Fssst—
The fuse ignited with a hiss, sending a fiery serpent slithering into the dark ventilation shaft.
I didn't turn. My eyes stayed locked on the exhaust grate beneath Operating Room C.
Lin Xiaoman was in there.
With a scalpel that held all our fates.
"Su Wanzhao! You can't run forever!"
The radio crackled with Du Qiang's voice.
That bastard was still alive?
And now he'd rallied people to judge me?
Funny.
In this eat-or-be-eaten world, survival was justice. Who the hell did he think he was?
Auntie Wang... The woman who'd always had a bowl of hot congee waiting when I dragged myself back to the station.
Her wrinkled hands warmer than any relative's.
Now those hands might be bound at gunpoint.
"Ahem."
A muffled cough echoed through the ducts—Xiaoman's signal.
I could picture it perfectly: Zhou Pei'en turning toward the sound—just as she slashed the anesthesia line.
Invisible gas flooded the sealed OR.
Thud! (Bodies dropping)
Clang! (Metal instruments hitting floor)
Done.
Zhou and his lackeys should be taking a nice long nap.
No victory cheer rose in my throat. Just ashes.
One fire put out—another blazing at my home base.
The side door creaked open. Lin Xiaoman stumbled out, ghost-pale. Her scalpel clattered to the floor.
She stared at me, lips trembling.
No time for comfort. I grabbed her shoulders.
"Revenge's yours. Now save your sister. Adrenaline in the pharmacy—might stabilize her through initial mutation. Lives or dies? That's on her... and you."
Her hollow eyes finally focused. "And you?"
"Me?" I checked the last three mags in my pack. "Got a trial to attend."
Her mouth opened—
No time. I sheathed my multi-tool. Cold steel cleared my head.
Zhou Pei'en was science gone mad.
Du Qiang? Pure human evil.
The first could be outsmarted.
The second required bullets.
Auntie Wang wouldn't die.
Not her—one of the last who still believed in good in these ruins.
If I couldn't protect that, what was the point of coming back from the dead?
One last look at the silent operating room—a tomb now—then I ran.
The underground tunnel to North District swallowed me whole.
My footsteps pounded like my own frantic heartbeat.
Behind me: fading warmth.
Ahead: North District's jagged silhouette against the night.
A waiting maw.
I grinned.
Good thing I'd brought sharp teeth.
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