Chapter 101

"Hold on!" Malin En shouted.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!" One after another.

The mother and daughter felt as if a bull was ramming the door from outside. The door panel slammed against their shoulders and wrists, and if not for the few mops bracing it, the infected patient would have already burst through.

The two of them dared not think of anything else. Perhaps it was a moment, perhaps longer—but after the door withstood the battering for so long, the infected patient finally stopped moving.

The two of them lit up with hope, but neither dared speak. They pressed themselves quietly against the door, waiting until the banging completely ceased.

"What do we do now?" The mother and daughter exchanged looks. Though the infected patient had stopped pounding the door, it wasn't necessarily gone. The worst-case scenario was that it was still wandering around the restaurant.

Mamira saw her mother glance at the ceiling and turned to look as well—spotting the ventilation duct.

They decided on the spot to crawl out through there. Malin En dragged over a small table she used for storing things, stacked it on top of the toilet, and just barely managed to reach the ventilation shaft. Together, they quickly pried off the exhaust fan.

Just then, the bathroom door came under attack again. The mother and daughter's hearts tightened at the same time, but luckily, the pounding was noticeably lighter this time. A man's voice came from behind the door.

"Is anyone in there? I know someone's in there! I heard the commotion from the men's restroom next door! Open up! The infected one is right nearby—it'll come running over any second! Let me in! There's strength in numbers!"

The mother and daughter exchanged a glance.

"Could it be an infected patient pretending?" Mamira said, full of suspicion.

"Maybe a customer from the restaurant," Malin En said with a frown. She knew every employee at the restaurant, and no men were on the night shift.

"We're in no position to worry about that now, Mom! Our lives matter more!" Mamira tried to help her mother up into the vent, but Malin En hesitated, then shook her head.

"He's right—there's strength in numbers. And if he's a customer, he might not know about the vent. We can't leave him to die."

Mamira cursed the man under her breath. Why did he have to show up now of all times? Couldn't he have just stayed in the next room over? But she went to open the door anyway.

The mother and daughter let the man in and quickly shut the door again.

The man was close to thirty, with a pallid face and cracked lips. The moment he entered, he begged, "Do you have anything to eat? Any water? My name is Zhou De'er—I'll repay you once I get out!"

"Who has food to spare?!" What nerve, to ask them for food. Mamira tossed him a small bottle of mineral water. "That's all we've got."

Zhou De'er hastily twisted off the cap and gulped down the entire bottle, his spirits finally easing. He sized up Malin En and her daughter. "So what have you been eating and drinking while you've been in here?"

"We haven't eaten anything, and we haven't had anything to drink either!" Zhou De'er's tone carried a hint of probing, as if they were deliberately hiding food from him. It made Mamira's hackles rise, and her voice came out sharp.

"Sir, we were about to leave too, but the infected patient at the door blocked us," Malin En said, stroking her daughter's back. "We were just about to escape through the vent. Staying here forever isn't an option."

Zhou De'er realized Malin En was a restaurant employee. He glanced at the ventilation duct, then at his clean, well-dressed appearance, and hesitated. "Is there any other way out?"

"Bang!" Just then, the bathroom door was slammed into again.

"The infected patient is back!" Mamira shrieked in fright.

Thankfully, they'd propped the mops against the door, buying themselves some time. But judging by how the lock was already rattling loose, that time wouldn't last long.

This time, Zhou De'er didn't hesitate. No matter how expensive his clothes were, he needed to be alive to wear them.

"Let's get out of here now!" he urged.

"My mom goes first!" Mamira pushed her mother toward the toilet. "You're the one who lured this infected patient over—you're covering the rear!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A few more blows, and Zhou De'er turned pale with fear.

He didn't dare stay behind. Instead, he shoved Mamira aside without a second thought, using his greater strength to climb onto the toilet first. Malin En hadn't expected him to be so unreasonable, and he pulled her away with a yank. "I'm a man, I'm stronger—I'll go up first and pull you both up!"

With that, he stepped onto the small table and pushed himself up toward the vent.

"Get the hell down here!" Mamira tried to grab him, but half his body was already inside the duct. "How can you do this!" Mamira was on the verge of tears.

"Sweetheart, you go first!" Malin En didn't waste time arguing and pushed her daughter up.

"You first!" Mamira refused.

"Bang!" And right then, the door was completely smashed open.

"Pull my mom up!" Mamira shouted. "Or I'll haunt you even after I'm dead!"

"I really didn't mean it!" Zhou De'er scrambled up and reached a hand down. "I'm helping you now."

Time was of the essence. Malin En quickly climbed onto the small table and, with Zhou De'er's help, crawled into the vent, with Mamira right behind her, stepping onto the table.

At the same moment, the bathroom stall door burst open with a bang, and the infected patient lunged in like a madman.

"Sweetheart!" Malin En grabbed Mamira's hand and hauled her up into the vent with all her strength.

But Mamira was a step too slow—the infected patient caught hold of her shoe. She kicked back furiously, but the disgusting hand wouldn't let go. Just as the hand was about to crawl up, Mamira kicked her other foot against the shoe, slipping free, and flopped into the vent like a fish out of water.

Seeing the infected patient's savage face behind her, she couldn't help but feel her heart pound.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Malin En shuddered with lingering fear. Then she turned a cold glare on Zhou De'er. "If anything had happened to my daughter, I'd drag you down with me even if it cost me my life!"

Zhou De'er gave an awkward smile.

"Once we're out of the vent, we go our separate ways," Mamira said crossly.

"We still have to go down?"

Mamira shot him a look. Malin En said, "It's all rats up there. If you want to stay and keep them company, be our guest."

Stay with plague rats? They must have a death wish. The three fell silent and crawled forward. Finally, they emerged from the restaurant and saw soldiers in the corridor. Malin En wanted to climb down, but Zhou De'er stopped her—

"They're searching for anyone who came into contact with that cleaner."

"So what?" Malin En said. "Fine—let them clean up... my colleague."

"Are you stupid?" Zhou De'er wanted to get as far away from the soldiers as possible. "They don't care whether you touched your colleague or not—they'll take you out along with it. If you want to go down, be my guest. I'd rather wait for the Open Deck two days from now. There's food and water there—better than this place."

Mamira shook her head at her mother, and the three moved on. Finally, after crawling through the long corridor and several halls, dodging a few infected patients, they arrived at the electrical room at the end.

The electrical room was right next to the stairs and elevator, off-limits to idle personnel. But sometimes it was used to store rags for wiping the corridor lights, so Malin En was familiar with it. Most importantly, it had fire extinguishers, hammers, and emergency flashlights—and stranded with nowhere to go, she and her daughter desperately needed those things for protection.

They pried open the exhaust fan, and down by the stairs, an infected patient wobbled on its feet. Malin En said, "Rush straight in."

She exchanged a look with her daughter, ignoring Zhou De'er, and the two jumped down one after the other. Zhou De'er scrambled to follow.

The infected patient caught the commotion, its bloodshot eyes snapping toward them. It charged at them like a maniac. Without daring to look back, the three sprinted for the electrical room.

Mamira, in the lead, yanked at the door—"It's locked!" she screamed.

"Damn it!" Zhou De'er's eyes darted around, searching for an escape route. But to his utter shock, another infected patient staggered into view on the other side—and locked eyes with him.

"The key! It's under the extinguisher box!" Malin En scrambled to pull it out.

The mother and daughter worked together—one gripping the doorknob, one jamming the key in—completely unaware that behind them, Zhou De'er, seeing no way to flee, was looking at them with a vicious gleam in his eyes.

"Click!" Just then, the door opened on its own.

A familiar face appeared before them—Ms. Lin again! Malin En's face lit up, almost bursting into tears.

She hurriedly gestured for her daughter to run in, but at that moment, Zhou De'er grabbed both their clothes and yanked them back hard, charging through the door first. Malin En hit the ground heavily, her fingers even stomped on by his foot.

"You son of a—Zhou De'er!" Mamira stared at that respectable-looking back and finally lost it, cursing at the top of her lungs.

A second of heaven, a second of hell. Malin En felt a foul stench wash over her, a terrifying shadow looming over her head. She knew—the infected patient was here. She was going to die...

She wasn't afraid to die. She was afraid for her daughter. She'd been so utterly foolish—why did she soften her heart and save that man? She wished she could go back a few minutes and slap herself across the face.

"Tsk." Just then, a rich burst of perfume sprayed out from the door. At that scent, the few infected patients faltered mid-step for a moment before snapping out of it and continuing to rush over.

But it bought Malin En and her daughter precious time. In a dizzying whirl, a hand seized her, hoisted her through the air, and tossed her behind the door. When Malin En came to, she was already sitting inside the electrical room. She turned and saw her daughter also sitting dazedly on the floor.

Behind them, the door slammed shut with a bang.

The mother and daughter felt like they'd been given a second life.

Zhou De'er didn't feel the same way. He stared, dumbstruck, as Lin Tu hauled people in like they were chicks, as if they weighed nothing. He processed the sight for a full minute before snapping back to his senses, a fawning smile spreading across his face.