Chapter 377: Returning 7.

Yan Cijin looked at him.

"Maybe?"

"I never personally ran the finale."

Bai Li sighed.

"Of course."

Luo Ren pointed to a red lever.

"That should be the override."

Bai Li grabbed it.

It would not move.

"Locked."

"There is a release key."

"Where?"

"In the dragon’s mouth."

Yan Cijin stared.

"Naturally."

Bai Li climbed higher.

The dragon opened its jaw.

Inside was a large brass key.

Yan Cijin looked at the opening.

"This place really expects people to do dangerous things."

"It was a festival."

Bai Li reached inside.

The jaw began closing.

Yan Cijin shouted.

"Bai Li!"

Bai Li pulled the key free and jumped backward.

The wooden jaw snapped shut inches behind her.

She landed on the dragon’s neck.

Yan Cijin stared.

"You’re impossible."

Bai Li held up the key.

"I got it."

"That is not the point."

They returned to the control chamber.

Bai Li inserted the key.

A small mechanism clicked.

The red lever unlocked.

She pulled.

The dragon stopped.

For one second.

Then another mechanism engaged.

The lever snapped back.

The dragon moved again.

Luo Ren’s face went pale.

"The finale override doesn’t work."

"Why?"

"I don’t know."

Yan Cijin looked at the brass indicators.

"The third light."

"What about it?"

"It’s already on."

Luo Ren stared.

The third indicator had turned bright white.

He whispered.

"That’s not supposed to happen."

Bai Li looked through the hatch.

The dragon’s head was now outside the warehouse.

Its painted eyes were glowing.

The machine moved into the street.

The front wheel rolled over a broken traffic sign.

Metal screamed.

Yan Cijin looked back.

The warehouse was filling with zombies.

The noise had attracted dozens.

"We should leave."

Bai Li nodded.

"Yes."

Luo Ren stared at the dragon.

"I can’t leave it."

"Why not?"

"Because this place is all I have left."

Yan Cijin looked at him.

"You will die if you stay."

"I know."

Bai Li grabbed his arm.

"Then come with us."

Luo Ren looked surprised.

"You don’t even know me."

"We don’t need to."

Yan Cijin nodded.

"The dragon can be dealt with."

Luo Ren hesitated.

Then he followed.

They jumped from the dragon to the warehouse floor.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin cleared the zombies around them.

Luo Ren ran toward the exit.

The dragon continued its mechanical parade outside.

Its enormous body followed.

The tail section crashed through the warehouse doors.

Wood splintered.

Dust filled the street.

The three of them ran after it.

Bai Li reached the motorcycle.

She looked at Yan Cijin.

"You drive."

Yan Cijin blinked.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"You trust me with it?"

"I trust you."

Yan Cijin’s expression changed.

Then she climbed onto the motorcycle.

Bai Li mounted behind her.

Luo Ren climbed onto the rear support rail.

"This is not safe!"

Bai Li laughed.

"Neither was the tree."

Yan Cijin started the engine.

The Ninja 400 roared.

The giant red dragon rolled down Lantern Street.

And the three of them followed it into the ruined city.

The sight was so strange that even the survivors hiding inside nearby buildings forgot to be afraid for a moment.

A giant red dragon rolled through the street.

Its wooden scales scraped against parked cars.

Its long body moved in sections.

Its head turned from side to side.

Behind it came a black Kawasaki Ninja 400.

Yan Cijin was riding.

Bai Li sat behind her.

A thin man clung to the rear support rail.

For several seconds nobody understood what they were seeing.

Then someone shouted from a second-floor window.

"What is that?"

Another voice answered.

"I have no idea!"

A woman looked over the edge of a balcony.

"Is that a dragon?"

A man beside her said, "It’s a parade float!"

"Why is it moving?"

Nobody had an answer.

The dragon turned the corner.

Its tail swept across a parked car.

Metal crumpled.

A family hiding inside a shop ducked behind the counter.

Then they realized the giant machine was not attacking them.

It was simply passing.

The motorcycle followed.

Bai Li shouted over the engine.

"Luo Ren!"

The mechanic leaned forward.

"What?"

"How far until the next control point?"

"Two streets!"

"And then?"

"The dragon should stop!"

Yan Cijin looked back.

"And will it?"

Luo Ren hesitated.

"No idea!"

Yan Cijin shouted something that was probably not polite.

Bai Li laughed.

The dragon reached the second street.

Its body bent around the corner.

The mechanical joints made a grinding sound.

The front claws lifted.

One struck a zombie.

The creature flew across the road.

Another was crushed beneath the rear wheel.

Yan Cijin steered around the larger pieces.

"Bai Li!"

"What?"

"There are too many zombies!"

Bai Li looked ahead.

The parade had become a moving noise source.

Every zombie within several blocks was turning toward it.

Hundreds were coming.

Luo Ren looked terrified.

"This never happened before."

"Because there weren’t hundreds of zombies before?"

"Probably."

"Good."

"How is that good?"

"We’ll know how to deal with them."

Bai Li drew Whisperfang.

She shifted her weight.

"Keep the motorcycle near the dragon."

Yan Cijin nodded.

The motorcycle accelerated.

Bai Li leaned outward.

The first zombie reached for her.

Whisperfang flashed.

The zombie fell.

Another came.

A second cut.

A third.

Bai Li moved with the motorcycle.

She did not stand still.

She used the speed of the bike to increase the reach of every strike.

Yan Cijin kept the motorcycle steady.

A zombie climbed onto the dragon’s rear section.

Luo Ren shouted.

"There!"

Yan Cijin turned.

Bai Li jumped from the motorcycle onto the moving dragon.

She landed on its back.

The zombie lunged.

She caught it by the throat.

One motion.

It disappeared over the side.

Bai Li ran along the dragon.

Another zombie climbed up.

Then another.

She cut the first.

Kicked the second.

The third grabbed her sleeve.

She twisted.

The creature flew into a broken storefront.

Bai Li jumped back onto the motorcycle.

Yan Cijin laughed.

"Show-off."

"You liked it."

"Maybe."

The dragon kept moving.

They passed a small square.

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED.