Chapter Ten: Your Heart

The ferocious roar of the zombies sent a flock of birds scattering into the sky. The survivors in the girls’ dormitory heard it as well, and were immediately terrified.

Xu Shan was trembling uncontrollably.

“Could it be... Lin Dong was eaten by the zombies?”

“It’s possible. I heard the sound of a car just now, so your boyfriend definitely came. Must have startled the zombies!” said a burly young man.

“Looks like... your boyfriend really cares about you, risking such danger just to find you,” chimed in another equally tall and strong young man.

These three, together with Xu Shan, were members of the school basketball team. Xu Shan was a cheerleader, which was how she had gotten involved with them.

“Hmph! Care? I’d say he’s just a pathetic simp—when all’s said and done, he’ll end up with nothing!” scoffed the last one, giving Xu Shan a slap on the backside. He relished the feeling of having someone else’s goddess submit beneath him, a strange sense of accomplishment.

Xu Shan didn’t mind, instead voicing her frustration.

“So what do we do now? That Lin Dong is really useless. He can’t even bring us some food.”

“Wait a minute!” The young man beside her pricked up his ears and grabbed a steel pipe lying nearby.

“There’s something moving in the corridor. Someone’s coming up!”

At his words, the group instantly fell silent, listening for sounds outside.

Sure enough.

Footsteps were approaching, growing closer, with a zombie’s low growl faintly audible.

“Hey now, your simp boyfriend must have made it in!” one of the men said, his face lighting up with excitement. After days of being trapped, their food supplies had run out; hunger gnawed at them relentlessly. Even faced with a beauty like Xu Shan, their desire had faded.

“Stick to the plan!”

The three young men, gripping steel pipes taken from the legs of stools, hid on either side of the door. Their intention was to overpower Lin Dong as soon as he entered and seize whatever provisions he had brought. From the very start, none of them intended for Lin Dong to leave alive. Personal grudges aside, the more survivors there were, the less rations for each.

In short.

Lin Dong’s survival offered them no benefit.

‘Knock! Knock! Knock!’

A measured knocking sounded at the door—not hurried, but rather calm.

Through the peephole, Xu Shan saw a pale yet handsome face. It was Lin Dong.

“Hurry, come in,” Xu Shan said, quickly opening the door.

Lin Dong entered the dormitory.

Xu Shan, as if afraid he might flee, promptly locked the door behind him.

The three young men appeared with their “weapons,” surrounding him in a menacing formation.

“Where’s the food? Where did you hide it? Hand it over, now,” demanded one.

The plan had been to subdue Lin Dong the moment he entered.

But seeing his empty hands, they decided to question him first.

Lin Dong’s face was expressionless, cold and detached. His gaze swept over the room, finally settling on Xu Shan.

Meeting his eyes, Xu Shan showed not the slightest guilt.

“I admit I lied to you, but at a time like this, there’s no point in explaining. Every man for himself, that’s just how it is!”

Lin Dong continued to stare at her in silence.

But the three young men were growing impatient.

“Speak up, damn it! Where did you hide the food?”

“Hurry and hand it over or we’ll beat you to death!”

“It’s already the apocalypse—killing you means nothing!”

“.....”

Intense hunger twisted their faces into grotesque masks.

At this moment, Lin Dong thought that people driven by hunger were no different from zombies—reason lost, nearly ready to devour one another.

“Where’s the food? If you don’t tell us, I’ll kill you!” One finally couldn’t hold back, swinging his steel pipe straight at Lin Dong’s face.

This young man was an athlete, muscular and powerful. The steel pipe whistled through the air—a blow no ordinary person could resist.

But Lin Dong raised his hand and, with a heavy thud, caught the pipe, unmoving, holding it fast.

“Huh?”

The young man’s face showed shock as he struggled to yank the pipe free.

But Lin Dong’s grip was like iron pincers.

No matter how hard he tried, it was useless.

The other two were equally stunned, ready to rush in and help.

But just then, Lin Dong opened his mouth and spoke.

After days of evolution, he had regained some ability to speak, though it was awkward and stiff. From his raspy throat came several strange, guttural syllables.

“You all are the food.”

A chilling silence fell.

They gasped, their terror overwhelming.

Goosebumps prickled across their skin.

For they had realized something.

Lin Dong was a zombie.

“Damn!” one of the young men stammered, his legs turning to jelly. He dropped the pipe and stumbled backward.

But with a single motion, Lin Dong rammed the pipe into the young man’s mouth.

His immense strength drove it straight through.

‘Squelch!’

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Xu Shan and the remaining two young men were ghostly pale, witnessing such horror for the first time; terror reached its peak.

“Run!”

Someone shouted, and the three scrambled to unlock the door, tumbling out in panic.

But as soon as they turned, they crashed into what felt like a wall of flesh—so powerful it knocked them to the ground.

Looking up.

They saw a zombie nearly two meters tall, muscles bulging all over.

“Roar—”

The Tank let out a thunderous howl, echoing like a bell.

He raised a fist and smashed it down, crushing one young man’s skull like a watermelon, blood flying in all directions.

Xu Shan’s face was splattered with blood; she was stunned.

And then.

Right beside her, came a sinister, giggling sound.

Instinctively, she turned her head.

She saw the female zombie’s eerie face, tongue extended, licking her own fingernails.

They were mere inches apart!

“Ah—”

Xu Shan screamed, warmth spreading in her pants; the terror was so intense she wet herself.

At that moment, Lin Dong stepped out from the dormitory.

The Tank and the female zombie did not attack further, but stood respectfully at Lin Dong’s side, expressions ingratiating, almost proud, as if showing off their successful capture of prey.

The Doctor zombie crouched on the floor, poking at a corpse with her fingernails, extracting veins one by one.

Who knew what she was studying...

All in all.

The scene was even more bizarre than the Tank’s violence.

Xu Shan and the last surviving young man, faces pale and bodies trembling, seemed to realize at last.

Lin Dong was the leader of these zombies.

“Please! Don’t kill me! I know I was wrong... I’m sorry, please!” The young man knelt, begging for mercy, snot and tears streaming down his face, all arrogance gone.

Xu Shan regained her senses and quickly joined in.

“Lin Dong, didn’t you love me the most? Please, I’m your wife, don’t kill me. I’ll give you whatever you want, please—”

“Very well.”

Lin Dong strode toward her, his expression still cold.

A dagger appeared in his hand.

He stabbed it straight into Xu Shan’s chest.

“I want to see your heart.”

......