Chapter 4: Escaping Atlanta
As night fell, Atlanta descended into hell.
Wu Fan lay behind the rooftop water tank, watching the city he had lived in for ten years burn beneath the darkness.
In the distance, downtown Atlanta was engulfed in flames. Thick black smoke twisted into the night sky like giant serpents.
Gunfire echoed nonstop throughout the city. Some bursts were as dense as a storm, while others sounded like scattered firecrackers.
Every gunshot meant someone was still fighting.
Or dying.
Howls rose from every direction.
From the streets.
From shattered windows.
From dark alleys hidden between buildings.
The sounds rose and fell like a chaotic symphony from hell.
Wu Fan could no longer tell how much humanity remained in those voices.
Maybe none at all.
Only hunger.
Three helicopters circled overhead.
Their searchlights swept across the streets, illuminating countless staggering figures below.
Where the beams passed, Wu Fan saw hordes of corpses moving through the city—not wandering aimlessly, but heading in the same direction.
Toward the gunfire.
Toward the living.
"They're still alive over there, huh..."
Wu Fan muttered quietly.
He remained on the rooftop for nearly an hour. Only after confirming the surrounding area was temporarily safe did he carefully climb down the fire escape.
The moment his feet touched the ground, his knees nearly gave out.
The military defensive line from earlier wasn't far away.
Gripping the scavenged M4 tightly, Wu Fan moved along the wall and slowly approached.
Then he saw it.
A scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
The defensive line was gone.
In its place was a nightmare of shredded flesh and blood.
The barbed wire had been torn apart. A Humvee lay overturned nearby, its metal body covered in deep claw marks.
Severed limbs littered the ground.
An arm still clutching a rifle.
A leg wearing a military boot.
Half a face pressed against a shattered car window.
Its eyes were still open.
Grayish-white.
It had already turned.
Wu Fan forced himself to look away.
He didn't want to think about who that face used to belong to.
The nineteen-year-old blonde soldier?
Or the captain who had pointed a gun at him earlier?
It didn't matter anymore.
They were all dead.
But there were still useful things left behind.
Wu Fan quickly searched through the battlefield.
Ammo boxes were scattered everywhere. Some had been crushed beneath vehicles, while others remained intact.
He grabbed two full M4 magazines and stuffed them into his belt before shoving three more into his backpack.
Pistol ammo.
Shotgun shells.
Even a few grenades.
He took everything he could carry.
The rear door of a military Humvee hung open. Two bulletproof vests rested on the back seat.
Wu Fan pulled one over his body.
It was heavy enough to make his shoulders ache instantly.
Still, he kept it on.
In this world, even one extra layer of protection could mean the difference between life and death.
After gathering supplies, he moved toward the roadside.
A Toyota Corolla sat parked there with its door unlocked. Two exposed wires dangled beneath the steering column.
Someone had clearly tried to hotwire it before him.
They just hadn't finished.
Wu Fan slid into the driver's seat and took a deep breath.
During his five years working as a civilian employee at the police station, he had heard plenty of officers brag about how easy it was to steal a car.
He never thought that useless knowledge would one day save his life.
He stripped the wires.
Red to red.
The moment they touched, the dashboard lit up.
The engine rumbled to life.
Wu Fan exhaled in relief, shifted gears, and pressed down on the gas pedal.
The Corolla shot forward.
He didn't dare drive too fast.
But he couldn't afford to drive too slowly either.
Too much noise would attract zombies.
Too little speed might get him surrounded.
He kept the car at around forty kilometers per hour, headlights turned off, relying only on moonlight and the distant glow of fires to navigate.
Again and again, he had to detour around wrecked vehicles.
Some cars were still burning.
Bodies littered the roadsides.
Some corpses had already turned and were still crawling across the asphalt with broken bodies.
Wu Fan avoided running them over whenever possible.
The vibrations and noise would only attract more.
At one point, he encountered a horde of over thirty zombies blocking the road.
He spotted them from afar.
But there was no alternate route.
Dense forest surrounded both sides of the highway. Driving into the woods would be suicide.
Wu Fan gritted his teeth.
Then floored the accelerator.
The Corolla smashed through the middle of the horde.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The car shook violently as bodies slammed against the hood and windshield.
Grayish-white arms clawed at the windows.
Rotting faces slammed against the glass.
Wu Fan's heart nearly stopped.
But the car burst through the horde and sped away into the darkness.
Half an hour later, he reached the suburbs.
Then he heard it.
Gunfire.
Not scattered shots like before.
This was organized combat.
Rapid bursts from M4s and M16s.
The occasional explosion of grenades.
Wu Fan immediately stepped on the brakes and pulled the car to the roadside.
The gunfire came from the northeast.
The CDC.
"Someone's still alive over there?"
He frowned.
No.
Judging by the intensity, this wasn't just a handful of survivors resisting.
This was a full-scale battle.
Was the military defending the CDC?
Or evacuating it?
Wu Fan shut off the engine and sat silently in the darkness, listening.
The gunfire continued without stopping.
That meant the CDC hadn't fallen yet.
But it also meant that area was incredibly dangerous right now.
Wu Fan had watched the show.
He knew exactly how the CDC would end.
"Going there tonight is suicide."
He muttered softly.
"Wait until morning."
He had no intention of approaching in the dark only to get shot by some nervous soldier mistaking him for a Walker.
Besides, the world had already collapsed.
No one would care if he died.
Wu Fan restarted the engine and slowly turned off the main road into a suburban neighborhood.
It was a typical Atlanta residential area.
Detached houses.
Neatly trimmed lawns.
Two parked cars in every driveway.
Now those lawns were littered with suitcases, toys, and abandoned belongings.
Doors hung open.
Windows were dark.
The people were gone.
Wu Fan picked the most inconspicuous house he could find.
A small two-story home with white exterior walls. A large oak tree in front blocked most of the moonlight.
He parked quietly and approached the front door with his rifle raised.
The door was slightly open.
The inside was pitch-black.
Wu Fan pushed it open slowly.
"Hello? Anyone there?"
His voice was low and cautious.
No response.
Only the faint hum of the refrigerator.
He switched on his flashlight and began clearing the house.
The living room was a mess.
A half-eaten pizza sat on the coffee table.
The television still displayed static.
A child's jacket lay tossed across the sofa, while Lego bricks were scattered across the floor.
The owners had fled in a hurry.
The kitchen sink was filled with dirty dishes.
The refrigerator still held food.
The milk had spoiled, but the canned goods and pasta were still usable.
Wu Fan left them alone for now.
First, he needed to make sure the house was safe.
He headed upstairs.
The master bedroom was in complete disarray.
The bed sheets were tangled.
The closet stood open.
Clothes and hangers covered the floor.
The second room belonged to a child.
Cartoon dinosaur wallpaper covered the walls, and a teddy bear lay abandoned on the bed.
No one.
Wu Fan finally let out a breath of relief.
He returned downstairs and checked every entrance carefully.
Front door locked.
Back door locked.
First-floor windows secured.
Blinds closed.
Only after finishing all that did he finally dare turn on the kitchen light.
The warm yellow glow illuminated the room.
For a brief moment, Wu Fan felt dazed.
As if tonight were completely normal.
As if the nightmare outside wasn't real.
As if the family who owned this house would come downstairs any second and demand to know why he had broken in.
Then distant howls echoed through the neighborhood.
The illusion shattered instantly.
Wu Fan turned off the light and stood silently in the darkness.
He found an unopened bottle of whiskey in the kitchen cabinet, twisted off the cap, and took a long drink.
The burning alcohol slid down his throat, helping clear his mind slightly.
Afterward, he headed upstairs into the master bathroom.
The house still had gas service.
To his surprise, the water heater still worked.
The moment hot water poured over his body, Wu Fan nearly broke down crying.
He stood beneath the shower for nearly ten minutes.
Gray water spiraled into the drain.
Blood.
Sweat.
Dust.
Fear.
Everything from the day washed away with it.
After showering, he searched the closet and found a white shirt and a dark suit.
The original owner had been slightly heavier, making the clothes somewhat loose, but they were far better than his bloodstained police uniform.
Wu Fan lay down on the bed.
The mattress was soft.
The pillow smelled faintly of detergent.
Outside, distant gunfire still echoed from the direction of the CDC.
Closer to the house, the occasional zombie howl drifted through the darkness.
Wu Fan stared blankly at the ceiling.
Scenes from the day replayed endlessly in his mind.
The alarm clock that morning.
Karen slamming the door before leaving.
The chaos in the streets.
The black hand grabbing Maddie's hair inside the police car.
Gunfire.
The system notification.
The military defensive line.
The piles of shredded flesh.
Driving through a horde of corpses in the dead of night.
Maddie.
She had been taken to the hospital.
Had she turned already?
Or was she still alive?
Wu Fan didn't know.
Maybe he never would.
In this world, disappearing usually meant death.
He slowly closed his eyes.
Exhaustion crashed over him like a tidal wave, drowning every remaining emotion.
Fear.
Anxiety.
Confusion.
Thirty seconds later, he was asleep.
There were no zombies in his dream.
Only the Hive.
The underground Hive from Resident Evil.
A massive hexagonal underground facility stretching endlessly into darkness.
Layer after layer.
Infinite.
A voice echoed from deep within the darkness.
"Unlock me."
"Unlock me."
"Unlock..."
Wu Fan suddenly opened his eyes.
Morning had arrived.
The gunfire outside had stopped.
The suburbs were deathly silent.
He lay there for several seconds, staring at the ceiling as his mind slowly caught up with reality.
Then he sat up, walked to the window, and carefully lifted one corner of the blinds.
In the distance, the outline of the CDC building loomed through the morning mist.
Several columns of black smoke rose into the gray sky.
Wu Fan took a deep breath.
"Alright."
He whispered softly.
"Let's go take a look."