The woman looked angry and confused.
The chaos around her looked terrifying. Yet the light streaming in from outside made the scene below look incredibly cinematic. Raiden was stunned by it, as if he were watching an action movie unfold right in front of him. Especially with a face that beautiful. Such overwhelming desperation and stubborn determination made everything look perfect on a single screen.
For several seconds, the man on the third floor stood silently, transfixed, while continuing to record. Maybe the scene was simply too amazing—or maybe the woman looked especially beautiful through his camera lens.
His focus was finally broken when the woman shouted in angry desperation, threw both of her empty weapons at one of the undead, then kicked another hard enough to send it tumbling off the escalator.
Seeing her panic and begin to run out of energy, Raiden finally stopped recording. He shouted in a loud, booming voice.
“There’s an emergency staircase to your right! You can use it to get to the third floor!”
The woman was startled. Using a small, simple flashlight, she tried to locate the source of the voice. But she couldn’t find Raiden.
With no time to spare, she hurried after the voice. Sure enough, after taking a huge risk, she finally found a way out.
Below, the zombies managed to climb the escalator and filled the next floor.
Raiden put away his DSLR camera, smiled mysteriously, and hurried toward the emergency stairs.
Before that, however, he piled up several cabinets and tables from the surrounding area to block access to the third-floor escalator, preventing anything from getting through.
“Okay. At least this should hold them back for a while.”
Raiden could hardly wait to meet the woman face-to-face and ask her a few questions. For one thing, how had she survived this long, and where had she gotten so much ammunition? More importantly, did she have enough supplies?
Raiden briefly observed the crowd of undead that had managed to fill the second floor. Their movements had slowed, perhaps because they had lost their target.
He quickened his pace and hurried along while calling Bayuda Gunawan.
“Boss, I managed to save the woman.”
“Oh, yeah? So where is she now?”
“I’ll be meeting her in a moment. But it looks like the plan to find some clothes for you will have to wait. The undead are filling the second floor. I’m not sure the next floor will be safe either.”
Bayuda grumbled incoherently on the other end, then told him to be careful.
“Of course, Boss!” he called out with a playful grin, speeding up.
When he reached his destination, he saw the woman with her hair tied back sitting on the floor, gasping for breath. The emergency door was being held shut with a green, military-style belt.
“Hey, miss. Are you all right?”
The woman stared sharply at him, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. When their eyes met and he directed his flashlight at the woman’s body on the floor, Raiden immediately realized something.
His face tightened.
“You’re hurt? Were you bitten by them?”
With a quick movement, the woman covered her injured right arm with her hand.
From his previous position on the third floor, Raiden hadn’t been able to see it clearly. On top of that, the lighting was poor, with only a little light coming in through the windows, so seeing her entire body clearly had been impossible.
Now, for some reason, he felt both regretful and irritated when he realized the woman was injured.
“No. They didn’t bite me. I was only scratched while running away from them earlier.”
The woman really was beautiful.
Even more beautiful than she had looked through Raiden’s camera lens. But he wasn’t stupid enough to approach someone who had already been infected. Especially when airborne transmission was fairly high.
Raiden took a step back and gripped his DSLR camera tightly.
“Is that really true?” Raiden asked cautiously, his voice low and suspicious.
The woman in the cream-colored wool sweater looked resigned as she sat on the floor, both shoulders slumped dejectedly.
“Believe me or don’t. You saved me, and I’m grateful for that. You can leave now. I don’t need a stranger who doesn’t trust me, either.”
Raiden furrowed his brow at the pitiful sight.
His conscience was bothering him. Not because she was incredibly beautiful, but because, for some reason, his heart had simply been moved. He had never felt this way before, not even toward the beautiful women he was always running into around his neighborhood.
The groans and commotion outside could still be heard, but it was eerily quiet in here. Quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
Raiden didn’t leave right away. If she really was injured and the wound hadn’t come from a bite or a scratch by one of those terrifying creatures, then leaving her here would make him feel incredibly guilty—and downright evil.
Raiden cleared his throat softly, then spoke as he slowly approached her.
“I’m not sure you know this, but the virus can survive in the air for five hours without a host. So if you have an open wound, there’s a chance you could become infected and turn within twenty-four hours.”
The woman’s face looked pale and grim. She ground her teeth with her head hanging dejectedly. Her right hand curled into a fist while her left hand gripped her injured arm tightly. Her voice sounded sad and slightly desperate.
“I know. I know all about the virus. You don’t need to lecture me.”
Raiden was surprised. The man in the dark green parka slowly knelt in front of her, his expression thoughtful.
“You know about the virus? Are you part of the government? A specialized scientist? Military, or special forces?” he asked seriously.
Their eyes met. Silence stretched between them for quite some time. Then the woman looked away with a cold expression.
“None of your business.”
Raiden sighed in annoyance, then looked at her with a complicated expression.
“Fine. I won’t ask who you are. As long as you don’t endanger me, I won’t make an issue of it. I also won’t assume the government conducted some crazy experiment that caused all this chaos.”
The woman suddenly snapped at him angrily.
“This isn’t the government’s fault! It’s all the fault of the mad professor who designed the virus using AI technology!”
Raiden was stunned and stared at her in disbelief. It sounded like he had just heard the plot of a science-fiction story.
“What? Someone designed the virus using AI technology?”
The woman looked shocked when she realized she had let the secret slip.
“Forget what you heard if you want to stay alive.”
Raiden was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“Got it. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything. Besides, what could I do even if I knew? I can’t find a vaccine, and I can’t wipe out the undead now roaming the face of the earth. I can’t fight people with power, either.”
Their eyes met again. This time, the woman looked even paler, as if she were about to faint. Perhaps her adrenaline had worn off, causing her to begin losing consciousness.
Raiden noticed immediately. He grabbed her arm, then, driven by who-knows-what kind of courage, dared to examine the wound.
A long, horrifying scratch marred her right arm.
“This looks pretty serious. I have a little vodka. At least it can kill the bacteria. Wait a second.”