Two weeks later.
A residential area in the suburbs of Atlanta.
Wu Fan crouched on the roof of an abandoned SUV, drawing his compound bow into a full moon.
Thirty meters away, a lone zombie was wandering aimlessly across a family's lawn.
It wore a floral nightgown, its long blonde hair messy and disheveled; she must have been a middle-aged housewife before she died.
Swish.
The arrow pierced through the air, accurately penetrating the zombie's temple.
It collapsed onto the lawn like a sack of potatoes, twitched twice, and stopped moving.
Wu Fan jumped down from the roof and walked over to retrieve the arrow.
He wiped the blood clean on the corpse's nightgown and slotted the arrow back into the quiver on his back.
He had found the compound bow in a sporting goods store two weeks ago.
Gunshots were too loud and would attract more zombies.
Bows and arrows were quiet, making them suitable for his current nomadic hunting life.
It had been two weeks.
Ever since he was thrown out of the CDC that day, he had been wandering the perimeter.
But he wasn't in a hurry.
What he needed to do now was wait.
Wu Fan had scavenged this residential area for two weeks and collected quite a few supplies.
Canned food, bottled water, first-aid kits, several changes of clothes, and this modified pickup truck—with iron bars added to the truck bed and security grilles welded onto the windows, it could barely be considered a mobile fortress.
He had even found a police station.
Unfortunately, the armory had long since been looted, leaving only a few boxes of shotgun shells and a small crate of pistol ammunition.
It seemed that in the early stages of the outbreak, the local residents had thought of grabbing guns even sooner than the police.
Wu Fan adjusted his quiver, preparing to continue today's scavenging—
Footsteps.
Many footsteps.
Messy, hurried footsteps accompanied by panting and screams.
Wu Fan looked up and saw a group of people rushing out from the end of the street.
There were over a dozen of them, men and women, young and old.
They held a variety of weapons—baseball bats, steel pipes, golf clubs—clearly things they had grabbed from their homes.
Everyone's face was filled with terror as they ran for their lives.
They saw Wu Fan.
But no one stopped.
One after another, they rushed past him as if he weren't even there.
Wu Fan frowned.
Just as he was about to ask what was going on, the last girl to run past suddenly stopped.
She was a blonde girl in her early twenties, her blue eyes filled with dread.
She wore an athletic tank top and jeans, clutching a softball bat in her hand.
"Run!"
She shouted at Wu Fan, "There are thousands of Walkers following us!"
Wu Fan looked toward the end of the street.
Then he saw them.
A dark, dense mass.
Those things poured out from the corner, packed tightly together, filling the entire street.
They stumbled and were stiff, but they were fast—much faster than a normal person walking.
Their grayish-white faces were filled with ravenous hunger.
"OMG, they're catching up!"
The blonde girl's face turned pale. "Run!"
She turned and fled.
Wu Fan didn't run.
He walked leisurely to the pickup truck parked by the road, opened the door, sat inside, and started the engine.
The pickup roared as it surged forward, quickly catching up to the group of people.
When those people saw the vehicle, their eyes lit up.
They waved their hands frantically, screaming, "Stop! Let us on!"
Wu Fan slowed down and rolled down the window.
Then he pulled out the Truth, pointing the muzzle upward so everyone could see it.
"You."
He pointed at the blonde girl. "Get in."
The girl froze.
"Hurry up."
She snapped out of it, pulled the door open, and jumped into the passenger seat.
Before the door could even close, Wu Fan had already stepped on the gas, and the pickup shot forward.
Angry curses echoed from behind.
"There are troops stationed one kilometer ahead."
Wu Fan said without looking back, "Run faster, and you might live."
He saw in the rearview mirror that those people had regained hope and were running desperately in that direction.
"What's your name?"
Wu Fan asked.
"Amy."
The girl was still panting. "Amy Harrison. Thank you for letting me in."
"You're welcome. You warned me, and I warned you once. We're even."
Amy was stunned for a moment, then she suddenly laughed. "You're a really interesting person."
Wu Fan didn't speak.
The truck drove very fast, reaching the barricades on the perimeter of the CDC in five minutes.
Two Soldiers saw the pickup and immediately raised their guns.
Upon seeing the face in the driver's seat, one of them rolled his eyes.
"How is it you again?"
"I missed you guys too."
Wu Fan stopped the truck with a grin.
The other Soldier walked over and tapped on the window. "You've been blacklisted, you know? The Major said if we see you approaching again, we're to shoot on sight."
"I know, I know."
Wu Fan waved his hand. "I'll just stay here and won't go in. But this girl—let her in for refuge. There are thousands of Walkers following a group of people; they'll be here any minute."
The Soldier looked into the distance.
Sure enough, the group appeared around the corner a few hundred meters away.
They were running for their lives, and behind them—
The Soldier's expression changed.
At the corner, a dark mass of a horde was pouring out.
More and more, like a gray tide.
A middle-aged man at the very back was caught.
He let out a blood-curdling scream as a dozen hands grabbed him simultaneously and dragged him into the horde.
"Holy shit!"
The Soldier shouted, "Sir! Thousands more are coming!"
The Major rushed out of a tent, took a look through his binoculars, and his face turned ashen.
"Everyone into the vehicles! Evacuate!"
With the order given, the entire camp instantly sprang into action.
Soldiers abandoned tents and supplies, rushing toward the military vehicles.
The roar of engines rose one after another.
Amy leaned out of the truck window and yelled, "Hey! You can't just leave them like that!"
No one paid her any attention.
Three tanks sat there silently—out of fuel.
Four military transport trucks were also motionless—likewise out of fuel.
Only a few hummers and trucks were still operational; carrying two hundred Soldiers, they kicked up a cloud of dust and drove away without looking back.
Amy stared blankly at the receding taillights, unable to believe her eyes.
Wu Fan had already pushed open the car door and was rushing toward the CDC.
Inside the CDC main building, the monitoring room was in chaos.
Several researchers in white coats stared at the screens, watching the military vehicles drive away, their faces pale.
"They're gone?"
"They really left?"
"Oh God..."
A middle-aged male researcher with glasses stood up abruptly. "What do we do?"
No one could answer him.
At that moment, a middle-aged man in a white lab coat slowly stood up.
He was in his thirties, with a buzz cut and deep exhaustion in his eyes.
He was Dr. Edwin Jenner.
A senior researcher at the CDC.
He looked at the approaching horde on the screen, then at his terrified colleagues, and opened his mouth to say something—but nothing came out.
Because he saw on another screen an Asian youth sprinting toward the main building.
That person was running too fast.
Too fast to be running for his life.
It was as if he had a clear objective.
Dr. Jenner frowned.
When Wu Fan rushed into the main building, a group of researchers was running out.
They were all stunned when they saw him.
"Who... who are you?"
A young female researcher asked stutteringly.
"If I were you, I'd drop the isolation shutters right now. There are thousands of Walkers heading toward your CDC."
Wu Fan threw out those words and ignored her.
He pushed through the crowd and headed straight for the stairs.
He was going to the basement.
Because there, the system prompts were flashing frantically.
[Detected host entering target area]
[hive system Level 1 unlock conditions are about to be met]
[Please proceed to Basement Level 3—]
[Permissions verifying...]
When Wu Fan reached Basement Level 3, a heavy metal door blocked his path.
There was a red logo on the door—
An umbrella.
A red and white umbrella.
Umbrella Corporation.
Wu Fan pulled out that ID card and swiped it on the access control.
Beep.
The green light turned on.
A mechanical female voice sounded:
"Welcome back, Wu Fan, Regional Head of Umbrella Corporation."
"Your permission level: S-Class."
"Hive Level 1 is now open."
The metal door slowly opened.
Behind the door was a long corridor, with lights turning on one by one, extending into the depths of the darkness.