The stairwell in the garage is the same as the lobby, with three walls and one side made of glass walls and a glass door. Like the upstairs, all the glass walls were designed with a double-layer structure during construction.
At this moment, under the automatic sensor lights in the stairwell, the glass walls and door are intact. Looking through the glass, everything around seems to be fine. Of course, this could also be because most of the lights in the underground garage are broken, leaving it dimly lit.
There are thirteen people: besides Xu Yan, the Gou brothers, the Chen Tong couple, and Yu Xi, there are also five men and two women. The number of men is higher, and they are mostly young adults, aged around twenty to thirty, including the security guard Xiao Zhang, who had been living at Xu Yan’s place.
The two women are tenants who rent the same unit: one is a white-collar worker with a regular fitness routine, and the other is a physical education teacher who seems to be quite fit.
The female white-collar worker is well-protected, holding a large bottle of alcohol spray, which can create a brief flame when used with a lighter or similar fire source. The physical education teacher is holding a weapon that Yu Xi recognizes—a metal nunchaku.
Yu Xi doesn’t hide anything and directly straps the Tang sword, obtained from the zombie world, onto his back.
The glass door in the stairwell opens, and everyone files out. A few people turn on the flashlight function on their phones and cautiously shine it around, especially at the visual dead spots.
In the far corner of the ceiling, a shadow of an insect quickly passes. However, after the long period of plant and animal mutations, they are no longer panicked by the presence of a few insects.
For them now, as long as the insects don’t actively attack, they can just avoid them. Even if a big millipede were lying in front of them, they believe they could suppress their screams and just walk around it.
Xu Yan locks the stairwell door again. Gou Yaoyang leads the way, Xu Yan falls to the middle of the group, and Yu Xi consciously takes up the rear. The group walks cautiously toward the exit of the garage, constantly alert to their surroundings.
When someone passes their own car, they mutter that it would be great if they could drive out. Having a car for protection would greatly improve safety.
“Let’s go out and check the situation first. If we can drive, we can check the car condition when we get back and try it next time,” Xu Yan says. He also thinks driving would be convenient, as a car is a sturdy form of protection against ordinary insects and can carry more supplies.
As they near the garage exit, they see the greenish daylight outside and quicken their pace, heading up the sloping ramp. The closer they get to the outdoors, the more the concrete surface with cushioning strips beneath their feet becomes unrecognizable.
The concrete is covered in moss, which not only grows on the ground but also climbs up the walls on both sides. Even the stems and leaves of vine plants hang down from the walls.
The exit is about two meters high, and nearly a third of it is blocked by hanging vines, which serve as a large green curtain, filtering the sunlight and casting a green hue on everyone’s faces.
The group grows tense again. Everyone turns off their flashlights and puts away their phones, though some still hold their phones with the camera function open, seemingly preparing to film. The thick moss underfoot feels soft and spongy, almost like walking on soggy mud.
Outside the parking lot is a driveway, flanked by a green plant area. It had originally been burned to ashes and treated with growth inhibitors, but now, newly grown plants are shooting up again, growing to several times their previous height.
The pavement on both sides of the concrete driveway is shattered, with huge cracks exposing the soil beneath. Various grasses, moss, and low-lying plants seem to have found room to grow, pushing their way through the cracks.
The road surface is still there, but it is broken into pieces. Giant tree canopies above their heads interlock, blocking the sunlight, and only scattered rays manage to shine through the gaps in the leaves, falling onto them.
They walk along the driveway toward the community entrance, stepping over the green plants and fallen leaves. Along the way, they feel as if they’ve entered a primeval jungle or crossed hundreds of years to a post-human city on a planet where humanity has disappeared.
It’s very quiet around them, with no city noise or human chatter—only the rustling sounds from the woods and the calls of unknown insects.
Everyone slowed their pace, huddling closer together, looking around with vigilance, while tightly gripping their various “weapons.” They oriented themselves and quickly arrived at the entrance of the community, where there were tall iron gates, a guard booth, and a duty room. Though almost entirely covered by surrounding plants, they could still vaguely make out the structures.
Gou Yaoyang stopped and turned back, signaling Xu Yan. Xu Yan, holding the keys, stepped forward with Xiao Zhang, the security guard, to open the duty room door. The control button to open the main gate of the community is inside the duty room, so they had to go in to unlock it.
The duty room is a very low building, and with the green plants behind it, it’s almost completely blocked off by the leaves and vines, making the door hard to see.
Yu Xi saw Xiao Zhang, without a word, attempting to chop through the entwined branches with the kitchen knife in his hand. She told him to wait and quickly stepped forward, using the scabbard of her Tang sword to pry open the branches, revealing a small lock behind them.
She gestured for Xiao Zhang to open the door, and it was quickly opened with a creak. At the same time, a black shadow lunged out from behind the vines.
Xiao Zhang, standing nearby, was hit in the face by the shadow, letting out a startled sound and stumbling backward into someone else.
That person didn’t even have a clear view of what flew out but was startled by Xiao Zhang’s collision and let out a loud cry, their hair standing on end.
The others were not frightened by the flying object but were startled by the loud cry, quickly moving aside.
“Quiet,” Gou Yaoyang hissed sharply through the panicked crowd, “It’s just a sparrow.”
The chaotic group tried to calm down. They weren’t afraid of sparrows; even if one had grown larger, it would only be the size of a hen and still frightened of humans. Now, this sparrow was only half the size of a hen.
They were only startled by the shout and, upon regaining composure, turned their eyes toward the culprit.
Chen Tong, looking at her husband Zou Yan who had fallen to the ground, struggled to suppress the scream that had almost escaped her throat. Since she decided to go out, she knew what she would face.
In the past, she was afraid of everything—sharp-beaked birds, rats, moths—but now, it was like a rebound after hitting rock bottom. She had had enough of this anxiety and fear. No matter how scared she was, she would hold back the scream.
A few days ago, she had packed her things and moved back to her original home. But Zou Yan didn’t want to move back, claiming that their current place was very safe, far from the plants, with no birds attacking. He didn’t understand what she was insisting on.
Chen Tong had already told him everything she needed to say. This time, she told him directly that they no longer shared the same values. If he didn’t want to, she wouldn’t force him. They would live separately from now on. After all, they didn’t have children, and with the state of the world, divorce seemed impossible, so they would temporarily live apart.
Perhaps because of the way she had made up her mind, when she notified him of the time they would be leaving, her husband knocked on the door of their 15th-floor home, saying he would go with her. He still loved her and didn’t want to lose her.
Chen Tong was moved, but the feeling disappeared when she saw Zou Yan, terrified by a sparrow and screaming as he fell to the ground. All her feelings turned into worry and helplessness.
Zou Yan probably realized he had become the target of ridicule, hurriedly quieted down, and got back up. “I… I just didn’t expect an animal to jump out in a closed room.”
It would have been better if he hadn’t explained, since even Xiao Zhang, who was hit in the face first, wasn’t as scared as he was.
The sparrow, startled by everyone, fluttered its wings a few times and finally flew up, heading toward the high tree canopy. But soon, it seemed to be trapped by an invisible force among the branches, struggling and crying out.
The female white-collar worker tried to look up, but because of the height and the light, it was hard to see clearly. “What’s wrong with it? Is it tangled in something?”
Yu Xi saw the situation above clearly. “It’s a spider’s web.”
The fact that the spider’s web was capable of catching a sparrow gives a clear idea of just how large the spider must be. Fortunately, the trees are extraordinarily tall, and the branches are high up. The spider would likely weave its web in the upper branches, though it might eventually extend its web to the tree trunks below. Even if it doesn’t trap people, such a large spider blocking the path would still send chills down anyone’s spine.
The mention of a spider immediately terrified everyone, and they all grew quieter. Yu Xi peeked into the duty room and saw that a wall behind the building had been pushed through by plants, leaving a large hole. About a third of the room had already become a home for plants.
She asked Xiao Zhang where the door’s switch was, quickly entered to open the main gate, and, following Xiao Zhang’s direction, forcibly broke the lock on the drawer under the control panel, retrieving a few remote controllers and walkie-talkies.
With the remote controllers, they wouldn’t need to enter the duty room to open the door anymore. Xiao Zhang had originally wanted to hand her the drawer key but, seeing her break the lock with a loud snap, quietly put the key away.
The group passed through the large iron gate, which was draped with vines, and stepped onto the road outside. Yu Xi used the remote to close the gate, and the group set off again, their destination clearly marked: the shopping mall across the street.
The female white-collar worker, who had observed Yu Xi forcefully break the lock, took a few glances at her before speaking quietly to her roommate, the physical education teacher. The two of them then silently fell back from the front of the group to the rear, walking ahead of Yu Xi.
“Hello, I’m Xia Xuan, and this is Ma Tiantian,” the female white-collar worker said as she briefly introduced herself during a pause in their walk. “We live in 501.”
“Yu Xi.”
She glanced at the long blade Yu Xi was holding. “Is this a Tang sword?”
“Yes.”
The current situation wasn’t ideal for a conversation; they were simply making brief introductions.
The outside of the community looked no different from inside. If the interior was a small forest, the exterior was a vast primeval forest. Branches crisscrossed in slanted angles, blocking most of their view. Where once the road would have shown the surrounding buildings, such as the shopping mall opposite, a row of stores resembling cafes, milk tea shops, and book bars, and a line of cars parked along the roadside, now everything was overtaken by green plants. Even the cars parked by the roadside were covered in moss and vines. Some vehicles had even been tilted sideways, leaning against shop doors due to the growing trees.
A row of green vines hung down from the shops above, covered in white flowers. In the distance, a patch of bright red flowers bloomed between a few large trees. The flowers were large, with petals fully spread open.
Several butterflies, about the size of a palm, were drawn to the red flowers, folding their wings as they landed on the flower’s center. However, the butterflies soon realized something was wrong and flapped their wings, trying to leave, but they were firmly stuck in place. The once-open petals slowly closed, eventually enveloping the butterflies completely.
Everyone quickly glanced at this scene, a sense of fear creeping in, and they hastened their pace.
As they neared the shopping mall, they finally encountered others like them—another fully armed group that had arrived earlier and was now trying to enter through the gate covered in vines.
Because the plant overgrowth had occurred at night, the mall had already closed, and now, besides a few security guards, there were no other people inside. However, since the mall was so large, no matter whether the guards were still there or not, they wouldn’t notice the sounds coming from the gate.
The other group was discussing how to break the door when they heard the footsteps and turned to see Yu Xi’s team. After a brief pause, they came over to greet them. “Which community are you from? Are you also heading to the supermarket? Do you know if there are any other entrances besides the main gate?”
They hadn’t wanted to break the glass, not only because they weren’t sure if the glass in their country could be shattered with their limited tools, but also because if they did break the glass, it would lose its airtight quality. If they left and insects or animals entered, the next time they came back, it might not be safe.
Moreover, this was a big mall. What if, after the crisis in S City passed, the mall held them accountable?
Gou Yaoyang stepped forward at the right moment. “We can go through the underground tunnel on the side and go down to the second basement level. It’s a 24-hour parking garage that doesn’t close at night. From there, we can find the stairwell and take the elevator to the first basement level, where the supermarket is.”
The suggestion seemed reliable, so the group turned and quickly entered the underground parking lot.
Since they had walked through the underground parking lot not long ago, this time Yu Xi’s team led the way, with Yu Xi following behind.
Since the incident had occurred at night, the parking lot had only a few lights on, and it was vast and dim. Even with flashlights, they could only illuminate a small area in front of them.
As the group walked halfway through, Yu Xi suddenly heard a strange sound. She stopped, and Xia Xuan, walking in front, noticed immediately, stopping and turning around. “What’s wrong?”
Her halt caused the other group to stop as well. Some people, who were already nervous and trembling in the dark, now expressed some dissatisfaction and asked why they had stopped.
Before Yu Xi could respond, someone from the back of their group spoke in a trembling voice. “Where’s Xiao Zheng? He was just behind me.”
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