An Xin grew up in a single-parent family. Her father abandoned her and her mother the year she was born, eloping with another woman.
When she was little, An Xin was somewhat self-conscious. Other children had both fathers and mothers, but she only had one. At that time, she often doubted herself, wondering if her father didn't want her and her mother because she wasn't good enough.
Little An Xin's mother keenly noticed her daughter's small worries and gently stroked her head, saying, "Little An Xin, don't think so much. Even without a father, Mom will make sure you have a good life."
Her mother worked very hard, toiling as a factory worker during the day and setting up a stall to sell late-night snacks in the evenings to earn a little extra. An's mother thus toiled alone, raising her daughter and supporting her education.
An Xin was also very sensible, consistently ranking at the top of her class since middle school. She finally got into Songjiang University and never stopped working hard.
So now, her tuition fees were covered by scholarships she earned. She also worked as a tutor on weekends to supplement the family income.
If it weren't for the fact that the student she was teaching was going camping with their parents today and had given her a day off at the last minute, An Xin wouldn't be at Songjiang University right now. She might have been on her way to a tutoring session, which would have been more dangerous alone.
In fact, An Xin knew it was definitely more dangerous outside, but she wanted to go home to see her mother. However, her mother wasn't in this city. If the outside was truly full of zombies, would her mother be able to survive safely? But it wasn't time to think that far ahead; she herself might be about to turn into a zombie.
An Xin tried hard to wipe away her tears, but she still couldn't control her sadness, letting out a "whimper."
Just then, "Can you stop crying? It's making me agitated!" Li Yixuan tugged at his collar, shouting at An Xin with a furious expression.
An Xin immediately pulled herself together, her initial softness replaced by the ferocity of an angry hedgehog. She raised her head and retorted, "I'm crying because I want to, what's it to you?"
Li Yixuan became even more agitated. He found this woman incredibly noisy. With a "swish," he stood up and cursed, "Damn it! Are you looking for death?!"
"Why are you cursing!" An Xin also stood up, about to retort, when she noticed that his eyes seemed to have changed. She froze for a moment, asking uncertainly, "Are you...?"
"Quick, retreat!" Xiao Wenqiang's voice came from behind, and she quickly pulled An Xin back.
Li Yixuan realized something was wrong with him. Was he also turning into a zombie? He looked at the dagger in Xiao Wenqiang's hand and, faced with the choice between becoming a zombie and being killed outright, decisively retreated. He sprinted out of the convenience store, running as far as he could.
Soon, Li Yixuan's figure disappeared from everyone's sight. And all this had happened in just twenty-five minutes.
An Xin waited silently for a while longer. When the agreed-upon thirty minutes had passed and she still showed no signs of zombification, she secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing that the time was up, Xiao Wenqiang decisively slung her backpack over her shoulder and said to the group, "Let's get ready to move out!"
"Wenqiang, are you really planning to bring her?" Ye Yao whispered as she approached. "The two people bitten with her have both turned into zombies, so it's only a matter of time for her. It's too risky to bring her along. Why don't we find a place to abandon her?"
Xiao Wenqiang deliberately replied in a loud voice, "I won't abandon her unless she turns into a zombie! Besides, it's been over thirty minutes, and An Xin shows no signs of mutation. I think she's safe. I promised before, how can I go back on my word? If you're that worried, why didn't you leave with Wang Hu and the others earlier?"
Ye Yao, who had been badmouthing someone behind their back, glanced guiltily at An Xin. As expected, An Xin was currently glaring at her with anger. Ye Yao's hatred for Xiao Wenqiang deepened. "Bitch, always playing the good Samaritan. She must have been like this in her past life, showing off her spatial ring and claiming it was to save herself. Bah!"
However, Ye Yao only dared to think these thoughts internally. For now, she had no choice but to follow Xiao Wenqiang. She regretted her choice, wondering if it would have been safer to follow Wang Hu.
...
Whether it was due to her luck being maxed out this time, Xiao Wenqiang led these few people, dodging and weaving, occasionally taking out a lone zombie, and successfully exited Songjiang University.
But the streets were filled with cars parked haphazardly. Some humans had turned into zombies and were stuck in the driver's seat by their seatbelts. Some showed signs of struggling during their escape, eventually being bitten and turning into limbless, wandering zombies. However, a larger portion had simply become corpses, likely losing their lives before the zombie virus could fully integrate into their bodies.
In just a few short hours, the once bustling city streets were in ruins, strewn with corpses.
"Wang Hu, are you even a man!" A somewhat familiar voice suddenly came from a distance. It sounded like Zhu Yan.
When Xiao Wenqiang and her group found Zhu Yan, they saw her holding a small hammer, apparently pried from a bus, and mechanically smashing the head of a zombie in front of her, over and over again. Its green blood splattered her face and hands, but the zombie remained motionless, clearly dead.
"What happened?" Xiao Wenqiang's voice interrupted Zhu Yan's actions.
She slowly turned her head. Upon seeing familiar faces, she finally let go of her strength and tearfully recounted what had happened.
It turned out that after Wang Hu had led Zhu Yan away, they had tried their best to avoid zombies. After finally leaving the campus, they found the situation outside to be even more dire. Neither of them had any weapons, so they decided to search the cars for them.
Things were going smoothly until Wang Hu, now armed, became greedy and wanted a car. However, most of the sedans parked on the road were damaged. Occasionally, a few still had zombies restrained by their seatbelts.
Wang Hu and Zhu Yan found a car whose driver appeared to be a petite female zombie as their target. They had agreed that Wang Hu would first lure the female zombie down, and Zhu Yan would ambush from behind. However, after cutting the seatbelt, Wang Hu actually pushed the female zombie towards Zhu Yan.
The female zombie had lost all self-awareness and, seeing a human, pursued in that direction. Frightened, Zhu Yan's first instinct was to run back. And then, that scumbag Wang Hu drove off in that car by himself!
The rest is history. Zhu Yan realized that relying on men was unreliable; she had to rely on herself. Cornered with nowhere to run, she grabbed the hammer and frantically smashed the female zombie...
And so, the lone Zhu Yan also joined Xiao Wenqiang's team. The group now consisted of six people: An Xin, who was injured by a zombie but not assimilated; Lu Feiguang, who was determined to become Xiao Wenqiang's subordinate, and his subordinate Yang Ning; and Ye Yao, who was very reluctant but unwilling to leave.
"What are your thoughts on the days ahead?" asked Xiao Wenqiang, who was subtly taking on a leadership role.