Zombie Train

Due to the many connected pathways within the school, Shao Ming easily made his way onto the campus. The school was eerily quiet, but the bloodstains on the arcade floors told a grim story of the violence that had once occurred here.

Shao Ming crouched low and made his way across the square, staying close to the buildings, hoping to reach the road on the west side of the campus as quickly as possible.

Just as he had suspected, most of the classrooms were empty. There were no living people, nor mutated creatures.

Reaching the main road on the west side, the scene was similar to the one near the dormitories—chaotic vehicles lined the street, but there were no signs of mutated creatures.

However, continuing south on this road would take him closer to the hospital, a place he knew was teeming with mutated creatures. On the other hand, if he didn't take this road, he would have to pass through the student dormitories to reach the park area.

The student dormitory was a mystery. With so many students packed inside, the possibility of mutations there was terrifying.

But the hospital was already home to thousands of mutated creatures, their current whereabouts unknown. If they were still concentrated around the hospital, Shao Ming knew he would have no chance of surviving.

Climbing onto a nearby car, Shao Ming looked towards the hospital. The road appeared clear, but the situation within the hospital remained unclear.

After thinking for a moment, Shao Ming decided to enter the park through the hospital's back entrance. The mutated creatures that had been inside the hospital had been drawn out by noise and commotion over the past few days, and at least he could advance on the opposite side of the street. If two mutated creatures suddenly appeared from the dormitory, he might not even have time to react.

Shao Ming crept along the side of a car, inching his way forward. The hospital and the park across the street were now in sight. Just ahead, he saw an abandoned police car at the roadside.

Tightening his grip on his baseball bat, Shao Ming made his way to the police car. The window was shattered, and both the trunk and the passenger door had been forced open. Shao Ming stood up and glanced inside, only to find a bloody mess on the seat.

Looking through the window, he could see a few scattered mutated creatures inside the hospital's back entrance.

Pulling back, Shao Ming hid the baseball bat behind him and stealthily slipped into the police car through the open door.

The gun had already been taken from the car, and the interior was littered with spent shells. Shao Ming carefully opened the glove compartment, where he found nothing but a pile of disorganized papers.

He sifted through them and found a paper map, but nothing else of immediate use. Unfolding the map, he noticed several red circles drawn on it. The Royal Manchester Hospital was one of the marked locations.

There were eight other red circles on the map, all indicating large hospitals throughout the city.

Shao Ming opened the center compartment of the car and found a pair of handcuffs among the miscellaneous items. Taking them, he stuffed them into his pocket, and just as he was about to leave the car, a loud crash sounded from behind the police car.

He drew his handgun, alert and ready.

Ahead of him, a mutated creature was gnawing on a human arm, while another mutated creature fought with it for the arm.

The two creatures collided into another car as they struggled, causing the noise Shao Ming had heard. As they continued their fight, they moved closer to the police car.

Shao Ming held his breath, aiming his gun at one of the creatures' heads.

One of the mutated creatures still had a severed arm clutched in its mouth, while the other desperately reached for it, trying to pull it away.

If not for the arm they were fighting over, the creatures would have looked no different from two psychiatric patients in hospital gowns.

What surprised Shao Ming was that neither of them made any loud noises. It seemed like they were intentionally trying not to attract the attention of other mutated creatures.

However, their intelligence was still limited. In the process of their tug-of-war, they bumped into another car.

Immediately, the car's alarm blared.

Shao Ming's heart skipped a beat. He kicked open the car door and made a dash for it.

The mutated creature that had not yet gotten a bite of the arm lunged at Shao Ming as he attempted to flee.

Instinctively, Shao Ming raised his arm to block. The weight of a book—his lifeline once again—saved him from a deadly bite.

Though the creature didn't break through the thick book, Shao Ming was knocked off balance and thrown onto a nearby car.

A quick glance at the hospital showed dozens of mutated creatures charging out.

With their speed, it would only take a few seconds for them to reach the road.

Without a second thought, Shao Ming pulled out his gun and fired a shot directly at the creature's temple. Its brain matter and blood splattered out the other side, and Shao Ming quickly shoved the body off him and bolted toward the dormitory.

What he didn't expect was that mutated creatures had already begun to spill out of the dormitory.

Now, both of his worst fears had come true.

He was still some distance from the park, and with its open spaces, there was nowhere to hide. He could only push forward, back into the school, hoping to find a building with fewer mutated creatures.

Shao Ming grabbed his baseball bat from his back and, with his right hand, aimed his gun at an approaching mutated creature, firing a shot.

Although he had visited shooting ranges a few times, Shao Ming had never received formal training, and his accuracy with a handgun at ten meters while moving was practically zero.

The bullet missed, and the mutated creature was almost on top of him. Shao Ming swiftly dodged and created distance, then fired another shot, this time aiming for the creature's head.

The creature collapsed, and Shao Ming didn't waste any time, continuing to run.

Behind him, the mutated creatures were gaining ground, now less than fifty meters away.

Another creature emerged in front of him, but Shao Ming had already moved past it before it could fully stand up.

At the end of the dormitory building, Shao Ming quickly turned into a side street, but the mutated creatures were still following him, turning with him. The noise from the chase had drawn even more mutated creatures from the first floor of the dormitory, who were now crawling out of windows and doors.

Shao Ming could see the end of the street and the road ahead, but even if he reached it, there would be nowhere to hide.

Just as his pace slowed, the door to a dormitory on his left suddenly swung open.

"Run over here!" someone shouted.