Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

Song Youzhi gripped the iron door tightly and turned to the clerk, Xiao Zhu. "Come hold this."

His gaze shifted to three old-fashioned electrical cabinets to the side. He pointed. "I’ll try dragging those over to barricade the door."

Xiao Zhu, the clerk, was deathly pale with fright. He bit his lip and nodded vigorously.

Fortunately, the mindless zombies had no idea how to open doors and could only pound on the iron gate from the other side.

But the sound was deafening, and the pounding seemed to echo deep in one’s soul, scaring Xiao Zhu badly.

Song Youzhi ran over to pull on an old electrical cabinet, expecting it to take a Herculean effort.

Unexpectedly, with a single pull, he lifted the entire cabinet with ease.

He froze for a moment, stunned, but didn’t hesitate for long. He quickly dragged the electrical cabinet over to Xiao Zhu and used it to block the doorway.

Then he dragged the other two over as well.

He placed the last old electrical cabinet horizontally on top of the others, barricading the small iron door completely.

"Let’s go, let’s go!" Song Youzhi beckoned to Xiao Zhu, and the two of them ran toward Xie Ning at the other end of the rooftop.

As they got closer, they saw that Xie Ning had been staring at the opposite platform for a long time, completely still.

"What’s wrong, Ningning?" Song Youzhi’s heart was in his throat, his mind in a panic.

He was terrified his niece was about to say, ’There’s no way out,’ which would mean they were well and truly screwed.

Xie Ning had originally planned to use the time they were barricading the door to take a rope and hooks from her Space, secure them to the safety ladder on the opposite building, and climb across.

It would have been incredibly difficult, but it would have at least guaranteed the three of them a safe crossing.

But just now, as she stood on the platform staring at the safety ladder, she had thought, ’If only the ladder could extend horizontally, this wouldn’t be so much trouble.’

And then!

The unexpected happened!

It was as if the safety ladder had sensed her thoughts. Right before her eyes, it began to slowly, bit by bit, change shape and extend horizontally.

The safety ladder, which had been hanging on the wall, was now stretching slowly through the air, forming a perfect horizontal bridge between the two adjacent platforms, allowing for a quick crossing.

Xie Ning’s clenched left hand, pressed against her side, was trembling slightly.

She could feel a strange energy flowing through her fingers.

It was different from the fluctuations of her Space Ability; this was a strange, new type of energy.

Before Xie Ning had time to dwell on it, she heard Song Youzhi’s hushed, astonished cry. "Ning... Ningning, am I seeing things? That ladder...?"

"Go!" Xie Ning took a leap and landed steadily on the horizontal ladder.

Suspended in mid-air, the ladder’s frame dipped noticeably under her weight. Xie Ning quickened her pace and sprinted across to the opposite platform.

"One at a time!" Xie Ning gestured to Song Youzhi.

Without a second thought, Song Youzhi gritted his teeth and dashed forward.

The moment he leaped onto the horizontal ladder, he felt it dip beneath him.

Standing on the opposite platform, Xie Ning raised her left hand and strained to release energy toward the ladder, chanting silently in her mind: ’Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce!’

A layer of some strange substance slowly enveloped the ladder, stabilizing it just as Song Youzhi’s body dipped.

"Uncle, hurry!" Cold sweat beaded on Xie Ning’s forehead.

Song Youzhi immediately broke into a run, heading toward her.

He made a powerful leap, like a pouncing tiger, and jumped an incredible distance. He landed heavily behind Xie Ning, actually cracking the concrete platform under his feet.

Song Youzhi looked at his niece, completely dumbfounded.

Xie Ning turned to glance at the cracked ground, a bright glint in her eyes.

At the same time, a series of clanging sounds came from the small iron door barricaded by the electrical cabinets, the noise growing more and more intense.

Xiao Zhu whipped his head around.