Chapter 15: Seriously Injured
With a target in sight, Lin Jiayao moved with extreme speed, no longer bothering to conceal herself.
No one noticed the head-spider scurrying from the main road into the smaller street.
Passing the convenience store and several dilapidated breakfast stalls, Lin Jiayao saw the name of the old residential complex.
Anju Huayuan.
The entrance to the complex was blocked by several overturned cars. The only way through was to climb through the broken windows, past the skeletal remains inside, or to climb over the vehicles entirely.
The crushed car windows likely wouldn’t allow a strong adult man to pass, but a slender woman would certainly fit.
Traces of fresh blood clung to the edges of the broken glass, likely from someone scraping themselves while climbing through.
Lin Jiayao could almost imagine the pain of squeezing through the broken glass.
Deliberately ignoring the gruesome details, she crossed the obstacle and headed straight for the building where the heartbeat originated.
Not only was there a heartbeat, but also the shuffling footsteps of numerous Biters.
Decapitating a few ordinary Biters blocking the stairwell, Lin Jiayao stopped in front of apartment 402.
The apartment’s mottled iron gate was rusted, and the wooden door behind it had several holes, offering glimpses of the interior.
Neither the iron gate nor the wooden door was locked.
But Lin Jiayao noticed a small vibration.
It was a white, battery-powered sensor behind the iron gate, connected to a loudspeaker.
This is…
Lin Jiayao slowly opened the iron gate, then pushed open the wooden door.
“Wel-welcome… to Guangmei IKEA!”
As Lin Jiayao’s bone blade crossed the sensor, a distorted voice emanated from the dilapidated loudspeaker.
It was a makeshift alarm, likely scavenged from the convenience store on the corner.
But despite the alarm blaring, there was no movement from inside, no sign of alertness.
If there was someone inside, they couldn’t have missed the alarm.
There was only one possibility: whoever was inside was unable to respond to any sound, not even an alarm.
“Click, click, click—”
Lin Jiayao followed the blood trail, crawling to the master bedroom door, her movements slowing.
She raised a bone blade and gently pushed against the dust-covered wooden door.
“Crack—”
Without warning, the wooden door fell forward with a loud “bang,” kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Thump—Thump—Thump—”
Lin Jiayao could feel the heartbeat around the corner quickening.
It seemed to have sensed the noise.
Here, Lin Jiayao stopped, not moving forward.
She was afraid that if her sister saw her current appearance, she would show an expression of disgust, fear, or terror.
No, Lin Jiayao! At a time like this, how can you be so sentimental?!
What did it matter if her sister was afraid of a zombie?!
In a flash of inspiration, Lin Jiayao seemed to understand something. Her bone spikes stepped onto the fallen door, and she walked into the room.
Reaching the corner, Lin Jiayao hooked a bone blade around the wall and slowly peered inside.
She was worried that if her sister had a gun, she might be shot the moment she showed her face.
Better to be safe.
Seeing the state of the bedroom, Lin Jiayao felt her entire body freeze.
A young woman, who looked to be only eighteen or nineteen, was leaning against the bed, half-naked.
The remnants of her shirt had been torn into strips and used as bandages around her waist and arm.
Beside her were some simple disinfectants and three bloody arrow shafts.
The young woman bit her pale lips, her eyes closed, breathing heavily. Her naturally curly long hair was matted with blood.
Except for her lips, which were pale and almost purple, her entire body was flushed with a faint cherry red. It was obvious she had a high fever.
Despite her serious injuries and weakness, her expression remained indifferent, as if keeping the world at bay.
The young woman lying there, seriously injured, was Lin Jiayao’s sister, Lin Xiwan.
Lin Jiayao quickly crawled to her sister’s side.
But looking at her sister, who seemed to have fallen into a light coma, she waved her bone spikes, unsure what to do.
Lin Jiayao desperately wanted to hug her, or caress her face, but her bone spikes wouldn’t allow it.
Lin Jiayao’s first-aid knowledge extended only to CPR, and, in fact, most people didn’t even know the correct way to perform CPR.
But in this situation, CPR clearly wasn’t relevant.
Lin Jiayao’s bone spikes made her formidable in combat, but seemingly useless for saving lives.
Looking at her sister’s trembling lips, Lin Jiayao finally forced herself to calm down.
Water. No matter what, her sister definitely needed water.
An Awakened’s physique was much stronger than an ordinary person’s, and their recovery ability was also stronger.
Since she didn’t know how to treat her injuries, she could at least keep her sister alive.
She remembered the convenience store on the corner. There might be water there.
Lin Jiayao quickly got up, took one last look at her sister, and crawled towards the door.
Reaching the doorway, she broke off one of her bone spikes and placed it there.
Zombies had a strong sense of territory. With her bone spike there, no ordinary Biters would approach.
Lin Jiayao went downstairs, climbed over the pile of cars at the entrance, and crawled to the convenience store on the corner.
Stepping over the skeletal remains at the entrance, Lin Jiayao saw the disarray inside.
Shelves were overturned, snacks scattered on the floor, the cigarettes behind the counter were all gone, and, of course, the freezers were empty.
Unlike Xingyue Building, which had been occupied by the Nest Zombie, any useful supplies here would have been looted long ago.
Undeterred, Lin Jiayao went to the back of the store, to the storage area.
It was equally messy, boxes scattered on the ground, their contents long gone.
There were even many crushed drink cans on the floor, the spilled syrup making the ground sticky.
Holding onto a sliver of hope, Lin Jiayao lowered her head and looked under the shelves.
Perhaps a few bottles of water had fallen and been overlooked?
Her eyes lit up.
Sure enough, there were three bottles of mineral water lying underneath.
Supplies weren’t truly scarce in Xingyue City. High-rise buildings and supermarkets lined every street. The goods on the shelves and in warehouses alone could easily sustain the survivors for years. So, it was possible for supplies to be overlooked in these corners.
Lin Jiayao extended her bone claws, carefully hooked out the three bottles, secured them with six bone spikes, and crawled out of the convenience store, heading back to Anju Huayuan.
Back at her sister’s side, Lin Jiayao carefully twisted off the dusty bottle caps with her teeth and slowly brought the bottle to her sister’s lips.
She poured a little, the pure water slightly moistening Lin Xiwan’s lips. The excess water flowed down her chin.
Lin Jiayao was extremely patient. Like an automatic water-feeding machine, she positioned herself around her sister and fed her water little by little.
Finally, perhaps sensing the water, or driven by the will to survive, Lin Xiwan moved.
She swallowed. Lin Jiayao saw the slight movement in her slender throat.
Lin Jiayao extended a bone spike and carefully pried open Lin Xiwan’s lips a little, pouring about a capful of water inside.
While feeding her water, Lin Jiayao felt her sister’s heartbeat quicken, but looking up, her sister showed no signs of waking.
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