Unexpected Visitors

35

I felt a bit elated from the compliment and was about to continue the conversation when KK, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly pricked up its ears.

"Rrrr..."

It jumped up, emitting a low, warning growl.

The night was still and silent, with no sound around us.

What did it hear?

"KK, sit."

I tried to calm it down, but it only became more agitated.

Chris and I exchanged a glance and prepared to check the situation outside.

The hallway was freezing.

The cold instantly sobered me up.

After checking the other two rooms, we reached the fire exit door.

The lock was tightly secured on the handle.

There was no sign of anything unusual; the stairwell was silent.

The entire 9th floor was quiet, except for the drumming of my own heartbeat.

After waiting for a while longer, we retreated back into the room.

During our absence, KK hadn't calmed down but kept pacing the living room.

The cat was also awake.

It sat on the balcony, occasionally pawing at the sliding door.

Chris went over and slowly opened the door.

I followed him onto the balcony.

It was even colder outside.

Silver moonlight made the snow-covered ground shine brightly. I stared at the area below for a long time but didn't notice anything unusual.

"Plop."

Something wet fell on the back of my neck.

Was it raining?

I reached up to touch it and felt something as viscous as phlegm.

I jerked my head up.

A yellow-purple face was hanging upside down right above me. Its mouth was slightly open, and foul-smelling liquid was slowly dripping from its lips.

"Plop."

Another drop fell.

Suppressing my nausea, I wiped the saliva off my face.

Chris had already redirected his flashlight.

In the beam of light, I saw a zombie hanging awkwardly from the 10th-floor railing.

Because it was upside down, its face was bulging with veins, and its protruding eyeballs seemed ready to pop out.

"Uhh...uhh..."

As its body swayed precariously in mid-air, it let out fragmented cries from deep in its throat.

Gradually, the cries grew louder.

"Uhh...uhh..."

I glanced at the other residential buildings shrouded in darkness, remembering the scene when we rescued KK last time.

Chris and I both knew we couldn't let it continue making noise.

"What should we do?" I asked in a low voice.

"I'll go up." He turned to find some tools.

The household ladder was over a meter tall. Once Chris stood on it, most of his body was suspended in mid-air.

I tied a safety rope around his waist, lowering my head to secure the other end to the railing.

Suddenly, Chris and the ladder both toppled over the handrail. By the time I realized what was happening, the safety rope had already slid several meters.

Instinctively, I gripped the rope tightly.

Before I could wrap it around my hand, the force on the other end jerked me hard against the railing.

The impact made my ears ring and my head spin.

At the same time, I felt the rope slipping inch by inch from my grasp.

"Anne!"

Forget about the zombie siege or the surviving humans; I couldn't focus on any of that now.

I only knew that if the rope slipped, Chris would fall from a height of over thirty meters.

He would die.

This thought sent a chill through me.

"Anne!"

I wasn't sure if I shouted loud enough. The ringing in my ears made me lose control over my volume. I almost gritted my teeth to get the words out.

"Help me!"

I twisted my arms with all my strength.

After several attempts, the rope finally wound around my wrists, and the slipping stopped. But I didn't know how much longer I could hold on.

Just then, I faintly heard the bedroom door being flung open.

In my peripheral vision, I saw someone almost tumbling as they ran toward me.

She finally woke up.

At the same time, I felt the weight on the rope lighten.

"What's happening? Did Chris fall?" I shouted in panic.

Anne rushed to the balcony edge and quickly looked down. "Don't worry, the zombie hanging from him fell."

The rope had been supporting two bodies.

She then looped the rope's end around the railing and tied a knot. She also took over holding the rope from the front.

With most of the weight off me, my legs gave out, and I collapsed to the ground.

At that moment, the searing pain finally hit me.

It felt as if the rope I'd been holding wasn't just a simple rope but a searing hot blade.

My fingers trembled uncontrollably from the exertion, making even a simple flexion difficult.

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