Chapter 15 - Ambush

　　Seeing that the other party understood his intent, Wang Zhi put down his binoculars and checked his watch. It was three in the afternoon; they needed to get over there before dark.This meant they had less than four hours remaining. If darkness fell, even with night vision goggles, their field of view would be significantly reduced, and the danger would increase substantially.They were now faced with their first decision: what method should they use to get down? One option was to rappel down directly from the rooftop using a rope; the other was to take the stairs.Wang Zhi called Fatty over. After a brief discussion, the group decided it would be better to take the stairs and move together.Just then, Old He had a sudden idea. He removed the silencer from his handgun, intending to fire a shot into the air to see if there were any survivors inside this Office Building.Wang Zhi immediately grabbed Old He's arm, signaling him not to shoot."Don't shoot! That one shot will attract all the Zombies in the vicinity! If that happens, we won't be able to go anywhere."Old He thought it over and agreed it wasn't wise, so he reattached the silencer.After discussing, Wang Zhi and the other three began walking down from the Rooftop. Just as they were about to open the door, they discovered the iron door was bolted from the inside; it couldn't be opened at all!"Damn it, Captain Wang, I'll break it open," Fatty said, preparing to kick the door."Are you crazy? If you kick it open, how will we get down?" Wang Zhi quickly stopped him."First, use the Grappling Hook and rope to lower ourselves into a room, then gather and rush out together," Ying suggested."That's the only way. We'll find an open window shortly and enter a room."Ying went to the edge of the building, stepped over the railing, lowered the rope along the window's position, hooked the Grappling Hook onto the railing, and pulled hard to confirm it was secure."Then I'll go down first~" Ying chirped, grasping the rope with both hands and lowering herself down. In no time, she slid to the second floor, found an openable window, and slipped through.As soon as Ying's feet touched the floor, before she could even stand up, a Zombie suddenly lunged out from her right side.Ying's heart leaped. She had specifically checked the outside of the window just moments ago, confirming it was clear, yet a Zombie had been lurking in the blind spot!Ying watched the Zombie's claws and teeth close in. She instinctively used her arm to block the creature's grab, but the Zombie immediately clamped down on her arm and sank its teeth in.Fortunately, Ying reacted fast. With her free hand, she drew the Dagger from her leg and plunged it directly into the Zombie's head.*Pfft!*The Dagger was incredibly sharp; even before any blood splattered from the Zombie's head, it lost all strength and collapsed to the floor.Seeing Ying enter the window, the three people on the roof followed her down, sliding down the rope.When Wang Zhi descended and saw the scene inside the room, he was deeply shocked. Although he had been mentally preparing himself for many days, actually seeing a corpse with his own eyes still made him feel a wave of nausea and fear.Old He was the last one down. After entering the room, he pressed the mechanism on the end of the rope. The Grappling Hook hanging from the roof shifted from its curved form to a straight one; with a gentle tug, the Grappling Hook was safely retrieved."Oh my God! You killed one already just by coming down?" Fatty yelped, seeing a dead body for the first time."Sister Ying, are you hurt?" Wang Zhi approached Ying, showing concern."I didn't see this thing hiding in the corner just now. Luckily, this clothing is tough, and it didn't scratch me," Ying replied."Phew, it's good that you're fine. Fatty, no matter what we encounter later, don't speak loudly. You're being very dangerous like that," Wang Zhi said with a frown.Actually, he wasn't too worried about Ying and Old He; it was just that if Fatty wasn't reminded, he would probably shout out loud soon.After speaking, Wang Zhi went over and opened the room door, immediately pulling back slightly to guard against a sudden attack from a Zombie near the doorway.There were no Zombies outside the door, so Wang Zhi slowly poked his head out again to check the situation in the corridor. The safe passage was about 50 meters away, with six Zombies blocking the path in the corridor, and the rooms on either side were unknown.After looking, Wang Zhi pulled his head back in and described the situation outside."My marksmanship is good; I'll go use the gun to kill them first," Old He spoke up.After Old He spoke, he stepped sideways. *Pffft, pffft, pffft*—seven muffled gunshots rang out, and all six Zombies outside fell to the ground. One shot hit the cervical spine because the Zombie had its back turned to Old He; when the Zombie turned its head and rushed toward them after being attacked, Old He finished it off with another shot.Old He stepped back, removed the magazine, and reloaded it fully.Fatty peeked out and exclaimed excitedly in a low voice, "Brother He, great marksmanship!""Let's go out. Fatty, you follow me toward the wall on the opposite side. Wang Zhi and Ying, stay on this side. We'll watch out for each other regarding the situation inside the room. If any Zombies appear, shoot immediately!" Old He instructed.The four cautiously moved along the wall toward the fire exit, passing eight rooms on both sides. Most doors were closed; only from two rooms with open doors did three Zombies emerge, all of whom were easily shot down by Ying and Old He.Once they reached the fire exit, Wang Zhi noticed there weren't many Zombies here. The Office Building usually wasn't heavily populated, and the fire exit was rarely used—people usually took the elevator.Just as Wang Zhi reached the entrance to the fire exit, another Zombie suddenly lunged at him!Wang Zhi didn't react in time and was directly knocked against the metal door by the charging Zombie.*Clang!* The metal door struck the wall, making a loud noise that sounded especially jarring in the empty upper floor.Roar! The Zombies in the building heard the noise from this direction, went into a frenzy, and rushed toward the source of the sound.At that moment, Wang Zhi was pinned to the floor by the Zombie. Seeing the sudden attacker, Ying unflinchingly used her Dagger to blow its head off. Blood spray splattered onto Wang Zhi's mask.Wang Zhi immediately scrambled up after breaking free. Hearing countless low growls echoing from the floors above and below, "Run!" was Wang Zhi's first thought!"It's over, they heard us!""Hurry to the window, jump out through the ventilation opening!" After slamming the security access door shut, Wang Zhi turned and scrambled toward the central ventilation window.None of the four hesitated; they climbed straight out the window.The ventilation opening was located between the first and second floors, not very high up, so the four easily jumped down.The Zombies outside, having heard the commotion from the four, all converged toward this spot. Meanwhile, the Zombies inside the building were constantly clawing and beating at the window.For a time, the nearby Zombies were all drawn by the noise, and their numbers kept increasing!