Chapter 308: The golden fruit 19.

Yan Cijin sighed.

"Of course."

They returned to the motorcycle.

The bike had survived with only a few scratches.

Bai Li checked the front suspension.

"Still good."

Yan Cijin climbed onto the pillion.

This time she held Bai Li more firmly because the road ahead was badly damaged.

Bai Li started the engine.

Neither spoke about it.

They continued.

The next stretch of road was strangely quiet.

The city seemed to be holding its breath.

The storm clouds had spread across the sky now. The light had turned gray, and the tops of buildings disappeared into darkness.

Rain began falling.

At first it was only a few drops.

Then it became a steady drizzle.

The road became slick.

Bai Li did not slow much.

Yan Cijin leaned closer.

"You cannot see properly."

"I can."

"You say that about everything."

"It is because everything is easy."

Yan Cijin shook her head.

A flash of lightning illuminated the city.

For an instant, they saw the western skyline.

The mall stood several kilometers away, its enormous sign barely visible through the rain and darkness.

Yan Cijin stared.

"There."

Bai Li nodded.

"We are close."

But the road between them and the mall had become chaotic.

A bridge had partially collapsed ahead.

Cars had fallen into the river below.

The remaining lane was blocked by a line of abandoned trucks.

Bai Li slowed the motorcycle.

"We will have to go around."

Yan Cijin pointed toward a service road.

"That way."

They turned.

The service road led behind warehouses.

The rain became heavier.

Then they heard shouting.

Human voices.

Bai Li stopped.

Yan Cijin listened.

"People."

"Definitely."

The shouting came from a warehouse ahead.

They approached cautiously, though neither was worried.

A metal gate had been pulled down over the main entrance.

Behind it, people were pounding on the bars.

"Help us!"

Bai Li looked through the gate.

There were nine people inside.

A father, mother, two teenage sons, a grandmother, two young children, and a young woman with a bloody arm.

Outside the warehouse, dozens of zombies were gathering.

Yan Cijin sighed.

"Again."

Bai Li got off the bike.

"Apparently."

The father shouted through the gate.

"Please, we have children!"

Bai Li walked toward the zombies.

The first one attacked.

She struck it with one palm.

It flew backward.

The second came from the right.

She caught it by the neck and threw it into the third.

Yan Cijin moved through the left side of the horde.

Their movements were effortless.

The family inside watched in disbelief.

One of the teenage boys whispered, "Who are they?"

His father did not answer.

The zombies kept coming.

Bai Li moved faster.

She jumped onto the hood of a truck, kicked off, and landed behind a cluster of zombies. With one sweeping motion, she sent three of them crashing into the wall.

Yan Cijin spun once, her weapon flashing in the rain.

Four zombies fell.

Another reached for the young woman trapped behind the gate.

Yan Cijin crossed the distance instantly and cut it down.

The woman stared at her.

"You are safe."

The woman nodded, too stunned to speak.

Bai Li smashed the gate lock.

The family rushed out.

"Stay together," Yan Cijin said.

The father grabbed the younger child’s hand.

Another wave appeared from behind the warehouse.

Bai Li glanced at Yan Cijin.

"Take the family."

Yan Cijin shook her head.

"We can both fight."

"Of course."

The two women stepped forward.

The fight became a wall of motion.

Bai Li used a broken metal pole like a staff for a few seconds, sweeping zombies aside. Yan Cijin moved between the family and the attackers, never allowing a single creature to come within reach.

The grandmother watched them with tears in her eyes.

When the last zombie fell, the rain was the loudest sound left.

The father bowed his head.

"Thank you."

Bai Li shook her head.

"Find somewhere dry."

"We do not have anywhere."

Yan Cijin looked at Bai Li.

Bai Li looked at the family.

"Do you know the old transit station two kilometers north?"

"Yes."

"Go there."

"Is it safe?"

"It will be safer than here."

The father hesitated.

"What about you?"

"We are going somewhere else."

The little girl from the family looked up at Bai Li.

"Are you really superheroes?"

Bai Li crouched.

"No."

"Then what are you?"

Bai Li thought for a moment.

"Tired travelers."

The girl smiled.

Yan Cijin looked away, smiling too.

They waited until the family disappeared into the rain.

Then Bai Li returned to the motorcycle.

Yan Cijin followed.

"You know," she said, "you are better with children than you think."

"I did nothing."

"You made her smile."

"She smiled by herself."

"You crouched down."

"That was because she was short."

Yan Cijin laughed.

The motorcycle started again.

They rode onward.

By the time they reached the next major road, the rain had eased.

A faint orange glow appeared beyond the buildings.

Fire.

A lot of fire.

Bai Li slowed.

The smell reached them before they saw the source.

A fuel depot had exploded several blocks away.

Flames reflected off wet asphalt.

Sirens sounded in the distance, though no emergency crews appeared.

The road was blocked by wreckage.

Yan Cijin looked around.

"There is no way through."

Bai Li pointed ahead.

"There."

A narrow alley ran between two buildings.

Yan Cijin looked at it.

"That is barely wide enough for the bike."

"It is enough."

They entered.

The walls were close on both sides.

Water dripped from pipes overhead.

A few zombies appeared in doorways.

Bai Li did not slow.

The motorcycle slipped past them.

One zombie fell onto the back wheel.

Yan Cijin struck it without even looking.

The alley opened into a residential courtyard.

For a moment, it looked peaceful.

Then they saw the blood.

There were signs that people had lived here recently. Blankets. Empty food containers. A child’s bicycle. Someone had painted an arrow on the wall pointing toward a basement.

Yan Cijin stopped.

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TO BE CONTINUED.