Chapter 6 – Entering the CDC
Two weeks later.
Atlanta suburbs.
Wu Fan crouched on the roof of an abandoned SUV, a compound bow drawn tight in his hands.
Thirty meters away, a lone Walker wandered across a quiet residential lawn.
It wore a floral nightgown. Long blonde hair hung in messy strands over its face.
A former housewife—now just another empty shell.
Whoosh.
The arrow cut through the air and struck its temple cleanly.
The Walker collapsed instantly, twitching once… then went still.
Wu Fan climbed down, walked over, and retrieved the arrow without hesitation. He wiped it on the nightgown and slid it back into his quiver.
Gunfire was too loud.
It attracted too many of them.
So he adapted.
In these two weeks, he had learned one rule:
Silence meant survival.
He had been wandering the outskirts of Atlanta ever since the CDC incident.
Not rushing.
Not panicking.
Just waiting.
In that time, he had turned this residential area into a temporary base.
He scavenged everything he could find:
Canned food. Water. Medical kits. Clothes.
And a modified pickup truck—its bed reinforced with iron grates, windows sealed with metal mesh. Not perfect, but enough to survive.
He even found a police station.
But the armory was empty.
Looted clean in the early chaos.
Apparently, civilians had been faster than the police.
Wu Fan finished adjusting his quiver when he heard it.
Footsteps.
A lot of them.
Screaming too.
He looked up.
A group of survivors burst into the street—more than a dozen people.
Men. Women. Elderly. Even children.
They were armed with whatever they could find: baseball bats, pipes, golf clubs.
Pure panic on their faces.
They didn't even notice him.
They just ran.
Then the last one slowed.
A young blonde woman, early twenties, blue eyes wide with fear.
"Run!" she shouted at him. "There are thousands of Walkers behind us!"
Wu Fan turned his head.
And saw them.
A moving black mass.
Flooding out of the street corner like a rising tide.
Dozens… then hundreds… then more.
Too many to count.
Their bodies swayed unnaturally as they advanced, but their speed was relentless.
Faster than they should have been.
The woman's face went pale.
"Run!!"
She turned and sprinted.
But Wu Fan didn't move.
Instead, he calmly walked toward his pickup truck.
Unlocked the door.
Got inside.
Started the engine.
The pickup roared to life.
The survivors noticed immediately and shouted.
"Hey! Stop! Let us in!"
Wu Fan slowed down just enough to roll down the window.
Then he raised his pistol slightly—not threatening, just visible.
He pointed at the blonde woman.
"You. Get in."
She froze.
"Hurry."
That snapped her out of it. She rushed forward, opened the door, and jumped into the passenger seat.
The moment the door shut, Wu Fan stepped on the gas.
The truck surged forward.
Behind them, curses and desperate screams faded quickly into the distance.
"There's a military checkpoint one kilometer ahead," Wu Fan said calmly.
"If you run fast enough, you might make it."
The girl stared at him, still catching her breath.
"What's your name?"
"Amy," she said. "Amy Harrison. Thank you."
"You warned me," Wu Fan replied. "I let you in. We're even."
Amy blinked, then gave a small, nervous smile.
"You're a strange person."
Wu Fan didn't respond.
Five minutes later.
They reached the CDC perimeter.
A military roadblock stood ahead.
Soldiers immediately raised their rifles.
Then one of them saw Wu Fan.
He groaned.
"Why is it you again?"
Wu Fan waved casually. "Miss me?"
"Get out of the car," the soldier ordered. "You're blacklisted. The Major said next time you show up, you get shot."
"I'm not coming in," Wu Fan said.
He pointed to Amy.
"Let her in. There's a horde behind us. Thousands."
The soldier looked past them.
And saw it.
At the far end of the road, people were running.
And behind them—
The Walker horde.
Endless.
A living tide of death pouring forward.
"Holy—" the soldier muttered. "Sir! Thousands incoming!"
Chaos erupted instantly.
The Major appeared within seconds, binoculars raised.
His face turned pale.
"EVACUATE! NOW!"
Orders spread like wildfire.
Soldiers abandoned tents, grabbed weapons, and rushed toward vehicles.
Engines roared to life.
Dust filled the air.
Amy leaned out the window, horrified.
"You can't just leave them!"
No one answered her.
Not a single person looked back.
In minutes, the entire military line collapsed into retreat.
Tanks sat useless—no fuel.
Transport trucks—dead weight.
Only a handful of vehicles escaped with the soldiers.
And just like that…
The front line vanished.
Inside the CDC, chaos was worse.
Monitors flickered with images of retreating vehicles and incoming hordes.
Researchers shouted over each other.
"They're leaving?!"
"They're actually abandoning us?!"
Panic spread through the room.
Then—
A man slowly stood up.
Dr. Jenner.
Buzz cut. Exhausted eyes. A man who had clearly stopped believing in hope long ago.
He stared at the screens silently.
Then at his colleagues.
He opened his mouth—
But no words came out.
Because on one monitor—
A man was running toward the building.
Not walking.
Not fleeing.
Running with purpose.
Directly toward them.
Jenner narrowed his eyes.
Wu Fan burst through the CDC entrance.
Researchers stumbled back in shock.
"W-who are you?!"
Wu Fan didn't slow down.
"If you want to live," he said coldly, "lower the quarantine shutters. Now."
"There are thousands of Walkers outside."
Then he ignored them completely and ran for the stairs.
Something in his vision was flashing.
The system.
[Hive System: Responding]
[First-level unlock conditions detected]
[Proceed to B3 – Basement Level 3]
He reached the lower levels.
A thick metal door blocked his path.
A red logo was stamped on it.
An umbrella.
Red and white.
Umbrella Corporation.
Wu Fan paused for the first time.
Then pulled out the ID card.
Swiped it.
Beep.
Green light.
A mechanical voice echoed:
"Welcome back."
"Umbrella Corporation Regional General Manager Wu Fan."
"Clearance level: S-Class."
The lock released.
The massive door slowly opened.
Light spilled into the corridor beyond.
One by one, the ceiling lights flickered on—
Stretching deep into darkness.
A passage that clearly should not exist inside the CDC.