Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”Send a message to headquarters, now! Get this—what’s-his-name, Chairman Huang—relieved of his post. Immediately! I don’t want to see that son of a bitch in Golden City ever again.”

Gu Chen turned to his stunned flight assistant. ”What are you standing there gaping for? Contact Zuo Dazhu. Tell him to get those idiots to fly back immediately!”

There were only two or three thousand zombies gathered. By dropping bombs with such a huge commotion, were they trying to summon the entire zombie army from downtown Golden City?

Did they even know how many zombies were left in downtown Golden City?

Before the apocalypse, Golden City’s population was over nine million. Based on the global rate of zombification, there could be more than two million zombies in the city’s urban area!

We could have quietly picked off the zombie hordes one area at a time. If they actually gather a million-strong swarm, the consequences would be unimaginable!

’What were they thinking? To sabotage each other for power and influence, they’re willing to disregard the countless lives in the base?’

”Sir, th-then we...”

”Keep searching!” Gu Chen suppressed his deep-seated rage and said coldly, ”Don’t stop until you find her!”

「Meanwhile」

Huang Shi Yao finished a nice, relaxing bath, feeling like she had come back to life.

She wrapped herself in a large, pure white bathrobe and leaned back lazily in her chair.

Huang Shi Yao had just raised a glass of milk, sniffing it gently before bringing it to her lips, when BANG! The main door was violently kicked open.

A squad of armed base soldiers followed two middle-aged men, striding in quickly. THUMP THUMP THUMP. They formed two rows, each soldier aiming their gun in silence.

Poor Huang Shi Yao hadn’t even tasted a single drop of milk before being confronted with such a scene.

Confused, she quickly put down the glass and rose to her feet in anger, scolding, ”Who are you people? Who allowed you to barge into my home?”

The middle-aged man pulled a document with a bright red seal from his coat. ”In light of Mr. Huang Zhaosheng’s unauthorized deployment of base fighter jets to wantonly bomb a residential building, the Capital has issued an order of removal. Mr. Huang Zhaosheng is hereby relieved of his position as chairman of the base committee, effective immediately. Mr. Huang, please come with us.”

Huang Shi Yao could hardly believe her ears. Her voice trembled as she asked, ”Wh-what did you say?”

The middle-aged man had no time to argue with her. With a simple lift of his hand, he sent his men upstairs to search.

Wu Xuehua, who was enjoying life in the bathtub with an aromatherapy diffuser running, heard the sound of a door being broken down in the next room. Frightened, she quickly wrapped herself in a bathrobe and pushed open the bathroom door.

She immediately let out a piercing scream.

She saw her husband, Huang Zhaosheng, being thrown to the floor by several burly men and pinned to the carpet.

Beside them, an open suitcase lay scattered, its personal belongings tumbling out.

”Old Huang, what’s happening?” Wu Xuehua still couldn’t figure out the situation. Seeing the strange men who had broken in, she let out a series of shrill screams. ”Who are you people? How dare you break into someone’s house!”

”Take him away!” The middle-aged man waved his hand, and the soldiers dragged Huang Zhaosheng, who was panting like a dying dog, toward the door.

Wu Xuehua ran after them, crying and shouting as she rushed downstairs. ”What are you doing? Who on earth are you people! Hey, Husband, Husband!”

Huang Zhaosheng was also furious. ”I wasn’t the one who issued the signed order! You can investigate the details. I don’t know what happened, I...”

”You can explain it to the people from the Jingji Mediation Committee.” The middle-aged man was clearly at the end of his patience.

He was just here to take one person into custody; there was no need for all this dawdling.

Huang Shi Yao clutched her chest, seemingly unable to accept reality. Watching Wu Xuehua run out the door crying and screaming, she collapsed into a chair.

’How could this happen? How?’

’She was the one who had the system hack her father’s satellite communicator. She was the one who had the system issue the bombing order.’

’She just couldn’t stand the thought of that bitch Xie Ning coming back alive. She wanted to use the chaos to blow that little bitch to smithereens.’

’Even if the bombs didn’t kill her, luring more zombies to her location would ensure she couldn’t survive and would never make it back to the base!’

’She hadn’t meant to harm her father, and she certainly hadn’t meant to harm herself.’

’How did it turn out like this?’

The middle-aged man walked up to Huang Shi Yao and Wu Xuehua with a serious expression. ”You have a quarter of an hour to pack your personal belongings and leave this courtyard house immediately.”

”On what grounds??” Before the swaying Huang Shi Yao could even scream, Wu Xuehua was the first to shriek, unable to bear it.

The middle-aged man showed them the document with the bright red seal. ”On the grounds of this official order! We are not acting wantonly. Since Mr. Huang has been dismissed by the Jingji Security Zone, he naturally can no longer enjoy the base’s highest level of treatment.”

”You now have fourteen minutes to pack your things and leave.”

”No, please don’t kick us out!” Wu Xuehua shamelessly dropped to her knees, grabbing the man’s coattails and trembling. ”Where can a poor widow and her orphan daughter go?”

”Isn’t the investigation still ongoing? They haven’t even figured out what my husband did wrong, so how can you kick us out? Please, I’m begging you, let us stay here.”

”I’d advise you, rather than wasting time arguing with us, you should find some connections and think of a plan.” A hint of mocking sarcasm flashed in the middle-aged man’s eyes. ”But the ones you’ve offended are the Jingji Gu Family. This is probably going to be tough.”

”The Jingji Gu Family?” Huang Shi Yao sharply caught those words and rushed over to ask, ”Can you tell us the details? What did the Jingji Gu Family do?”

The middle-aged man impatiently raised his hand to look at his mechanical watch. ”In any case, the dismissal order came from the highest level of the Capital. I heard that old ancestor from the Gu Family personally sent someone to make contact. You two, you have ten minutes left. Aren’t you going to hurry?”

Huang Shi Yao collapsed to the floor, an abnormal chill washing over her entire body.

Just then, she looked up and saw the old housemaid dragging a heavy suitcase down the stairs.

”Ms. Cai, Ms. Cai, what are you doing?” Wu Xuehua lunged forward, trying to stop the maid.

Unexpectedly, the maid blocked her with an arm and gave a hard shove, sending Wu Xuehua sprawling onto the floor.

Looking up, she saw Ms. Cai dragging the large suitcase and running outside without a single look back.

”Eight minutes left.” The faint voice fell on Huang Shi Yao’s ears like the final toll of a death knell.

She scrambled up from the floor like a madwoman, crawling and clawing her way upstairs. Seeing all the things in her room, she wanted to take everything, grab it all!

Ten minutes later, the two women were thrown out of the Jingxin Study Room, howling.

Thrown out along with them were two large red suitcases, which rolled pitifully to a stop on the snowy ground nearby.

The snow was now falling thick and fast. After just a few minutes of standing outside, their heads and shoulders were already damp with melting snow.

Huang Shi Yao stared blankly at the snow-covered road outside the gate, unable to believe she had been swept out of her home just like that.

’Why!’