Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Fire

Tong Xiangyu followed closely behind Song Ge. “What are we going upstairs for?”

Song Ge replied, “To find materials. Wood, plastic, paper, curtains…”

Hearing these seemingly unrelated items, Tong Xiangyu reacted immediately. “Flammables?”

“Yes.”

Currently, Song Ge knew of two ways to “kill” the monsters: one was a headshot, and the other was burning them with fire. Dogs were small, their heads were small, and their speed was much faster—it was difficult to land a precise headshot. Given their numbers, the second option was the only viable choice.

If that little dog with the delivery box had tracked Tong Xiangyu’s scent all this way, they would soon be discovered inside the building. At that time, this pack of unkillable, savage dogs would tear them to pieces. They had to strike first.

The situation in the offices on every floor was roughly the same: rotting skeletons and signs of messy looting. Song Ge moved nimbly, heading straight for the windows. She stepped onto a chair arm, then onto the windowsill, using her combat knife to cut down an entire curtain in a few strokes. Measuring the distance by hand, she sliced notches and tore the fabric into strips, knotting them together to create a rope.

Seeing Song Ge’s movements were both urgent and steady, Tong Xiangyu didn’t waste time either, quickly gathering various flammable items from the room and piling them at the door. While moving a chair into the corridor, a leg accidentally bumped a tall bookshelf. Hearing an odd sound, Tong Xiangyu looked up and saw a corner of a gift box sliding out.

Curious, she set the chair down and stood on it to reach, but she wasn’t tall enough to touch the box. “Song Ge!” she called out.

Song Ge, nearly finished with the curtain rope, looked up and saw the young lady standing on the chair. She tied the final knot and strode over. Tong Xiangyu stepped down, and Song Ge climbed up, reaching the gift box easily with a slight stretch. It felt somewhat heavy.

“What is it?” Song Ge asked.

“I don’t know…”

Song Ge opened it. The outer packaging was high quality; inside the hard red box were two white porcelain bottles of high-purity liquor. Song Ge was surprised. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Tong Xiangyu. “How did you find this?”

“I hit the cabinet while moving the chair, and the box poked out.”

Song Ge thought to herself how lucky someone could truly be. She had been worried about the fire not spreading fast enough, but now that problem was solved.

The plan was simple: lure all the mutant dogs into the building and up to the higher floors, then set it ablaze while they escaped using the prepared curtain rope. But the government building was massive, with seven or eight offices per floor. If the targets were too scattered, the danger increased—after all, there were only two of them and nearly a hundred dogs. They needed to concentrate the fire.

With high-proof alcohol, it became much easier. Song Ge moved the flammable desks and chairs Tong Xiangyu had gathered to the staircase between the third and fourth floors to block the path, intentionally leaving gaps just large enough for the dogs to squeeze through.

Additionally, she used furniture to block the right side of the fourth-floor corridor, forcing the dogs to chase only toward the left. On the left, she left only the first office open, blocking the rest of the corridor with more obstacles. She intended to trap and burn the entire pack inside that one office.

Once those were in place, she led Tong Xiangyu down to set up similar checkpoints on the third and second floors. In the office where they had stayed the night, Song Ge piled heavy iron cabinets and flammables behind the door to prevent the dogs from breaking in prematurely. Then, she took a mouthful of the liquor and sprayed it across the door. Instantly, the room reeked of alcohol.

Song Ge led Tong Xiangyu back to the window and glanced out. The two dogs were still fighting, and the number of surrounding strays was growing. Song Ge efficiently snapped off a wooden chair leg, wrapped a piece of clothing from a corpse around one end, lit it, and placed the torch on a desk.

Watching Song Ge prepare everything in silence, Tong Xiangyu felt a wave of nervousness. “Song Ge, will this really work?”

“Of course it will.” Song Ge tugged on the curtain rope hanging outside and turned to warn her: “Don’t throw the torch or open the door until I’ve come back down.”

Tong Xiangyu nodded vigorously. As Song Ge climbed out the window, Tong Xiangyu looked at her worriedly. “Song Ge, be careful!”

Song Ge looked back. “I know.”

Song Ge quickly climbed down to the third floor and rearranged that office as well, spraying alcohol on the door and interior. She used a strip of curtain soaked in alcohol as a fuse, connecting the obstacles on the second and third floors to those between the third and fourth. She then nimbly climbed over the third-floor barricade, connecting the final fuse to the target office on the fourth floor.

To ensure nothing went wrong, she stuffed extra curtain scraps into the obstacles and doused them with liquor. Finally, she entered the fourth-floor office, spraying the last of the alcohol. She stood calmly, mentally reviewing the plan for any flaws. Finding none, she stepped onto the windowsill and detached the iron curtain rod.

Looking down, she saw the local white dog falling behind. Other strays were pacing, ready to lunge at the scrawny but ferocious poodle. Song Ge opened the window wide and hurled a flowerpot down!

“CRASH!”

The massive sound hit the ground. It didn’t scare the dogs away; instead, they all looked up. Seeing “food,” they became ecstatic, howling and turning to rush into the government building.

Being on a lower floor, Tong Xiangyu saw dozens of grotesque dogs charging in. Her hair stood on end, and she bolted to stand behind the door. Even though Song Ge had barricaded it, she was terrified the dogs might break through.

On the fourth floor, Song Ge listened. The barking wasn’t coming upstairs yet. She waited, guessing that the alcohol couldn’t fully mask a human’s scent—they had gone to the second floor. Song Ge opened her door and peeked down the stairs. Sure enough, over a dozen dogs were charging toward the office where Tong Xiangyu was hiding.

Song Ge immediately slammed her wrench against the stair railing!

As the “CLANG CLANG CLANG” echoed, a giant black dog with long, pricked ears and half a rotted face charged up with incredible agility! It was lightning fast, its exposed white fangs gleaming. Even with the stairs cluttered with obstacles, it leaped over them in a few bounds.

The speed far exceeded Song Ge’s expectations. Startled, she bolted back into the fourth-floor office and slammed the door shut. The black dog was right on her heels—THUD—it slammed into the door. Song Ge’s heart hammered against her ribs as she leaned her full weight against the door, motionless.

Soon, the sound of barking outside grew louder and more diverse. Song Ge calmed her breathing, pressing her lips together and waiting patiently until she heard the black dog let out a howl. Suddenly, she felt a chill on the back of her neck. Though she saw nothing, she felt a sinister wind rising from all sides, as if every dog in the area was converging on her.

It wasn’t an illusion. The barking in the corridor became more chaotic and vicious. The situation was reaching a critical point.

This was the first time Tong Xiangyu had been separated from Song Ge during an action. Hearing the wild barking outside grow more arrogant and savage, her palms were slick with cold sweat. Suddenly, she heard a tiny bark at the door—it sounded familiar.

Is it Baibai?

Unlike the other murderous growls, the dog pawing at her door whimpered a few times. It didn’t sound like its usual guarded, raspy bark; it sounded almost aggrieved and pleading. The other dogs had rushed past to the upper floors, but this one remained outside, persistent. It had to be Baibai.

But how could she open the door? Song Ge had said that all animals were mutated and that “kindness” was forbidden. Tong Xiangyu knew Baibai was dead—this was a mutant that would maul a human on sight.

Thinking this, her hands trembled. But if they ran, this building would burn…

“Baibai! Go down, quickly!” she whispered, afraid of attracting other dogs. But the moment she spoke, the little dog outside became more excited, its barking growing louder. This drew the attention of other strays. Tong Xiangyu heard dogs fighting each other outside followed by scratching at the door. She immediately backed away from the entrance and ran to the window to wait, her heart burning with anxiety for Song Ge.

Song Ge was using every ounce of strength to hold the door. The impact from outside grew stronger as the crazed dogs slammed against it, letting out feral roars. It was time.

Listening to the horrific cacophony, Song Ge double-checked the distance to the window. She dragged a heavy potted plant to block the door, then took three steps in one and leaped onto the windowsill, waiting for the dogs to break in!

However, whether the plant was too heavy or the dogs couldn’t smell her, the pressure seemed to subside. Song Ge had to return to the door and bang her wrench against it twice. Immediately, the beasts lunged again, the door panels vibrating under the impact. Song Ge moved the plant away and grabbed a lighter chair.

The impact was at its peak! With sweat pouring down her face, she counted down: Three, two, one. She bolted to the window. Almost simultaneously, the dogs burst through the door, snarling and snapping as they flooded into the office.

Song Ge instantly flicked her lighter and ignited the curtain-rope fuse.

WHOOSH! The flames roared to life. High-purity alcohol had been sprayed throughout the office; in an instant, everything in sight was engulfed in a violent inferno. Because the mutant dogs had brushed against the alcohol-soaked obstacles on their way up, they were ignited the moment the fire touched them. The office was a sea of fire and agonizing howls. The giant black dog was particularly resilient, snapping at Song Ge through the flames even as it burned.

Song Ge grabbed the rope and swung herself into the third-floor office. She reached back and cut the burning rope, then lit the fuse on the third floor. She watched the tongue of fire race out the door as the third floor also began to blaze. Finally, she slid down another rope to the second floor.

Tong Xiangyu’s eyes lit up when she saw her. “Song Ge!” She quickly added, “Song Ge, Baibai followed me up, he’s right outside the door…”

Seeing no dogs on the ground below, Song Ge interrupted: “I’ll catch you below. Remember to throw the torch.” With that, Song Ge slid down to the first floor in seconds. She looked up. “Come down! Throw the fire first!”

Tong Xiangyu hesitated for a second, thinking of how Baibai might have traveled day and night just to find her. But then she realized—maybe he only followed her for a meal. If she didn’t set the fire, the mutant dogs would flee downstairs and kill them.

Tong Xiangyu resolutely threw the torch! As it hit the alcohol-soaked ground, a massive fire erupted. Startled, she hugged the rope and slid down. Her grip wasn’t strong, but Song Ge caught her firmly at the bottom.

The moment her feet hit the ground, she saw a scrawny stray with cloudy eyes lunging at them! “Song Ge, watch out!” she screamed.

Song Ge’s reaction was lightning fast. She swung her iron rod, a sharp whistle of wind following the blow as she knocked the dog unconscious. Before it could recover, she stepped forward and drove the rod through its skull. The dog’s limbs twitched and it went still.

As expected, a headshot worked. Song Ge didn’t linger; she grabbed Tong Xiangyu’s hand and ran. Before leaving, she poured the last of the liquor on the ground and set the first floor ablaze as well. In this world, no one would know who burned the building, and no one would care.

They sprinted toward the car. The fire wouldn’t kill every single dog, and the commotion would likely draw more strays. They had to leave. Tong Xiangyu kept looking back, even as the building was swallowed by flames and thick smoke, until Song Ge yanked her into the car.

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