“We can not turn back,” Lu Yang says. “I won’t allow it. We only survived the tier-2 zombie last time because of Lin Mingyue’s ability. But we can’t rely on your ability this time, can we?”

I shrink in on myself. “…No, we can’t. Not without killing me.”

“And we don’t want that. We…” He sighs, and in that sigh I can hear the toll it’s taking on him to make and stick to this decision. “We will have to leave Granny Yang behind.”

Everyone is silent, save for Yaoyao who complains about wanting to talk to Granny Yang in the background. No one wants to leave Granny Yang back there, but it’s true, the tier-2’d decimate us if we turned back.

Xiuying-jie grips the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turn white. Kui Renshu rests his forehead on his clasped hands and Ms Lu looks out the window, gnawing her bottom lip.

Everyone wants to go save her, but we also have Liu Guanjun, who is heavily injured.

That, if nothing else, is what keeps this car aimed at the military base.

But I can feel it. All of us want to turn around and save Granny Yang.

And we could! We could, and we would, if only someone would say something. Just one person would do. I would do.

‘Turn the car around.’

A few simple words, and I wouldn’t have to deal with the ball of guilt already forming in my chest. All I have to do, is say them.

I don’t.

“Turn the car around.”

Liu Guanjun does.

There is silence.

“Is that Liu Guanjun?” Lu Yang asks. “You can’t! You’re the most injured of all, don’t you get it? You’ll die!”

“Then I will die with honour. Wang Xiuying.” Their eyes meet in the rearview mirror. “Turn the car around.”

Lu Yang protests and uses everything from well composed arguments about the risks to outright begging her. Liu Guanjun just steadily stares at her.

Every second that passes is another second in which Granny Yang could have died and another few metres away from the campsite.

Xiuying-jie’s hands tighten on the steering wheel, then relax. She sighs a heavy, heavy sigh.

“Okay.”

“What? Wang Xiuying, be reasonable, there is no way-”

I reach over and switch the radio off.

“Xiao Lin…?”

I flap my hand at her.

“Hurry up and turn around already. Everyone’s okay, right?”

Kui Renshu and Ms Lu look at each other and voice their assent. Liu Guanjun strains to lay her hand on Xiuying-jie’s shoulder. Xiuying-jie sighs again, before rolling her shoulder determinedly and pulling the car around in an abrupt u-turn.

“You guys can’t regret this, okay?”

“Okay!”

We ram right into the tier-2 at like 200 km/hr. The hood of the jeep crumples but so does the zombie.

It roars and I flinch. I’ve never been good with having anger directed at me, but this feels different. Is this what they call killing intent?

The car reverses back out of the horde, leaving crushed tier-1s in our wake. Everyone but Liu Guanjun gets out the car.

As per the plan made mere minutes ago, Xiuying-jie and Kui Renshu kick up a fuss and draw the zombies away from the trees where Granny Yang, if she is alive, is likely to be hiding. Ms Lu and I run into the trees and start searching for Granny Yang or—I don't want to think about it but it is a possibility—her corpse.

If we find her, we run back to the car, where Liu Guanjun has hopefully already manoeuvred herself into the driver’s seat, and pick the distraction team up; if the distraction team finds her among the zombies, they run back to the car and come pick the search team up.

Kui Renshu yells obscenities which cause Ms Lu to make a scandalised face and occasionally hacks at the zombies. Xiuying-jie just lets out one long continuous scream.

The theory that zombies rely mostly on their hearing proves to be true and only two chase after me and Ms Lu.

She kills one and I kill the other. Or at least I try. Instead, it runs and knocks me down. I feebly try to stab it but my knife slips out of my fingers. Shit.

Evidently, I'm now too weak to take on even one goddamn basic ass zombie. Thanks a lot, Snowflake.

But it's not like he could've known what would happen and the I feel resentment turns into guilt as I summon him. He poofs into existence and grabs the neck of the zombie about to take a bite out of mine. He throws it at a nearby tree.

I quickly explain the situation to him.

“Granny Yang got left behind so we're searching for her.”

Snowflake nods, once. He picks up the knife I dropped and thrusts it into the zombie's head with a faint curl of distaste to his lips.

“Reduced to using mortal weapons...” he mutters. I tactfully pretend I didn't hear him.

Ms Lu helps me up with a wary glance at Snowflake. Still have no idea why everyone dislikes him, but it doesn't affect my relationship with them as well so whatever.

“Hurry,” she says. “We don't have much time left.”

We could hardly spend half a day searching for Granny Yang, so we've given ourselves a limit of ten minutes. Once that time has passed, all of us must make out way back to the car with or without the old lady.

I check my phone and grimace. There's only six minutes left.

Everything's pretty blurry but Granny Yang was wearing clothes with colours that would stand out against the grass and soil so I'm not too concerned about missing her. Two and a half minutes later, I spot orange pants on a pair of legs sticking out behind a tree. My heart soars. It's Granny Yang!

“Granny Yang, Granny Yang!”

“My liege-" Snowflake tries to stop me but I duck under his arm. I round the tree, delighted smile on my face.

A smile which immediately drops along with my heart.

It is indeed Granny Yang resting against the base of the tree. But she is not alone.

A zombie crouches over her, one clawed hand digging into the gaping wound in her chest and the other...

The other holds a red and squishy mound of flesh. It shoves it into its mouth before I can see what it is. It could be a heart, a breast, a lung; whatever it is, it clearly once belonged to Granny Yang.

My hands are pressed tightly against my mouth. This is the first time I've really witnessed a death. The zombies don't count, and Uncle Bo's corpse passed by too quickly for me to really process it.

A strangled noise comes out of my throat. The zombie pauses in its desecration of Granny Yang's body. Its head swivels towards me while the rest of its body remains perfectly still. It seems to consider me for a moment.

That is what scares me most. Other zombies would immediately rush at new targets, and also gnawing at corpses messily instead of digging flesh out to eat with its claws. The zombie virus should have eroded their brains to leave only overwhelming hunger behind. No zombie should have this semblance of sapience.

Before it can deem me weak enough to make for an easy meal, Snowflake has sliced off its head. He stabs the knife through its temple.

I kneel in front of Granny Yang. I wet my lips.

“Granny Yang...?” I say, despite knowing she'll never reply to that name again. I can't seem to control the tremor in my voice when I call her again. “Granny Yang...”

Someone pats my shoulder. It's Ms Lu. Snowflake is standing further back with an almost uncomfortable expression.

“Xiao Lin...” Ms Lu says. “We need to leave.”

I wipe the tears from my face (when did I start crying?) and nod.

I've just stood up and turned my back to the corpse, when unexpectedly, there is a groan. I whirl around.

“Granny Yang?”

Those were fatal injuries, but maybe she somehow had an ability that-!

Granny Yang staggers to her feet. Except. It's not Granny Yang. It's a zombie now.

Seeing the corpse of someone you know is bad enough, but true despair is seeing the reanimated corpse of someone you know.

“Graaggh...”

Both Ms Lu and I are frozen to the spot, unwilling to harm a friend, even it’s just a zombie wearing their face.

Snowflake has no such compunction and readily dispatches the zombie who was once Granny Yang. Bizarrely, I feel the urge to stop him. I swallow it down and clutch my hands to my chest.

Snowflake flicks the knife and droplets of red-black blood fly off the blade.

“We should leave,” he tells me. It feels cold.

I nod. Ms Lu is silent beside me.