Chapter 63: Bitten—Will They Turn Into Zombies?

Bian Changxi made a big detour, and when she returned to the auto repair shop, a fierce battle was underway.

People were under siege by zombies.

She was shocked. Wasn’t that stinking rat only supposed to have drawn out a few mutant beasts? How did it end up attracting zombies too? Thinking it over, she figured the mutant beasts must have injured some people, and the scent of blood drew in nearby zombies.

Although it wasn’t directly her fault, she couldn’t deny she was involved. The thought made her feel a bit guilty. She saw Lin Rongrong and the Chen father and son struggling to dodge zombies, so she seized an opening, brandished her straight blade, and fought her way over.

“Are you guys okay?”

“Changxi!”

“Miss Bian!”

The group was visibly relieved to see her. The woman who used to be a martial arts coach was there too, but the other two men from their group were nowhere to be seen. Lin Rongrong asked, “Changxi, where did you go just now?”

“I didn’t have anything to do here, so I went for a walk. When I saw all the zombies heading this way, I rushed back. Why is it so chaotic? Isn’t anyone in charge?”

“Captain Yue is missing. First, mutant rats showed up in the shop, scaring everyone out, and then the zombies came.”

Bian Changxi understood. Yue Li and Su Chensi were probably still at the 4S dealership; the fighting she’d heard earlier must have been them.

She looked around. Lin Rongrong and the others were hiding in a dead-end alley between two buildings, with a wall at the back and only seven or eight meters of space. If more zombies showed up, there’d be no escape. The repair shop was right across the street, but the road was wide, with seven or eight zombies in the way, and more inside the shop.

“This won’t do. We need to get back to the repair shop—the doors are thick, and we can hold out there for a while.” Bian Changxi pretended to pull a submachine gun from her bag, held it ready, and shouted to the four of them, “Stick close to me!”

With that, she fired two quick shots, dropping two zombies.

The people across from the zombies froze for a second, then, seeing Bian Changxi with a gun, instinctively ran toward her. She shouted, “Don’t block my line of fire! Head for the repair shop!”

She strode forward quickly and steadily, her marksmanship precise. While not every shot was a headshot, she took down four zombies in a flash. For the rest, the angles were off and she didn’t want to risk hitting people.

At the repair shop entrance, she saw four or five zombies inside. Several people were already down, while others were hiding in vehicles, using their agility to dodge the zombies’ deadly claws.

“Everyone, get down! Take cover!”

Bian Changxi shouted as she moved, firing controlled bursts—two or three shots per zombie, enough to take them down while saving ammo and avoiding friendly fire.

Once the zombies were down, she told Lin Rongrong and the others, “Go check—make sure they’re dead, and cut off their heads just in case. Also, note anyone who’s been bitten.” Then she went to the main gate, calling for anyone still outside to come in, covering them as they did.

Soon, everyone nearby had made it back, but more and more zombies were closing in. The survivors shouted to close the doors, but two soldiers from the military blocked the way: “We can’t close it—Captain Yue and Miss Su aren’t back yet!”

Bian Changxi kept firing. Her submachine gun was military-issue, once Shadow’s prized weapon, with a much larger magazine than standard. But after all this shooting, she’d emptied one mag already, and the one in her hands was the last. If she ran out, her handgun wouldn’t have enough stopping power, and her heavy sniper rifle’s recoil was too much for rapid fire. There was a crate of guns from the 4S dealership, but she wasn’t sure if they’d even work. Watching the zombies swarm like wolves, she didn’t look back and barked, “Shut the door!”

Most of the people in the repair shop were those she’d just brought back. Hearing her, they rushed to help, but the two soldiers raised their guns: “Anyone who tries to close the door will get shot!”

“Damn it! What were you doing with those guns before—just running for your own lives? Why point them at us instead of the zombies?” The crowd was furious.

After what they’d just been through, the group—down from over thirty to just a bit more than twenty—had their blood up. Now, they were fiercer than when facing zombies.

Plus, with other teams mixed in, the crowd was intimidating. None of them cared about the so-called captain or miss. They stared down the two soldiers, ready to tear them apart if they kept blocking the way.

One soldier swallowed hard. “If something happens to Captain Yue, you’ll all be held responsible…”

“Screw your responsibility! We’re about to die here!” someone snapped back.

In desperation, one soldier pressed his gun to Bian Changxi’s head. “Tell them to calm down! We can’t close the door until Captain Yue is back—he’s on his way!”

Bian Changxi glanced at his radio, sneered, and said, “How about closing one door and leaving the other open? Captain Yue’s not that big—he can squeeze through.”

Just then, Yue Li and Su Chensi appeared at the intersection, with several others behind them, including Liu Meng.

The soldiers cheered, “Captain Yue! Miss Su! Hurry, get over here!”

Bian Changxi snorted, shot a few more zombies to cover them, and ushered everyone inside. The repair shop slammed the doors shut with a bang, slid in a thick iron bar, and parked two heavy trucks against the entrance. Zombies outside kept slamming into the doors, which quickly began to warp under the assault.

The two soldiers—especially the one who’d just threatened Bian Changxi—immediately switched to fawning mode, hovering around Yue Li and Su Chensi, asking if they were hurt and making excuses for their own behavior. They were so busy sucking up, they didn’t even help with the crisis.

Bian Changxi was disgusted. Who could have guessed that someone in full military camo, looking so upright, would turn out to be this kind of person? If Yue Li kept people like this around, either he had no real status, or he was just blind.

She flexed her ankle, stiff from crouching, slung her submachine gun behind her, and walked up to the soldier. Using her gun like a club, she smashed him to the ground.

The soldier hit the floor, spitting out blood and several teeth.

Everyone was stunned.

Yue Li was in a foul mood. He’d barely set foot in the 4S dealership before being chased out by a horde of rats, then nearly killed by zombies. With so many casualties in his team, he’d be in trouble when he got back.

He’d thought this would be an easy mission. Who could have predicted this…

Just as he was about to lose his temper at his assigned guard’s endless chatter, the man suddenly went down. Looking up, he saw Bian Changxi’s cold, intimidating face.

He frowned. “Bian Changxi, what are you doing?”

Bian Changxi stepped on the soldier, pressing her submachine gun to his head. She turned to Yue Li and said, “What am I doing? I think everyone here would be happy to explain. As a soldier, in this situation, if you’re holding a gun and have the authority to command civilians, you should be protecting them. If you can’t, fine. If you only care about your own life, fine. But to boss people around and put them in danger for your own sake? That’s unacceptable. And the one thing you never do is point a gun at my head. Anyone who’s ever tried that has never had a good ending.”

As she said this last part, her gaze shifted to Liu Meng.

She wasn’t sure how many people Liu Meng had with him originally, but now there were only four left, including the skinny man who used to follow Zhang Hu. Since entering, they’d been watching her with hostility, especially the skinny one, who kept muttering and glaring at her with a mix of malice and schadenfreude.

Pathetic!

Plotting revenge, are they? Fine. Since we’re already enemies, I won’t bother hiding it. If you’ve got the guts, come at me. I’m not afraid.

The skinny man shuddered under Bian Changxi’s murderous glare, as if remembering something, and shrank behind Liu Meng. Liu Meng, on the other hand, seemed to finally take her seriously. He nodded in agreement, “You’re right. Anyone with power who won’t do their job is trash! Miss Bian, right? My people owe you our lives. If we make it out of here, we’ll be sure to thank you properly.”

Bian Changxi raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing.

Su Chensi suddenly spoke up, “Who are you? You followed me and Captain Yue, dragging us down with your ulterior motives. We haven’t even called you out yet, and now you’re making a scene.”

Liu Meng forced a smile but didn’t reply. Su Chensi turned to Bian Changxi, “Xiao Xu is a sergeant, not a civilian. Stepping on him like that—what does that say about the military’s dignity?”

Liu Meng might be afraid of her, but Bian Changxi wasn’t. Back at the pharmacy, she’d been polite out of principle, but now she wasn’t about to back down.

She looked at Su Chensi, whose face was pale and eyes cold but tinged with anger, and smiled, “You’ve got it wrong. Dignity isn’t something others give you. If the military can protect hundreds of thousands of people, everyone will respect them. Otherwise, no matter how many sergeants you have, it’s just a mob.”

Su Chensi’s anger deepened, but Bian Changxi felt a bit better.

Lin Rongrong, worried things would escalate, quickly pulled her away. “Alright, enough. In front of zombies, there’s no difference between sergeant and civilian. People like that aren’t worth you getting worked up over.”

Bian Changxi let herself be dragged away, sitting with Lin Rongrong and the Chen family. Chen Haitao gave her a thumbs-up and whispered, “That was awesome!”

Bian Changxi smiled faintly.

Mr. Chen said, “That might not have been wise. Look at Yue Li and Su Chensi’s faces—they’re still military. If they try to get back at you…”

Chen Haitao said, “Dad, don’t forget, Captain Gu is military too, and outranks Yue Li. Who’s afraid of who?” Still, they dropped the topic.

Lin Rongrong took out five white cores. “These are from the zombies’ brains.”

Bian Changxi didn’t refuse. After killing so many zombies, only five white cores was a poor haul. Including what she’d collected earlier, she’d only gotten fourteen today.

She asked, “You guys didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“No, but quite a few people did.” Lin Rongrong whispered, “Will they turn into zombies? Should we isolate them?”

Bian Changxi shook her head. “That’s not our business. Now that Yue Li’s here, it’s not our place to speak up. Otherwise, we’ll really be targeted. Just stay away from them and be careful.”

At that moment, the martial arts coach who’d stuck with them came over. “Are we just going to hide here? With so many zombies outside, they’ll break in eventually.”

Her name was Han Li, in her thirties, straightforward and capable, strong and skilled. Bian Changxi had a good impression of her. She replied, “Don’t worry. Yue Li seems calm—he must have called for help. Let’s just wait.”

As they waited, they ate. Most people hadn’t eaten since morning, and in the chaos, most had lost their bags. Bian Changxi, who never let hers out of her sight, generously shared her supplies—backed by her farm, she was especially generous with food.

Of course, generous didn’t mean wasteful or saintly. She only shared with Lin Rongrong, the Chen family, and Han Li, who she liked. As for the others—sorry, she didn’t know them.

From Lin Rongrong, she learned that things hadn’t been too bad when the mutant rats appeared. Though everyone was scattered, they could still handle things individually. But then, some idiot, covered in wounds and bleeding, lost his mind and ran outside. No one could spare the effort to stop him, figuring he was doomed anyway. The problem was, a few minutes later, not only did he come back alive, but he brought a horde of zombies with him.

That’s when things really went south.

Several nearby teams were attacked, and the situation spiraled out of control. When Bian Changxi returned, the “zombie battle” had only just begun.

Bian Changxi munched on a Dannon biscuit and nodded. “Without training, people’s mental resilience is too weak. Even though these people have already been screened, they still can’t handle a single zombie.”

Chen Haitao scratched his head. He was considered experienced, but even he hadn’t done much in that situation. There were just too many zombies—fighting one risked attracting more, so hiding was the only option.

Han Li said, “We all owe you, Miss Bian. Everyone should thank you.”

“Not really, and I don’t need thanks,” Bian Changxi joked. “If you can help others without hurting yourself, why not? Not doing it would be too cold-hearted—bad karma.”

That was part of it. The other reason was that she did feel somewhat responsible. If she hadn’t helped, she could have just taken Lin Rongrong and the others and escaped, instead of being trapped here waiting for rescue.

She hated feeling powerless, stuck in situations beyond her control.

Fortunately, help arrived quickly.

Not long after the first person in the repair shop began showing signs of turning, and just as the door was about to be breached, Bian Changxi faintly heard the sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air—growing clearer and stronger. Then, gunfire and zombie howls echoed from outside.

“They’re here! Someone’s come to save us!” People cheered in excitement."