The two of them cautiously ascended the concrete stairs leading to the first floor, with Michael glancing back three times as he walked at the back. The iron door at the top of the stairs was tightly closed. They all knew that if this place was like the one across, pushing open the door should lead to the backyard on the first floor. However, Jack had no illusions; the backyard here was not comparable to theirs. There were already thousands of living corpses surrounding the front, and even if the backyard had fewer, it wouldn't be by much.
"Brother Lin, that big guy isn't waiting right outside the door, is it? If we go out now, won't we just run right into its arms?" Thomas Xu stood unusually close behind Jack, occasionally shining his flashlight behind him, feeling the hairs on his arms standing on end. He stammered, "Brother Lin, something feels off. I... I keep feeling like something is watching me from behind."
"Hey, I'm saying, my master is leading the way, and I'm covering the back. What are you afraid of being in the middle? If someone is going to die, it won't be just you!" Michael stood at the bottom of the steps, occasionally scratching the ground with his front paw, looking at Thomas Xu with evident impatience.
"You all have great skills; I'm just afraid I'll be the only one to die!" Thomas Xu said with a mournful face. He thought about it and still felt that using the knife was not safe, so he quickly took off the handgun from his back and held it tightly against his chest.
"Once the bow is drawn, there's no turning back. We've come this far; are we really going to retreat?" Jack glanced back at Thomas Xu, but when he turned again, he frowned at the pitch-black surroundings. The feeling of being watched was not just experienced by Thomas Xu; he felt it too, but it was a vague sensation, seemingly without hostility, as if an indifferent onlooker was observing them from a distance with a blank expression.
"Alright, I'll open the door right away. Once I do, I'll draw their fire, and you need to find a way to climb up to the platform on the second floor and cover us from there. Do you understand?" Jack raised his M1911A1 in front of him. After Thomas quickly checked his gun and nodded, Jack wasted no time and gently twisted the iron door handle.
Unfortunately, just as they hoped to sneak up to the second floor, as soon as the door opened, two dazed zombies almost collided with them. The two zombies were momentarily stunned, and under the bright moonlight, they tilted their heads as if trying to determine how many living people Jack and Thomas were. However, Jack and Thomas gave them no chance, each kicking one of the zombies to the ground. With Jack covering Thomas in front with his gun, the two of them sprinted towards a protruding platform on the second floor.
"Da da da…"
Whether it was Jack's handgun or Thomas's automatic rifle, they both opened fire mercilessly. As the two zombies were kicked down with a roar, it was like a stone stirring up a thousand waves, immediately triggering a chain reaction in the courtyard.
The surrounding zombies all roared and surged forward. Even though both guns were pouring bullets at maximum capacity, the sheer number of zombies was overwhelming. For every one that fell, ten more would pounce. The continuous gunfire barely made a dent, and the encircling zombies were closing in tighter. Several zombies that fell at their feet could almost reach them with an outstretched hand, and in an instant, blood and flesh were flying, making the situation increasingly dire.
"Hurry, get up there…"
Jack blasted a zombie's skull off with his gun, blood and brains splattering everywhere. He and Thomas leaned shoulder to shoulder against a white iron pillar at the back door. The pillar was only as thick as an adult's calf, but it was responsible for supporting the glass terrace on the second floor.
After hearing Jack's shout, Thomas had no time to think or aim, firing off two shots without caring if he hit anything. He quickly slung his rifle over his back, not bothering to check how close the zombies were. Like a nimble monkey, he climbed up the pillar to the terrace in the blink of an eye.
"Get up here!"
Thomas shouted down as fast as he could while taking off his rifle from his back. The glass terrace was extremely slippery after the heavy rain, so he could only half-kneel on the terrace, shooting down the fastest charging zombies with his rifle. But facing what seemed like an endless horde of zombies, even two more assault rifles would only be a drop in the bucket; for every one that fell, another would immediately take its place.
"Zzz~"
Just as a drop of rain slid off the terrace, it landed on the gun barrel in Jack's hand, which had already run out of ammunition. The nearly red-hot barrel instantly evaporated the rainwater, producing a barely noticeable wisp of white smoke. Hearing Thomas Xu's call, Jack didn't dare to slack off; there were far more undead in the backyard than he had imagined, dark and numerous everywhere. He had already fired the last bullet in the chamber, but he couldn't afford to change the magazine anymore, as even that would be an extravagant waste of time for him now.
With his backhand, he used a gun to smash the head of a living corpse in front of him. The gun was quickly holstered by Jack. He did not choose to climb up the iron pillar like Thomas Xu, because even if Thomas Xu was covering for him, the wave of zombies would definitely pull him off the pillar before he went to the terrace.
All the living corpses had gathered around the pillar. Thomas Xu once again shot out a magazine. Just when he was sweating profusely, he saw Jack in the center of the storm rush forward, step on the window sill of the first floor, leap forward, and grab the edge of the terrace with his hands. He then raised his hands, his whole body was very agile. He landed on the terrace, and Michael, who had been clawing and biting below, was more direct than Jack. After he violently tore into pieces a few living corpses that dared to grab his butt, he kicked out his four claws and jumped straight up from the ground. Although Thomas Xu had a weird face, he wiped the sweat from his head and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Help, help..."
Closely connected to the terrace is the glass curtain wall of the restaurant on the second floor. This building is the same as the one opposite, much like an airport terminal. Through the glass, the survivors inside saw Jack who came to rescue them early. When they saw them successfully getting on the terrace, the people inside were even more excited and banged the glass. They were as excited as seeing their relatives and shouted for help.
"You guys get out of the way"
Thomas Xu raised his rifle and waved to the crowd inside. The crowd immediately understood his intention and stepped aside. The next moment, Thomas Xu smashed a piece of tempered glass that was more than two meters high on the curtain wall with a gun. The tempered glass was scattered on the ground like a goddess scattering flowers.
A big hole was shot in the glass curtain wall. Thomas Xu proudly carried the rifle on his shoulders. When he was about to step into the second floor, he suddenly stumbled and almost fell off the balcony. Looking down, he saw a large number of living corpses below that had begun to shake the pillars of the balcony. Hundreds of living corpses crowded together and exerted their strength. The white iron pillars immediately swayed like wind and rain. With a "crunch", the terrace collapsed...