Chapter 16：Death Calling

A rotten stench hit their faces. Countless arms scratched viciously. Shen Chen swung his knife and cut off several zombies' arms, retreating as he fought. He quickly retreated to the fire exit door. His eyes lit up, and he shouted, then slashed a zombie's head off with his pitch black machete. The Black-Bladed Jungle Machete, which Shen Chen had specially tailored, was incredibly sharp. Under the control of Shen Chen, who had been cleansed by the evolution fluid, it chopped the zombie's head off in one slash. A thick and pungent stream of blood spewed as the zombie's head flew into the air. The same cut took off the arms of the zombies in the front row as well.

His chance was here! Shen Chen immediately closed the two doors, and at the same time, as swift as a flash of lightning, he inserted the top and bottom latches. The next moment, the sound of zombies pounding at the door came like a torrential tide. The impact was so heavy, the entire door looked like it was about to fall off.

Pan Di's timid cry came from downstairs. "Boss, how are you doing?"

"What are you waiting here for? Go find a safe place!" Shen Chen was about to curse at him. The door wasn't nearly sturdy enough to stop this many zombies. Based on his experience, it would be broken by the zombies within a minute, yet Pan Di and the others were still downstairs instead of looking for a place to hide.

Shen Chen jumped over the railings, yelling with urgency, "Hurry! Everyone get into one room! Make it fast!"

Zhao Ze and Li Qi thought they were already safe. They didn't expect Shen Chen to continue looking frantic. They both gave off a twisted scream, then ran forward on their hands and feet. Guo Yuan and Zhao Zhen also screamed in panic, then each grabbed one of Pan Di's shoulders and dragged him along at flying speed.

When Shen Chen entered the second floor hallway, he took a long look at the fire exit door. The door was bent out of shape from the zombies' thrusting, and the latches were coming loose. There was a small gap in-between the fire exit door. Countless arms reached out from the gap, waving up and down like withered branches in the cold winter wind. Shen Chen looked down. Even after being reborn, the hideous things were still so disgusting and terrifying.

"Roar. Roar."

Accompanied by the agitated and elated roaring, the fire exit door was crashed open with a boom. The zombies came toward Shen Chen like the tide.

"Ah!" A piercing scream was drowned out in the zombies' growling.

Everyone ran as if their butts were on fire. They ran into the closest room at a nearly impossible speed. Zhao Ze burst forth with power this time and kicked the door open in one move. Then Li Qi immediately jumped in. Guo Yuan shouted, "Move inside! Move inside!" Before the three could even get in, they were pushed forward by a strong force from behind.

The three of them staggered into the room. Shen Chen quickly shut the door, then lowered his voice. "Hurry up! The lock is broken. Bring all the furniture over to block the door!"

Li Qi appeared feeble, but he was very quick-witted. With a howl, he lifted the nightstand and charged over. Zhao Zhen and Guo Yuan didn't want to be outdone either. They immediately moved the headboard and TV shelf.

He had to admit everyone had erupted with their maximum power at this moment. They piled all the heavy furniture at the door within a mere dozen seconds. The room suddenly became very empty. Everyone panted heavily and backed against the corner of the room and waited anxiously.

Boom… The rumbling of footsteps rang through the entire hallway, as if a thousand horses and soldiers were galloping through it. Each rumble made the men's hearts tremble. The footsteps went on for a full minute, which showed how many zombies there were.

Shen Chen stood on the inclined TV shelf, looking out through the cat eye. A mass of living zombies were pouring out of the stairwell, heading toward the other end of the hallway. The mass of zombies was like a storm of locusts. The thick smell of decay and blood permeated the entire floor.

Shen Chen was numb from fear. He was very shocked. 'Where had these zombies come from? Why are there so many of them?'

Luckily, the zombies hadn't yet evolved to have a better sense of smell and hearing. Otherwise, just hiding behind a thin door would have been completely useless.

A few minutes later, watching the zombies storm by, Shen Chen finally calmed his nerves. Zhao Ze said with a quiver, "Are they gone yet?"

Shen Chen was immediately alert. He wished he could stuff Zhao Ze's mouth with a sock. How dare he speak at such a time?

As expected, a zombie suddenly turned around and stared at the room door. Soon, a white eyeball appeared in the cat eye. Shen Chen was so shocked he nearly fell off the TV shelf. A deep chill made all his hair stand on end.

'It was drawn here by Zhao Ze speaking.' Shen Chen knew that the zombie outside didn't know he was food. Once his eye left the cat eye, the slight difference would make the zombie realize. Once a single zombie realized something was off, the rest of the zombies would all gather, which meant his crew would certainly be torn to pieces by the hundreds of zombies outside.

Shen Chen gritted his teeth and stabilized himself, not even daring to move his eyes. He didn't even dare to blink. Sweat ran down his face into his eyes, stinging them, but he stood like a statue, forcing himself to stare at the scary white eyeball.

One second... Two seconds... It felt like time was frozen.

Everyone watched Shen Chen's frozen figure. They all sensed danger. Zhao Ze was about to ask again, when he saw Shen Chen's body relax. Shen Chen turned around suddenly and grabbed Zhao Ze, threatening him through gritted teeth, "From now on, shut your mouth. Don't say anything in a loud voice. If anyone shouts again, I wouldn't mind finishing him off right now!"

Zhao Ze nodded in fear, not daring to say a single word.

Zhao Zhen mouthed silently, "How is it now?"

Only then did Shen Chen feel the deep exhaustion that comes after extreme anxiety, yet he managed to say, "They've all left. We're safe for now!"

"What do we do now?" Guo Yuan asked.

Shen Chen said, "We wait!" After this, he quietly opened his backpack and put a piece of jerky in everyone's hands. "Eat something to restore your strength."

Li Qi silently chewed on the beef jerky. The lanky man seemed to have a strong instinct for survival, which made Shen Chen respect him more.

Shen Chen also ate his beef jerky slowly. His saliva quickly moistened the jerky, and he swallowed it. When the bit of food entered his stomach, his body, which had been stimulated by evolution liquid, instantly converted the food into energy, sending it to every part of his body. Shen Chen knew that what he had to do now was restore his energy as quickly as possible and then lead everyone safely back to the sixteenth floor.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Suddenly, the phone rang rapidly.

Everyone's bodies shook at that moment. Everyone stopped chewing the food in their mouths and stared at the red phone on the wall.

Ding! Ding! Ding! The jarring sound rang throughout the room. A great chill seeped through them from their heads to their feet. Their instinct to sense fear and danger made them numb.

At the same time, the excited growls of zombies came from outside the room, accompanied by the sound of inexhaustible feet running toward them. The ringing led the zombies to their room.

Everyone immediately got up. Guo Yuan ran up and picked up the phone, then put it down again, but after only two seconds, the phone rang again like death calling. Outside the door, they could already smell the stench of zombies. The jarring ring was enough for the zombies to distinguish a difference in the room they were in.

Zhao Ze was crying like a girl. "What shall we do? What shall we do?"

Shen Chen gritted his teeth, then opened the window. "Jump! Jump to the first floor!"

Guo Yuan and Pan Di nodded. They had grown up climbing over walls. It was no big deal for them to jump down from the second floor. Zhao Zhen hastily asked, "But what about you, Boss?"

"Cut the crap! Hurry up and jump!"

By then, the zombies had already gathered outside the door, but the phone continued to ring persistently. The sound of pounding on the door was like percussion music that made people breakdown and want to kill themselves. Watching the zombies, whose skin was torn and gaping, reach their hands through the gap in the door with all their might, Shen Chen swung Black Blade, and several arms fell to the floor. He shouted angrily, "What the hell are you standing around for? Jump!"

Guo Yuan was the first to stand on the windowsill and jump. He was agile, rolling over to lesson the impact from the fall. Next was Pan Di. He jumped down with a limp.

The zombies continuously widened the gap in the door. One of the zombies had already squeezed half of its body through the door. It could grab Shen Chen just by reaching out its hand.

Zhao Zhen anxiously shouted, "Boss!"

Shen Chen glared at him, yelling back, "What are you nagging about? Even if you want to die, I don't want to die yet. Hurry up and get down there!"

Zhao Zhen gritted his teeth. His eyes reddened. Then he climbed up the windowsill and jumped down with the help of his brothers below.

At that moment, a petite girl zombie squeezed inside, cracking open her once beautiful lips, and pounced onto Shen Chen. Shen Chen swung his knife, and the girl fell to the ground. Shen Chen took the opportunity to hold up the door again.

Li Qi saw that Zhao Ze still hadn't dared to jump, so he gave him a push. He also jumped down. Zhao Ze's knees were weak. He cried, "I can't do it. I'll die from the fall!"

"Bullsh*t. You can't die from jumping down two stories!"

The zombies outside got stronger and stronger. Shen Chen let out a shout, but the door could no longer hold up. It started creaking from being split open.

Seeing Zhao Ze's cowardice, Shen Chen was infuriated. But even if the guy had moral issues, he was still a living person. Shen Chen charged over and picked Zhao Ze up in his hands, then hurled him out. At the same time, he yelled, "Hurry up and go into the elevator to return to the sixteenth floor!"

With his words, he heard a shrill cry from below, followed by the sound of bawling.

The zombies poured into the room and charged toward Shen Chen viciously. Shen Chen picked up the phone. "Make it quick! I'll give you ten seconds!"

A child's crying came from the other end of the phone. A man shouted incoherently, clearly out of his wits, "Save me! I'm in 518. Save me! There's a child!"