Chapter 305: The golden fruit 16.

A child crying.

Yan Cijin stopped.

Bai Li looked at her.

"You heard it."

"Yes."

They entered the alley.

The crying led them to a locked service door.

Behind it were four people.

A mother, a teenage boy, a younger girl, and an elderly man.

The mother was holding the girl’s mouth shut to keep her from crying loudly.

Yan Cijin crouched in front of them.

"It is safe."

The mother hesitated before opening the door.

"You are not with them?"

"No."

The woman looked at the bodies outside.

"You did that?"

Bai Li glanced away.

"Mostly."

The woman swallowed.

"We have been trapped here since yesterday."

The teenager looked at Bai Li with open admiration.

"How did you move that fast?"

Bai Li shrugged.

"Practice."

Yan Cijin almost rolled her eyes.

They escorted the family back toward the main road.

The mother kept thanking them.

The old man walked slowly.

At one point, he stumbled.

Yan Cijin caught his arm.

"You okay?"

"I am fine."

"You do not look fine."

"I have survived seventy years. I will survive one more day."

Bai Li looked at him.

"That is the right attitude."

The old man smiled.

By the time they reached an old apartment complex where the family could stay, the afternoon light had begun to fade.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin refused to stay.

They still had another half of the journey ahead of them.

The mall was waiting in the western district.

Twenty kilometers did not sound far.

In the old world, it would have been nothing.

Now every kilometer was a negotiation with danger.

They got back on the Kawasaki.

Yan Cijin sat behind Bai Li again.

This time, she did not hesitate before placing her hands around Bai Li’s waist.

Bai Li did not comment.

The motorcycle accelerated.

They crossed the next several blocks quickly.

The roads were becoming stranger.

There were signs of organized movement now. Barricades. Marks painted on walls. Arrows pointing toward unknown safe zones. Some storefronts had been reinforced.

Yan Cijin noticed first.

"Someone is still maintaining this area."

"Maybe."

A few moments later, they saw proof.

A group of survivors stood on the roof of a supermarket, watching them pass.

One woman waved.

A child beside her pointed at the motorcycle.

Yan Cijin raised one hand in acknowledgment.

Bai Li did not slow down.

As they approached another intersection, a group of zombies surged from a subway entrance.

There were at least fifty.

Bai Li accelerated.

Yan Cijin leaned forward.

"You are not planning to drive through them."

"I am."

"That is reckless."

"It will be fine."

The motorcycle hit the first zombie.

Bai Li lifted the front wheel slightly.

The bike rolled over the first line.

Yan Cijin struck left.

Then right.

Bai Li weaved between bodies.

A zombie grabbed the rear wheel.

Bai Li kicked it off.

Another grabbed Yan Cijin’s coat.

She cut its arm away without looking.

The motorcycle tore through the crowd and emerged on the other side.

Yan Cijin looked back.

"Still fine."

"I told you."

"You are unbearable."

"You are still sitting there."

Yan Cijin went quiet.

A second later Bai Li felt her hold tighten slightly.

Neither mentioned it.

The road stretched ahead.

Then the light changed.

Not the traffic lights.

The sky.

A wall of dark clouds rolled across the city from the west.

Wind began pushing trash and loose paper through the streets.

Bai Li slowed.

A distant rumble echoed.

Yan Cijin looked up.

"Storm?"

"Maybe."

Thunder cracked.

Then another sound followed it.

A long metallic vibration.

Bai Li’s expression changed.

She recognized it.

The system had detected something.

[Warning. High-density energy fluctuation detected ahead.]

Bai Li narrowed her eyes.

Yan Cijin noticed immediately.

"What is it?"

"Something unusual."

The system pulsed again.

[Unknown energy source detected.]

[Distance: 3.7 kilometers.]

Bai Li looked toward the western district.

The mall was somewhere beyond that.

Yan Cijin spoke softly.

"Is it related to the fruit?"

Bai Li did not answer at first.

She did not know.

But the timing was too convenient.

The road ahead remained empty.

Then a green flare appeared above the rooftops.

It rose into the darkening sky.

Yan Cijin stared.

"What was that?"

Before Bai Li could answer, another flare launched.

Then a third.

The entire western district lit up for one brief moment.

And the system gave a new notification.

[Warning. Multiple high-level energy signatures detected.]

Bai Li’s eyes hardened.

"That is not normal."

The road ahead exploded.

A massive wave of zombies burst from a collapsed underpass, spilling across the avenue in numbers neither of them had seen since the outbreak began.

Yan Cijin steadied herself.

"How many?"

Bai Li looked at the horde.

"Enough."

The motorcycle engine roared.

Bai Li twisted the throttle.

They accelerated straight toward the impossible wall of bodies.

And just before they reached it, something huge dropped from the top of a nearby building and landed in the middle of the road.

The impact shook the street.

Concrete cracked.

Bai Li slammed the brakes.

The motorcycle stopped inches from the crater.

Yan Cijin stared forward.

A figure slowly rose from the dust.

It was not a zombie.

It was something else.

Something wearing armor.

Something carrying a weapon that looked far too advanced to belong in the ruined city.

The figure lifted its head.

A red light appeared behind its visor.

Then a distorted voice came from inside the helmet.

"Target acquired."

Bai Li’s eyes narrowed.

Yan Cijin lowered her stance.

The stranger raised its weapon.

Behind it, the zombie horde kept coming.

And high above the city, somewhere near the dark clouds, another energy signature awakened.

For one strange second, nobody moved.

The wind dragged a newspaper across the road. It caught on the front wheel of an abandoned sedan and fluttered there, the photograph on the page showing a smiling celebrity from a world that no longer existed.

Yan Cijin looked at the armored figure.

Then she looked at the mass of zombies pouring out from the underpass.

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TO BE CONTINUED.