Chapter Eight

"Are you sure they cannot see us?" Bai Cheng asked whilst nervously looking out at the car park exit.

"Yes, they can only smell and hear, they vary in strength and speed at the moment though, some may stumble slowly, others may run, so we have to be careful," Yichen continued his small lesson Lixin had jokingly labeled 'Zombie Anatomy 101'.

"If you look closely, you'll see their eyes all look foggy, just like the dealer from before. So long their eyes are like that, they cannot see a thing, but don't underestimate their ability to locate you if they smell you."

Bai Cheng nodded and nervously went over his possessions again. They'd all dressed in guard uniform, with a radio to contact each other and the hotel. The mobile phones could stop working at any moment and nobody wanted to be left out of the loop if things went south.

Yichen was not only instructing the four guards joining Bai Cheng and him but also the guards remaining.

"Wearing heavy aftershave should be enough to block our smell, but if we're wounded the aftershave will not block the smell of blood." Cleaning chemicals like bleach would have been better, but they would irritate their skin.

All the men had masks to cover their mouths, sharp knives, their standard-issue Glocks, and some ammo. Their backpacks were all empty, ready to be filled with supplies.

"Remember, keep your radios on silent and only use your guns as a last resort until we're at least a street away. If you're injured, don't be silly, we'll bring you back and wait and see if you end up lucky like me."

Not everybody would survive the infection, the only relief was currently an infected person would become unconscious before turning. After a few mutations though, it would become an almost instant change.

"Young Master," a guard interjected, fidgeting with his mask, "how do you know so much?"

"My father told me on the phone," Yichen passed the blame to his old man instantly. When abilities become more well known, he might tell them the truth behind his knowledge. For now, he felt his father's reputation was more credible than a 'fever dream'.

Unfortunately, his small white lie, only ignited the hope in the young men that the government was more knowledgeable about the virus than they were. That, in turn, the chances of rescue were also higher because of this knowledge.

Right now, the government was in shambles, only the military was working with virologists and the other scientists under their protection, still figuring all this stuff out. He only knew this from his own observations, later confirmed by Grandpa Fraizer.

Taking the bowl of car keys from Lixin, Yichen began unlocking various cars. The noise of which attracted nearby zombies to gather at the cars, then move to the next, then the next, further and further away from his own car near the exit.

Once there was only one or two nearby, he finally opened the door and signaled the other to remain quiet and head to his SUV.

The staff car park itself was just a small fenced-in area attached to the southmost part of the hotel, with a guard post and automatic gates as the only exit. There were less than twenty zombies inside. Two guards, and a few guests who'd attempted to escape at the start.

Six men silently entered the SUV, Yichen behind the wheel.

"Last chance to change your mind and go back," Yichen muttered silently, glancing back to see Lixin behind the glass doors watching him like an abandoned puppy. Even he himself was second-guessing himself for leaving them all again.

Unlike in the dream, he only intended on a short journey. The place would be safe for another day, they would all leave tonight, and everything would be fine.

"We're good," Bai Cheng reached to pat Yichen's shoulders, and the four guards behind all nodded in agreement.

Bai Cheng had asked David to take control of the gates, so when the car approached they opened with ease. The noise of the gates wasn't much over the shuffles and groans of the zombies outside, but still, the car was noisy.

Twenty zombies at various paces made their way toward the car. David should close the gates once they all followed.

He'd set a route on the GPS of his phone to the large park in the commercial district center. One of the guards with them had a wife and son in an apartment near there. Their plan was to pick them up at the fire exit of the building on their way to Old Wang's store.

Then silently walk back.

Bodies began hitting the SUV as Yichen honked the horn and sped up. All six men winced at the sensation of some bodies getting caught under the wheel.

By the time they reached the fenced-in park, hundreds of the zombies were following behind.

Bai Cheng had climbed halfway out of the sunroof, aiming at those in front near the park's walls.

Holding his breath, Yichen parked the SUV against the wall sideways. Bai Cheng climbed instantly up to the top of the wall, ensured it was clear on the other side, and gave Yichen a thumbs up.

"Climb up quickly to the other side," Yichen instructed, letting the others go first.

By the time all six men were over the wall, the dead had piled atop of each other like locusts over the car, threatening to clamber over the walls at any moment.

Using the compass app on his phone, Yichen made a note of the South East direction and led the five others through the elaborate, oriental park.

"Is your wife making her way down to the fire exit?" Yichen whispered as they waited for Bai Cheng to scope ahead over the wall.

The older guard, named Shane, was a local who married a wife from South Korea, they had a ten-year-old son who was very well-behaved and would visit the hotel often with his school friends. Yichen had a good impression of the small family, so when he noticed that they were en route to Old Wang's, he decided to risk getting them now.

Some staff felt a bit bitter at his decision, but without enough weapons or manpower, it would be suicidal to attempt rescuing the rest first. Those capable were advised to leave to go North themselves.

Before the apocalypse, it was the paycheck that made most of the employees loyal to him. Now money was going to be a thing of the past, only the guards trained by Bai Cheng were truly loyal. A lot of them were ex-army or triad. A confusing mix, but the brotherhood was strong no matter which walks of life they came from.

Shane frowned at his phone, "she says there's some bother with one of the neighbors, who want to come with."

The people wanting to come were a middle-aged couple with five young children. They had no car. From the text, it appeared they were harassing the single woman and her son for leaving them behind.

He typed furiously into the phone, "It's Yichen, tell them we're on foot, if they want to leave we've attracted the zombies outside your apartment in the car before, they should just find a car and leave the city."

Hopefully, they would heed his advice and leave the woman and son alone.

Bai Cheng waved his arm to get their attention, then gave the thumbs up. On the other end of the park, the zombies had managed to climb the wall.

After coating themselves in another heavy spray of aftershave, they climbed the wall. Nervously, they made their way through the commercial district, through the alleys instead of the main streets, towards the apartment block on top of some small shops.

Shane's wife and son were not waiting at the fire exit, but they could hear a commotion of children crying and a woman shouting through the door. A zombie nearby was attracted to the sound and ignored the foul-smelling bodies blocking its path to head toward the noise instead.

Yichen took out a dagger, then slowly approached the corpse to stick the sharp edge to the brain from the neck. Sure he had done it in the dream, but doing so now felt more 'real'. The pungent smell of the decomposing body as he approached it almost made him heave.

Carefully, he guided the now completely lifeless body to the floor, making sure to rip open its stomach to let the horrible smell waft into the air and dissuade other zombies from approaching close enough to hear the drama inside.

Unable to get in through the fire exit, the men could only circle back to the main entrance of the apartment block. Shane inputted the code to open the door into the dimly lit stairwell.

When the door opened, they could hear the noise even more. Bai Cheng could only quickly close the door, fearful that the few zombies wandering on the road nearby had heard.

"What about my children? What can I do? You want us to go outside with no weapons and get into a car alone, you're asking us to go and die," the middle-aged woman shrieked.

"Shut up," Yichen growled, holding his bloodied dagger. The husband was plump, looking tough, but acted cowardly; he even hid behind the five youths lingering at the doorway.

"He's already had to put down one zombie because your shrieking lured one to the fire exit, if you don't want to leave, don't leave, why doom the rest of us?" Bai Cheng spoke softly, holding his Glock so they could all see.

It was not just the couple, but a few elder male family members and a handful of other neighbors who had all gathered out into the hallway due to the commotion.

Down the hall, there was a rhythmic thumping of a body walking into a door from inside an apartment, a zombie attracted by the noise and smell, but unable to unlock its door to 'say hello'.

With the sudden silence, the small crowd of people could finally hear its thumping clearly.

"Ah, it's that old man, I knew he was infected," the shrewish woman called out, but her husband finally stepped forward, covering her mouth to silence her much to everybody's relief.

"So long your noise hasn't attracted any more, there are around twelve zombies on the road outside. If you want to leave, spray yourself with a heavy scent and 'quietly' go now. We have to regroup and are heading North over the river, I advise you to do the same." Yichen calmly and quietly explained, noticing Shane had silently managed to drag his wife, Nari, and son, Jack.

"You really won't take us with you?" The man knew the answer but still asked it before his wife could shriek it alongside a few insults.

"We used our car to lure the zombies away to the park earlier, we intend to travel back to our group on foot silently after collecting Shane's wife and son. There's got to be some knives, tools, or sports equipment you guys can use to get to a car. So long you drive safely at a good speed, they cannot keep up with you."

"Or you could just stay here, nobody is asking you to leave," Shane could not hide the disdain from his voice, "I'm only picking up my wife and son, you're only my neighbors."

Shane really did not like this neighbor friend of his wife, who often asked them to babysit their kids but complained behind her back. Though his heart ached for the children, there was no way he would risk the safety of his own child to ask his boss to assist them.

"Does the aftershave really work?" Another neighbor, a young student, stepped forward curiously.

"For now," Yichen replied, "their eyes are foggy, they cannot see, but they can still smell and 'hear'." His eyes narrowed at the woman as he said hear.

"We'll be leaving now," Yichen was growing anxious as the time passed. This little difference from the dream was like a loose thread he couldn't help tug on. When they rescued Shane's wife and kid before, they'd been waiting at the fire exit patiently.

What else could go differently? What if the people from before attack those left behind all over again? What if Faye or Lixin are among those who get hurt?

If he remained here any longer, he wasn't certain he could maintain his sanity.

This time, the neighbors remained silent, allowing the group of eight, to leave via the fire exit on the side of the building.

In the alleyway, Nari shielded Jack's eyes when she saw the corpse Yichen violated. He could only look away himself, hoping Shane did not tell her later it had been him to do that.

Even if it had just been a dream, his mentality on things had changed, he had changed. What would take them months to get used to, already felt normal to him.

Shane's wife and son had obeyed Yichen's text instructions to a T, spraying themselves with perfume, dressing in thick, sports clothing, and carrying a sharp knife and a backpack each.

Shane had been reluctant to tell his wife to hand his ten-year-old a knife, but Yichen asked him if his son was attacked would he rather his son had one then or not? Shane quickly sent the text, relaying the same scenario to scare his wife, forcing her into agreeing.

Parents would need to forgo their mentalities of raising kids in peaceful times. The living were at war with the dead. All children needed to learn to defend themselves, or they'd helplessly become cannon fodder.

Old Wang's was both his father's friend's name and the name of his store. He sold hunting and fishing gear. Both hobbies his father and Uncle Bai thoroughly enjoyed and dragged the youths along to since young.

The old man was a technophobe, which was displayed quite clearly in the old shop with just a key lock in the private entrance. Yichen paused and looked around, finding the window flower box in question, he dug around in the soil for the spare key.

Above the shop was Old Wang's maisonette, where he lived alone with his cat. The shop connected to the bottom of his maisonette's stairs inside.

Checking the lights were still all off and nobody was inside the shop, Yichen frowned up at the stairs, feeling reluctant to go up. He already knew the old man had turned and killed his beloved cat. He'd been forced to put the man out of his misery once before, he couldn't stomach the idea of doing it all over again.

"I'll go up," Bai Cheng noticed his friend's ghastly expression and hesitation.

"No," Yichen reached to hold onto his arm, "I'll do it, fill the bags with the items on the list, I'll be down in a bit."

With a heavy sigh, Bai Cheng nodded and turned to the store with the others, leaving Yichen all alone.