Chapter 10

The knocking continued, the teenager's voice tearful, mixed with the roars of zombies outside, piercingly sharp in the quiet night. Lin Chen held his breath, signaled Xia Nuan not to move, and crept behind the rolling door, looking out through a crack.

On the snow.

The teenager was huddled, back against the wall, not far behind him, several black shadows were wandering—they were zombies. Moving slowly, as if attracted by the supermarket's scent, they were approaching slowly.

"Don't make a sound!" Lin Chen lowered his voice and roared at the teenager outside the door.

The teenager was startled, immediately shut his mouth, his body shaking even more violently.

Xia Nuan tugged at Lin Chen's shirt corner, whispering: "Let him in, there are zombies outside, he'll be bitten to death."

Lin Chen turned his head and glared: "No."

"But..."

"No buts," Lin Chen interrupted, "Forget what happened before? That little zombie pretended to be pitiful and almost bit you. This teenager's background is unknown; if he's bitten and brings the virus in, what then?"

Xia Nuan lowered her head.

Fingers twisting her shirt corner: "He doesn't look like..."

"Whether he looks like it or not isn't the point," Lin Chen said coldly, "If we open the door, all the zombies outside will rush in, and we'll both die. Have you thought about that?"

Xia Nuan didn't speak.

Her eyes were red. The teenager outside seemed to hear the conversation and knocked again, more urgently: "Uncle, I wasn't bitten! I can prove it! Let me in, please, the zombies are coming!"

As the words fell, roars came from outside, very close.

Lin Chen looked through the crack again. On the snow, the teenager was gone, and that zombie stood at the door, mouth biting on fabric—it was the teenager's cotton jacket. Black shadows in the distance were still moving toward this side, getting closer.

"Let me in! Please!" The teenager said in despair, hands patting the door non-stop.

Xia Nuan looked at Lin Chen.

Her eyes full of pleading. Lin Chen took a deep breath, gripping the hunting rifle: "Don't knock anymore, run quickly! Run east, there are fewer zombies there!"

"I'm afraid... I'm afraid to walk alone..." The teenager cried, "Uncle, have pity on me, let me in, I'll do anything, I can move things, keep watch..."

"Get lost!" Lin Chen's voice rose sharply.

"Don't come back! You're not welcome!"

The knocking outside stopped, the teenager seemed stunned. After a few seconds, a tearful plea came: "Uncle, give me another chance... I'm dying..."

Lin Chen ignored him.

He turned to Xia Nuan, pressing her shoulder: "Don't be soft-hearted, in the apocalypse, being soft-hearted is looking for death."

Xia Nuan looked up, tearfully: "But he's just a child..."

"Children can also be threats," Lin Chen said.

"We can't save everyone, save ourselves first."

The two were silent, the roars outside getting closer, mixed with the teenager's sobbing. After a while, the teenager's voice suddenly changed, as if grabbed, emitting a short, sharp scream, then silence.

Lin Chen and Xia Nuan looked at each other.

Both saw the solemnity in the other's eyes. Lin Chen went behind the rolling door again, looking out through the crack. On the snow, the teenager was gone, only that zombie stood at the door, mouth biting on fabric, the teenager's cotton jacket. Black shadows in the distance were still moving toward this side, getting closer.

"He... was eaten?" Xia Nuan's voice trembled.

Lin Chen didn't speak, watching the zombies outside circle the supermarket, using their heads to hit the rolling door, making dull thuds. He went to the warehouse, moved the remaining wooden boards to the entrance, and reinforced it.

"Don't sleep tonight, keep watch." Lin Chen said, handing another gun to Xia Nuan, "Know how to use it?"

Xia Nuan nodded, taking the gun, her fingers trembling slightly. The two sat on the floor back-to-back, listening to the sound of zombies hitting the door outside, not sleeping all night.

Dawn was approaching, the movement outside gradually fading.

Lin Chen looked through the crack again; the zombies had dispersed, leaving dark red bloodstains on the snow, and broken bones, frozen hard.

Xia Nuan saw it too, lowered her head, and didn't speak. Lin Chen patted her back: "Don't think about it, this is reality."

Just then, the sound of a car engine came from outside, getting closer, as if heading toward the supermarket. Lin Chen was immediately alert, gripping the hunting rifle: "Could be people from the department store, could be others."

Signaling Xia Nuan to hide in the warehouse.

He stood behind the door, watching outside through the crack. An off-road vehicle stopped at the supermarket entrance, the door opened, and a man in a military coat stepped out, holding a gun, looking around.

The man was a stranger, not a worker from the department store. He went to the rolling door and knocked: "Is anyone inside?"

Lin Chen didn't make a sound, gripping the hunting rifle tightly, waiting for the other's next move.