Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Xie Ning woke up around 5:30.

The car had already turned onto the main road, and the drive was fairly smooth.

The young woman glanced expressionlessly at the man behind the wheel.

The moment she stirred, Song You’ai, who was beside her, woke with a start. "You’re awake, Ningning," she whispered.

"Morning!" Gu Chen glanced at her in the rearview mirror, greeting her with a grin.

Lu Wei stirred in the passenger seat and sat up straighter. "Is it 5:30 already? Why didn’t you wake me?"

’Why is Xiao Gu in our car?’ Xie Ning asked Song You’ai with a questioning look.

Her mother smiled at her. "Xiao Gu’s car was getting overloaded. I saw that our car and the van still had space, so I had them send a few people over."

Xie Ning nodded, yawned, and glanced out the window.

Just in time to see a head-tilting zombie on the roadside turn and lock its glaring eyes with hers.

Xie Ning expressionlessly turned her head away and looked toward Xiao Gu in the driver’s seat.

Lu Wei was pulling food and water from his backpack, turning to hand them to the mother and daughter.

Song Shijun was slumped against the side window, smacking his lips in his sleep, lost in some sweet dream.

’Sigh, handsome boys are so much easier on the eyes,’ Xie Ning thought. ’Zombies are just too ugly. It ruins my appetite to even look at them.’

Grumbling inwardly, Xie Ning accepted the food and thanked him.

"That Spiritual Zombie wearing the curtain probably developed a sliver of intelligence. Its base of operations is likely the Tianrun Supermarket."

Lu Wei blinked. "You mean that supermarket we detoured to avoid earlier?"

Xie Ning nodded, taking a bite of a small bread roll. "That zombie runs back and forth. It lures hordes to the Tongjiang Tunnel, then runs back to the supermarket to keep hunting. Its bit of intelligence told it that a lot of people must pass by the supermarket every day."

Countless people must have died at the hands of that Spiritual Zombie.

Fortunately, they’d managed to eliminate it in its early stages. If it had grown to the Third, Fourth, or even Fifth Rank, a Spiritual Zombie would have been incredibly difficult to deal with.

"Ningning, how did you know it was holed up near Tianrun Supermarket?" Lu Wei asked curiously.

’That’s right, how *did* I know?’ Xie Ning still couldn’t figure it out herself.

"You might not believe me, but I dreamed about it," Xie Ning said, recalling the scene from her dream. "It was like watching a flickering, black-and-white movie. In flashes, I saw several hundred zombies blocking the entrance to Tianrun Supermarket. Thinking about it now, that Spiritual Zombie must have been the one who summoned them."

"I see." Lu Wei’s face cleared with understanding. "No wonder you told everyone to take a detour."

Gu Chen blinked. "Ningning, I don’t think that was just some movie-like dream. That was most likely Spiritual Sensing."

"What?" Xie Ning, who had been nibbling on her bread, froze. She sat bolt upright. "What sensing?"

"Spiritual Sensing. It’s highly likely you have a latent Spiritual Ability."

Song You’ai gave her daughter a bewildered look.

’Isn’t my daughter a Small Space Superpower User? She said so herself!’

When she later awakened the Metal Spike Ability, Song You’ai had thought that was just icing on the cake. She never imagined there would also be this Spiritual System thing that she couldn’t comprehend at all.

"Impossible." Xie Ning waved her hand dismissively and shook her head with a serious expression. "No way. You’re overthinking it."

’If I had a Spiritual Ability, how could I not feel anything at all? Besides, when I advanced to my First-stage Superpower, there were clearly only two Crystal-like Objects in my energy source, representing my Space and Gold Abilities.’

’If I had a third superpower, there should be three Crystal-like Objects—or, more accurately, Energy Crystals.’

"I think it’s highly likely," Gu Chen said, analyzing the situation as he drove. "You were in the car, right? How could you just happen to dream about the area near Tianrun Supermarket, and just happen to see a massive horde of zombies gathered there?"

Xie Ning was almost convinced by Xiao Gu!

But she quickly shook her head, resolute. "Impossible."

’Don’t get your hopes up.’

’The Spiritual Ability was one of the world’s top-tier superpowers. Unlike standard attack-type abilities, it wasn’t very powerful at the start. It might seem weak in the early stages, but once it fully developed, it reached a level that ordinary Strong Attack Abilities could never hope to match.’

Seeing the solemn look on her face, Gu Chen couldn’t help but laugh. "Don’t be so quick to write yourself off. You can test it out slowly later on."

"You used your Spiritual Ability without realizing it this time, which means the part of your energy source for the Spiritual System is still very weak—it probably hasn’t even fully manifested yet. Just listen to me. When you get home, practice by yourself. If you keep working at it, you’ll eventually get a feel for it."

Xie Ning nodded, only half-convinced.

"AH!" Song Shijun suddenly cried out, shooting bolt upright with a shudder.

His movement was so abrupt that his head slammed into the car’s ceiling. The pain made him grimace, but at least it snapped him fully awake.

"Junjun, what’s wrong?"

Song Shijun finally got a clear look at his surroundings. He was in the car, perfectly safe with his aunt and cousin.

He wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "I... I dreamed about Mom and Dad."

"Oh, you poor thing." Song You’ai patted her nephew affectionately. "Don’t worry, Junjun. Your mom and dad will be fine, I’m sure of it."

"If things go smoothly, we should reach the Song Family Pavilion in about twenty to thirty minutes."

Just as Gu Chen finished speaking, the pickup trucks leading the way up ahead slowed and pulled over to the side of the road.

Xie Ning: ...

Lu Wei glanced at his brother, feeling the secondhand embarrassment.

Gu Chen blinked, completely unfazed. "They’ve stopped. We might have to move another car. I’ll go take a look."

"I’ll go too." Xie Ning wanted to stretch her legs and her stiff back, so she got out of the car with Gu Chen.

Just as they got out, they heard two muffled gunshots from up ahead.

By the time Xie Ning walked over, a crowd of gawkers, unafraid of stirring up trouble, had already gathered on the roadside.

A female zombie covered in scratch marks, a section of her intestines dangling out, dragged her ruined body around and let out a low howl at the crowd.

"Oh my god!" An older woman nearby yelped, her hand trembling so hard she dropped her carton of yogurt.

Xie Ning glanced down at the wasted food and sighed inwardly.

’In another ten or fifteen days, that woman will regret today’s wastefulness. She’ll regret dropping this half-carton of yogurt for the rest of her life.’

"Ningning, isn’t this that... that person from your group?" Gu Chen’s voice reached her.

Xie Ning looked up and recognized her. "It’s Annie."

Annie had turned into a zombie.

It seemed Annie’s journey hadn’t gone so well after she’d left with Lou Dali and the others.

One of the young men put a bullet in Annie, sending her on her way.

After the others quickly cleared out the dozen or so zombies blocking the area, the group got back in their vehicles and drove off.

After they entered the West City limits, some people split off in their cars to find their own relatives. However, a large number still believed Gu Chen’s group could protect them and stuck close behind.

"We’ll have to build the courtyard walls higher when we get back."