XG 13 - Death does not seem to be that scary, right?

 

It took a long time for the door to finally win and successfully usher most of the zombies out and close the door in their faces, ignoring their howls and banging. Not even the buttons worked to get the door open. The LED screen showed the floor starting to descend to the floor below, but the shopping mall has thick walls and they did not hear anything after the elevator door closed.

 

"Guo Guo, do you want to wait for mummy here?"

 

"No." Wong Xue Guo supported her answer by shaking her head. It was stupid to separate now. What if her mother manages to enter the sports store, leaving her outside alone?

 

She would also rather fight along with her mother than let herself continue being helpless. The main characters of the zombie apocalypse always counted on themselves instead of being cry-baby that needed strong people to help them.

 

Suzie Yap looked a little disheartened at her choice but respected it. "Then follow me closely, okay?"

 

"Okay."

 

“Now!” Suzie Yap stepped out and rushed to the group of zombies.

 

Hearing her, the zombies unitedly turned their heads in their direction before charging over with growls. Fearless of the danger, Suzie Yap started hacking zombies like a terminator on her mission to kill.

 

Forcing herself not to think, Wong Xue Guo had her body move to follow her mother's back. She vaguely heard Vihaan let out a curse behind her before following along.

 

The zombies were already aware of them and actively ran towards them with their wide open, drooling mouths. It was truly heart-thrilling to watch a large group of frenzy zombies heading fast towards them, but her mother's straight back was the one that made her continue moving forward instead of running away.

 

Wielding her two knives, Suzie Yap started the attack with a burst of speed, taking down the front row of the zombies. She does not waste her movement and takes them down with a single attack. There was no time to make mistakes if she wanted to protect her daughter behind her. However, she alone was not enough to stop the horde of zombies and some had already slipped past her to target the weaker prey.

 

Adjusting her grip on her broom, Wong Xue Guo started stabbing the zombies that her mother does not have enough hands to deal with. The number was still overwhelming even after some had travelled down to the next floor. It should be that all zombies on this floor were now in front of them.

 

If they finish dealing with them, this floor will be safe and allow them some breathing space. It was that thought that discarded her initial fear as she continued stabbing every chest she saw. 

 

With the large number of zombies swarming towards them, she could only choose to guard against their teeth. She guessed that scratching would not infect her and proved it when she did not feel any changes in her body even after a long while, other than stinging from the wound. Their nails were painful but not life-threatening as long as she was not grabbed.

 

Wong Xue Guo grinned, her fear of being infected was slightly lessened and the little tidbit renewed her energy to continue fighting. She was able to ignore the sting from the scratches from the zombies, using them to keep her eyes wide open or risk getting severe injury if she closed them longer than a second.  

 

Her body which was lacking exercise was rapidly getting tired. Not only that, but her face mask was also restricting her breathing but there was no chance for her to pull it off. It was fortunate she did not have the urge to yawn from the lack of oxygen.

 

Somehow, Wong Xue Guo and Kim Sung-Ho teamed up without being planned. He whacked the zombies with his baton, his strength surprisingly strong enough to send the zombie sprawling onto the floor with two or three hits. Then she would take the opportunity presented to stab the fallen zombies' exposed chests.

 

Despite being tired, the fear kept her going and she could feel her movement get faster with adrenaline running in her body. Her stabbing skill had also graduated from a complete newbie to an intermediate newbie.

 

"Argh!" Wong Xue Guo's broom had pierced past a zombie's chest, but she did not pull out. With the dead zombie in front, she charged forward and treated her broom as a skewer to stab past one more zombie. Unfortunately, she could not continue her pig brain idea with how heavy those bodies were. Even pulling out her broom from their chests was energy-taxing.

 

Chest heaving from exertion, she continued on with the next zombie without the option of taking a break. 

 

Unknowingly, her undying will had changed her gaze to become sharper, resembling a newborn predator that discovered the joy of hunting. Her eyes glowed with a ferocious survival instinct and keep on fighting with her fast tiring body as her muscles burn from the unforgiving strain. If she had not done any warm-up exercises earlier, her state might be worse than now.

 

The four of them were fighting while guarding each other's back, but weariness often had their attention slip.

 

The one that got in trouble was Wong Xue Guo who failed to notice her back was unguarded as she had moved a bit further than the circle of her team. She had been getting rather confident with the newly acquired skill that she dared to hunt actively. 

 

"Guo Guo!" It was Suzie Yap being the first one that noticed her daughter in danger.

 

Wong Xue Guo had already noticed the danger a second earlier than her mother's warning, but it did not make any difference. Legs turning weak like a wet noodle at such a bad time, she fell onto the ground when she saw how close the zombie had crept behind her.

 

She already knew there would not be enough time to pull out her weapon from the dead zombie she had stabbed earlier and defend herself without being bitten first. In a short amount of time, her brain was the busiest she had ever felt in her entire life. 

 

Using her bare hands to defend herself? That was just inviting herself to be bitten. 

 

Get up and run? Easier to say than done. Her legs had left her to die when they fell to the ground after their initial courage had fled along with the trembling exhaustion.

 

She hoped she would have the courage to commit suicide after being bitten. The thought of her future being a wandering zombie was horrible to think of, especially if she still had consciousness but was unable to control her body. It would be even more traumatic watching herself biting and eating humans!

 

To think she would not have the chance to use the stun gun, so regretful. It would be a relieving sight if the stun gun could electrocute them until they were fried to crisps. Unfortunately, it would be crazy if the security team could use such a dangerous degree of electricity on humans.

 

Ah, Wong Xue Guo, thinking so much yet did not do anything to protect yourself… had you really given up on your life?

 

Death does not seem to be that scary, right?

 

But the zombie did not get to even touch a single strand of her hair. It was the gunshot that explained why the zombie's chest suddenly exploded, with some of its blood gotten onto her glasses and mask.

 

Her eyes moved to look behind the slowly falling zombie. The one that shot the zombie with a gun was her mother. Her mother had actually hidden a small handgun in her secret pocket. More bullets sailed past her, clearing the zombies around her.

 

Before she could look carefully, the first zombie being shot was falling towards her thanks to gravity and suddenly it got run over by a strong force from its side. Wong Xue Guo barely registered the force as Kim Sung-Ho, who had rammed himself onto the zombie when she was suddenly enveloped by a tight hug.

 

The arms around her were trembling hard and she did not move away, letting her mother silently hug her. Her mother’s tremor made her realize her body was also shaking like a weak leaf, revealing her true emotions that were different from her calm mind. 

 

She suddenly felt a little guilty for easily accepting death as a relief from the apocalypse and selfishly did not even think of her mother.

 

"Mother… Mother! The zombies!" Wong Xue Guo was originally going to comfort her mother, but her mind quickly reminded her of reality. 

 

Her face paled when she thought of the huge risk her mother faced when she saved her while fighting against the zombies. 

 

Suzie Yap released her daughter after a final squeeze. "Chen Yibo! Bring Guo Guo away!" 

 

Hearing that familiar name, Wong Xue Guo looked around with wide eyes and saw a tall teenager swinging a metal bat nearby. His swings were powerful, bringing down zombies for his cousin to stab their hearts with a weird-looking stick, who cringed at each stab.

 

Wong Xue Guo does not know when they joined them. But she knew she had to thank them for saving her mother when she exposed her back to take the chance to shoot the zombies.