Chapter 6: Saving Her Again

When Tong Xiangyu looked up again, Fan Mingyuan was kicking away the girls clinging to his legs and begging for help. The monsters immediately fell on them and tore into them. Fan Mingyuan didn’t even spare them a glance. He grabbed the curtain and lowered himself down, inch by inch.

It seemed like everyone in their classroom was gone. There was no sound anymore.

Tong Xiangyu couldn’t stop crying. She turned and ran in terror. This had to be a nightmare. She needed to wake up as soon as possible!

Song Ge didn’t know if the whole school had been hit by the same crisis. But things had been happening for so long, and there still hadn’t even been a basic announcement over the loudspeakers. She could only prepare for the worst.

She gave up on escaping through the school’s front gate and decided to head for the rear wall, the one near the spot where she usually picked up her food.

But she couldn’t leave empty-handed.

Luckily, there was a sports equipment shed behind the school. Song Ge didn’t have to go far to find the most useful weapon in it: a javelin.

The longer your reach, the better.

She grabbed it and ran toward the back of the school.

The air smelled of blood. The screams had gradually faded into the distance, but that didn’t mean it was safe. If anything, it was more dangerous.

Song Ge ran to the wall and climbed the crooked tree in a few quick moves, then stepped onto the top of the wall. The javelin would make the high wall much safer to jump down from. She found a good angle and prepared to leap, but a bright glint caught her eye.

Song Ge turned to look.

A girl in a school uniform and skirt was crouched behind a tree, hugging her knees. Her high ponytail trembled with her shoulders, the curled ends brushing her pale neck. She was clearly trying her hardest to stifle her frightened sobs.

The bright glint that had caught Song Ge’s eye came from the sparkling hair clip on her head.

Miss Tong.

Song Ge wondered what had happened to the girl who’d been trying to save people downstairs. How had she ended up here?

Song Ge called down, “Hey!”

Tong Xiangyu sniffled and lifted her head. Her eyes and the tip of her nose were red from crying, and tears covered her pretty little face.

She couldn’t have looked more pitiful.

Song Ge fell silent. If she took Tong Xiangyu with her, she wouldn’t be able to climb over this wall.

She weighed the effort against the trouble. There still weren’t any monsters nearby, so she planted the javelin and jumped back onto the tree. She landed neatly and walked over.

“Crying won’t help. Come on, let’s run.”

Tong Xiangyu hugged herself tightly and shook her head.

She didn’t feel much affection for the classmate in front of her now. Song Ge had been willing to leave the others behind. If danger came, she’d leave Tong Xiangyu behind too.

She didn’t want to run.

She’d hide here until morning. Then she’d wake up from this nightmare.

Song Ge was at a loss. She didn’t want to waste time arguing with Tong Xiangyu, so she went over and pulled her to her feet.

The girl’s wrist felt so thin it could have snapped.

A pampered young heiress like this, with no strength to defend herself, would only end up crying while a monster ate her, Song Ge thought. I’ll make an exception and help one more time, for the cake this morning.

One last time.

If Tong Xiangyu didn’t appreciate it, then fine.

This time, Tong Xiangyu let Song Ge pull her up.

“We can’t get over this wall with you, so we’ll have to find another way out,” Song Ge said. “How fast can you run the 800?”

Tong Xiangyu looked at her through her tears but couldn’t get a word out.

“Never mind. Can you climb a tree?”

Tong Xiangyu shook her head, sending two more glistening tears flying.

“That’s okay.” Song Ge bent and lifted her by the legs.

Tong Xiangyu shrieked when her feet left the ground!

The school skirt was painfully short, and she wore knee-high socks. Her smooth, pale legs pressed straight into Song Ge’s palms.

“Grab the trunk and find somewhere to put your feet,” Song Ge said.

Tong Xiangyu choked back a sob. “I don’t have any strength in my arms.”

Song Ge said, “Do you want to turn into one of those monsters?”

Tong Xiangyu didn’t. So, with tears in her eyes, she reached out and grabbed the tree trunk. It hurt to touch the rough bark with her soft, pale hands, but she had no strength in her arms. Song Ge gave her a couple of extra boosts from below. Tong Xiangyu kicked her feet, then finally managed to get onto the crooked tree.

“Stay up here,” Song Ge told her. “I’ll go find a bicycle.”

Tong Xiangyu saw Song Ge start to leave and broke down. “Don’t go! What am I supposed to do if you leave?” It was so high. If Song Ge didn’t come back, there was no way she could climb down on her own!

“I’ll come back for you.” Song Ge had thought about giving her the javelin to defend herself, but the young miss couldn’t carry anything, let alone use it. Besides, she was safer in the tree. Song Ge hurried away.

Through tear-blurred eyes, Tong Xiangyu watched her go. She wrapped her trembling arms around the tree trunk.

Please come back. Please.

Song Ge hadn’t gone far when she spotted the monsters wandering around the field. They roamed aimlessly, covered in blood. There were a lot of them—more than a dozen altogether. She had to avoid them.

Song Ge took a detour around the main path and decided to go through the school’s small grove.

Halfway through, she heard strange moaning sounds ahead. A woman’s voice cried out shrilly.

Song Ge’s heart jumped. Had the monsters come this way?

She turned to run back, then heard a man’s voice.

“You like it when I do that?”

Song Ge’s steps stopped. When she heard the woman whimper, “Yes,” she rolled her eyes. They’re still hooking up out here? This side must be safe, then.

Without another word, she took the path through the grove to the bicycle racks beside the classroom building.

Most of the bikes were locked.

But security at the school was good, and some students were too lazy to lock theirs. Song Ge found one quickly. Riding would be faster, but she had to be careful not to attract the monsters’ attention. If she led them all this way and didn’t have time to get the young miss down from the tree, she’d be in trouble.

Song Ge stayed cautious the whole way. She only ran into one monster: a short, bespectacled female teacher.

Her neck was covered in blood, and her eyes were cloudy and rolled back.

Even so, she clutched a lesson plan tightly to her chest.

Song Ge didn’t know her. In fact, she hadn’t learned the names of all the teachers in her classes, and she could count on one hand the classmates she recognized.

What kind of virus is this?

It spread so quickly, and it was so contagious.

Where had it come from?

Wasn’t that what had happened to the father of the woman who ran the cold-noodle stall? Then… the hospital?

Song Ge pushed the thought aside. She leaned forward, holding the javelin in one hand and the handlebars in the other, and pedaled as fast as she could.

Tong Xiangyu had a good view from the tree. When she saw Song Ge riding back, the knot of worry in her chest finally loosened. She even forgot to cry.

“I… how am I supposed to get down?”

“Jump.” Song Ge handed her the javelin. “Use it to steady yourself.”

Tong Xiangyu crouched slightly and took the javelin, looking helpless. “How do I do that? I don’t know how…”

“Forget it.” Song Ge held out both arms. “Just jump. I’ll catch you.”

Tong Xiangyu shook her head frantically. “No, no, I’m heavy!” The curtain had softened her fall before. If she jumped straight down now, she was afraid something would happen. “Move out of the way. I’ll jump down by myself.”

“If you break your leg, you’ll be even more trouble,” Song Ge said. “Jump. We have to leave now.”

Tong Xiangyu looked at her, still hesitating.

“Are you jumping or not? If you don’t, I’m leaving.”

At that tone, Tong Xiangyu’s eyes burned with hurt. Why is she so mean?