(Lirean Province- Capitol City)
(Eastern District- Xia's Gas Station)
Qin Lan sat motionless behind the driver's wheel as she stared out of the window with numerous thoughts running through her mind.
It was her fault.
She was the one who picked up Eve and now… her brother was dead.
He was dead because of her poor judgement and decision making.
And the worse part was that somehow despite everything that Eve had done…
Qin Lan could not bring herself to hate her.
Qin Lan furrowed her brows as her fingers tightly curled up into a fist. She was filled with a mixture of rage, sadness, and helplessness.
Technically she had already fulfilled the original Qin Lan's request by finding her brother, but this brought little comfort to Qin Lan's mental state.
The young woman closed her eyes in pain and gently let out a heavy sigh. She reopened her eyes and stared at the road in front of her.
No… she needed to drive.
She needed to do something to get these dark thoughts out of her mind.
Qin Lan pushed her key into the ignition port and the van shuddered to life. She flicked on the light switches and then used the gear stick to shift into drive.
She pressed her foot against the acceleration pedal and the van began to move forward along the road.
"Um… are we going ahead of Qin Wei and Eve?" Liu Tao's hesitant voice echoed through the van.
"They're dead," Qin Lan coldly responded as she struggled to get her emotions under control.
"What?!" Chen Xiao cried out in shock.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"What happened? Was there a zombie ambush?"
Eve's impressive strength was clearly imprinted in the minds of the young teenagers and Chen Xiao had just seen Qin Wei's new ability.
Qin Lan's fingers trembled as she kept driving in silence.
Chen Xiao's question hung in the air as she took in a few deep breaths in order to calm down.
"There was a mutant zombie… it was stronger and faster… when I came… it was too late…" Qin Lan finally spoke with gritted teeth.
Why? Why was she lying?
She should tell them that Eve was a monster who killed her brother and yet something kept preventing her from telling them the truth.
"Are… are… you okay?" Liu Yifei asked with concern as she stretched out her hand and placed it on Qin Lan's shoulder.
Qin Lan shuddered and threw the warm hand off before realising what she had just done. That warm feeling reminded her of when Eve used to playfully grab her shoulder.
A hurt expression flashed across Liu Yifei's face and Qin Lan clearly saw it in the mirror.
Great… now she was taking it out on the kids.
She was such a piece of shit…
"I'm sorry… I… I just need some time alone…" Qin Lan apologised sincerely.
She needed to sort out her emotions and now wasn't the best time to talk to anyone.
Liu Yifei nodded in understanding and curled up next to Gong Li who wrapped her arms around her friend's back.
Qin Lan saw their movements in the mirror and the pain in her heart deepened as if someone had shattered it.
She focused on the road and pulled up her phone that still had around thirty percent of battery life left.
There was a major road leading out of the city towards the neighbouring rural province and it was only five kilometers away.
With any luck, they would be able to leave the city tonight and then start a new life amidst this harsh reality.
She needed to train the teenagers how to fight… especially Liu Yifei.
Plenty of bases would eventually target spatial storage users and Qin Lan knew that some would attempt to gain them by force.
The utility that they provided was an invaluable resource in such a dangerous world.
Qin Lan tilted the steering wheel to the left and narrowly avoided a large, overturned truck that was blocking most of the road.
Unfortunately, this part of the city was quite densely populated, so Qin Lan saw numerous zombies slowly walking over from the distance.
They were attracted by the noise of the van.
Men, women, the young and the old were now nothing more than mindless beasts.
Some zombies were missing limbs and had to drag themselves on the ground while others were relatively undamaged.
A few in the crowd had eyes that seemed to contain a trace of human intelligence despite their monstrous appearances.
"I'll deal with them… stay in the van…" Qin Lan quietly whispered as she held a knife in each hand and opened the door.
She stepped outside and felt the cool nighttime air brush against her skin.
Countless stars twinkled brightly in the sky above as if thousands of gods were watching her struggle to survive.
A few hundred meters away, a vague humanoid shadow could be seen hiding behind a nearby building.
Qin Lan didn't notice the creature's gaze since the zombie empress hid her presence and did not make a sound.
The leading zombie who looked like a little girl sniffed the air twice and then rushed towards Qin Lan with a hungry gleam in her eyes.
Qin Lan's body moved automatically, and she sliced through the zombie's neck without hesitation or remorse.
She had an enhanced physique thanks to upgrading her unknown ability and somehow Qin Lan's body moved as though she had spent decades in combat.
The zombies growled and their unpleasant sounds echoed through the hellish city, but Qin Lan was unmoved.
She began her dance of death.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWith blade in hand Qin Lan was a brutal combatant on the battlefield.
Her moves were minimal and without grace. She chopped, kicked, and slaughtered any zombie that came within her reach.
Whenever she got tired, she would pop one of the cleaned crystals in her mouth and the warm fuzzy feeling in her chest would chase away the traces of exhaustion.
Of course, her body would scream out in agony but like a robot Qin Lan continued her massacre as if the pain did not exist.
Her jacket became covered in black blood as she killed…
Then killed…
Then killed again.
Qin Lan only stopped when the last zombie lay motionless on the ground. She was now surrounded by the remains of dozens of what were former humans.
She unsteadily walked towards the nearest body and began to long process of rummaging through the creatures' heads to find the purplish- black crystals.
They still needed to get out of the city, so Qin Lan only picked up most of the crystals before leaving the rest behind.
She took off her jacket and tossed it in a random direction. The scent of blood and rotten flesh still lingered around her body.
Qin Lan opened the van door and entered inside the vehicle without a word. She handed over the bloodied crystals to Liu Yifei and gave her some simple instructions.
"Wash the crystals carefully and then take one. Tell me how your body is feeling and then take another," Qin Lan spoke calmly.
She picked up a bottle of water tucked away inside the passenger's compartment and washed her hands clean.
Liu Yifei carefully washed the crystals and then popped one in her mouth. She doubled over in pain and her body trembled.
Gong Li hurriedly leaned over to make sure that she was alright, but Liu Yifei could only grunt painfully as it hurt to even breathe.
Qin Lan started up the van and checked the map to make sure that she was going in the right direction.
Okay… just go straight… then two lefts…
The van slowly moved along the road and vanished off into the distance.
None of the passengers inside the van saw the humanoid figure who walked over to Qin Lan's discarded jacket and held it tightly in her hand.
Eve prepared to follow them again, but an unexpected scent caught her attention.
She sniffed the air twice to make sure that she was not mistaken but… no… that was… impossible…
Eve turned her head towards a certain direction and a confused expression flashed across her face.