The Apocalypse Solution Provider

Chapter 52: A Hundred Meters of Danger

Securing the Sodium Fluorescein and the Portable UV Light inside the dimensional briefcase strapped to his chest, Su Jin grabbed the mouse cage and strode out of the laboratory.

Fu Hu and Cheng Du immediately moved to intercept him, their expressions grim.

Cheng Du spoke first, his voice tight. “Director, there were survivors in there. Did you execute them?”

The laboratory door was reinforced, but it couldn’t completely muffle the distinct crack of three point-blank gunshots.

Su Jin met their gaze, remaining silent for a brief moment before offering a single, cold nod.

At first glance, those three students had seemed perfectly healthy. Su Jin had even mentally logged them as non-threats.

But the sheer volume of hoarded food inside that lab meant they had been sheltering there since the outbreak began.

There was absolutely no way to verify what had happened in that room over the last few days.

They were medical students. Even if one of them had been exposed to the radioactive rain or sustained a minor scratch, they would have categorically lied about it to guarantee their rescue.

And the mutation process always had an incubation period.

Furthermore, even if they were genuinely clean, extracting them was a logistical impossibility.

They had a critical bottleneck…

Seating capacity.

Their vehicle only accommodated three people. The rest of the cabin was packed tight with essential supplies and scavenged gear. There was zero cubic space available for three extra bodies.

Sure, they could have physically crammed them inside, but that would severely restrict Cheng Du’s mobility in the backseat, compromising their defensive capabilities.

Sourcing a second vehicle on the fly exponentially increased their risk exposure. Strapping three terrified, unpredictable civilians to the roof rack was practically begging them to scream and draw a horde.

He was responsible for Fu Hu and Cheng Du. He absolutely refused to inject a single variable of unnecessary risk into their extraction route.

From a purely objective, pragmatic standpoint… terminating those three was the only viable protocol.

It was the most merciful option available. At least they died instantly, filled with the hope of rescue rather than the agony of being eaten alive.

“One of them was concealing an injury. I was forced to neutralize the threat. Need I remind you of our standing orders? Until we are back behind our walls, any unidentified living entity is to be treated as hostile and terminated on sight! If you don’t have the stomach to look them in the eye, be efficient and slit their throats from behind.”

“Consider what just happened a live demonstration. You operate exactly as I do. I will not tolerate any more bleeding-heart liabilities on this team.”

“The lives of over a hundred people back at the compound rest squarely on our shoulders. Move out.”

Having delivered his verdict, Su Jin glanced down at the cage in his hand.

It held over eighty mice, making it quite bulky. If they moved too erratically, the ensuing squeaks and rattling would serve as a dinner bell for every Zombie in the sector.

But they had to push through. Once they cleared the academic building, the mission was ninety percent complete.

They descended the stairs, retracing their infiltration route back to the ground floor.

Su Jin kept a close eye on the cage.

Fortunately, the mice were severely malnourished. They stayed huddled in a collective, shivering mass and kept relatively quiet.

They had crossed the halfway mark of the corridor when disaster struck.

Directly above them on the central staircase, a dull thud echoed out, followed immediately by a chaotic, metallic clattering tumbling down the steps.

All three men froze in their tracks, their muscles locking up as they stared ahead.

They watched in silent horror as a Zombie—still clutching an acoustic guitar—slipped on the landing and violently tumbled down the entire flight of stairs.

The final impact smashed the guitar to splinters. The sharp, resonant crack of breaking wood echoed down the hall, instantly triggering a massive response from the surrounding horde.

Su Jin whipped his head toward the adjacent classroom. Through the glass, he saw the Zombies inside abruptly change direction and hurl themselves against the door.

The heavy thuds of bodies slamming against wood acted as an auditory beacon, agitating the infected in the neighboring rooms.

Within seconds, the dead silence of the corridor shattered into a deafening cacophony of snarls and banging.

“Take the window!”

Su Jin snarled, driving his elbow through the glass pane beside him and vaulting through the frame!

Fu Hu and Cheng Du didn’t hesitate, diving out the window right on his heels.

The sharp crash of shattering glass followed them outside.

Su Jin, leading the sprint, threw a glance over his shoulder. His heart instantly seized.

Dozens of Zombies from the upper floors hadn’t bothered taking the stairs; they had simply smashed through the second-story windows, raining down onto the pavement below.

Several of them, dressed in matching school uniforms, recovered from the drop instantly. They moved with terrifying, unnatural agility.

One look was all he needed. These were highly evolved special variants.

Judging by their burst speed, his team might not even be able to outrun these freaks in a straight sprint!

“Holy shit! It’s the Student Council Zombies! Why are they so fast?!” Cheng Du screamed, panic lacing his voice as he sprinted. He desperately yanked the tripwires from his belt and blindly lobbed them over his shoulder.

But throwing blindly while running at top speed meant his accuracy was garbage. All three tripwires deployed harmlessly, failing to snag a single target.

“Motherfucker! Even in death, these student council pricks are annoying!” Su Jin cursed, his anxiety spiking.

Their extraction vehicle was only fifty yards away. They were technically within the safe zone, but the horde was closing the gap fast.

Their car needed several seconds to accelerate. If they got swarmed while the engine was turning over, they were dead. They had to buy themselves a buffer.

Processing the tactical variables in a fraction of a second, Su Jin violently shoved the mouse cage into Cheng Du’s chest.

“Old Fu!” Su Jin roared. “Get in front of me! I’m launching you!”

“What?!”

Before Fu Hu could process the command, Su Jin dove forward, executing a flawless forward roll. As his back hit the pavement, he planted his hands firmly behind his shoulders, anchoring himself.

He engaged his core, curling his hips upward and coiling his legs into a tight spring.

Fu Hu’s combat instincts finally caught up. He leaped into the air, driving both of his boots directly down onto Su Jin’s raised feet.

Both men—boasting massively enhanced physical strength—fired their leg muscles simultaneously in a brutal, explosive leg press.

BOOM.

Fu Hu was launched forward like a human cannonball. He soared through the air, hit the ground rolling, and slid to a perfect stop right beside the driver’s side door.

Without wasting a millisecond, he unslung his bow, notched an arrow, and aimed down sights at the advancing horde!

When Su Jin had procured the archery gear, he had insisted on a few specialized attachments.

Fu Hu’s compound bow was outfitted with a tactical quick-fire magazine, capable of loading and cycling seven arrows simultaneously!

Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!

He dumped the entire magazine. While none of the shots were fatal, the heavy kinetic impact of the arrows dropped the two leading Student Council Zombies flat on their backs, breaking the horde’s momentum.

Meanwhile, Su Jin had already snapped back to his feet, sprinting shoulder-to-shoulder with Cheng Du.

“Cheng Du, spin around!”

Cheng Du instantly complied, spinning to face backward while maintaining his momentum. Su Jin grabbed him by the tactical vest and violently hurled him toward the vehicle!

Mid-air, Cheng Du activated his Pyrokinesis!

What happened next nearly caused Su Jin’s brain to short-circuit.

Cheng Du was indeed gliding backward, maintaining a low-altitude trajectory… but he wasn’t using oral fire-breath for propulsion as previously discussed.

Instead, his posture was bizarrely majestic. He struck a dramatic pose mid-air, one leg extended perfectly straight, the other bent sharply at the knee.

He looked exactly like a martial arts master executing a wire-fu glide in a cheap wuxia drama.

“Director! I’ll provide covering fire! Piece of cake!”

While gracefully gliding backward, Cheng Du kept the mouse cage tucked securely under one arm. With his free hand, he whipped out his remaining tripwires and hurled them at the horde.

Now that he was facing his targets, his accuracy skyrocketed. The heavy cords whipped through the air, tangling the legs of two more charging Zombies and sending them crashing into the pavement.

Seeing his team closing the distance, Fu Hu instantly collapsed his bow and dove into the driver’s seat.

A second later, Su Jin and Cheng Du hurled themselves into the cabin. The engine roared, tires screaming against the asphalt as they rocketed away, leaving the snarling horde eating their dust.

….

Inside the car, all three men collapsed into their seats, gasping for air, their eyes wide with residual adrenaline.

After a long minute of heavy breathing, Cheng Du turned his head to look at Su Jin, a massive grin on his face. “Director! Be honest, how cool was that?! Did you see my form? I’ve been secretly practicing that maneuver!”

“It was very cool…” Su Jin deadpanned, staring out the window. “It would have been significantly cooler if you hadn’t been using your nostrils as the thrusters. You literally shot a booger at me.”

“Bullshit! I thoroughly cleared my nasal cavities before the op.”

“Then why don’t you wipe your chin?”

Cheng Du swiped a hand across his jaw. “What the fuck! Why is it slimy? The exhaust heat should have flash-baked it!”

“Shut up and check the asset,” Su Jin ordered, snatching the cage back. He inspected the trembling mass of fur inside. Seeing that the mice had survived the extreme G-forces, he finally let out a long, exhausted sigh.

“This scouting mission was highly lucrative, but our intel is bad. The situation inside the city limits is catastrophically worse than our models predicted.” Su Jin took a slow swig from his canteen, his eyes hardening. “The infection’s mutation rate is accelerating beyond all projections, and the encounter density is way too high.”

“Holding our position in the city is no longer viable. Once we get back, we accelerate the timeline. We militarize the convoy and push for the military district within the week.”

He leaned forward, tapping the back of Fu Hu’s seat. “Old Fu, keep your eyes peeled when we pass the campus perimeter on the return route. My gut says we have one last hurdle to clear.”