Chapter 19 (1/2)

Chapter 19

Edited by: Isalee

When he entered the water, Zhou Rong only had one thought — it was very cold.

The groundwater was bone-chilling. He did a couple of strokes to loosen his muscles. With the light from his headlamp, he saw that Zhang Yingjie was trapped by two large shadows near his feet, and could not struggle out from their hold.

Zhou Rong was afraid that he would hit Zhang Yingjie. He aimed at a zombie before pressing the trigger. However, the water deflected the angle of the bullet, and it only hit the zombie's back!

It was completely useless!

Aggressive movements would cause a depletion in oxygen. Zhang Yingjie could finally no longer hold on to his breath, and bubbles expelled from his lungs before he silently sank further into the water.

Zhou Rong swore in his heart. He resolutely dived deeper. One of the zombies who had swelled up after being submerged in water now turned back to catch him while the other chased after Zhang Yingjie.

Zhou Rong used the b.u.t.t of his rifle to hit the zombie, making it fall back. However, the zombie slammed against the wall of the elevator shaft and rebounded. Stretching open its dissolving mouth, the zombie leaned forward, but its mouth was blocked by Zhou Rong's gun. With a shot, its head exploded!

With black blood trailing behind its body, the zombie sank swiftly. Zhou Rong felt that he could no longer hold his breath anymore. However, the situation did not allow him to hesitate at all. He lunged towards the direction where Zhang Yingjie had disappeared.

In many drowning situations, the hardest type of rescue was when the victim jumped into a well. Due to the smoothness of the walls, there was no pivot point, and it was difficult to struggle to stay afloat in such a cramped s.p.a.ce. Descending rapidly like what Zhou Rong was doing would increase the water pressure tremendously, and the oxygen consumption would instantly reach its limit.

His lungs convulsing violently, Zhou Rong gritted his teeth, holding on to his last breath. Suddenly, he felt a change in the direction of the water, and the zombie who had been chasing Zhang Yingjie was now floating up!

— f.u.c.k!

Zhou Rong only had this thought left in his head. His blood surged up within him, and he swung a heavy fist towards it!

If this was on land, Zhou Rong's right fist could reach a force of 400 kilograms. In the arena, this could knock out a boxer. However, due to the lack of oxygen as well as the density of water, a large portion of his strength was diminished. The zombie's chest caved in with his punch, but it lunged towards him again.

Zhou Rong's vision was darkening. He struggled to lift his gun up and press his trigger!

The random shots made the water murky. The head and body of the zombie burst apart and finally sank down.

By then, Zhou Rong could no longer feel the existence of his limbs. He pulled his gun away, mechanically sinking down. Groping about, he touched a motionless leg at the bottom.

A hard-soled military boot, a leg, a tactical bag… It was Zhang Yingjie!

Feeling as though a cardiotonic had been injected into him, Zhou Rong used the last bit of his strength to drag Zhang Yingjie up, then did his utmost to head to the surface.

— There was a sudden weight on his foot!

Two icy, stiff hands reached out from the bottom of the elevator shaft and caught his ankle.

The water rushed upwards. A zombie with a swollen, disgusting head came up and savagely bit Zhou Rong's calf that was covered by his uniform!

”…!!”

Zhou Rong kicked his leg wildly. The kicks echoed in the water, but due to the lack of oxygen, his vision was dark, and he was unable to pull out his handgun. In the struggle, his mouth opened, and this insignificant action nearly ended his life there and then—

As his throat was relaxed, the last breath of air in his lungs escaped out in a flurry of bubbles.

Was this… the end?

Splash—

A bright light came from above. A shadow dove in swiftly, brus.h.i.+ng past Zhou Rong!

Zhou Rong was really completely exhausted, he could barely see anything anymore. The last thing he saw before he fainted was that person biting a dagger, heading straight towards the zombie. The light shone upon his cold, handsome face.

— It was Si Nan.

Zhou Rong shut his eyes, and his consciousness finally faded away.

”There's still a pulse…”

”Keep it up! …”

”He moved! He's moving!”

Zhou Rong wrenched his eyes open, struggling to sit up as he coughed out a bellyful of water.

This cough lasted forever, nearly forcing his spleen out. A moment later, Zhou Rong finally awkwardly stopped coughing, gasping as he spoke hoa.r.s.ely, ”Yingjie…”

Chun Cao exclaimed in joy, ”Rong-ge is fine! — Hey, Si Xiao-Nan?!”

Zhou Rong raised his head only to see Si Nan kneeling next to him. When he heard that he was fine, he silently collapsed backwards.

Zhou Rong was extremely alarmed. He hurriedly reached out to grab him. Si Nan was soaked, his face pale, and he had fainted away.

”He's overexerted himself.” Exhaustion was written across Chun Cao's face, ”We both took turns to do CPR on you both.”

Zhou Rong leaned against the wall, pillowing Si Nan's head on his stomach. Wearily, he examined his surroundings. They had finally reached Zone B. This should be some personnel's office. Sprayed across the concrete walls was blood. Papers and files were scattered all over the ground, and the metal door was closed tightly. Outside the room, the indistinct moans of the zombies could be heard.

Zhang Yingjie was lying motionless next to him. He looked as though he was dead, but after studying him carefully, his chest was rising and falling slightly.

Zhou Rong gave a couple of coughs. Having nearly drowned, his throat was extremely painful. He barely managed to ask, ”What happened?”

”There was limited s.p.a.ce in the elevator shaft. Si Xiao-Nan and I were afraid that the two of you wouldn't have s.p.a.ce to work. However, after two or three minutes, there was still no sign from either of you, and we could only jump in and start searching. Discovering that you had been caught by the zombie, Si Xiao-Nan stabbed the zombie's head that was biting you. I then blasted the bomb that we set up, and we were flushed out from the shaft…”