Chapter 36: You guys hurry up

【System Prompt: Day 7 of the apocalypse, current environment: blizzard temporarily stopped, outdoor temperature -45°C, zombie impact frequency on the 45th-floor stairwell reduced, 'Shadow' organization helicopter still hovering over the residential area.】

"If you dare to touch Xia Nuan, try it!"

Lin Chen's roar exploded in the storage room. He rushed up almost instantly and kicked Zhang Hao in the lower back. The knife in Zhang Hao's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter," and his whole body flew out like a kite with a broken string, hitting the supply box heavily. The compressed biscuits in his arms scattered all over the floor.

Xia Nuan was startled awake, rubbed her eyes and sat up. Seeing Zhang Hao on the ground, she instantly woke up: "How did he get in?"

"Don't worry about him!" Lin Chen grabbed Zhang Hao by the collar and punched him in the face, "Are you crazy? Xia Nuan has no grudges against you; you want to kill her?"

Zhang Hao spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, but a weird smile still hung on his face: "Xia Ya... she is Xia Ya... I want to take her away..."

"Take your mother!" Lin Chen punched again, making Zhang Hao's teeth loosen, "Isn't your girlfriend Su Qing? For a 'Xia Ya' in a fake memory, you can't even tell people apart? After I finish dealing with you, I'll go settle the score with Su Qing and throw you both to feed the zombies!"

"Su Qing?" Zhang Hao suddenly sneered, his eyes full of disdain, "She is just an egg! Just a plaything I used to get close to the 'Shadow' organization. Now she's useless; even if she dies, it has nothing to do with me!"

These words completely angered Lin Chen—he didn't expect Zhang Hao to be so cold-blooded, treating even his former accomplice as a discarded pawn. He pressed Zhang Hao to the ground, his fists raining down, every punch carrying anger: "Are you still human? Su Qing helped you so much, and you treat her like this!"

Zhang Hao was beaten half to death, blood constantly bubbling from the corners of his mouth, but he was still muttering: "Xia Ya... I want to find Xia Ya..."

Lin Chen panted heavily, looking at Zhang Hao, who had no power to fight back on the ground, his eyes as cold as ice. He grabbed Zhang Hao by the hair and dragged him to the window—the snow outside hadn't melted, the zombies downstairs were still wandering aimlessly, and the 'Shadow' organization's helicopter was hovering not far away.

"Since you want to die so much, I'll fulfill your wish!" Lin Chen opened the window, and the biting cold wind instantly poured in, carrying snow particles that stung his face. Just as he was about to throw Zhang Hao down, the helicopter suddenly flew over, the cabin door opened, and a rope was thrown down, just happening to loop around Zhang Hao's arm.

"Want to save him? No way!" Lin Chen cursed, pulling Zhang Hao down hard. But the helicopter's pulling force was too great, and he was almost dragged out. Xia Nuan hurriedly rushed over and hugged Lin Chen's waist: "Don't outlast them! Close the window first!"

Lin Chen also reacted—now was not the time to fight the 'Shadow' organization head-on; if the zombies crawled in through the window, it would be troublesome. He let go, and Zhang Hao was pulled toward the helicopter by the rope, still shouting in his mouth: "Xia Ya... wait for me..."

"Bang!"

Just as Lin Chen was about to close the window, a black smoke bomb was suddenly thrown in from the helicopter, exploding instantly upon landing. The pungent smell of smoke filled the air, and Lin Chen and Xia Nuan immediately covered their noses and mouths, but they couldn't help coughing, tears streaming down.

"Close the window quickly!" Lin Chen covered his nose and reached out to push the window. But the smoke was getting thicker, his vision began to blur, and his head felt dizzy—there must be sleeping pills in the smoke bomb.

Xia Nuan's situation was worse than his; she had already begun to be unable to stand steady, leaning against the wall and sliding to the ground: "Lin Chen... I'm so dizzy..."

"Hold on!" Lin Chen gritted his teeth and used his last bit of strength to close the window and lock it. Just as he turned around, he saw Xia Nuan had already fallen to the ground, her eyes closed, her breathing weak. He wanted to support Xia Nuan, but his legs felt as heavy as lead, his eyes went black, and he also fell down. Before losing consciousness, he only heard the roar of the helicopter getting further and further away.

I don't know how long it had been, Lin Chen woke up in a daze, his head still aching, and the smell of the smoke bomb still lingering in his nose. He struggled to sit up and looked at Xia Nuan for the first time—Xia Nuan was still lying on the ground, her face pale, but her breathing was steady.

"Xia Nuan! Xia Nuan!" Lin Chen crawled over and patted her face gently. Xia Nuan slowly opened her eyes, her voice hoarse: "We... didn't die?"

"Didn't die!" Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief and helped her up, "There were sleeping pills in the smoke bomb; we just fainted." He looked around; the supply boxes in the storage room were crooked, Zhang Hao's bloodstains and scattered compressed biscuits were still on the ground, the window was closed tightly, and the helicopter outside was gone.

"Zhang Hao was saved by the 'Shadow' organization?" Xia Nuan asked, rubbing her temples.

"Yeah." Lin Chen nodded and walked to the window, looking down through the glass; there were fewer zombies downstairs, and there was a long drag mark on the snow, which should have been left when Zhang Hao was pulled onto the helicopter. "They didn't take us away, probably because they didn't expect us to close the window so quickly, and they didn't use a lethal dose of sleeping pills."

"Why didn't they use a lethal dose?" Xia Nuan was puzzled.

"Maybe they still want to use us." Lin Chen frowned, "They want the safe house and supplies; if they kill us, they have to clean up the zombies themselves. It's better to keep us and wait until we are weak before making a move." He walked to the water and electricity meter, shone his phone on it to look—the electricity meter wire was still broken, the water meter was still frozen, and there was still no heating in the room, the temperature so low that it made people shiver.

"Must connect the electricity quickly, otherwise it will be colder at night." Lin Chen dug out the toolbox from the storage room, "Xia Nuan, you go drink some water and eat some biscuits first to recover some strength; I'll connect the wires."

Xia Nuan nodded, slowly walked to the supply box, picked up a bag of compressed biscuits, and just as she tore open the packaging, she heard a "clatter" from the steel plate behind the stairwell door. Both of them turned to look—two screws on the steel plate had fallen off, the dented part was larger, the zombie roars were clearer than before, and they could even see the zombie claws reaching in through the steel plate gap.

"The zombies are still slamming the door!" Xia Nuan gripped the biscuits, her voice tight.

Lin Chen gritted his teeth and accelerated the speed of connecting the wires: "After connecting the electricity, I'll go reinforce the steel plate and pile supply boxes behind the door; I don't believe we can't block them!" Just as he connected one wire, he suddenly heard a "hum" sound from outside the window—it was the sound of a helicopter!

The two hurriedly ran to the window and looked up—it wasn't the 'Shadow' organization's helicopter, but a smaller helicopter with no logo on the fuselage, flying toward the 45th floor.

"Who is it again?" Xia Nuan gripped Lin Chen's arm.

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes and gripped the gun in his hand—last time the 'Shadow' organization disguised itself as a strange helicopter; he couldn't be fooled again this time. He stared at the helicopter, watching it slowly descend. A loudspeaker extended from the cabin, and a strange male voice came: "Lin Chen, we are the 'Dawn' team, not the 'Shadow' organization people; we want to talk to you about cooperation!"

"Cooperation?" Lin Chen frowned, "Why should I believe you?"

"'Shadow' organization will bring a heavy armor-piercing cannon tomorrow; your safe house can't hold up." The voice in the loudspeaker was very calm, "We have equipment to counter armor-piercing cannons and can help you block them, but we need your supply support—our team has more than a dozen wounded and is running out of food."

Lin Chen and Xia Nuan looked at each other, both seeing hesitation in each other's eyes. 'Shadow' organization was coming tomorrow; this was true, but was this 'Dawn' team an enemy or a friend?

Just at this moment, there was a loud noise from the steel plate behind the stairwell door. This time it cracked directly, and the zombie roars instantly became louder. Lin Chen looked at the crack and then at the helicopter outside the window, making a decision in his heart—no matter whether the other party really wanted to cooperate, he could only gamble now.

He shouted at the loudspeaker: "How can you prove you are not 'Shadow' organization people?"

The person in the helicopter was silent for a few seconds, then threw something down—it was a token with the word "Dawn" engraved on it. A photo was also tied under the token, showing more than a dozen people in protective suits, with a helicopter like the current one behind them.

Lin Chen picked up the token, looked at the photo, and then looked at Xia Nuan: "Should we believe them?"

Xia Nuan bit her lip and nodded: "'Shadow' organization is coming tomorrow; we have no other choice."

Lin Chen took a deep breath and shouted at the loudspeaker: "Okay, I'll cooperate with you! But you have to help me reinforce the stairwell door first and block the zombies!"

"No problem!" The voice in the loudspeaker came, "We'll send people down right away!"

The side door of the helicopter opened, and two people slid down the rope, holding steel pipes and screws for reinforcement. Lin Chen was just about to open the window to let them in when he suddenly saw several small black dots appearing in the distant sky—it was the 'Shadow' organization's helicopter, flying toward this side!

"Not good! 'Shadow' organization is back!" Lin Chen's pupils shrank, and he hurriedly shouted at the loudspeaker, "You guys hurry up! They are here!" ===== CHAPTER 37 =====