Chapter 385: Returning 15.

They were not.

They simply saw a problem and solved it.

The motorcycle turned left near the old pharmacy.

The street narrowed.

Bai Li slowed again.

The building ahead had partially collapsed across the road.

A passage remained, but it was too narrow for a car.

Perfect for the Ninja 400.

Yan Cijin laughed.

"Maybe you planned the bike for this."

"Obviously."

"Of course."

Bai Li guided the motorcycle through the gap.

The handlebars passed close to broken concrete.

Dust fell around them.

They emerged on the other side.

A group of survivors there stared at the motorcycle as if they were

watching some kind of performance.

One old man shook his head.

"Young people."

Yan Cijin laughed.

Bai Li smiled.

For the next few kilometers, the city seemed determined to remind them

that home was still something they had to earn.

The boulevard narrowed as they moved deeper into the riverside district.

Buildings stood closer together here, and the shadows between them were

deeper. Sunlight reached the road only in long broken strips between

leaning towers. The wind changed too, losing the open river chill and

picking up the dry smell of concrete and old smoke.

Bai Li kept one hand steady on the throttle.

Yan Cijin watched the intersections.

They had become used to moving like this.

No unnecessary words.

No panic.

No wasted motion.

A street could look empty and still be dangerous.

A quiet balcony could hide a survivor.

A parked vehicle could conceal a zombie.

A broken doorway could lead to a room full of infected bodies.

But after everything they had already survived that morning, the

ordinary dangers of the road almost felt small.

That did not mean they ignored them.

The first surprise came at the next crossing.

A delivery van rolled slowly from a side street.

There was nobody behind the wheel.

Bai Li noticed the movement immediately.

"Van."

Yan Cijin looked.

The vehicle drifted across the intersection and bumped into a concrete

divider.

It stopped.

For a second, nothing moved.

Then a zombie crawled out through the driver’s window.

Another climbed from the back.

Then another.

Yan Cijin sighed.

"There we go."

Bai Li slowed.

The zombies stumbled toward the motorcycle.

There were seven of them.

One was wearing a delivery uniform.

Another still had a backpack hanging from one shoulder.

The sight was almost ordinary compared with the things they had fought

earlier.

Bai Li did not even draw Whisperfang.

She simply accelerated.

The motorcycle passed between two zombies.

Yan Cijin leaned outward and struck the head of the closest one with the

butt of her revolver as they passed.

The zombie fell.

Bai Li turned the bike sharply around the back of the van.

The rear wheel kicked dust into the street.

Two zombies collided with each other.

Yan Cijin laughed.

"That was clean."

"They lined up."

"You make everything sound easy."

"It usually is."

The last zombie lunged.

Bai Li tilted the motorcycle.

Yan Cijin reached out and shoved the creature away as they passed.

Then they were gone.

The road opened ahead again.

Yan Cijin settled back into her seat.

"Do you ever get tired of being right?"

"No."

"Honest."

"Very."

A few minutes later they passed an apartment complex where survivors had

built a barricade from furniture, shopping carts, and pieces of broken

metal fencing.

Several people were standing behind it.

They watched the motorcycle approach.

One young woman stepped forward.

"Wait!"

Bai Li slowed.

The woman looked nervous.

"Do you know if the southern road is open?"

Bai Li considered the question.

"We came from that direction earlier. There was a collapsed section near

the old pharmacy, but there is a passage through it."

The woman nodded.

"Thank you."

Then she looked at Yan Cijin’s weapons.

"You two came from outside the district?"

"Yes."

"By yourselves?"

Yan Cijin smiled.

"Mostly."

The young woman looked confused by the answer.

Bai Li started moving again.

The woman called after them.

"Be careful!"

Bai Li lifted one hand without turning.

The motorcycle continued down the street.

They had not gone far when Yan Cijin spoke.

"She looked relieved to hear the road was still usable."

"Good."

"Do you think she’ll take it?"

"Probably."

Yan Cijin looked ahead.

"We keep meeting people."

"That’s because the city is still full of people."

"Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it."

Bai Li nodded.

That was true.

There were long stretches where the only moving things were zombies and

smoke.

Then suddenly they would see a face behind a window or a hand waving

from a rooftop.

The world had not completely emptied.

It had just become quieter.

The motorcycle crossed another intersection.

This time Bai Li stopped completely.

There was a small crowd in the road.

At first Yan Cijin thought they were survivors.

Then one of them turned.

Zombie.

Another turned.

Zombie.

The rest followed.

At least thirty.

Bai Li looked at the road behind them.

More were coming.

Yan Cijin drew her revolver.

"Too many for a straight run?"

Bai Li smiled.

"Not really."

She shifted into a lower gear.

The motorcycle’s engine roared.

The zombies charged.

Bai Li waited until the last second.

Then she drove straight toward them.

Yan Cijin understood immediately.

She leaned with Bai Li.

The bike slipped through the first gap.

A hand struck Bai Li’s shoulder.

She ignored it.

Another zombie grabbed toward Yan Cijin.

Yan Cijin kicked it away.

The motorcycle pushed through.

Bai Li accelerated hard.

The rear wheel spun.

Several zombies fell under it.

Others crashed into the bike’s wake.

They burst out the other side of the crowd.

Yan Cijin looked back.

The zombies were still chasing.

"They’re fast."

"Only for a little while."

Bai Li opened the throttle.

The Ninja 400 surged forward.

The zombies disappeared behind them.

Yan Cijin laughed breathlessly.

"That was fun."

Bai Li glanced into the mirror.

"You thought so?"

"A little."

"Good."

"Why good?"

"Because I was about to say it was fun too."

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TO BE CONTINUED.