"Boom..."
Just as Jin Xiaoqing finished speaking, another clap of thunder rumbled across the sky.
Then, a light drizzle began falling from above.
"It's raining."
Feeling the droplets, Jin Xiaoqing frowned slightly.
She then turned to look at Yun Xiaoxiao.
"Little sister, would you like to come to our place to take shelter from the rain?"
Yun Xiaoxiao looked up at the sky, where dark clouds had completely blanketed the heavens, and fierce winds were making the tree branches creak and sway violently.
This weather pattern suggested an imminent severe thunderstorm.
Yun Xiaoxiao's expression grew serious.
She remembered that in her previous life, there had only been one severe thunderstorm.
And after that massive storm, the temperature had plummeted dramatically.
Not long after, the entire world had frozen over.
If this approaching storm was indeed the same one from her previous life, it was happening far too early!
Noticing Yun Xiaoxiao's troubled expression, Jin Xiaoqing quickly said, "Don't worry, our house is just on the other side of this mountain. From here, if we move quickly, it's only about a half-hour away. We shouldn't encounter any dangers."
She had always hoped for a chance to meet Yun Xiaoxiao again, wanting to properly thank her for saving her life back then.
Now that the opportunity was right in front of her, she certainly didn't want to let it slip away.
Yun Xiaoxiao realized the other girl had misinterpreted her expression, thinking she was worried about the dangers of being in the mountains during a thunderstorm.
She smiled and nodded at her, "That would be great, thank you, sister."
If this storm was truly the same one from her previous life, even trying to drive back now would be unrealistic.
The rain would pour down like a waterfall, rendering windshield wipers completely useless.
How could anyone drive when they couldn't even see the road?
Besides, with thunder overhead and nightfall approaching,
Driving would be extremely dangerous.
"Alright then, let's hurry while the rain is still light."
"Sister, but the cabin..."
Just as Jin Xiaoqing finished speaking, Jin Shengjie hesitantly glanced at the wooden cabin of the lumber yard.
They had come here to search for supplies.
"We can come back in a few days. We can't waste time in this weather."
"Well... okay."
Only then did Yun Xiaoxiao realize that the siblings had come to collect supplies.
The four of them headed into the dense forest, which was filled with undergrowth, dead branches, and towering trees.
They kept walking toward the highest point of the mountain forest.
Perhaps due to the thick canopy above, they barely felt the rain.
Everyone moved quickly, reaching the summit in about ten minutes.
But they didn't stop there. Under the guidance of Jin Xiaoqing and her brother, they began descending the right side of the mountain.
Throughout their journey, thunder continued to rumble.
The rain grew heavier, creating a rhythmic patter as it hit the leaves above.
However, they had no time to appreciate the natural symphony.
They quickened their pace, moving like shadows through the mountain forest.
After a while, they emerged from the tree line onto a large green lawn.
There stood a house on the spacious grass.
Jin Xiaoqing pointed to it, saying, "This is our family's vacation house on the mountain, where we used to stay regularly every year for summer breaks and holidays.
On the day the apocalypse began, when I sensed something wasn't right, I had my parents bring my brother here with extra supplies."
Yun Xiaoxiao was both surprised and impressed.
Jin Xiaoqing was indeed clever to have her family prepare and move in advance.
Her family was also fortunate that none of them had turned into zombies.
"Then sister, why were you later captured by those people at the abandoned prison?"
Yun Xiaoxiao was genuinely curious how someone so perceptive and intelligent could have ended up in such a situation.
Jin Xiaoqing gave a bitter smile, "Ah, it's a long story."
As they were nearly home, everyone had slowed their pace.
While running with her hands covering her head, Jin Xiaoqing explained,
"After graduating from university, I stayed in Rong City for an internship.
On the day of the apocalypse, I was half-asleep when I started hearing screams from around the old apartment complex where I was renting.
At first, I didn't know what was happening.
Then I saw a man in his underwear chasing the security guard downstairs, and within moments, he had pinned the guard down and was biting him.
Connecting this to the screams I'd heard earlier, I realized something serious was happening.
Though the police quickly arrived and took the man away, saying he was having a rabies episode,
I wasn't convinced.
When I turned on the TV and saw news of biting incidents on every channel, I became even more certain that things were spiraling out of control.
So I immediately quit my job.
I called my parents and told them to come to the mountain.
Then I called my boyfriend at the time, asking him to come with me.
He agreed readily enough, but when I finished packing and contacted him again, he said he had several friends who wanted to come along, asking me to wait.
I waited and waited, for almost two hours, before they finally showed up.
He came with three of his friends and their girlfriends.
As soon as they arrived, two of the girls said they needed to use the bathroom and asked me to show them where it was.
Though extremely reluctant, I had no choice but to take them upstairs.
That's when everything changed.
After they finished in the bathroom, chaos suddenly erupted below.
Both inside and outside the complex, on the streets,
People were running and biting each other, and those who were bitten would immediately rise and bite others – everything descended into chaos.
At that point, my boyfriend's friends and their girlfriends refused to leave, saying it was too dangerous.
But my apartment didn't have much food, and I calculated that without rescue, we would run out of supplies in two months at most.
If by then the situation outside hadn't improved but had actually worsened, we would all be doomed.
So I explained the gravity of the situation to them.
But they still refused to risk leaving.
"What happened then?"
"When I saw I couldn't convince them, I decided to leave on my own."
"Didn't your boyfriend try to stop you?"
"He did."
Jin Xiaoqing sighed again.
"I wasn't thinking clearly at the time, and after his constant persuasion, I actually stayed.
I thought perhaps rescue would arrive in a few days.
But rescue never came, and due to their lack of rationing, the food was gone in just a month and a half.
With no other choice, my boyfriend and the other three men said they would go out to look for food.
But after a day and night, none of them returned.
The rest of us were starving, our stomachs clinging to our backs, so I suggested we all go out together.
But the other three girls absolutely refused to leave."
"So you went alone?"
"Yes, I took the kitchen knife, climbed onto the air conditioning unit outside the window, and made my way down using the drainage pipe."
