The young man's face changed, but he heard the sound behind him and hurriedly ran upstairs in fright.
"This way."
Qin Shilei pulled An Qian all the way to the fifth floor, turned left, and randomly chose a dormitory with an open door to slip inside.
Just as he was about to close the door, the young man from before rushed in.
"Quick, help."
Qin Shilei, while moving everything he could to barricade the door, shouted sternly.
The hurried footsteps outside indicated that the zombies were also close behind.
"Bang bang bang!"
As the three of them moved two beds to block the door, dust rained down as the door was battered.
"There are too many zombies, the door can't hold for long."
An Qian said worriedly, watching the constantly shaking door.
"An Qian, I'm sorry. I... I'll go out now and lure the zombies away."
The young man said with shame.
"It's hard for you to go out now."
An Qian frowned, looking around, hoping to find something else to secure the door more firmly.
Her eyes lit up as she scanned the balcony behind the dormitory. "We can climb down from the balcony."
She then went to the bed to grab blankets, preparing to tie them together for a rope.
"Hey you, what are you standing there for, come help, the door can't hold much longer."
The young man roared at Qin Shilei while pushing the wooden bed with all his might.
The lock had already been broken by the zombies, and the door was occasionally creaking open.
It wouldn't be long before the zombies flooded in.
"Found it."
Suddenly, a rope as thick as a thumb appeared in Qin Shilei's hand.
After handing the rope to An Qian, he also went to help prop up the wooden bed. "You go first, I'll help hold the door."
"Did you buy this in the trading system?" An Qian dropped the blanket in her hand, took the rope, and rushed to the balcony.
"Quick!" After An Qian tied the rope, she slid down the rope.
Although her movements were not professional, her speed was not slow.
The two of them rushed to the balcony simultaneously and grabbed the rope at the same time.
"You attracted the zombies, you cover the rear."
Qin Shilei had no habit of letting others take the lead.
The young man still wanted to argue, but he saw An Qian looking up from below.
He then pretended to be magnanimous and said, "Then you go first, I'll cover the rear."
At this moment, the zombies had already entered the dormitory and were battering the glass door of the balcony.
Frightened, before Qin Shilei had even slid to the third floor, the young man flipped over and jumped out of the balcony, sliding down the rope.
Fortunately, the rope was strong enough and did not break under their combined weight.
Bang!
A zombie that had been chasing too eagerly couldn't stop itself and was pushed down by the zombies behind it.
The three of them, having narrowly escaped, reached the third floor.
The zombies on the fifth floor were still sticking their heads out and roaring, but they didn't know how to climb down the rope.
An Qian, seeing her classmate arrive, immediately closed and locked the balcony door.
Zhang Yong walked up to An Qian and fussed over her, "An Qian, it's great that you're okay. I was so worried about you after the outbreak, I was afraid I'd never see you again."
An Qian smiled and said, "I'm fine, how did you end up there?"
Zhang Yong replied, "I was going to find you to hang out today, but then the outbreak happened and I got trapped there."
He paused and then asked, "Who is he? Why is he with you?"
"This is my classmate Zhang Yong."
"This is Qin Shilei."
An Qian introduced them briefly.
Zhang Yong tilted his head and said to Qin Shilei with a hint of provocation, "An Qian and I have been childhood sweethearts since we were kids."
Qin Shilei replied calmly, "Hello!"
"There are no childhood sweethearts. We are just neighbors and classmates. Zhang Yong, if you talk nonsense again, don't blame me for hitting you."
An Qian wagged the sword in her hand and reprimanded him.
"From primary school to university, we've been through thick and thin. Can't that be called childhood sweethearts?"
Zhang Yong said emotionally.
He noticed An Qian's signs of anger out of the corner of his eye and quickly changed his tune, "Well, we are very good close friends."
As Zhang Yong spoke, he was sizing up Qin Shilei.
This brat who appeared out of nowhere was holding An Qian's sword, and just now, he was holding An Qian's hand.
If An Qian wasn't here, he would have definitely taught the guy a lesson.
Qin Shilei glanced at Zhang Yong.
The other man was over six feet tall, wearing a black tank top that was stretched taut by his muscular physique.
He was handsome and sporty, very popular with girls.
He looked at Qin Shilei with obvious hostility.
Although he wasn't interested in these petty squabbles, he shouldn't provoke him, or his Seven Star Sword wouldn't be forgiving.
Zhang Yong turned to An Qian and said, "An Qian, let's go home together. I'm sure you're worried about your mom."
Upon hearing this, An Qian wished she could fly back to her mother's side immediately.
She directly took out her phone, wanting to confirm the safety of her family again.
"Why is there no signal? Zhang Yong, quickly check your phone."
An Qian urged Zhang Yong anxiously to try his phone.
"Mine has no signal either." Zhang Yong said helplessly after operating his phone.
"What should we do?"
An Qian paced around the dormitory, a hint of panic on her face.
"I need to go back immediately."
With no communication, and unable to even know her mother's situation in real-time, An Qian felt she had to go back, even if it was risky.
Moreover, she was wearing the Silk Armor now, and with Zhang Yong accompanying her, she was sure she could get back.
"Then shall we two leave now?" Zhang Yong's words implicitly excluded Qin Shilei.
An Qian turned to Qin Shilei, "Where are you from? Are you going in the same direction as us?"
Her tone carried a hint of hope.
Given his strength, if he could accompany her, her chances of returning home safely would definitely be higher.
"I'm sorry, we'll have to go our separate ways for now."
Qin Shilei thought for a moment and refused.
She was indeed incredibly beautiful, and he didn't have a clear destination.
Their short time together had been relatively pleasant. In another time, he would have gladly escorted such a beautiful woman home.
But he had the system, and survival was the most important thing in the apocalypse, so it wasn't the time to be a gentleman.
Hearing that Qin Shilei was no longer clinging to An Qian, Zhang Yong felt a surge of joy.
He muttered to himself, "It's a shame my knife is in the dormitory, I can only unleash less than thirty percent of my strength."
He paused and then said, "If I had a weapon, even if it wasn't a knife, it would be easier for us to get home."
Zhang Yong was talking about a weapon, but his eyes were fixed on the Seven Star Sword in Qin Shilei's hand.
"Are you eyeing my sword?"
Qin Shilei narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice.
"What yours? This is clearly the sword An Qian uses for practice." Zhang Yong said righteously.
Qin Shilei ignored him and looked up at An Qian.
An Qian's expression changed, and she suddenly turned to Zhang Yong and reprimanded him, "I gave this to Qin Shilei, it's his now. Besides, this sword isn't sharpened, it won't be useful to a knife-wielder like you, so stop thinking about it. Let's go now, we'll find you a knife on the way."
What a principled girl!
Qin Shilei mentally gave her another thumbs up.
He pointed to the convenience store opposite, "It'll be dark soon, so let's go there now. You guys can grab some food before you leave."
The three of them arrived at the convenience store and pushed the door, only to find it locked from the inside.
A gentle knock on the door received no response.
An Qian thought for a moment and said, "They're probably not willing to open the door easily for us. I'll go to the dorm manager's room and get some food."
She then returned to the dorm manager's room in her building to look for things.
Zhang Yong also slipped into the dorm manager's room he had come out of earlier.
A short while later, both of them came out with backpacks, and Zhang Yong was also holding a cleaver.
They waved goodbye and climbed over the wall next to the dormitory. In a short time, they disappeared.