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Song Yao and Luo Yu dealt with the Zombies wandering in the hall and rushed to support Song Jiu, bringing along two sickly Militia members. As they reached the entrance, they saw Xiaofei crying loudly while holding Song Jiu. Song Yao exchanged a glance with Luo Yu, about to urge her to move, when she noticed Song Jiu pushing aside the blanket in front of Xiaofei.
With keen eyesight, Song Yao immediately spotted the large patch of crimson at Xiaofei's waist. Frowning, she sighed and shook her head sadly before turning away from the door.
"Luo Yu, come with me," Song Yao called out, taking the still-dazed girl with her. The sounds of gunfire and thunder mixed from above as the two forces clashed, but ultimately, the natural roar of chaos prevailed.
The private hospital was only four stories high. The four of them hurried up the stairs, where many corpses lay scattered and shell casings littered the ground. Lin Daozhang had not joined in the gunplay; his sharp ears picked up noises from above, prompting him to charge up alone without any organization or discipline. Just before a Zombie could strike, he transformed into an Iron-Blooded Warrior once more, using his chainsaw to clear a path through the fallen bodies and rescuing the unconscious Xiao Wei.
At that moment, Song Yao and her group were hiding in the duty room. Ming Junwei had called out several times without receiving a response, so he guessed that they might have gone upstairs as well and led his team to follow. Under Lin Daozhang's guidance, they cleared out numerous Zombies that had infiltrated the offices before returning safely with Xiao Wei.
Ming Junwei saw the signal from the graduate student. The number of Zombies that burst out of the hospital was not significant since there were only about thirty or forty patients being treated. After sweeping through upstairs and downstairs, it seemed only about a dozen had escaped. The remaining personnel had retreated into the bar, so he assumed everything was fine and that they could handle any threats. However, Ming Junwei overlooked one crucial detail: those who had retreated into the bar were all core members, while their friends, partners, and children were still at the KTV and hotel.
This situation escalated quickly. For combat personnel, a dozen Zombies posed little threat; however, for non-combatants, even one or two could lead to disaster. Ming Junwei had previously considered arming everyone for situations like this but ultimately decided against it. Compared to fighting desperately, people still needed food, clothing, shelter, and transportation; thus, personnel had to be reasonably divided to maximize their value. If everyone—men, women, children—were armed fighters, who would take care of daily needs? Such thoughts required a relatively safe foundation; however, the current situation exposed a vulnerability in their Roundabout strategy: while combat personnel concentrated their efforts elsewhere, their weakest link lay right under the Zombies' noses.
The graduate student realized the danger as soon as he saw Zombies rushing out of the hospital. Only three Militia members remained at the bar; they had arrived late and missed Ming Junwei's group. Thus, they decided to stay back to protect those inside. As Zombies spread outwards, they couldn’t breach the bar but found KTV and hotel doors wide open. The graduate student handed over the Searchlight to Yinuo and led three Militia members down from the second floor through a pipe. With insufficient manpower to split into two groups, they could only head first toward KTV where people were more densely packed.
When Ming Junwei's group descended downstairs, the graduate students had already engaged in close combat with Zombies above. However, they were still a step behind; non-combat personnel followed the graduate student's instructions to return to their quarters for showers and crawled into bed—avoiding Acid Rain erosion while enjoying rare peace. This moment of relaxation ultimately cost them their lives. The remaining personnel failed to recognize that danger was imminent; the Air Raid Siren served as a warning for Zombies. Ming Junwei also did not gather them in the underground billiard hall, inadvertently creating an illusion that everything was fine.
With doors wide open and no vigilance among them in a relatively enclosed environment, it was needless to say what happened next—it could only be described as tragic.
The four graduate students fought desperately to save them but achieved little success. The remaining personnel all resided on the first floor; there was only one exit from KTV. Aside from a few who frantically fled into restrooms without thinking twice, everyone else perished—mangled by friends and companions with whom they once shared daily life.
The situation at Quick Hotel was somewhat better; there were fewer Zombies upstairs and Song Jiu had brought along a group of Riverside Women who were already on edge. Hearing the Air Raid Siren reminded them of that night at Riverside Camp; thus they gathered together in several rooms until help arrived.
From when the alarm sounded until calm returned took barely half an hour; over half of Roundabout's personnel had been lost by then. In the end, fewer than fifty remained standing in the bar's lobby.
The city was drenched in heavy rain as blood flowed like rivers through Roundabout; once-bright lights dimmed into whispers and unending cries of sorrow filled the air. Many stood dazed at the bar's entrance staring blankly at sheets of pouring rain—expressions reflecting confusion, resentment, disbelief.
Just days ago, they had fought fiercely against well-armed invaders amidst a city ravaged by hordes; yet today’s appearance of Zombies paled in comparison to that day’s horde within town but resulted in unimaginable casualties. After confusion came realization—the survivors suddenly understood that no matter how many times they narrowly escaped death, it did not change their precarious position at the top of the food chain; they could not rest easy nor let down their guard—they must always be prepared for that final dawn.
The sense of alertness was filled with blood and tears, leaving no room for even the slightest joy.
The militia could mourn in confusion, but Song Jiu and Ming Junwei had no time to savor the bitter fruit; as the backbone of the team, they needed to uncover the reason behind the sudden change.
Torches blazed in all corners of the bar's hall. Some people, still shaken, had fallen into a deep sleep, while others sat on the side, clutching weapons and bottles in a daze. Ming Junwei and his group gathered on the second floor, trying to find a reasonable explanation for this tragic incident.
"It’s impossible for zombies to have slipped in," said a graduate student, blood still staining his face. His youthful features were etched with self-reproach and guilt as he spoke in a low but firm voice. "We were still maintaining patrols a few days ago. I just checked the perimeter; there are no damages to the barriers, nor any signs of zombies coming or going."
"I also went up to the rooftop. Before the air raid siren sounded, there were no signs of hordes approaching the roundabout," Liu Yan said, soaked to the bone with large puddles at his feet. He hadn’t participated in the battles at the hospital and residential area; when the alarm rang, he climbed to the top of a high building, braving the acid rain that everyone else avoided, serving as the roundabout's only eye.
"What’s happening now? The horde has arrived," Ming Junwei said as he removed his eye mask and tossed it aside, worry etched across his face.
"Yes, but they are very scattered. The heavy rain and thunder seem to be interfering with their cognitive abilities," Liu Yan replied calmly as always. For him, life and death had long lost their significance; even if the roundabout were to perish today, one wouldn’t see any sorrow reflected in his expression.
Chef Jia and Luci came up from downstairs, weariness visible on their faces. Glancing at their notebooks, they said, "It's difficult to tally casualties; many people are unrecognizable. We only have rough estimates."
"You two should go rest," Ming Junwei sighed as he looked at the brass clock on the bar counter. A multitude of images that shouldn’t have appeared flashed through his mind. Rubbing his temples, he asked, "How is Song Jiu doing?"
"That girl was bitten," Yinuo replied somberly. Such scenes always stirred up many memories—another rainy night with a similar outcome.
Ming Junwei glanced at the casualty records but couldn’t make sense of them. A wave of irritation surged within him as he waved his hand dismissively. "Let’s disperse for now; those who need rest should rest. I’ll go get rations and clean water from the warehouse later."
Everyone nodded in agreement and silently began to prepare to leave. At that moment, the graduate student, who had been frowning deeply, suddenly lifted his face, hesitating several times as if wanting to say something.
"What’s wrong?" Lin Daozhang noticed the graduate student's unusual demeanor and asked, "At this point, is there anything you can’t say?"
The standing crowd halted again, casting puzzled glances toward him.
The graduate student thought for a moment, gritting his teeth and saying, "I don't know how to say this."
"What's the problem?" Ming Junwei squinted his eyes. He knew the graduate student wouldn't bring up something without reason; if it was hard to say, it likely meant the news wasn't good.
"When I went to check the sealed doors, I saw a corpse." The graduate student looked up at everyone, just as Luo Yu and Dream Fan approached, their expressions serious as they awaited him to continue.
The graduate student took a sip of alcohol, frowning as he said, "Yinuo, do you remember Old Hu?"
"Ah," Yinuo, suddenly called out, froze for a moment before recalling something. She murmured, "I-I remember. He didn't survive the pulmonary edema. What happened?"
The graduate student nodded and explained to everyone, "Yes, he was the first to die because of this rain. You all remember that, right?" Seeing the uncertainty on everyone's faces, he paused for a moment, his complexion turning pale as he spoke slowly, "I saw his body next to the greenhouse."
Everyone seemed stunned for a moment, unable to react. Only Yinuo's eyes widened in disbelief as she covered her mouth.
The graduate student swallowed hard, his voice trembling. "But he died from pulmonary edema; he should have been in the morgue."
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