The girl moved like a machine on a mission. In just a few short minutes, she'd swept through her uncle's house, clearing the spice cabinet and stuffing all the rice, flour, grains, and oil into a duffel bag.
Spotting two large bottles of purified water in the corner, she crammed them in as well.
When she turned around, she saw Song Kexin running around like a chicken with its head cut off, a backpack already on as she paced frantically.
"What are you doing?" Xie Ning's anger flared at the sight of her useless cousin.
"Instead of running around in circles, go grab all the pads from your room."
"I... I can't find my charger."
"Forget the charger!" Xie Ning hissed, keeping her voice low. "All communications are about to go down. Your phone will be a useless brick. A watch will be more useful."
"Let's go."
"Oh, right! You said pads, I'll go get them!" Song Kexin scrambled into her room, pulled all the pads out of a drawer, and stuffed them into her backpack.
"No time, let's go! Where are your dad's car keys?" Xie Ning, hoisting the heavy duffel bag with one hand, rushed through the doorway, grabbed Song Kexin, and began to drag her outside.
"Wait, wait! There's still so much to pack! Where are we even going?" Song Kexin frantically grabbed at things, shoving whatever she could reach into her bag.
"There's no time! Get the car keys and let's go! Move!"
Song Kexin cried out in alarm. "Your hand! It's burning up! Are—are you running a fever?"
"Don't worry. I won't turn into one of those things like Ah Bin."
"Why did Ah Bin turn into that? He suddenly came down with a fever, and then he just... lost it and tried to bite me." Tears streamed down Song Kexin's face as she recalled what had happened.
"I stabbed him in self-defense. I saw him collapse and thought he was dead, but... but then he just got back up again a moment later."
Song Kexin was trembling from head to toe. "Why is this happening?"
"Because the world is about to go to shit," Xie Ning said, patting Song Kexin's shoulder. "Be strong. Crying won't solve anything."
The two cousins raced down the stairs of the apartment building. Song Kexin's face was bright red, and she was panting. "Wh-why didn't we take the elevator?"
Xie Ning carried the large black duffel bag, sweat pouring down her fever-flushed face.
"You're burning up! Shouldn't we go to a hospital first?" Song Kexin was terrified that Xie Ning's fever would kill her.
"Don't worry. It'll take more than this to kill me. I'm tough. Is your dad's car parked over there? Let's go!" Xie Ning grabbed Song Kexin's hand and rushed toward the garden area.
Along the way, the commotion attracted several wandering, rotting corpses.
Xie Ning didn't stop. She dragged Song Kexin along, sprinting all the way to their uncle's beat-up old sedan. She yanked open a door and tossed the bag onto the back seat.
"Hold on tight." Xie Ning took a deep breath, slammed her foot on the gas, and the beat-up car spun out of the parking spot.
Song Kexin stared, dumbfounded. "Wait... weren't you just practicing for your driving test?"
'Her driving seems pretty good, though.'
A glance in the rearview mirror showed a dozen or so rotting corpses shambling out from the surrounding apartment buildings. Xie Ning cursed inwardly.
'It must have been the commotion we made, plus the roar of the engine. We've drawn them all here.'
Song Kexin looked out the window, her face a mask of horror. "There are more of them now! They're gathering! What do we do? What do we do?"
"Hold on," Xie Ning said, then floored it, charging straight ahead. She sent two of the snarling corpses blocking their path flying.
The impact left two large dents in the hood. Song Kexin winced at the sight.