Xu Duoduo silently touched her heart. No heartbeat. Tears streamed down her face—hic, woo woo woo!

No one could save her.

For the other survivors, the arrival of the rescue team was a sign of hope.

But for Xu Duoduo, it meant her end was near. She suddenly accepted this fact with calmness, curled up on the bed, hugged her knees, and pretended to be a mushroom, growing in the darkness of the corner.

Gunfire suddenly erupted downstairs. Many survivors on the upper floors cheered with excitement.

She didn’t know how much time had passed.

They began clearing out her floor. Sounds of battle echoed from below.

In a daze, she heard a familiar voice.

[Qingyuan Community, Building A, 7th floor, cleared.]

Xu Duoduo shuddered at the words “cleared.” Fear still gripped her—it was almost her turn. Was she about to die?

Her entire being—no, her entire corpse—felt unwell. She wanted to cry, but zombies had no tears.

Steady footsteps echoed through the walls to her ears.

Bang! A gunshot! A zombie’s roar sounded from the next apartment.

“Tsk, this zombie is so damn ugly. So annoying, screeching like that. I blew its head off in one shot. Xiao Bai, how’s your side going? Hurry up and finish this so we can head back—I’m starving. I want hotpot. The kind with brain matter in it.”

The voice was casual, crisp, and strangely familiar.

Xu Duoduo had been hiding with her head down, trying to disappear, but now she dazedly lifted her head.

“I’ll be done soon. No more than half an hour. Lao Wang, notify the vehicles to pick up the survivors. Tsk, why is this door so damn hard to open?”

Hearing this, Xu Duoduo jolted upright. Familiar or not, it didn’t matter—she was about to die!

She wanted to wail and cry, but then she remembered how this man had just insulted her zombie neighbor for being too noisy. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, trembling on the bed, waiting for her execution.

Yes.

She didn’t have the courage to end herself. It was better to be finished off by someone else—at least it would be quick and clean. She wasn’t human anymore, after all.

Xu Duoduo’s heart turned to stone. But when the door was suddenly kicked open with a loud bang, her entire zombie body shivered in fear. The next second, she was utterly shocked by the sheer force of the kick. How could someone kick open her front door?!

“Damn, this door is tough to break down! Hm? No one lives here? But it’s so tidy, looks like a model home.”

But the person didn’t stop searching.

Xu Duoduo immediately resumed playing dead, curling into a tighter ball, waiting for her final judgment.

She could tell he wasn’t checking the storage room or the kitchen—he was heading straight for her bedroom. His footsteps pounded against her nerves.

The tension was unbearable!

Bang.

The bedroom door opened…

The next second, she heard the sound of a gun being cocked.

Click.

That familiar voice spoke again.

“Are you injured? Bitten by a zombie? Any signs of mutation? Answer truthfully.”

Xu Duoduo kept her head down, playing dead. She even tried to crawl under the covers.

Then she heard a sharp tsk of impatience. The man’s tone turned fierce.

“Did you not hear me? 3A Special Operations Squad. We’re an official search-and-rescue team. Miss, if you don’t answer, it might delay your evacuation. Do you understa—hmm?”

Xu Duoduo had just been wondering what he was ‘hmm’-ing about when, the next second, the man strode forward, grabbed her by the collar, and yanked her up.

The sudden movement scared her zombie body into trembling violently.

She shut her eyes, playing dead harder than ever.

Then, she heard his voice, filled with amused surprise.

“Little class monitor?”

The tone was familiar—casual, cocky, and laced with the shock of an unexpected reunion.

Xu Duoduo finally opened her eyes to look at her would-be executioner.

The first thing she saw was an unreasonably handsome face, looming close.

They locked eyes.

Before the man could say anything, his earpiece crackled to life with a loud exclamation:

“Who? Little class monitor? Qin Ge, have you finally lost it? You’re so obsessed you’re hallucinating?”

Qin Luo impatiently switched off his earpiece. He took another look at the small zombie in front of him, then hesitantly asked,

“Xu Duoduo? What the hell—why do you still look the same after all these years? That same face?”

Xu Duoduo went numb.

Her sluggish brain finally caught up to reality. She recognized him.

An old classmate.

This reunion was… difficult to describe.

He was still as dumb as ever.

Looking at Qin Luo in his combat uniform—tall, with sharper features than before—he had grown into the kind of devastatingly handsome man that could make girls swoon. Back in school, he had been both the campus heartthrob and the school delinquent.

As class monitor, Xu Duoduo had spent far too much energy keeping him in check.

She wanted to greet him with a blank-faced “Hello.”

But when she opened her mouth, all that came out was “Aba aba.”

So she chose silence.

Qin Luo, like an overgrown golden retriever, examined her with great curiosity.

After years apart, his former middle school class monitor was a little different.

As he studied her more closely, he noticed something off—her skin was ice cold.

His brows furrowed.

Qin Luo reached out and pressed his fingers to her neck.

No pulse.

Xu Duoduo nearly thought he was trying to strangle her, but then realized he was checking for a pulse.

She felt a tiny pang of sadness—and a tiny spark of comfort.

Her old deskmate, once a hopeless slacker, had made it into a special operations squad.

Pretty impressive.

Their old homeroom teacher, Mr. Li, would probably be proud.

“Huh. Weren’t you always a smart one? How did you not survive the early outbreak?”

Qin Luo sounded genuinely regretful.

But why did his face and tone make her want to punch him???

Xu Duoduo scowled and glared at him, puffing up with anger—just like when she used to chase him down for unfinished homework.

Qin Luo burst out laughing.

“Oh, right. Almost forgot something important.”

He looked around, as if searching for something.

Xu Duoduo began trembling again.

Was he looking for a good spot to execute her?

She shut her eyes and resumed playing dead.

Finding nothing useful, Qin Luo casually grabbed a small blanket.

When he turned back, he saw Xu Duoduo still sitting there, eyes closed, shivering.

He sighed.

Then, without warning, he wrapped her up and tied her up completely.

Xu Duoduo, still with her eyes closed, noticed she was suddenly bound.

She figured he probably didn’t want her to struggle and die messily—that he was kindly giving her some dignity.

She opened her eyes and looked at him with deep gratitude.

Qin Luo’s expression turned weird.

What the hell?

Why did this zombie look grateful for being tied up?

This was getting creepy.

He hoisted her up—blanket and all—held her horizontally, and then stuffed her into a cabinet.

“Stay put. I’ll come back for you later.”

Muttering to himself, he gave her one last glance.

Her pale little face, big eyes staring at him…

Qin Luo’s ears suddenly turned red.

He clicked his tongue.

“Why the hell is a zombie acting cute?”

Xu Duoduo: ???