The heavy sound of footsteps outside the door faded away, and the two sisters finally relaxed their tense nerves a little, but still did not dare to let their guard down. Lin Yue pressed her ear against the door panel and listened carefully; only after confirming that the searchers had gone downstairs did she let out a soft sigh of relief.
"They're gone," she turned to Lin Yao, her voice lowered to a whisper, "but we have to hurry."
Lin Yao nodded, her face pale, and the water ball in her hand trembled slightly unconsciously. Both sisters knew that those who claimed to be "community workers" would never give up so easily.
Suddenly, a violent door-smashing sound came from the next door, followed by the distinctive growl of a zombie and the scream of a human. The chaotic noises were particularly harsh in the silent corridor.
"This is our chance," Lin Yue made a quick decision, "let's get out of here now."
They opened the door carefully. The corridor was filled with a strong smell of blood and rot. In the distance, several figures were fighting with zombies, and the sounds of shouting, killing and growling intertwined. Lin Yue took her sister's hand and moved quickly along the shadow of the wall.
When passing a corner, a zombie suddenly pounced out from behind the fire door. Lin Yue reacted quickly; the vines she had prepared in her hand quickly wrapped around the zombie's legs. At the same time, she took out her homemade wooden bow and arrow, and the sharp arrow shot accurately into the zombie's eye socket.
"Hurry up!" She pulled Lin Yao, who was stunned, and continued to move towards the stairwell.
However, the situation in the stairwell made them gasp—more than a dozen zombies had gathered below and were moving slowly upwards. The stench of decay hit their faces, making them sick.
"The fire escape," Lin Yue changed her plan decisively and pushed open a small, inconspicuous door nearby.
Behind the door was a narrow passage piled with debris, and dust rushed towards them. The two sisters had to bend over to move forward, and from time to time, they had to move aside the abandoned furniture and construction waste that blocked their way.
A terrifying crashing sound came from behind; obviously, some zombies had found them and were trying to break through the door.
"Faster!" Lin Yue urged. The vines in her hand came into play again, quietly moving aside a pile of debris ahead.
When they finally pushed open the door at the end of the passage, they found themselves in the community's central garden. The faint morning light cast a strange tranquility over this dilapidated world.
Several incomplete corpses were scattered in the garden, and occasionally, zombies could be seen wandering in the distance. The two sisters, taking cover behind bushes and landscape features, moved carefully towards the community supermarket.
The closer they got to the supermarket, the more zombies there were. These monsters, who had once been neighbors, were now unrecognizable and wandered aimlessly at the entrance of the supermarket.
"The plan has changed," Lin Yue whispered after observing for a moment, "I'll lure them away, and you take the chance to get in. Remember, prioritize collecting medicine, seeds and tools—food comes second."
Lin Yao nodded nervously and tightened her grip on the iron rod in her hand.
Lin Yue concentrated, making a row of landscape trees on the side of the supermarket shake violently, producing a rustling sound. The zombies were immediately attracted and moved towards that direction one after another.
At that moment, Lin Yao rushed towards the supermarket entrance like an arrow released from a bow. With her strength ability, she easily pushed aside the shopping carts blocking the way and slipped into the dimly lit supermarket.
The supermarket was in a mess—shelves were tilted here and there, and goods were scattered all over the floor. Lin Yao acted quickly: first, she swept all the shelves of antibiotics and common medicines into her spatial storage, then collected various seeds and gardening tools. When she started to collect canned food, the sound of fighting suddenly came from outside.
Lin Yue also entered the supermarket; arrows shot continuously from her bow, accurately taking down several stray zombies. "Hurry up! Someone's coming!"
The two sisters cooperated tacitly—Lin Yao continued to collect supplies, while Lin Yue kept watch. When the sound of people's voices outside got closer and closer, Lin Yue said decisively, "That's enough. Let's go through the back door!"
They quickly left through the staff passage, only to find that there were also zombies wandering in the back alley. Just as Lin Yue was about to take action, Lin Yao made a gesture to stop her. She condensed a large water ball and then smashed it hard against the wall in the distance; the loud noise successfully diverted the zombies' attention.
"Smart," Lin Yue gave her sister an approving look.
Taking advantage of this gap, they quickly walked through the alley and arrived at a residential building on the other side of the community. It seemed that this building had not been searched on a large scale yet.
In an unoccupied house, they found more useful supplies: unopened mineral water, batteries, flashlights, and even a first-aid kit. Lin Yue also specially collected some books and maps—these were precious sources of information in the post-apocalyptic world.
When they were about to leave, Lin Yue suddenly pulled her sister and made a gesture to keep quiet. The familiar sound of talking came from downstairs—it was those "workers" searching door to door.
"The top floor," Lin Yue made a quick decision, "we'll move via the rooftop."
They quietly climbed to the top floor and found that the rooftop door was locked. Lin Yao used her strength ability and pulled gently, breaking the door lock.
Standing on the rooftop, they had a panoramic view of the entire community. They saw those "workers" collecting supplies in an organized manner, and some people were even specially responsible for catching mutated rats.
"They're not here for rescue," Lin Yue said solemnly, "they're building their own power."
What made them even more shocked was that in the community's central square, several tied-up people were being interrogated—and among them was Uncle Li from the opposite door.
"They're looking for us," Lin Yao's voice trembled.
Lin Yue was silent for a moment, then suddenly pointed to an adjacent building: "We'll go down from there. I know a path that leads out of the community."
With the help of Lin Yue's wood-based ability, they successfully built a vine bridge between the two buildings. When they landed quietly on the opposite rooftop, a cry of surprise suddenly came from the distance.
"Over there! Someone's using an ability!"
The two sisters were shocked—they hadn't expected to be discovered after all. They moved down quickly and disappeared into the intricate alleys before the searchers arrived.
When night fell, they had already left the community far behind and were hiding in an abandoned store. Although they were counting the abundant supplies in their spatial storage, the two sisters couldn't feel happy at all.
"They won't let us go," Lin Yao said anxiously, "those people are obviously organized."
Lin Yue stared at the dark street outside the window and said softly, "Then we have to become stronger. Strong enough that no one can threaten us."
In the distance, a strange beam of light suddenly cut through the night sky, followed by a huge explosion. A new crisis was quietly brewing in this post-apocalyptic world. And what the two sisters didn't know was that their fates were about to take an even bigger turn...