The next morning, Lu Hao and Hong Sheng packed into a jeep. One of the SG members drove so that Lu Hao could keep his attention on the area while Hong Sheng sat in the back, holding on to a case of his devices.

The immediate area of the SG was clear of zombies—barricades, various traps, and the natural geography of the mountain and forest kept it that way—so they drove down the mountain toward the roads and small towns. After about 40 minutes of driving, they finally found some roaming zombies. Lu Hao motioned the driver, and they rolled to a stop along the outskirts of a small town between the SG and F city.

Inside the car, Hong Sheng opened up the case and handed Lu Hao two of the three devices inside. They looked like steel canisters and were heavy and dense with metal. Lu Hao slid the one labeled '002' into his pack and held '001' in his hand.

They'd already discussed the plan beforehand, so the two of them didn't have anything more to say. Lu Hao met Hong Sheng's eyes and nodded, and Hong Sheng nodded back.

Lu Hao got out of the car first. After casing the nearby houses, he gave the OK signal. Hong Sheng then exited the car and climbed up to position on a nearby rooftop, binoculars in hand.

Prep over, Lu Hao made his way toward the zombie, hiding his presence. It was a level 5 zombie, stronger than average but not yet advanced enough to have intelligence. Lu Hao placed the device 001 around the corner a few houses down; the distance was about 20 meters, near the edge of how far a level 5 zombie could sense. He then activated the device, which kicked to life with a hum, and waited.

For a moment, the zombie only stood there, not reacting. But then, it slowly raised its head and turned around.

The zombie walked toward Lu Hao's position, gradually gaining speed until finally it ran around the corner, hissing with its jaws wide open. Lu Hao watched it with satisfaction; the first test was a success. And now on to test two.

Once the zombie rounded the corner, Lu Hao released his presence and picked up the canister. He then turned and ran from the zombie, leading it along a chase. When he was just about to outrun it, he turned along another side street and threw the canister into some house's yard. He continued running, checking back to see if the zombie was still following him.

It wasn't.

A smile curled up one side of Lu Hao's mouth. The zombie had run into the yard of the house, searching for the other 'human' presence.

Now it was a test to see how long the device could keep its attention. Lu Hao masked his presence again and hopped up onto a rooftop so that he could see Hong Sheng across the other side of the neighborhood. He took out the radio and waved in the air, and after seeing Hong Sheng's distant figure wave back, he said, "Looks like the new toy for the zombies is a success."

Lu Hao faintly heard his own staticky voice come out of the radio sitting next to Hong Sheng, who continued gazing through the binoculars toward the zombie. Hong Sheng didn't bother picking up the radio to reply; he just said into the air, "You didn't follow the plan."

"It was more efficient this way. We didn't need to use one lure to test whether it'll work, and another to test whether it'll chase me or go after the device. And now you get to keep one of your lures."

"Mm," Hong Sheng replied, which meant that he didn't quite agree but wasn't bothered enough to keep fighting for it.

They waited, watching the zombie for when the lure would stop working. The zombie prowled around the house, searching for the human heat, but after fifteen minutes it finally smashed the canister. Once the heat signature was destroyed, the zombie froze as if in shock over where the human presence had gone.

"Looking good. It lasted for a while. Should work better when properly hidden," Lu Hao said. He jumped down to dispose of the zombie.

"Now to test number three," Hong Sheng said.

Lu Hao pressed his lips together and silently returned to the car. Hong Sheng had already made his way down; he stood beside the car, waiting for Lu Hao.

"We're going to have to find a weaker zombie," Lu Hao said. As he spoke, he and Hong Sheng both got in the car, and Lu Hao directed the SG driver to go back on the road.

"Weaker than a five?" Hong Sheng asked.

Lu Hao dug out the device 002 and reached his hand around to the backseat to hand it to Hong Sheng, who took it back with an indifferent expression. "If we can find one."

"Level five is the average. That's what we should look for."

"The average level five zombie could kill a hundred people. We're going to find something weaker."

"You could kill a thousand zombies," Hong Sheng said quietly. "A lone level five should be afraid, not you."

The two of them stared straight forward in the car.

"I don't want to risk you getting hurt," Lu Hao said. "I'm the leader. I should be protecting you."

"You are." Hong Sheng looked out the window. As he watched the passing trees, he said, "I trust you."

Lu Hao considered this quietly. Hong Sheng trusted Lu Hao to keep him safe, no matter how strong the zombie was; now it was just a matter of whether Lu Hao trusted himself to keep Hong Sheng safe.

They drove on for a while. When they neared a branching road, Lu Hao signaled the driver to make a turn. The jeep curved onto a road that dived into a tall forest. The tree cover was thick, and later the road dipped down as went lead into a valley, tall mountains rising on either side. Within this valley was a mid-sized residential town. In the past, it was a town full of families who worked in F City. The commute to F City from this town was about forty minutes via bus and car, and a good number of people had come to reside here. Yet because this town was so isolated within the valley, when the zombie apocalypse happened, it became a death trap.

Now, at present day, the town was mostly clear of all zombies. The SG had swept it clean a couple of years back, but as zombies began to encroach further over SG territory, a few sometimes made it back into the town to wander the streets.

Though it was already late morning, a dense fog had settled in the air. Lu Hao squinted. Even his advanced eyesight couldn't see past the fog, but his other senses remained clear, so he wasn't worried. Hong Sheng, however, pursed his lips.

Seeing that, Lu Hao frowned and told the SG driver to stop.

"With all the fog, it might be dangerous," Lu Hao said. "Let's turn around."

"Agreed," Hong Sheng said quietly.

"Alright, boss," the SG member said, and began turning the car around.

But before he could turn it fully, a piercing scream sounded somewhere in the valley.

The scream was that of a young girl, and it echoed through the haze and the forest. Lu Hao snapped to attention, trying to pinpoint where it had come from, but the echo of the valley made it difficult.

Hong Sheng and the driver hadn't heard anything, but when they saw Lu Hao's reaction, they kept silent and watched him for direction.

"I heard a scream," Lu Hao told them. "The zombies are down the road, in the town—this might be a human." He looked at Hong Sheng. "I need to go check it out. Drive out of here, and wait for me at the crossroads."

Hong Sheng nodded with understanding. Lu Hao left the car and dashed away, and the second the car door was closed, the SG driver finished his turn and drove along the road.

Hong Sheng frowned to himself. The moment he noticed that fog, a bad feeling had settled in his stomach. He tightly clutched his bag and looked out the window. The shadowy trees continued to pass by, but no matter how far they drove, the fog didn't seem to let up.

Minutes passed. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. They had only driven a few minutes toward this town, but the time it took to get out seemed to be longer.

Suddenly, Hong Sheng asked, "Do you have any abilities?'

The SG driver was startled. "Uh—yes. I can create barriers for protection."

"For how long?"

"About thirty minutes, or so."

While the SG member answered, Hong Sheng dug around his pack and pulled out the radio. He turned up the volume, and the sound of static white noise gradually filled the car. A metallic squeal arched and died in the noise.

The SG driver winced. "What's wrong with the radio?"

Hong Sheng pulled the radio close to his mouth. "Lu Hao, if you can hear me—we need you. Find us, right now."

The entire time, Hong Sheng's gaze hadn't left the outside of the window.

There, in between the vague silhouettes of the trees, hidden by the white fog and the blur of the car's speed, were dozens of humanoid figures stalking after them.