C15 The Dark Squirming

Jiang Feng's heart raced, a familiar terror he hadn't felt in ages creeping back into his consciousness. The fear of death was suffocating. He was filled with regret, cursing his impulsive decision to charge in headfirst.

Su Kouye, rushing to Jiang Feng's aid, lacked the latter's impressive leaping ability and was not particularly fast. He didn't even make it to Jiang Feng before he himself was swarmed.

The newly formed team was suddenly on the brink of collapse. Urendir found herself in a harrowing predicament. Time was of the essence, yet her feet were frozen, uncertain which direction to take. One way lay Jiang Feng, the other his daughter, Jiang Wei. Choosing one meant dooming the other. What was the right choice?

Just then, a thunderous bark echoed from Su Kouye's location. Urendir turned to see an immense wolf dog materialize out of nowhere, a behemoth that dwarfed even the second story of the building.

The wolf dog towered over them, its presence causing the third floor to crumble. Debris rained down, crushing the undead below.

As the wolf dog moved toward Jiang Feng, the Heyday Building quaked as if in the throes of an earthquake. Each step it took shattered the third floor, merging it with the second in a trail of destruction.

Its massive claws made short work of the zombies, squashing and shredding them with ease, like a supercharged battle tank leaving a wake of carnage.

"A giant wolf dog out of nowhere... Su Kouye? Yes, it must be him," Urendir surmised.

Bolstered by the sight of the formidable wolf dog, Urendir quickly fought her way through the horde to Jiang Wei's side to provide assistance.

"Stay close behind me," Urendir instructed them. "We need to regroup with Jiang Feng and the others as quickly as possible."

Meanwhile, the wolf dog's arrival at Jiang Feng's location sent the zombies flying, shattering their ranks. The encirclement disintegrated in seconds.

With ample room in the central hall, the colossal wolf dog unleashed its might. A swipe of its paw sent zombies soaring. In mere moments, the horde was decimated.

Jiang Feng was absolutely gobsmacked. He had never laid eyes on such a massive wolf dog, unaware that it was actually Su Kouye.

As the zombies neared their demise, Jiang Feng realized he stood no chance against the colossal wolf dog. Seizing the moment while the wolf dog was preoccupied with the zombies, he leaped up and aimed a flying kick at the wolf dog's eyes, hoping to blind it and create an opportunity to flee.

Unable to speak in his giant dog form, Su Kouye saw Jiang Feng's kick coming and quickly thought on his feet. He transformed into a humanoid beast form. The sudden shift in size caused Jiang Feng's kick to miss, narrowly avoiding disaster.

"Why is it you? When did you gain the ability to transform completely?" Jiang Feng exclaimed in astonishment.

"This isn't the time for that. The zombies are nearly gone. Let's push through to the back and regroup with Urendir."

After several minutes of fierce combat, the group reunited, their collective strength more focused, and the tide of battle began to turn in their favor.

Even with their combined might improving the situation, everyone was pushing their physical limits. Except for Urendir and Su Kouye, all had sustained various injuries. Even little Jiang Wei's face bore the mark of a zombie's claw.

"Jiang Feng, that's enough. We need to pull back. The zombies from the first floor are making their way up," Urendir called out.

"Alright, everyone retreat! Head upstairs," Jiang Feng commanded, dispatching another zombie with a kick.

Urendir then swiftly produced a smoke grenade, tossed it before them, and yelled, "Move!"

Exhausting their remaining strength, the five of them dashed up to the 15th floor, where they paused to catch their breath.

"They won't follow us up here, will they?" Chen Ming asked nervously, lacking experience.

"No, they lack the smarts. The smoke has them too disoriented to discern any direction," Su Kouye assured him.

As soon as Su Kouye finished speaking, Jiang Feng clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, "Thanks for saving my skin."

"We're comrades in arms; no thanks needed."

"Sorry, everyone. I got ahead of myself back there!"

"Dad, you can't ever do that again," Jiang Wei called out.

Jiang Feng crouched down, gently touching the scratch on Jiang Wei's face, his heart aching. "Jiang Wei, I'm sorry. Dad won't dare do it again..." But as he spoke, Jiang Feng collapsed.

Urendir quickly caught Jiang Feng, noticing his waist was soaked. On closer inspection, she realized that his abdomen was severely wounded. The black suit had concealed the injury, and amidst the chaos of the fight, Urendir hadn't noticed Jiang Feng's serious condition.

"We need to get back to Jiang Feng's place, now!" Urendir yelled to the group.

They all rushed back to their rooms, where Chen Ming and Su Kouye immediately assisted Urendir in tending to Jiang Feng's wounds.

Half an hour later, Jiang Wei and Urendir sat by the bed, keeping vigil beside Jiang Feng.

Urendir watched Jiang Feng, who had fought so desperately, and couldn't make sense of it. With the apocalypse strategy, he already had a solid advantage, yet he seemed unsatisfied, pushing himself to the limit. It's true that new humans could recover from severe battle injuries and become stronger, but it was a dangerous gamble with life on the line. A misjudgment could be fatal.

Jiang Wei, unable to contain her emotions, burst into tears. "Daddy's working so hard for me, to become strong enough to change this apocalypse. But why am I so useless? The flames just won't obey me..."

Urendir immediately soothed her, "Silly child, you're still young. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

After some time, Jiang Wei settled down. Just then, Urendir heard a noise outside Jiang Feng's room.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Su Kouye."

Urendir got up and opened the door. "Su Kouye, why are you still in your beast form?"

"After transforming into my complete body, my clothes were shredded. If I revert to human form, I'd be naked. The beast form has more fur, so I'll stay like this for the time being."

"I'm feeling a bit woozy. Tell you what, I'll rummage through Jiang Feng's closet and find some clothes for you."

"No, no, no, that's alright. I'm heading out. I'll just swing by someone else's place to see what I can find."

"Okay, but make it quick, will you?"

"Thing is, I might not be back that quickly."

"What do you mean?" Urendir inquired, a hint of confusion in her voice.

"I'm not hurt, and my strength's pretty much back to normal. I'm thinking of taking on the task of clearing out the dozens of zombies left on the second floor, and while I'm at it, I'll grab some clothes that fit."

"Why go it alone?"

"It's still early in the afternoon. Are we really going to let the whole day go to waste? Jiang Feng is likely to be back on his feet by tomorrow. Why not clear the second floor now, so we're ready to tackle the first floor, where the real zombie horde is, together tomorrow?"

Urendir wasn't sure what to do, but Su Kouye's request seemed reasonable enough, especially since it was only a few dozen zombies.

"After you've taken care of the second floor, head back here."

"Will do."

Watching Su Kouye depart, Urendir couldn't shake a sense of unease. Yet, recalling his determined effort in rescuing Jiang Feng, she hoped her concerns were unfounded.

By 6 PM, dusk had set in. The last rays of the setting sun were swallowed by the city's towering buildings, vanishing into the horizon.

Jiang Feng remained unconscious, with Urendir and Jiang Wei keeping a constant vigil by his bedside.

Chen Ming, not much of a cook, cobbled together some biscuits, warmed up milk, and brought them to Jiang Feng's room for Urendir and Jiang Wei.

Urendir accepted the makeshift meal and asked, "You put this together? Hasn't Su Kouye returned yet?"

"No, I've been keeping an eye out, but there's been no sign of him."

"How odd. He should've been done with those zombies by now. What could be taking him hours?" Urendir peered out into the darkening sky, her unease growing.

Suddenly, a series of soft knocks sounded at the security door, but they were faint and quickly ceased.

"Could that be him?" Chen Ming wondered aloud.

"It's odd. He doesn't usually knock like that. I'm going to check it out."

Urendir gestured for Jiang Wei and Chen Ming to stay put in Jiang Feng's room and not to come out, while he cautiously approached the door to see who was there.

Upon gently opening the door, he found no immediate danger, nor anyone standing there. Instead, a bloodied figure lay on the ground, shirtless and still.

With a mix of caution and curiosity, Urendir turned the body over and was shocked to recognize the face—it was Su Kouye.

"Chen Ming, come out! We need medicine and bandages, quickly!"

Chen Ming helped carry Su Kouye to his room. As Urendir was preparing to clean and dress Su Kouye's wounds, Su Kouye regained consciousness, his eyes fluttering open.

"What on earth happened to you? You're covered in scratches. These don't look like the kind of wounds zombies would inflict," Urendir questioned.

Weakly, Su Kouye replied, "Stop asking. I have no strength left. Don't waste time bandaging me. Just... let me sleep in peace."

"Fine, rest up for now," Urendir conceded, then he and Chen Ming stepped out, leaving Su Kouye to recover.

Urendir's unease grew, but he knew he had to wait for Su Kouye to awaken before he could get any answers.

At nine o'clock that evening, Jiang Feng awoke, much to Jiang Wei's delight.

Urendir shared with Jiang Feng both Su Kouye's condition and his own feelings of disquiet.

"Urendir, don't rely too much on your intuition; it's not always trustworthy. It's just a few dozen zombies—don't blow things out of proportion."

"But I genuinely sense something is off with him this time."

"So what do you propose?"

"We should take him out now while he's weak."

At that, Jiang Feng actually chuckled and said, "That's quite the thought. We're quick to talk of killing him, but what has he actually done wrong?"

"Isn't it better to eliminate any potential threats?"

"You realize your feelings aren't entirely objective, right? Consider this—if you hadn't seen the post-apocalyptic guide, you'd have no inkling of his future and probably wouldn't feel this way. Preconceptions are clouding your judgment. He's a valuable ally, capable of taking on a hundred foes. I'm not going to jeopardize such an asset over a hunch. Besides, he saved my life; I won't betray his loyalty."

"But..."

"No 'buts' about it. Listen, I already consider him a partner."

Realizing Jiang Feng's earnestness, Urendir dropped the argument and picked up the cookies and milk. "Fine, I don't want to fight about this. Let's eat something. You're still not fully healed. After you've eaten, get some more rest."

The following dawn.

Su Kouye rubbed his eyes and gradually opened them, surprised to see Jiang Feng sitting beside him.

"Jiang Feng, it's you! You gave me quite a start."

"You sustained serious injuries yesterday. Are you feeling any better now?"