Chapter 342: The golden fruit 53.

of the lower floors had been. Down there, danger announced itself. People shouted. Zombies screamed. Weapons fired. Doors slammed. Up here, the building seemed to hold its breath.

Bai Li glanced at the glowing roots winding along the wall.

"It is almost beautiful."

Yan Cijin looked at them.

"Almost."

"That means it is not beautiful."

"It means I am waiting for it to bite us."

Bai Li laughed.

"Fair."

They reached another landing.

A broken sign hung overhead. Most of the letters had fallen away, but one word remained.

SKY.

Yan Cijin stared at it.

"That is probably our direction."

"Probably."

A sudden gust of hot air came down the stairwell.

It carried the scent of the fruit with it.

Both women became still.

The smell was stronger than before.

The sweetness was almost intoxicating.

Somewhere above, something roared so loudly that the stairs trembled.

Bai Li looked upward.

"It knows we are coming."

Yan Cijin stepped beside her.

"Then it can wait."

They climbed another flight.

And another.

The golden glow followed them.

Their shadows stretched behind them.

There was no turning back now.

The human gangs were behind them.

The weaker zombies were behind them.

The abandoned stores and empty rooms were behind them.

Ahead waited the creatures that had survived by growing stronger, smarter, and more vicious around the fruit.

Bai Li looked at Yan Cijin one last time before stepping onto the next floor.

"Ready?"

Yan Cijin smiled.

"I told you. Always."

Together, they disappeared into the golden light.

Neither knew exactly what waited on the next floor.

That was part of the reason neither woman was afraid.

They had learned something important during the climb. Every level had its own rules, and every rule could be broken. The gangs believed strength meant numbers. The monsters believed strength meant size. The fruit seemed to believe strength meant survival.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin had their own answer.

They simply kept moving.

A shadow passed across the golden light ahead.

Bai Li stopped.

Yan Cijin’s smile faded into a focused expression.

Something had seen them.

Something was approaching.

The stairwell became silent.

Then came three slow knocks from the darkness above.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Bai Li tilted her head.

"That is new."

Yan Cijin nodded.

"Very."

Bai Li stepped forward.

The two women climbed into the higher floor together.

The two women climbed into the higher floor together.

The moment Bai Li’s boot crossed the last stair, the feeling in the air changed.

It was not simply colder, although the temperature had dropped sharply. It was not simply quieter, although the noise from the floors below had vanished almost completely. There was a strange pressure hanging over the corridor, a kind of invisible weight that seemed to press against the skin and settle behind the eyes. The golden glow leaking through the cracks in the walls had become stronger here. It was no longer a faint reflection. Thin lines of warm light ran beneath doors, curled around broken pillars, and shone through gaps in fallen ceiling panels. Dust floated through it like tiny pieces of gold.

Bai Li stood still for a few seconds.

Yan Cijin did the same.

Neither woman spoke.

Something moved at the far end of the corridor.

A metal sign hanging above a closed clothing store rocked once, then went still.

Bai Li glanced at it.

"Level seven."

Yan Cijin looked at the directory posted beside the stairwell. Most of the text had been scratched away, but the floor number was still visible.

"So we are getting close."

"Close enough that the weak ones stopped following."

Yan Cijin looked toward the stairwell behind them.

Nothing came up.

No zombies.

No gang members.

No wandering creatures from the lower levels.

The mall below had gone almost completely silent.

Bai Li rested one hand on the weapon at her side.

"That is more suspicious than hearing them."

"I agree."

They moved forward.

The corridor ahead looked like the remains of a battlefield that had been abandoned halfway through.

Storefront windows were shattered. Mannequins lay scattered across the floor. A decorative tree had fallen across a row of benches, its fake leaves dusty and gray. There were claw marks running up one wall, deep enough to expose concrete beneath the paint.

Bai Li crouched beside them.

She touched one groove lightly.

"Fresh."

Yan Cijin looked at the depth.

"Big?"

"Bigger than a person."

Yan Cijin sighed.

"Of course."

Bai Li stood.

"You sound disappointed."

"I was hoping for a quiet walk."

Bai Li looked at her for a moment.

"You have been asking for that since we entered the mall."

"And it has not happened yet."

"Then you should stop asking."

Yan Cijin laughed softly.

"You are surprisingly practical."

"I have been practical for a long time."

They continued.

The first level two zombie appeared without warning.

It did not rush at them.

It simply stepped out from a dark store doorway and stood there.

It had once been a large man. Even before the apocalypse, he had probably been broad and heavy. Now his body had become something much worse. His shoulders were swollen with irregular muscle, his skin had turned gray-black, and several dark veins pulsed beneath his neck. One side of his face had hardened into something almost bone-like. His eyes were dull yellow, but behind the color there was an unmistakable awareness.

He looked at them.

Then he smiled.

The expression made Yan Cijin’s eyes narrow.

"That one can think."

Bai Li nodded.

"A little."

The zombie tilted its head.

Its fingers flexed.

The nails struck against the floor tiles with a dry clicking sound.

Then it disappeared.

Yan Cijin reacted before the sound of its movement reached her.

She turned and lifted her arm.

Clang.

A heavy blow struck the weapon she had raised.

The force drove her backward several steps, cracking one floor tile beneath her heel.

The zombie’s other hand swept toward her throat.

She ducked.

Bai Li appeared beside it.

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TO BE CONTINUED.