Not long after finishing their dinner, everyone was preparing to take a bath and then relax with those two girls.
But before they could get up, the young man who had returned to the surveillance room to monitor the screens suddenly exclaimed with excitement.
"We found her, we found her..."
Hearing the shout, they all halted their actions and quickly gathered in the surveillance room.
The six security guards and the other dozen people, who were cleaning up the tables and dishes, also followed out of curiosity.
"What's going on? Where did you find that girl?"
The burly San Ge was the first to enter the surveillance room, his gaze immediately turning to the monitor screens.
The young man monitoring the screens pointed at one of the displays, "Found her, right here!"
"Huh??"
Hearing his words, all five men looked towards the indicated surveillance screen.
"Who is this guy?"
The screen showed the moment Ray was carrying the campus belle out.
"Is he one of ours? Did anyone go to the second floor?" Xi Ge, the chubby man, shook the fat on his face and frowned with the question.
"Damn it, no matter who he is, daring to touch the woman I've set my eyes on, once he falls into my hands, I'll chop him up and feed him to the zombies downstairs!" The always hot-tempered man with a scar on his face immediately became furious.
The relatively calm man in beach shorts, noticing the time displayed on the surveillance screen, pointed it out.
"The time on the surveillance is from a few minutes ago?"
"A few minutes ago? What's the situation there now?" San Ge, frowning, ordered the young man in charge of the surveillance, "Bring up the live feed for me now."
"Okay, okay!"
The young man, shivering, hurried to comply.
"Huh? Where is he??"
However, when the footage was switched to live, Ray, who had been carrying the campus belle, had already disappeared from the screen.
"Rewind!"
San Ge commanded once more.
"Yes!"
Shortly after, the last footage of Ray appearing on the screen was pulled up by the young man.
"It looks like he's still on the second floor."
Watching Ray carry the campus belle and then disappear from the surveillance footage near the furniture city without reappearing, the man with glasses pinched his chin and commented.
"You, immediately take some people down and bring them up to me!"
The impatient San Ge, having determined Ray's approximate location, didn't bother to watch any further and pointed to the several security guards who had followed him, ordering them.
"Alright, leave it to us."
Upon hearing this, the six security guards immediately nodded and bowed in agreement, then turned to the dozen or so people and said, "Grab something handy. We'll meet at the staircase in a few minutes and go down to help our bosses bring the person up."
"Yes!"
The dozen people, not daring to say more, agreed and quickly dispersed to grab the makeshift weapons they had found for self-defense against the zombies during the day.
In just over two minutes, they had gathered at the staircase leading downstairs, meeting up with the six security guards. They opened the iron gate leading to the fourth floor and together headed down the stairs.
Previously, they had used cell phone ringtones to lure the zombies to the first floor, and under the leadership of the five bosses, they cooperated to clear all the zombies on the fourth and third floors.
The second floor, being too close to the first and fearing the disturbance might attract zombies, they didn't dare to clear it and had only locked the iron gates of each floor.
But now, due to Ray's appearance, they had no choice but to go to the second floor.
Naturally, they were filled with hatred towards Ray.
"Everyone, keep it down for God's sake. If we alert the zombies on the first floor, we're all done
The six security guards leading the way were extremely cautious. Although the zombies on the third and fourth floors were gone, the second floor still harbored some. Any noise could spell trouble for them.
The dozen or so people following closely nodded in agreement. The security guards did not want any complications, and neither did they.
This led them to become even more cautious as they moved downwards, slowing their pace significantly.
...
Inside a home textiles store on the second floor!
"Umm..."
At that moment, the school beauty, whom Ray had placed on the bed, slowly woke up.
She shook her slightly groggy head, looking around in confusion. Soon after, she saw Ray, who had just finished eating, sitting on the sofa drinking water and resting. Her heart tightened as she remembered what had happened before she passed out, and a wary expression appeared on her delicate face.
"Who are you? Why am I here?"
"Oh? You're awake?"
Hearing the noise, Ray looked over but rolled his eyes at her question: "Shouldn't I be the one asking that?"
"You're not with them?"
Liu Yuqing looked at him suspiciously, counter-asking.
"With who? What do you mean 'not with them'?" Ray was full of questions.
"Sorry, I misunderstood."
Realizing that Ray was not associated with the people who had drugged her, Liu Yuqing breathed a sigh of relief. "I was drugged by a friend of my roommate, but luckily I noticed in time and escaped."
"Drugged?"
Upon hearing this, Ray couldn't help but feel curious. Although gossiping wasn't ideal in these apocalyptic times, he couldn't help but imagine some rather inappropriate scenes, the kind that were definitely not suitable for all audiences.
Though the storyline was thrilling, it was, after all, something one might see in a movie. It couldn't possibly be real, could it?
However, seeing how beautiful this campus belle looked, and considering her previously unconscious state that seemed consistent with being drugged...
"Hmm..."
Liu Yuqing, noticing his skepticism, cast her long eyelashes downward, slightly disheartened, and nodded. She then shared the events that had unfolded with her.
If it had been before, she wouldn't have believed such things could happen to her either.
Not only was she deceived by her most trusted roommate, but she was also nearly drugged...
"Wow, this is really some drama..."
After hearing about her ordeal, Ray couldn't help but exclaim, speculating in his mind, "The friends of her roommates she mentioned are probably on the fifth floor, right?"
Given Liu Yuqing's description, those individuals were involved in underworld activities and likely had some ability to defend themselves, so they wouldn't easily fall victim to zombies.
"Can I ask you something?"
After recounting her experience, Liu Yuqing, recalling the man-eating zombies she saw before hiding in the cabinet, was somewhat incredulous and wanted to confirm with him.
"Go ahead!"
Ray glanced at her, roughly guessing what she wanted to ask, and nonchalantly nodded. After all, in this new world order, acceptance was inevitable sooner or later.
"Is it true that... outside is now filled with those man-eating zombies?"
Even though the deserted state of the supermarket's second floor had almost convinced her, a part of her still hoped that what she had seen was all a dream, not reality.
However, Ray's response shattered that slim hope.
"Yes, just like in the movies, it's now an apocalyptic world out there, full of zombies."
"..."
Looking at Ray's composed face, Liu Yuqing opened her mouth but eventually found herself at a loss for words.
She was an orphan who had finally made it to college and found good friends, only to be betrayed by them. Although she had managed to escape, the world had now turned into this.
As a girl alone in this apocalyptic world, what was she to do?
How was she to survive?
Observing Liu Yuqing huddled in the corner of the bed, hugging her knees and with a face full of confusion, Ray shook his head, about to speak, when suddenly, Jarvis's voice came through the Bluetooth earpiece, "Sir, the survivors from the fifth floor are approaching via the staircase."