Song Fei had considered many scenarios of encountering surviving classmates, but being suspended in mid-air, swaying in the wind, and then being slammed in the window and getting a face full of dust was definitely not one of them. Even with the supermarket incident as a lesson learned, he was unwilling to believe that all the students in the school had ended up like that. Besides, a safe and secure life was so close, and he couldn't bear to choose the uncertain fate of jumping off a building without even struggling!
Separated by a window, Baldy did not leave. Although he showed no intention of opening the window again, he also did not leave in a huff. He stood there calmly, his eyes meeting Baldy's.
They were so close that even with the window blocked, they could hear each other talking.
Thinking of this, Song Fei lowered her eyes, trying to reorganize her features. When she raised her head again, the angry glare from when she kicked the window and roared was gone. Her eyes softened, her brows furrowed with sorrow, and a pitiful glint appeared in her eyes: "My rope has reached its limit. If you don't let me in, I'll just fall down, and even if I don't die, I'll be crippled. But don't worry, I won't be crippled for long, because soon the zombies will come and devour me beyond recognition. Can you bear to just watch your classmate, with whom you've spent so much time, die without a burial place?"
A hint of unease and struggle flickered across the bald student's seemingly calm face.
This was no surprise to Song Fei, who immediately pressed on, his voice breaking with his own heart: "You think zombies killed me? No! They just ate my flesh, and you destroyed my soul!"
The bald guy stopped pretending and let his surging emotions burst through the floodgates, filling his eyes. Finally, he forcefully flung open the window and yelled, "If you're disgusting again, believe me, I'll kick you out!"
Song Fei immediately muted herself and retrieved all her emojis. When she spoke again, her weak voice was filled with utmost sincerity and simplicity: "My classmates are all on the first floor with food, drinks, and space. I just wanted to stay here for a while, rest, and then leave."
The bald guy was finally satisfied: "From now on, get to the point first."
Song pouted and said, "Mmm."
There are ears in the partition.
The five comrades hiding on both sides of the window on the first floor heard the entire conversation. When they heard the rustling sound of people being pulled inside, the weight in their hearts finally lifted. Only then did they remember that there was a male classmate beside them who needed care and comfort.
Qi Yan remained gripping the window handle tightly, his knuckles white from prolonged exertion. His face remained expressionless, but his comrades felt a pang of heartache seeing him like this.
Zhou Yilu patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, saying, "No matter what, it's good that he's safe."
Qiao Siqi followed suit and patted him twice: "Besides, he's a talkative person by nature, and he talks like that to everyone. It can't be considered flirting, let alone being promiscuous. Furthermore, you two have already broken up, so strictly speaking, it doesn't count as cheating."
"..." Qi Yan let out a soft breath, finally letting go of his hand, and turned to Qiao Siqi with a polite smile, "Thank you for summarizing all the possibilities."
Qiao Siqi swallowed hard and turned his head shakily toward Zhou Yilu.
The latter turned away, resolutely refusing to save his comrade who was courting death.
"Class 1, can you hear me? I'm safe now. Whatever you do, don't open the windows, the zombies are coming—"
Suddenly, Song Fei's voice boomed overhead, indicating that he had gone inside but hadn't closed the window yet, as the voice was clear and loud.
Looking east through the window, I could see that zombies were indeed heading this way.
Qi Yan looked up and replied loudly, "I'm glad you're safe! Call me anytime if you need anything. We'll come down again when there are fewer zombies or during the day tomorrow!"
The five comrades looked at each other and said, "Let's get down here."
Song Fei had no time to grasp the deeper meaning, and answered crisply, "Roger! I'm going to bring Little Landmine down now. You guys lure the zombies eastward again!" Then, she quickly shouted upwards, "Little Landmine, I'm on the second floor. There are some classmates here. Climb down the rope slowly, I'll meet you here on the second floor—"
Lin Dilei had already observed the situation carefully. Although she was quite surprised that a surviving classmate had appeared on the second floor, she still responded from afar: "OK—"
In the blink of an eye, the sound of pattering echoed through the snowy night once again.
Before long, Song Fei successfully pulled Lin Dilei through the window. Her face was flushed red from the wind, and she kept breathing into her hands.
Song Fei poked his head out again and blew the retreat horn: "Comrades, let's call it a day—"
The singing soon stopped, and the night returned to peace.
Song Fei let out a long sigh, closed the window, and then turned around to take a serious look at the bald classmate.
The bald guy was dressed in sportswear and was very tall, even more imposing than Qi Yan, around 184-185 cm. His skin was a healthy tan from years of sun exposure, and his features were very handsome. His eyebrows and eyes alone made him look somewhat like the currently popular "warm guy," but combined with his skin tone and the aura of "keep away" he exuded, he was anything but warm.
Throughout the entire rescue, this student offered no other assistance beyond providing the venue. His eyes remained constantly wary, as if the other party would pull out a gun if they made the slightest move.
"Thank you for letting us in." The best way to defuse hostility is to be honest. "My name is Song Fei, from the School of History. Her name is Lin Dilei, from the School of Journalism and Communication. May I ask your surnames?"
The sudden appearance of several heads in her field of vision almost made Song Fei bite her tongue in fright.
It wasn't that his eyesight was bad, but the other classmates were hiding like moles behind the counter in the distance. The partitioned kitchen wasn't particularly large, nor was it small; the window and the counter were diagonally opposite each other. Five classmates, back to the stove and hands gripping the counter, were lined up one after another, each only showing half their heads. And unlike the student with the window, they all had thick, lustrous black hair—they looked like black bowls turned upside down on the counter that had come to life.
However, upon closer inspection, in addition to the wariness that the bald student possessed, there was also unease and fear in the eyes of these students that the bald student lacked.
"Zhao He, from the sports academy." After introducing himself, the bald student turned around and greeted them with a look of disdain. "Stop watching, there are six of us, are we afraid we can't beat those two?"
The students behind the counter hesitated for a while before finally coming out. There were four boys and one girl. Two of them were as tall and strong as Zhao He, and judging from their physiques, they were probably athletic students. The other three were more approachable and looked like ordinary students.
Zhao He's department initially made Song Fei and Lin Dilei's hearts skip a beat. Although they both understood that every group has good and bad, kind and evil, past shadows still instinctively produce psychological reactions. But after seeing the six students who came out next, the two were puzzled again, unable to figure out what kind of group this was.
After finally managing to get his "roommates" to speak, Zhao He waited for ages but no one said a word, leaving him incredibly frustrated. But fate had bound them together, and he couldn't control it, so he went over and introduced them to Song Fei one by one: "Fu Xiyuan, Wu Zhou, they're both from the sports academy, just like me. Zhao… what's your name again?"
Song Fei and Lin Dilei: "..."
They were just waiting to introduce students who weren't from the sports academy, and now, they've already gotten stuck on the very first one!
The person called on was a slightly chubby boy, not very tall or muscular, with a round face and round glasses, giving him an honest and simple look. He helplessly adjusted his glasses and looked at Zhao He: "Brother, my surname is He, He Zhiwen."
Zhao He suddenly realized: "Oh right, He Zhiwen, I only remember his surname is He, from the art academy, right?"
He Zhiwen was on the verge of tears: "I'm from the Physics Department, and I've never had any connection with music, chess, calligraphy, or painting since I was a child."
"It's me from the art school, thank you." The one who spoke was the male student sitting next to He Zhiwen. He was a bit taller than He Zhiwen, but very thin. His slender frame and almost otherworldly appearance were comparable only to Qiao Siqi, and perhaps even less. His hair was longer than most boys', his bangs almost covering his eyes. On ordinary boys, such hair would either look sloppy or effeminate, but on this person, it perfectly suited his temperament. Especially since he was very fair-skinned, with a delicate and clean-cut face; a buzz cut would have looked awkward on him.
Song Fei looked at Zhao He with admiration. It was quite an achievement to misremember a classmate who exuded an artistic aura from head to toe.
Zhao He was in a good mood. He had only five "roommates" in total, and now he had managed to find four of them. The only remaining female classmate was identified by process of elimination: "This is Feng Qibai from the School of Psychology."
The slender, quiet girl with glasses was only up to Zhao He's shoulder. Upon hearing this, she looked up and sighed, "My name is Huang Mo."
"I am Feng Qibai!" Feng, a student from the sculpture department, couldn't take it anymore. He scratched his head in frustration and asked Zhao He, "Do you have a problem with me?"
While most other students could remember at least one name or department, Zhao could only vaguely recall his own.
Zhao He was also very frustrated: "You all play the deep and mysterious game, not saying a word, your mouths shut like revolutionary martyrs who have entered the Zhaizidong prison. It's only because I'm doing an extraordinary job that I can remember your names!"
Feng Qibai slammed his hand on the chopping board: "Look at the world outside! A school full of monsters, they bite anyone they see. How big of a heart do we have to be to stay lively?!"
Zhao He kicked the table leg hard: "Then why did you even try to break through? You might as well just wait to die in the dormitory. Anyway, you're no different from being dead now!"
Feng Qibai: "Say that again, you fucking bastard! Don't think I won't beat you up just because you're big and strong!"
Zhao He: "I'm really not afraid. Come on, hit me in the face. Anyone who dodges is a coward."
Feng Qibai: "Holy shit!"
Zhao He: "Who are you fucking?"
Feng Qibai: "Fuck you!"
Zhao He: "Want to fuck another one?"
Feng Qibai: "I fucked it again!"
Zhao He: "Damn, I'm thirsty!"
Feng Qibai: "A little!"
Zhao He: "There's cooled boiled water in the pot!"
Feng Qibai: "I know!"
Watching Feng walk away towards the stove, and then glancing at the panting Zhao, Song Fei and Lin Dilei unconsciously held hands and took two big steps back.
Song Fei: "Their mental state seems to be quite unstable."
Lin Dilei: "Why don't we just jump down..."
"It's nothing." The only female classmate, Huang Mo from the School of Psychology, appeared beside them at some point. Her eyes behind her glasses were friendly, harmless, gentle, and calm. "We just rushed out of the dormitory yesterday and haven't recovered yet. It's normal to have a stress reaction."
Huang Mo's voice may seem plain at first glance, but as you listen, it makes you relax without realizing it.
"You only ran away yesterday?" It was the first time Lin Dilei had seen a female classmate in so many days, and she couldn't help but want to talk to her more.
"I couldn't stay in the dorm anymore. We were almost out of food, and some students kept jumping off the building. Then I heard someone shouting from the boys' dorm, urging everyone to rush out. So I and a few classmates…" Huang Mo said, her usually calm eyes welling up with sadness. She lowered her eyes to compose herself, and after a long while, she continued, "Actually, there were thirty or forty people from both the boys' and girls' dorms rushing out. When we got to the supermarket, more than half of them were still there. But we couldn't get into the supermarket, and by the time we tried to run to the cafeteria, it was too late. In the end, only the six of us were left."
Huang Mo didn't cry. She was better at controlling her emotions than most girls, and even boys, but her sadness and dejection were undeniable. There was also fear, a deep-seated fear that, even though things were temporarily peaceful now, still made her tremble at the slightest sound. Despite her efforts to suppress it, she could still feel it clearly.
Song Fei and Lin Dilei saw it clearly and understood it deeply because they had been through the same thing. Or rather, even after fighting for so many days, they were still afraid when facing zombies again. But unlike when the zombie horde first broke out, they now had the fighting spirit and courage to face their fear head-on.
"Those bastards are inside. They thought I couldn't see them because the curtain was blocking my view, damn it!" Zhao He, who had also followed Feng Qibai and gulped down several mouthfuls of cold water, walked back with a cold face and continued Huang Mo's words, "I was pressed against the glass door at the time. The cotton curtain had a gap, so I could see everything clearly. They're all from our department. We see each other all the time. They're really ruthless. I shouted until I was hoarse, but they wouldn't open it even if I died."
Song Fei didn't respond, but only asked, "So you ended up here?"
Zhao He shrugged: "What else can we do? We run towards where there's hope. It's either death or life, fighting means survival." He then pointed to his "roommates," adding, "Don't let their current state fool you, when they came running, they were like one-man army, taking on two or three at once! Give them an axe and they're like Li Kui, the Black Whirlwind! This Feng... Qi Bai, you remember correctly this time, right? He's wielding a carving knife, one stab and he's deadly, even more powerful than Li Xunhuan's Flying Dagger. This female student, unassuming, is wielding two kitchen knives! I just don't understand, do the girls' dorms have an extra kitchen compared to the boys' dorms...?"
"Zhao," Huang Mowen gently reminded him, "it is very ungentlemanly to describe a girl as insignificant."
Zhao He was taken aback, clearly unaware of the problem, but his attitude was good, admitting his mistake and correcting it: "Sorry, then give me a word."
Huang Mo smiled and pushed up his glasses: "Keep it low-key."
Zhao He: "..."
Song Fei and Lin Dilei watched with mixed feelings as the tall boy, who was over 1.8 meters tall, was completely subdued by the girl, who was only 1.5 meters tall. They didn't know whether to admire Huang Mo's superb skills or Zhao He's respect for women.
Only the four of them were standing and talking, but the other students were listening, especially Fu Xiyuan and Wu Zhou, who were filled with indignation when they heard the part about the supermarket. Unlike Zhao He, who was in the same department as the others—Zhao He was in the Department of Physical Education, they were in the Department of Social Sports—but they were in the same college and year, and usually very close, like brothers. They never imagined that things would turn out this way when their lives were at stake. The thought that if they hadn't escaped here, they might already be dead, made their anger uncontrollable.
Even after the conversation had come to a close, Fu Xiyuan couldn't help but curse, "Those people at the supermarket will get their comeuppance sooner or later!"
Song Fei and Lin Dilei exchanged a glance, hesitant to speak. Actually, Song Fei had a chance to speak earlier when Zhao He mentioned the supermarket. But what good would it do? Would it really bring them satisfaction? Not necessarily.
"You guys have been to the supermarket before, right?" Huang Mo suddenly asked.
The two were taken aback, and Lin Dilei subconsciously asked, "Why do you say that?"
Huang Mo quietly observed the two of them, and after a moment, said, "Both times we mentioned the supermarket, your expressions were unnaturally stiff. Either you've had some experience there, or... you know some inside information that we don't."
Lin Dilei was stunned, surprised by Huang Mo's keen insight.
Song Fei sighed and told the whole story: "Actually, we were the first to rush out of the dormitory to the supermarket, just five days after the incident. They rushed out a few days later, and we brought them in. But they probably thought the supermarket had limited food and had to prepare for the worst. There were also many of them, so they occupied the warehouse and wouldn't let us in. By then, the shelves were almost empty. If we stayed any longer, we would either go hungry or face a direct confrontation. Six against seventeen, a direct confrontation was pointless, so we left on our own."
Song Fei didn't go into too much detail, but everyone who listened understood what was going on. Some details didn't need to be filled in; they could just come up with them on their own.
The three students from the sports academy were furious, even He Zhiwen, who seemed to have a good temper, couldn't help but say, "This is just too inhuman!"
Song Fei remained silent.
Lin Dilei also lowered her head.
Huang Mo didn't miss a single expression on their faces. Seeing this, he half-guessed and half-probingly asked, "You two climbed down from the roof. Did you see something while you were on the roof?"
Song Fei and Lin Dilei weren't just surprised, they were utterly shocked. This wasn't just Huang, this was Huang the Fortune Teller!
Having said all that, there was nothing more to hide, so Song Fei told him about the supermarket incident.
The group of people, who were initially quite angry, suddenly became dazed, as if their emotions had been disrupted and they didn't know how to reconnect.
This is why Song Fei and Lin Dilei didn't want to talk about it.
Because they understood this feeling all too well. Seeing the supermarket door smashed open, seeing zombies rush in, they couldn't recall any past grudges or hatred; they only knew that more people were going to die, that many more vibrant lives were about to be swallowed by the darkness. Perhaps among them were people who had hurt them, perhaps innocent classmates they didn't know, but when they perished, all that remained for the survivors was sadness and grief.
This is the innate goodness in people's hearts, awe and respect for life.