Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

BAM! BAM! BAM! A series of collisions flipped the car, and the small camera van right behind them was the first casualty.

The cameraman ran out of the van, still unwilling to abandon the tool of his trade.

Unfortunately, before he could take more than a couple of steps, he was tackled to the ground by several pursuing zombies, which began to tear into him viciously.

”AAAAAHHH!” The rich kids from the luxury car scrambled out, utterly terrified and in a state of chaos.

”Everyone, group up! Don’t panic!”

A woman in a leather jacket and leather pants, her long hair flowing, strode toward them on four-inch, sky-high heels.

She held out her hand, and a long-handled cleaver materialized in her palm.

The last thing Xie Ning saw was the woman’s impressive skill as she planted a foot on a zombie’s head and cut it down with clean, heroic flair.

A cleaver in her left hand and a pistol in her right, she looked incredibly formidable.

’This woman is also a Space Ability User.’ Xie Ning slammed on the accelerator, speeding out of the zombie-infested alley.

As for whether those rich kids could escape the jaws of a hundred-odd zombies, well, that wasn’t her problem.

’Everyone’s just playing a game, after all,’ she mused. ’Why take it so seriously?’

’You play your game, and I’ll play mine. Losing your life is just part of the game, too.’

Xie Ning drove her small van along the road. As she neared the supermarket, she deliberately and discreetly circled around to the opposite side.

Sure enough, parked behind a half-collapsed small building was the minivan belonging to Chen Chong and his daughter.

The vehicle was empty, however; they had probably already gone into the supermarket for supplies.

She hopped out of her van and circled the minivan once, spotting several boxes of peanut butter, bean paste, and chili sauce inside, along with several cases of fruit-flavored milk.

’These people almost got my brother killed. Not killing this father-daughter pair is me being merciful. Taking some of their things as compensation is more than fair.’

Xie Ning picked the car lock with ease and hauled everything into her own small van.

Opening the trunk, she saw two perfectly sealed barrels of gasoline, which she also appropriated.

’I got two barrels from the gas station myself, Xiao Gu gave me two, and now with these, I have six in total.’

’But gasoline is a consumable item. I’ll have to find time to scavenge for more nearby.’

Once she was done, she quietly drove over to the supermarket’s back entrance and found a hidden place to park.

The zombies that had been wandering around the supermarket seemed to have been cleared out.

Xie Ning’s entry was exceptionally smooth. She planned to head straight for the drinking water section on the second floor.

But just as she reached the stairwell, she heard someone say angrily, ”Li Shasha is my classmate, Dad! How could you do that?”

”I saw it all yesterday!”

Chen Chong’s awkward voice rose up. ”Jiajia, don’t let your imagination run wild, and definitely don’t learn from her. That girl, Li Shasha, she’s... unseemly. You should stay far away from her in the future.”

”You’re not going to marry Li Shasha and make her my stepmom, are you?”

”Of course not, of course not! What nonsense are you talking about, child!”

”Then you wouldn’t abandon me to protect Li Shasha and her mother, would you?”

”How could that be? You’ll always be Daddy’s little princess!”

”Old Chen, what are you two dawdling for? Hurry up! I hear a car outside! Get down here and pack more fruits and vegetables. Someone might be coming.”

As the footsteps hurried away, Xie Ning slipped in through the fire escape door and cast a disdainful look in the direction the father and daughter had fled.

’What garbage. The kind of pig who acts all innocent after he gets what he wants.’

Xie Ning hurried toward the beverage aisle, only to find the shelves were mostly empty. The bottled water had been completely swept clean.

She had no choice but to run to the toiletries section, where she picked up some unwanted bars of soap, laundry pods, body wash, and toothpaste. Then she detoured to the home textiles department and managed to grab a good number of four-piece bedding sets and small fleece blankets.

’Once we’re settled in a safe zone, I can split these between my two uncles’ families.’

But Xie Ning was still frustrated that she hadn’t found any drinking water.

Xie Ning grabbed a large cloth bag from the home goods section and, for show, packed it with a few miscellaneous food items from the shelves, tossing in a handful of toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste.

She strolled around the second-floor supermarket with the large bag in hand, and in a corner, she spotted a small door, barely wide enough for a single person.

Xie Ning pressed her ear to the little door and listened intently. Hearing no sound from within, she proceeded to pick the lock.

’Well, what do you know.’ The moment she opened the narrow storeroom door, she saw cases of purified water stacked in a corner, piled higher than a person’s head.

Each case contained twelve 1.5-liter bottles of purified water. Xie Ning did a quick count and estimated there were over two hundred cases.

She casually shut the storeroom door and, in one go, teleported all two hundred-plus cases of purified water into the dining room of her villa Space, stacking them high against a wall in a large, hollow square.

The storeroom also held plenty of liquor and other beverages. Xie Ning thought for a moment. ’Since I’m here, might as well take it all. It’ll be a boon for my uncles.’

Having finished her work, Xie Ning pulled the door open and walked out, only to have a knife pointed at her chest before she’d taken two steps.

”Don’t move. This blade doesn’t have eyes,” the young man holding the knife said, stuttering with nervousness. ”B-Boss, there’s one who slipped through the net over here!”

”A young and beautiful lady, I see.” The speaker’s voice was hoarse. He wore a pair of sunglasses, and his hair was combed flat, perfectly and meticulously styled.

”What’s inside?” He pushed the door open and went in, taking one look at the completely empty little storeroom.

He turned and gave Xie Ning a meaningful look. ”You’re a Space Ability User, aren’t you, miss?”

Xie Ning raised an eyebrow. ”What do you mean?”

The man walked over to Xie Ning, casually took the large cloth bag from her hand, and rummaged through it. ”Otherwise, how would you explain why a young lady like yourself only took these worthless little trinkets?”

Xie Ning spread her hands. ”See for yourself what’s left on the shelves.”

’It’s a miracle I found even this much, isn’t it?’

”Don’t be so stubborn,” the young man said, pointing his knife in Xie Ning’s face. ”There were two Superpower Users in that group downstairs. Didn’t our Boss Pi take them down all the same?”

”Spit it out. Are you a Space Ability User or not?”

”Now, now. No need to be so harsh with a beautiful young lady,” Boss Pi said with a chuckle. He bent over slightly and handed Xie Ning’s cloth bag back to her.

Xie Ning took it, her gaze fixing coldly on him. ”You’ve finished your inspection. Can I go now?”

”There’s still plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables downstairs. Wouldn’t our beautiful young lady like to take some?”

”And Boss Pi is willing to let me?” Xie Ning asked with a soft chuckle.

”Of course.” Boss Pi’s smile was exceptionally amiable. ”To befriend such a beautiful young lady, I am more than willing.”

Xie Ning hummed in acknowledgment and gave a slight nod. ”It’s hard to refuse such a generous invitation. Since Boss Pi is being so sincere, I won’t stand on ceremony.”

Xie Ning pulled out a handful of cloth bags and counted them. ”I have seven or eight bags here. Is it alright if I pack a little extra? Things like durian, honeydew melon, cherries... I wonder if there’s any left in stock.”

”Don’t you go too far!” the young man snarled, raising his knife again.

But Boss Pi stopped him with a sharp ”Hey!” ”Do not be rude to our beautiful young lady.”

”As long as you can carry it, miss, you may take your pick.”

”Thanks so much,” Xie Ning said with a cheerful smile and a nod.