that he lowered the binoculars.
After a while, Wang Zhi raised the binoculars again to re-examine the area, but all he saw were Zombies; he did not spot any actual living people.
Just as Wang Zhi was about to put the binoculars down, the iron door on the Gymnasium's Rooftop opened!
"Survivors! On the Gymnasium Rooftop, 9 o'clock direction!" Wang Zhi shouted to the two beside him.
"Twenty... twenty-three people!" Old He counted the opposing group through his binoculars.
It was obvious these twenty-three individuals had made the wise choice; if they hadn't gone up to the Rooftop, Wang Zhi's four-person team searching for them across this vast campus would have been like looking for a needle in a haystack!
Seeing this, Wang Zhi began considering how to attract their attention. First, he needed to let them know his team existed so they would agree to wait in place.
Zhang Xiaowei, who had already spotted Wang Zhi's group from the Office Building, immediately noticed the white cloth hanging from the Gymnasium Rooftop as soon as the students reached it, and began waving frantically toward Wang Zhi's location.
Wang Zhi thought for a moment, finally deciding to take out his high-powered flashlight and flash a signal toward the Gymnasium Rooftop.
· - -·-·
"Wait? They want us to wait!" The Senior Student understood Wang Zhi's signal and made an OK gesture toward the top of the Office Building.