Chapter 74: A Massacre
“Whoosh—”
The rocket, trailing flames, grew larger and larger in Lin Jiayao’s vision.
She could even see the spinning green warhead.
It was too close to dodge.
“Shhh—”
A bone spike shot out from above Lin Jiayao’s head, aimed directly at the warhead.
Simultaneously, dozens of bone spikes, the maximum number she could control, extended from her back, shielding her exposed neck and face.
“Clang—”
The bone spike hit the side of the rocket, not triggering the warhead’s fuse.
But the impact couldn’t stop the rocket’s propulsion. It continued to hurtle towards her at 250 m/s.
Due to the bone spike’s interference, the trajectory deviated slightly, passing about a meter to her left.
The rocket, still attached to the bone spike, dragged Lin Jiayao with it, the force almost pulling her off her feet.
She didn’t have time to retract the spike; she instinctively extended another, embedding it in the wall at the edge of the roof. The barbed tip held fast.
The rocket, now tethered to the wall, lost its stability, its trajectory changing further.
It arced around Lin Jiayao, making a ten-meter-radius half-circle, and then flew back towards its origin.
In a split second, Lin Jiayao severed the bone spike chain. The rocket, now trailing the broken spike, flew towards the Voodoo Cult members below.
But it didn’t hit them. About five meters above them, its fuse, having timed out, detonated in midair.
“BOOM—————”
The warhead exploded, creating a massive fireball with a seven-meter radius.
Shrapnel rained down on the crowd, screams and cries echoing through the air.
A piece of shrapnel, whistling through the air, struck Lin Jiayao in the side, just below her chest.
The impact knocked her back slightly, but her bone spikes, still anchored to the wall, prevented her from falling.
“Crack—”
“Thud—”
The sound of breaking ribs and shattering armor plates. A searing pain shot through Lin Jiayao.
This wasn’t the dulled sensation of controlling a zombie; this was real, agonizing pain. It almost made her black out. She coughed up blood.
The blast ruffled her hair. Fighting the pain and the heat, she looked down.
Chaos below. The intense heat incinerated a large number of moths. A dozen Voodoo Cult members, closest to the explosion, writhed on the ground in agony.
Blood, severed limbs, and screams filled the air. The chaos created the perfect opportunity.
Fight, or be consumed.
Even through the pain, Lin Jiayao made her choice.
Gripping her M4, she retracted her bone spikes from the wall.
The spikes lifted her onto the wall, and then she jumped down towards the flames and smoke below.
Meanwhile, a tall, thin, bald Voodoo Cult member was crawling on the ground, clutching his bleeding neck.
Moths fluttered towards his wound, their wings scattering blood-red dust.
But the powder was washed away by the gushing blood before it could reach the wound.
The explosion had destroyed most of his moths, and he still didn’t know how the girl above had managed to shoot him from twenty or thirty meters away, or how she had redirected the rocket.
He had only seen something like that in pre-apocalypse movies.
Damn it… fungal zombies truly are monsters…
I have to find a safe place to stop the bleeding…
“Thump—”
“AAAAH!!!”
As he crawled backwards, a loud thud and a scream came from behind him. He quickly turned.
Thick smoke billowed from the explosion, the rain turning it into a black downpour.
As the smoke cleared, his eyes widened in horror.
What… what the hell is that…?
Under the black rain, a figure, supported by dozens of curved bone spikes, stood amidst the smoke and debris, like a giant spider.
No, not a spider… it was a human figure with bone spikes… it was the girl!
And were those… rifles… attached to her bone spikes?
The curved, cracked bone spikes supporting the figure straightened, lifting her up.
Beneath her bone spikes was the corpse of one of his men, impaled by a dozen spikes.
She… it had jumped down from the roof, more than ten meters high!
It was the fungal zombie!
Blood trickled from the zombie girl’s lips. She scanned the area with cold, crimson eyes, her rifle raised.
Then, her emotionless gaze met his.
Fuck—
I’ve been spotted—
Knowing he’d been seen, he couldn’t even curse.
“Ugh—Ugh—”
He didn’t look back. Ignoring his bleeding neck, he dragged his broken leg and crawled frantically.
The moths around the factory swarmed towards him, some also flying towards the zombie girl.
He used his remaining strength to try and slow her down, but when he finally looked back, he was filled with despair.
Why… why the fuck can a zombie use a… gun!!!
A red dot from a laser sight appeared on his left eye. A single, muffled shot, and then darkness.
“Bang, bang, bang—”
The girl fired three more shots into the corpse, and when all the moths in the sky fell, she turned her attention to the surrounding Voodoo Cult members, who were now staring at her.
The lack of guidance from the moths had thrown them into temporary disarray.
After she calmly picked off four more, the remaining members, still under the influence of the blood-red powder, snapped out of their trance.
“Over there! Over there! The enemy is over there!”
“Fuck… my head…”
“A zombie! A zombie!”
Those who had inhaled a larger dose of the powder were in a complete frenzy.
Without the guidance of the moths, they began firing wildly, friend and foe indistinguishable.
Lin Jiayao’s decapitation plan had worked… but it had also backfired.
The leader’s death had seemingly thrown the powder-addled Voodoo Cult members into a state of mass hysteria.
They fired at thin air, shouting “Enemy!”, then screamed “Zombie!” and threw grenades at their own companions…
The warehouse was engulfed in chaos.
A stray bullet hit the ballistic plate on Lin Jiayao’s back, and a ricocheting bullet struck her helmet, the impact causing a buzzing in her ears.
I need cover.
Lin Jiayao lowered herself, her bone spikes, carrying the rifles, raised high, firing at any moving target.
Carving a path through the chaos, she quickly crawled away from the Voodoo Cult members.
Just as she ran out of ammunition, she saw a Voodoo Cult member on her right, his eyes bloodshot, his rifle aimed at her.
His finger was on the trigger. Lin Jiayao froze, her hand halfway through reloading.
At this range, she couldn’t fire her bone spikes or finish reloading in time.
As if in slow motion, she watched as the man slowly pulled the trigger.
“Bang, bang, bang! Rat-tat-tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat-tat!” The man yelled maniacally at Lin Jiayao, shaking his rifle.
But the rifle didn’t fire a single shot – the magazine was empty.
Oblivious, he continued to shout “Bang, bang, bang! Rat-tat-tat-tat!”, advancing on Lin Jiayao as if his gun were actually firing.
He had lost his mind.
Seizing the opportunity, Lin Jiayao quickly reloaded and shot the delusional man.
At the same time, she noticed the gunfire behind her had stopped.
She looked back. The Voodoo Cult members, having emptied their magazines, weren’t reloading, but instead, were attacking each other with their rifles as clubs.
And many others, like moths drawn to a flame, were running towards the burning warehouse.
No!!!
Lin Jiayao instantly understood. She turned and ran towards the burning warehouse, joining the frenzied Voodoo Cult members.
Her sister had inhaled the powder too! She would be just as crazed!
Lin Jiayao fired, killing anyone in her path, reaching the edge of the burning warehouse faster than even the Voodoo Cult members.
A thick, hollow bone spike extended from her back, firing a thin bone chain hook that latched onto the concrete railing on the warehouse roof.
“Clang—”
The bone chain retracted, pulling her upwards.
Nearing the roof, she hooked her bone spikes onto the railing and quickly crawled towards her sister.
Seeing her sister still struggling on the ground, Lin Jiayao breathed a sigh of relief.
Good thing I tied her up.
But then she noticed another problem.
The two little girls were gone.
Activating Bone Spike Lurker, she detected two faint heartbeats, not on the roof, but inside the warehouse.
The metal door leading down from the roof was closed. Using Bone Spike Lurker to simulate the terrain, she located the two little girls.
They were hiding in the crane control room on the third floor, the door locked.
The fire and explosions hadn’t reached the third floor yet, but if it continued to spread, and if the fuel tanks of the modified vehicles and trucks inside exploded, the entire warehouse would collapse.
After a moment of hesitation, Lin Jiayao left her sister, pried open the roof access door with her bone spikes, braved the intense heat, and crawled towards the crane control room.
Although the two little girls had seen her use her abilities, she wasn’t like the Voodoo Cult; she couldn’t just leave them to die.
Even if she eventually just gave them some supplies and sent them on their way, she wouldn’t let them die here, not when she could save them.
Perhaps her sister’s influence was rubbing off on her.
Reaching the crane control room, she pounded on the metal door with her bone spikes.
“Bang, bang—”
She could feel their heartbeats quicken with each bang.
Seeing that this wasn’t working, she hooked a bone spike onto the ventilation window above the door and peered inside.
The two little girls were huddled in a corner, looking up at her, their faces streaked with tears, too scared even to cry.
But something about the older girl caught Lin Jiayao’s attention.
A faint mist surrounded the older girl with the ponytail and her sister, shielding them from the heat.
Had this little girl… Awakened?!
Regardless, the warehouse could collapse at any moment. She had to get them out.
“Crack—Crack—”
Lin Jiayao pried open the security bars on the window with her bone spikes, reached inside, and unlocked the door.
Then, using her bone spikes for support, she crawled inside.
The moment she entered, the older girl stood up, tears in her eyes, shielding her sister.
“Don’t come near my sister, monster!”
Lin Jiayao saw a flicker of her sister in the little girl’s protective stance.
Long ago, her sister had shielded her from zombies in the same way.
But this little girl was far too weak.
Ignoring her protests, Lin Jiayao extended two bone spikes, grabbed the girls, and carried them back to the roof.
Perhaps from fear, or from crying for so long, the two girls had fainted.
Back on the roof, Lin Jiayao secured her sister with two bone spikes and then, moving around the perimeter of the warehouse, looked down.
A ring of corpses surrounded the warehouse. Only a few remaining Voodoo Cult members, armed with empty rifles, were beating each other senseless.
The fire, contained by the heavy rain, was dying down.
Choosing a spot where the flames were weaker, Lin Jiayao fired a bone spike chain, hooking it onto the concrete railing, and then, carrying her sister and the two little girls, slowly lowered herself to the ground.
Reaching the ground, there were almost no Voodoo Cult members left standing.
After eliminating the few who were still fighting, Lin Jiayao carried her sister and the girls to a nearby open plaza, away from the burning warehouse.
Sweeping aside some musical instruments with her bone spikes, she placed her sister on the relatively clean stage under the tarp.
“Sister… Sister?”
She shook her sister gently, but her eyes remained unfocused, her jaw clenching and unclenching.
I need to do some first aid…
To prevent her sister from biting her tongue, Lin Jiayao tore a strip of cloth from her shirt, rinsed it in the rain, and then rolled it up and placed it between her sister’s teeth.
Just as she was about to carry her sister and the two girls to the production area, away from the rain, she detected a faint heartbeat.
It was so weak she’d almost mistaken it for the sound of rain.
She followed the sound and saw a naked figure crawling on the muddy concrete towards the factory gate, its chin dragging on the ground.
A woman, her limbs severed, inching forward.
But her progress was agonizingly slow… without hands or feet, she could barely move.
Her body left a bloody trail on the rough concrete, but she continued to crawl.
As if escaping this hellish place, even for a moment, was worth the pain and effort.
Lin Jiayao took a deep breath, raised her rifle, and, supported by her bone spikes, crawled towards the woman.
“Click, click, click—”
The sound of her bone spikes on the concrete.
Hearing the sound, the woman stopped crawling and closed her eyes, tears silently mixing with the rain.
Lin Jiayao extended a bone spike, gently turning the woman over so she was facing her.
Rain and tears blurred the woman’s vision; she couldn’t see clearly who was before her.
She knew the horrific torture that awaited anyone who tried to escape.
“Do you want to live?”
Lin Jiayao looked down at the woman, her chest barely rising and falling, barely able even to turn over.
Hearing no response, she asked again, “Do you want to live?”
This time, the woman reacted.
She struggled to open her eyes, trying to see who was speaking. From the voice, it seemed to be a young girl.
“Ah—Ah—Aagh—”
The woman opened her mouth, her shoulder twitching. She seemed unable to speak, only managing a few strained sounds.
Her throat had been damaged, the gruesome scars on her neck a testament to the torture she’d endured.
“I can end your suffering,” Lin Jiayao said calmly. “Make a sound. One sound, and I’ll end it. Two sounds, and you can try to escape. I’ll hold them back.”
“Aagh—Aagh—”
Driven by a powerful survival instinct, the woman quickly responded.
She struggled to turn over, to crawl away, like an overturned turtle.
After a while, she calmed down, the desire to live fading.
She knew she couldn’t survive. She had only been trying to crawl outside, hoping to be bitten by zombies or drown herself in a puddle.
Lin Jiayao didn’t leave, just watched her struggle.
“One sound, and I’ll end it. Two sounds, and you can try to leave,” she repeated.
This time, the woman didn’t struggle. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the rain. She smiled, a look of relief. “Ah…”
“Whoosh—”
Lin Jiayao’s bone chain shot out, hooking onto a can of luncheon meat that had fallen during the chaos and dragging it over.
She opened the can, took out the meat with a bone spike, and offered it to the woman.
Seemingly drawn by the savory scent, the woman, who hadn’t eaten anything decent in who knew how long, opened her mouth and took a bite.
She ate ravenously, then stopped after a few bites, leaving half on the barbed bone spike, as if unwilling to let her would-be savior waste food on someone about to die.
“Ah…”
The woman made a single sound, smiled, and closed her eyes.
“Bang—”
A bullet pierced her forehead, a crimson flower blooming in its wake.
Lin Jiayao holstered her pistol and placed the half-eaten luncheon meat beside the woman’s head, the blood staining the meat.
Then, she turned and walked towards the shelter of the tarp.
She couldn’t save everyone, couldn’t afford to care for the helpless in this apocalyptic world.
Just as the resort camp hadn’t been able to support her, crippled and useless.
All she could do was offer a release, a prayer for a better next life, a life without an apocalypse.
After all, she had someone to protect, someone waiting for her under the tarp, someone whose mental state was fragile, someone who needed her.
As for the fate of the two little girls, Lin Jiayao had already made her decision.
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