Yanlong opened her eyes after a long time. The walls of bathroom are coated with green dust, looking very much like a mold.
The shower is still running. In the water, a trough formed in green dust leading to drain. She slowly stood up, observing her surroundings.
'Huh' is her first thought.
The lights are still on.
She wanted to turn off the shower, but she could not see the tap. She turned around slowly, she is surrounded by four walls. Then she looked down. Her feet are small. Small, like baby feet.
She swore.
She had a plan for every contingency and more, but this is too far out of her expectations. Her mobility is limited. Her strength is limited. She is predetermined prey for almost ninety nine percent of the living creatures living, dead and otherwise.
Damn, she can't even get her backpack from where it hung. She could barely turn off the shower. She would have hit the wall till her fist bled, but she is too afraid she will break her hand. She could probably reach the towel if she jumped.
She jumped with all her might. She reached the towel, slid on landing. Worse yet, the towel landed on the wet floor. Her butt hurt crazily. She may have hurt her knees too.
Her eyes felt hot and tingly.
For the first time in ten years, Yanlong gave in to the urge and bawled like there's no tomorrow. After all, she could very well die tomorrow.
She has reverse aged, and became a three year old. None of the perfect clothes she bought fit her.
She can't use any of the weapons she bought with her little hands.
The day became bright by the time she finished crying. She wiped her eyes. She is not wet any more. the air has dried of moisture.
she is not even sure she can use the toilet with out falling in the hole.
Yanlong once more felt like crying... She did not try to suppress her tears. What's the point? she may as well cry to her content if her survival chances have become this low.
she gathered her self firmly once she has finished crying. When she was young, she had a fever. she was bed ridden for half a year, she had never again been as athletic as she was before that fever.
she will consider this a gift from the god, and push herself to do her best.
Well… First, she just needs to make a new plan. For starters, she needs to get that back pack. She has her towel with her. Hopefully, she has awakened one of the abilities.
She concentrated all her mind and imagined a flame burning in her hand.
Her fingertip lighted up with a small flame, just enough to light a candle, not even as big as a candle flame. She could already feel the drain.
Yanlong extinguished the flame.
She tried the same with an air blade, metal and water. She could probably produce a water ball size of a golf ball, if only manipulating, she can move it at a speed to have the same effect as rain drop.
Unless she's dousing a candle, she could not think of a place it can be used. Metal, she could remove as much as a hair breadth at one time.
Yanlong refused to cry again. She will find a way.
First, she could probably make holes in the door. She only needs to climb up enough to drag her bag down.
She started removing metal from the door in a half circle shape. She barely made an indent when fatigue set upon her. Yanlong stopped working on the door. Anything else is fine, but she cannot lose consciousness again.
Zombies don't avoid people who lost consciousness the same way they avoid the ones that are still in transformation.
She has no idea how her transformation to a child came about. However, as long as she lives, she can find an aging space with accelerated time somewhere. It will not do to die before that time due to starvation.
She needs to get food and water, of which, there are plenty in her bag.
Food, water and all her weapons are in her backpack. If she loses consciousness here, it's as good as dying.
So, she put her ear to the ground and listened to sounds outside. At first, it seemed like the world was drenched in utter silence. Slowly, she started hearing things.
Sounds of pitter patter, as if a mouse is moving. Sound of squeaks, as water moved through pipes. Then, the sound of something heavy sliding across the floor, as if it doesn't know how to walk.
It's a supreme power zombie.
Supreme power zombies are usually strong muscular males... They are bulked up ten times, slowed down ten times. Thus, like rock giants, their defense is good , their offence is better yet.
Yanlong started sawing with a renewed zeal. If that thing truly comes here, the door is not an obstacle for it. A supreme power zombie could punch a clean hole through reinforced concrete wall.
Just like humans, earlier awakening of a zombie, more powerful it is. From the way it shuffled it's feet as if they are too heavy, it's power is not small.
A power based zombie could claw through an inch thick iron door easily. The metal door that's separating her from the zombie is as flimsy as a paper for it.
These zombies only have one disadvantage. They are vulnerable to elements. A correctly trained air or fire mutant can easily kill one, but there's no one but Yanlong around.
With her candle flame, it will be a century before she can kill this zombie. She needs those weapons and she needs them now.
Her panic reduced her concentration, the metal screeched like a rusty hinge. 'I can not panic now', Yanlong reminded herself. Slow and accurate.
She concentrated with all her might on making that cut. Slowly, but steadily she made progress. The power zombie reached her just as she made the final cut.
She still needs to fold the little paw hole she made towards the outside. Her foot will not have enough support to stand on without this part.
However, she can't bring herself to exert enough force to do this. Panic rushed through her body like a winding snake, sapping strength from her limbs. She fear chilled her body from bottom to top.
No, I can not go in to shock now!!! she forced her self to calm down with herculean effect.
The sliding sounded far closer now, almost as if the power zombie right outside the door. Yanlong is too scared to even breath.
"Yanlong! .. Yanlong!" a voice called from outside.
'Huomei?' Yanlong recognized the voice at once.
'RUN' she wanted to scream, but her throat was clamped.
The sliding moved away.
'Nooooooooo'
'RUN, YOU IDIOT GIRL..' she wanted to scream ... but her body is frozen in fear... her throat muscles still did not loosen up.
A scream sounded outside and sliding moved away.
Yanlong could not wait any more.
'Fuck this life' she thought and fell towards the door. It's the best she could do.
her head banged on the door, making a 'Thwop' sound...
a human wouldn't have paid it much attention, but zombies are different. Their hearing is far better.
The sliding turned back.
That little bang has exhausted all her courage.
her muscles barely loosened with the pain. Yanlong scampered back, to right below the tap.
The zombie screeched and scratched the door.
The claws made ripping indents in the door, like sharp nails ripping through tissue.
Goosebumps raised all over Yanlong's skin, as if she's dunked in ice cold water.
Even her breathing became more laborious.
'Thank you god, for giving me this opportunity to live. Fuck you, Physics department you are the ones who induced this night mare. May all your subsequent experiments fail.' Yanlong said her last words in her mind.
She is still in the process of experiencing that flash of life before death when the door glowed orange.
A part of the door melted away, suspiciously in a human shape. Yanlong's last thought is Huomei must have awakened her powers.
She did not know Huomei was this powerful. Last time around, they all woke up the next day, it was Mingzhu who came to bathroom first.
Needless to say, she died.
Yanlong slept again after waking up last time. By the time she awoke again, someone told her it's zombie apocalypse. Huomei has long been awake by then, she protected their room, with Biyu and Meibing.
The door hook is welded to the door. Due to the weight of her backpack, the human-shaped part of the door melted and extended inwards, just enough for her to reach her backpack.
Even so, she had to exert all her strength to just get handle out of the hook. The fragment swung back with all the force of a whip lash as soon as she removed the weight.
Yanlong fell on the floor due to fright as a raucous bang echoed in the bathroom. She waited for some more time. Nothing happened. The red glow along the edges of the door is fading.
Yanlong wrapped the towel around her hand, twisted the handle and pulled the door.
Thankfully, the gods of fate looked at her kindly this time, the door opened.
Yanlong dragged her backpack and wedged it in between the door and shower. The embers are still fading on the corpse outside.
Yanlong wet the towel, reached inside the skull of the corpse after dousing it with water. She looked at the nucleus she obtained. Power type is common, yet, truly impressive power nuclei are rare.
The zombie transformation works on the same principle as abilities. Earlier the transformation, more powerful a person. She is probably the only exception, given how shitty her powers are. Or, maybe they are not her powers in the first place.
She distinctly remembered absorbing those nuclei in past life. She never gained any powers then, probably the seeds remained?
Regardless, first things first. She needs to absorb this power nucleus, otherwise she may not have even an ounce of chance staying alive. She was a 'sensitive' in the last life, thankfully that ability was carried over. That means she could absorb the crystal nuclei safely.
In no time, she finished absorbing the nucleus. She carried her backpack, went into another shower with an intact door, locked herself in. After all, this is a girls dorm, statistically, no more power zombies of this caliber will appear.