The Zombie I Flirted With After Losing My Memory, Who Was Pretending to be an Alpha, Is Actually My Ex - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Zombie?

The woman was so desperate she was on the verge of tears. Just as she was about to turn back and make a suicide dash for the library, a rope—no, a curtain—descended from the sky like a lifeline.

The blackout curtain hung from the windowsill, fluttering in the air. To the woman, it looked more seductive than a young girl’s soft hand. She was moved to tears.

“I’ll pull the curtain on the count of three!” Teng Xi shouted. “Three!”

The woman: ? You have no sense of sportsmanship!

A large bag of flour was hurled out by Teng Xi with immense strength. The snowy white powder scattered and bloomed in the air. Teng Xi didn’t even look back as she turned and sprinted away.

A few matches struck against the phosphorus strip of the box, igniting sparks that traced a perfect arc in the sky, flying toward the furnace of death.

“BOOM—”

A pillar of fire erupted instantly, swallowing the zombie horde in a blaze. Severed limbs and broken torsos were tossed into the air by the explosion before raining back down.

The shockwave from the dust explosion slammed Teng Xi hard against the wall. The air was knocked out of her as the guardrail beneath her feet gave way. Enduring the searing pain, Teng Xi managed to grab a section of the gas pipe as she was being blown back, sliding half a meter down before coming to a stop.

The woman only had time to wrap her body in the curtain before the aftershock left her dizzy and vision-blurred. She gripped the fabric for dear life, only feeling completely safe when she realized she was slowly being pulled upward.

Teng Xi, being closer to the center of the shockwave, was still lightheaded as she hung from the pipe. Below her, a zombie blasted in half was dragging its trailing entrails across the ground, reaching up feebly toward her.

Teng Xi thought irrelevantly: If these things were office workers, they’d definitely deserve a “Post Perseverance” award.

“Ah—Zombie!—”

As one crisis ended, another began. A scream rang out from the room above and to the side.

Teng Xi slapped her forehead, remembering the sensitive “status” of the Doctor Sister. She scrambled up the pipe with all fours. When she finally climbed through the window, she was greeted by this sight:

The woman who had just escaped the jaws of death was pinned flat on her back. Xie Jinbing had her head pressed firmly to the floor, her limbs tangled in the curtain, and a knee planted on her stomach. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t flip over, looking very much like a beautiful… turtle stuck on its back.

She was indeed an exceptionally beautiful “turtle.” Unlike Xie Jinbing’s cold, ascetic beauty, this woman possessed a raw, magnetic charm. Her fox-like eyes seemed capable of bewitching minds. Having just survived a chase and a scuffle, her hoodie was disheveled, revealing a glimpse of cleavage.

In contrast, Xie Jinbing looked utterly cold. Behind her lay a floor littered with zombies, the marks of a fierce fight evident. Her brow was furrowed by the woman’s noise; if she could speak, she likely would have barked at her to shut up long ago.

“Xiao Wang… wait, no, comrade, calm down. She isn’t a zombie.” Teng Xi’s eyelid twitched. She put on a standard, friendly smile and crouched beside her.

Xie Jinbing watched Teng Xi’s submissive posture—clearly an attempt to make the stranger feel safe—with an unreadable, dark gaze.

“Not a zombie?” Realizing she couldn’t resist, the woman stopped her futile struggling. With her face pressed against the floor, she strained to look at Teng Xi but could only see her chin. “Do I look like a three-year-old?”

A sudden silence filled the air, broken by the crackling of a walkie-talkie at the woman’s waist, followed by intermittent voices: “Hello? Si… Han? How are… you? What’s going on… over there…”

The radio chirped incessantly, the voice sounding frantic: “Hello? Hello? Si Qinghan, answer me… don’t… you’re not allowed to die…” By the end, there was a low, muffled sob.

Si Qinghan, pinned and unable to move, simply closed her eyes with the expression of a martyr.

Xie Jinbing began to let go, but the moment her hand was an inch away from Si Qinghan’s face, the woman’s eyes snapped open like a predator’s. She tried to bolt upright, only to be—

Whack.

Xie Jinbing’s palm slapped her right back down, her face making a second intimate contact with the floor.

“D*mmit! That hurts!” Si Qinghan hollered, tears of pain pricking the corners of her eyes. “Let me go if you’ve got the guts! You think I’m afraid of you?”

Teng Xi, the peacemaker, tried again. Her voice was calm, possessing a magic that settled the nerves: “Comrade, you have to believe us. If she were a zombie, why would we save you? Think about it, does that make sense?”

Si Qinghan looked down and caught sight of Teng Xi’s boots. The black leather was stained with an unidentifiable black-and-red liquid, emitting a foul odor. Seeing that Si Qinghan had finally calmed down, Xie Jinbing let go, and Teng Xi stepped forward to untie her.

“She’s really not a zombie?” Si Qinghan scanned Xie Jinbing’s clearly undead appearance, still wary.

“Uh…” Teng Xi looked at the Zombie Sister leaning against the kitchen island with her arms crossed. Her grayish skin clearly wasn’t human. Unable to find a logical rebuttal, she tentatively said to Xie Jinbing, “Maybe… you could walk a couple of steps or spin around to show her?”

This monkey-show command immediately earned Teng Xi a cold glare. Xie Jinbing ground her foot down on the head of a fallen zombie, producing a sickening crunch.

Si Qinghan: “…Fine. I believe she has human consciousness.”

Teng Xi: “…”

“Si… Han…” Si Qinghan pulled out the radio and tapped it, but it only emitted static. “Hello? Hello?” After receiving no response, she decisively gave up, reached into her discarded hiking pack, and pulled out a second radio.

After tuning the channel, Si Qinghan shouted, “Hey! I’m not dead yet! Stop crying at my funeral!”

Immediately, a furious roar came from the other end: “Si Qinghan! You brat, couldn’t you have said something sooner? Mama Yao was about to cry her eyes out!”

“Shut up! Who’s crying!” A smaller voice came through, followed by the sound of shuffling as the radio changed hands. This person clearly had a nasally, post-crying tone. “Si Qinghan, what’s the situation? What was that explosion? You were rescued? Where are you? Are you safe?”

The questions fired out like a machine gun. Si Qinghan answered only the most vital one: “I was rescued. There are two… people here.”

“There are other survivors?” The voice on the radio was filled with relief and surprise.

“Yes, they—” At this point, Si Qinghan realized she didn’t know their names. She scratched her head awkwardly.

Teng Xi saw her embarrassment and spoke up: “I’m Teng Xi. She’s Xie Jinbing. We’ve been in this building since the outbreak began.”

Si Qinghan nodded. “I’m Si Qinghan. I have three teammates over there. We were at the hospital entrance when it hit, and we escaped to Building 3 of Area C.”

Teng Xi and Xie Jinbing exchanged a look. It seemed a small team had managed to survive the crisis.

“Qinghan.” After saying her name, the radio went silent for a long moment. Si Qinghan sensed something was wrong.

“Yao Zhi? What is it? What’s happening on your end?” Si Qinghan’s brow furrowed, her body tensing with anxiety.

Soon, the voice returned. “It’s nothing. Remember our mission. You must stay alive.”

Si Qinghan bolted to her feet and rushed to the window, looking northwest toward the small wooden garden shed. What she saw made a cold sweat break out across her skin.