Chapter 38.6

"I refuse!" One of the injured who were injured by the zombie before quickly objected to the suggestion. "Why should we be at the end of the line just because we got injured? Because you said so? You think that everything will go as your movie goes?!" 

"Brother Chen… don't say anymore…" another one from the injured tried to calm Brother Chen. But this gesture was not appreciated as he continued to confront Li Xinwen.

"Teacher Li, just because you are a famous person, doesn't mean that you can order us around like this. Being right at the end of the line is more dangerous. I want to be placed in the middle!"

Li Xinwen narrowed his eyes at the man who was showing his anger. With Moyan activated, he could see that the demonic qi had already enveloped his whole body and the wound has already started to worsen. He knew that this Brother Chen's time is numbered.

The reason why Li Xinwen wanted to put the three injured person behind the group was to avoid accident. If they end up turning into a zombie while they are still on the stairs, they could just run and leave them, not wasting time in dealing with them. Which is why, Li Xinwen can never agree to Brother Chen's request of putting them in the middle.

If he does agree, and they changed when they were in the middle of the group, then their group would end up being divided. Worse, some may end up being attacked, injured and then infected. It was a risk that Li Xinwen is unwilling to take.

"Brother Chen," Li Xinwen finally spoke. "You either follow my arrangement or I will leave you here. Maybe things wouldn't be the same as the movie, yes. But what if the virus does work the same way? If I place you in the middle of the group now, what will happen if you do end up being a zombie? Let me ask everyone, do you want to put Brother Chen amongst yourself?"

As he asks the last question, Li Xinwen eyed each person in his group. Though they didn't verbally answer, he could see that they were unwilling. When he looked over at An Yunxu, the man also looked away, not wanting to answer.

"Since no one is willing, then, we'll do as I say. You three will still be tasked to guard behind us," Li Xinwen said before he turned to the camera director, Wei Qiu who was holding his dagger. "Brother Wei, you will take the front. Then…" Li Xinwen trailed off when he looked over to the next person. Only now did he realize that he has yet to know everyone's name in the group.

When the one whose Li Xinwen's gaze had fallen onto notices the hesitation in the actor's eyes, they quickly introduced themselves. "Teacher Li, I am called Kang Jun. I am one of the cameraman in the crew."

"I see. Then Brother Kang, you will help Brother Wei at the front. The two of you are our vanguard, make sure that you don't ever get injured by the zombies. Even a small scratch is not allowed," Li Xinwen told the two of them.

Once the two men nods their head, Li Xinwen turned to two other person. "This two sister here… do you still have a lot of throw able items?" Li Xinwen asked.

"Not a lot… there are about six left but they are all small items. I don't think it can make a lot of sounds if they were thrown," one of the two replied.

"I still have three water bottle left," the other added.

"It can't be helped then. Try to be careful when you decide to throw them to distract the zombie. If Brother Wei and Brother Kang is able to kill the zombie, then keep them. But if there are more than three zombies, distract them," Li Xinwen advised them. "Don't worry about a smaller items not being able to make a lot of sounds. When we enter the emergency staircase later, these things won't be a problem," Li Xinwen said.

Walking over to the door of the emergency exit, Li Xinwen spreads out his spiritual sense to count the number of zombies within the buildings. But a familiar spiritual signature suddenly made him frown. It came from the upper floor where the high level employee usually had their office at.

"I… will go upstairs first," Li Xinwen said to the rest of the group.

"What?! Why? With the current situation right now, isn't it better to evacuate as soon as possible?!"

"You guys can go first. I will catch up later," Li Xinwen replied as he opened the door to the emergency staircase and head upstairs.

Suddenly, An Yunxu rushed into the emergency staircase and spoke to Li Xinwen. "Xiao Wen, how about we wait for you here first then once you finish whatever it is, you can meet us here again?" he suggested. He felt that the risk without Li Xinwen in the group is very high. Behind him, several people of the group also voiced out their agreement with An Yunxu's suggestions. Unfortunately, Li Xinwen's reply was not optimistic for them.

"At the moment, the zombies are still at the initial stage, you can say, its their baby stage," Li Xinwen said out loud. "But think of it like this, if babies need eight months to learn how to walk, Zombies only need six to eight minutes to get used to walking. In few hours, some of the zombies in the building will be able to walk faster than the one we encountered."

"…"

The group went silent after hearing what Li Xinwen said. Seeing their grim expression, Li Xinwen sighed heavily. "As long as you did what you have done these past half an hour, your chance to survive is very high. But if you want for me, the more than thirty zombies in this floor will gather and attack you since there is a lot of 'meals' gathered."

Listening to Li Xinwen's reminder of the number of zombies, everyone's face went pale. "Just go, ba! I will catch up to you all. If I see that you guys haven't reached the first floor by the time I'm done with my task, see if I don't beat you up," Li Xinwen said jokingly, hoping to lift the group's spirit.

After saying that, he didn't wait for them to speak again and he directly walked upstairs. As soon as he is beyond earshot, Brother Chen from before finally voiced out his dissatisfaction again.

"Tsk! Look at him sauntering like that! I hope he dies upstairs!" he grumbled.

"Enough! Let's just follow Teacher Li's arrangement. It won't hurt trying to survive. Plus… the earlier we escape, the faster we can have some professional look at you three's injury," Wei Qiu said to the three people who were still feeling dissatisfied from what Li Xinwen said about them earlier.

"Heh, look at you! Teacher Li only praised you once or twice and you already turned into his obedient dog!" Brother Chen retorted.

"Chen Zhu that is enough!" the director roared angrily, forgetting that their situation doesn't allow for loud noises.

Sure enough, not long after a low, groaning sound could be heard coming from below the staircase and the group immediately got ready to engage. Luckily, there was only a single zombie so it was dealt with ease.

Li Xinwen was on the 65th floor when he heard the roar and he couldn't help but shake his head. "I hope you guys can survive well," Li Xinwen said with a sigh. "And that Chen Zhu… if you haven't turned into a zombie when I meet you next, I will definitely serve you some 'sobering tea' so you can wake up and face reality!"