Xie Ning headed up the back staircase by Ai Jia Supermarket's side entrance. She swiftly dispatched two rotting corpses hiding in a corner, hefted the long blade that felt perfect in her hand, and crept onto the second floor.
Her mother should be in the finance office at the end of the second-floor hallway.
She had to get her mom out now, before too many zombies gathered. She couldn't let it be like her past life, trapped in the supermarket for days, only for her mom to be beyond saving by the time help arrived.
As Xie Ning passed the freight elevator, its doors slid open.
"ROAR."
A zombie in a hard hat staggered out, its body lurching, but Xie Ning cut it down with a single, heavy blow.
She ran toward the end of the hallway, trying her best to keep her breathing steady.
Four or five zombies were gathered at the office door, clawing at it with their long fingernails.
'I have to make this quick.' She could feel her stamina plummeting.
'Getting surrounded by dozens of them would be a disaster. With my current strength, I can't guarantee I'd be able to escape.'
Xie Ning took down a hunchbacked zombie with a few slashes, then quickly kicked another one across the hallway.
Before the zombie could even stumble to its feet, Xie Ning rushed over and drove her blade through the back of its skull, finishing it off in an instant.
She dispatched the remaining three just as quickly, doing her best to keep the noise down so as not to attract any more monsters.
After dealing with the last of the zombies, Xie Ning could feel her arms aching and a wave of fatigue washing over her. A wry smile touched her lips.
'This is normal.'
'This body was ridiculously pampered before the apocalypse.'
'It was a simple, monotonous life, back and forth between two points. Besides running a few laps in gym class and the occasional swim or volleyball game, I had zero physical training.'
'If it weren't for all the combat experience from my past life, knowing the quickest and easiest ways to strike, this body would have given out already.'
KNOCK KNOCK. Xie Ning knocked lightly on the door. "Mom," she whispered, keeping her emotions in check, "are you in there? Please say something."
Through the door, she could faintly hear a commotion and arguing from within.
"Xiao Ning! It's my Xiao Ning! Why are you stopping me? Get out of my way! My daughter is here!"
"Are you crazy, Song You'ai?! If you open that door now, you'll be sending us all to our deaths! There are tons of monsters gathered out there! Are you trying to get us all killed?"
"Honey, Mom's coming!" Song You'ai forcefully shoved aside the middle-aged woman blocking her way and lunged frantically for the door.
But just as her hand touched the doorknob, a man in a suit rushed over from the side and roughly shoved her away.
The middle-aged woman shrieked, "Xiao Chen! Xiao Li! Help me hold her down! Are you out of your mind?!"
Several people pinned Song You'ai's arms and head, forcing her into a corner where she couldn't move an inch.
Song You'ai struggled with all her might, tears welling in her eyes. "Xiao Chen, let me go! My daughter is out there!"
'The monsters out there will devour anyone they catch. My daughter is so slender... how can she possibly fight those things?'
'I have to go save my daughter! Right now!'
"Boss, we can't open the door! We absolutely can't! We'll die if we open it!" the middle-aged woman shrieked at the top of her lungs.
Xie Ning did her best to suppress her blazing rage. "I've already taken care of the things outside. Open the door. I'm just here to get my mom and leave, nothing else."
'I don't care what happens to these other people!'
'But my mom is coming with me in this life, no matter what!'
"Are you serious?" The man in the suit pressed his ear against the door. He listened, but it was true—he couldn't hear any of those things roaring outside.