I noticed Second Brother didn't immediately rush over but stood grimly by Shuai Shuai's side. Clearly, he wouldn't leave the boy's side—even if others were in danger. This stubborn fool!I sighed inwardly, gripping my long blade as I sprinted toward the classroom.
Other companions fanned out to check different rooms.
When I arrived, I found an elderly person already dead—bitten by a zombie that had climbed in. The zombie was happily devouring the victim's intestines! My head spun; I nearly stumbled.
It was Xiao Jun's grandmother! Grief and rage overwhelmed me. Damn it! Xiao Jun only had his grandmother left!
Xiao Jun himself had fainted from terror—he was just a three-year-old child. How could he endure such horror?
Steadying myself, I didn't rush to carry Xiao Jun away. Instead, I approached the zombie. It was so engrossed in its feast it barely noticed me. Sensing movement, it raised its head and snarled a threat but didn't abandon its hard-won meal. Greedy monster!
I swung my blade. The zombie's head rolled at my feet, dead eyes lifeless, its rotten mouth stuffed with Grandma's flesh—not yet swallowed.
As I moved to pick up Xiao Jun, Grandma's body suddenly flipped over and crawled up, dragging her intestines, roaring as she lunged at her own grandson!
No! She's turned!
"Sorry, Grandma!" I raised my blade and ended her suffering for good.
After carrying Xiao Jun to safety outside the classroom, another zombie climbed through the window!
Snarls echoed from other classrooms—they'd used their own dead as stepping stones to reach the second floor! The rural school's low height, combined with piled corpses below, had given them access!
The second floor was under siege!
This new zombie was a child—no taller than ten years old.
Seeing its small frame, I hesitated. It staggered toward me, and I retreated step by step.
Growl…It bared its teeth, no innocence left—only deathly menace.
Its clothes were tattered, one foot dragging a worn rubber shoe. This child had suffered in life—no stranger to hardship.
I recalled heartbreaking images of impoverished children from social media: those who couldn't afford school, hungry and cold, malnourished and dirty, often carrying siblings or coal in battered baskets…
How could I strike it down?
But it felt no pity—only fixated on me with ravenous eyes.
It lunged!
I sidestepped, my blade flashing. The child zombie's head flew; its frail body collapsed.
My heart wrenched.
It's not human anymore. It's not human!I reminded myself.
In this world, hesitation meant death.
"Rest in peace, child. May your next life be happier," I whispered to the still corpse.
Before motherhood, I wasn't fond of children—I saw them as burdens threatening my freedom and sleep. My mother called me irresponsible and selfish—a label I'd resented. But after Shuai Shuai's birth, maternal love surged forth, and I realized she'd been right all along.
What else could you call someone unwilling to sacrifice for their own child?
Shuai Shuai changed me profoundly—not only transforming me from a selfish woman into a devoted mother but also expanding my compassion to all children.
Now, I couldn't bear to see any child suffer—even a zombie that moments ago tried to tear me apart.
It still pained me.
Screams and snarls snapped me back to reality. My Shuai Shuai was still out there!
I burst from the classroom, dashing toward the staircase.
Shuai Shuai and my parents were still at the stairwell—the safest spot on the second floor, since our people held the first floor, preventing attacks from below.
A zombie lunged at them. I was too far! A scream caught in my throat—I was mute with panic.
But Second Brother pounced, slashing the zombie's throat with his Tibetan dagger!
He then charged another zombie nearing Shuai Shuai—protecting his apprentice with his life!
"Mama!" Shuai Shuai cried, reaching for me as I arrived. No, my child—I can't hold you now!Seeing him safe, I calmed.
Ignoring his sobs, I swung my blade, beheading a zombie creeping behind my father.
Zombies had swarmed the second floor—too many for our first-floor defenders to assist.
The second floor was on us!
"Mama, up!" Shuai Shuai cried, confused why I didn't pick him up. I hardened my heart, shielding my parents and him while scanning for threats.
Only Second Brother and I guarded them now.
My husband and others fought desperately, cutting down zombies attacking the elderly and children.
Many were bitten—including children.
My heart broke. Those who'd lost parents earlier, protected only by grandparents, had now fallen to the horde after all our efforts.
"Shuai Shuai, don't fear. Master protects you! If Master lives, you live! If Master dies, you still live!" Second Brother vowed without turning. Shuai Shuai quieted, soothed by his voice.
Another zombie charged. Before I could move, Second Brother leaped and decapitated it from above—incredible reflexes!
"Mama!" a little girl screamed, running toward us with two zombies in pursuit—one of them her mother!
No!I couldn't watch her be devoured by her own parent! Second Brother stayed rooted beside Shuai Shuai, tense but unwavering.
Fine—I lacked his discipline. I couldn't endure it!
In three strides, I passed the girl and blocked the zombies.
Her mother was mutilated—a pitiful sight. Turned, she'd targeted her own daughter first!
I swiftly killed the other zombie—likely the one who'd turned the mother. Damn progenitor—you stole this girl's last hope!
The mother zombie lunged, as if avenging her "sire."
With the girl behind me, I spared her the trauma of decapitation—instead, I drove my blade upward through the mother's jaw into the brain. It froze instantly.
I turned to the girl. She'd reached my father, who shielded her eyes—but she'd already witnessed her mother's death.
She wailed. Father hugged her tightly. Sigh…
Dawn finally broke through the chaos. We'd held out for two hours!
How many lives were lost in that time?
I'd lost count of how many turned companions I'd ended…
When the last zombie fell, we collapsed like ragdolls, gasping.
My parents and Shuai Shuai were safe, along with the newly orphaned girl—Wang Jiaqi, aged six.
Second Brother remained crouched by Shuai Shuai, blade in hand, guarding his apprentice even after the danger passed.
My husband and I took stock upstairs. Devastating—38 elders and children were lost!
The survivors were traumatized, but exhaustion eventually claimed the sleeping children in adult arms.
We had only 21 elders and 18 children left.
Many victims had been bitten by turned companions.
The true horror of zombies wasn't just their deadliness—it was their relentless recruitment. Their "recruits" shared the same relentless drive, biting until their last breath if their brains remained intact.
The first floor fared better—only six men were bitten and turned, but the door held under their desperate defense.
Had the first floor fallen, we'd have been wiped out.
Hearing of the upstairs carnage, many men wept. Though not their kin, they'd grown to cherish these elders and children as their own.
But they'd been too overwhelmed downstairs to help—losing the first floor would have doomed everyone.
Sixth Brother's wife had died; only one of his twin sons survived. He cried like a child.
Maidou Ma and her son survived, but her parents hadn't been so lucky…
Shasha, rescued so recently, had escaped death once—only to meet it here…
The six turned men—Liu Yuxuan, Fatty, Wang, Wu Xiaofeng, Xiaoye, and Qiao—had to be put down by their own comrades. Sixth Brother and the others had to headshot their battle-hardened brothers.