Night was always full of dangers.

Although Xu Duoduo had become a zombie, for some reason she still felt sleepy, even though she had been able to stay awake for the past ten days or so. Now she started to feel drowsy, so after everyone finished their dinner, she collected the thermos flasks and found a spot to curl up and doze off.

The survivors in the factory did the same after dinner, finding places to rest just like her, but no one was alone - they all huddled together in groups.

Wang Weihu and Bai Shu were resting, while Qin Luo and Chen Xiaofei took the first watch. The two of them would guard for the first half of the night, with Wang Weihu and Bai Shu taking over for the second half.

Outside, the thunderstorm had passed, and heavy rain began to fall, mixed with hail that pattered loudly on the factory roof, occasionally making quite a racket.

But the survivors felt at ease, knowing at least someone was protecting them. They thought they could sleep soundly.

How naive they were. After nightfall, Qin Luo and Chen Xiaofei became visibly more alert, no longer bantering or engaging in idle chatter.

Xu Duoduo could sense their tense mental state and guessed that the night would be very unsafe. So she didn't dare fall into a deep sleep either.

The little zombie closed her eyes to rest her spirit.

Not far away, Wang Weihu was snoring away, while Bai Shu slept soundly leaning against the wall beside him.

Chen Xiaofei patrolled around on alert, while Qin Luo found a central spot, sitting on a shipping container to load magazines. From his position, he could quickly respond to trouble in any direction.

Due to the thunderstorm, the electricity in the factory area had been cut earlier, leaving only dim emergency lights.

Xu Duoduo originally thought the first threat would come from something else - zombies or other mutant creatures. But unexpectedly, it started from among the survivors. Just as an abnormal snarl came from that direction, a gunshot rang out through the quiet night, followed by screams.

"Ahhhh!! It's trying to bite me to death! Why are there still zombies?!"

"What? There are zombies??"

Earlier, all the survivors had appeared normal. They had been checked repeatedly before boarding the vehicles to the survivor base. Only those without wounds were allowed on board.

But some small injuries could be overlooked, and some people hid their physical discomfort, naively hoping nothing would happen to them.

The result was zombies biting people, and zombies were much more agile at night than during the day.

The survivors fell into panic.

"Quiet down. Now, anyone feeling feverish or unwell, step forward," Qin Luo said as he holstered his gun and jumped down from the container. He scanned the survivors, who had realized one of their own was infected with the zombie virus. They fearfully scattered, no longer daring to huddle together.

Chen Xiaofei's boyish face turned serious as he walked over to explain: "In the early stages of zombie virus infection, people experience slow thinking, stiff limbs, low fever, and bleeding from the throat. At night, they develop a craving for blood and raw meat. If anyone is feeling unwell now, please step forward. Otherwise, you'll end up hurting your companions."

The survivors looked at each other - some terrified, some hesitant, some biting their lips and clenching their fists. Eventually, three people stepped forward one after another.

Stolen novel; please report.

There was a woman pulling her husband back, shaking her head and pleading quietly: "Don't go out there. You just have a fever, you're not infected with the zombie virus. Please don't go, I'm begging you. You're all I have left."

Some people immediately moved away from the couple, while others couldn't bear to watch anymore.

Chen Xiaofei was already walking towards them. The woman was on the verge of a breakdown, clutching her husband and refusing to let go. The man was worried about hurting his wife.

This situation would require some careful handling.

Meanwhile, Qin Luo directed the few showing symptoms to a separate corner. Their eyes were already starting to glaze over, but they seemed agitated. Their skin had begun turning pale and bluish.

Xu Duoduo couldn't resist poking her head out to take a look. She also noticed her body was more agile at night than during the day. But Qin Luo's senses were too sharp - as soon as she peeked out, she met his calm yet penetrating gaze...

She was scared stiff!

Her brain froze for a second. Just from that look, she understood that if she made even the slightest move to harm them, she would likely be shot dead on the spot. Even her spatial ability wouldn't save her then.

A zombie with abilities that could hurt people was an even more terrifying prospect.

Fortunately, her gaze was pure and innocent enough. After glancing at her, Qin Luo's expression softened. He tilted his head, gesturing for her to hide and not look around.

Alright then.

Sorry to bother you.

Xu Duoduo silently retreated, hugging herself tightly, wishing she could squeeze herself into a crack. She even felt a bit scared, realizing how close she had come to losing her life.

After the commotion among the survivors, they were finally roughly divided into two groups. But having realized the virus had an incubation period, people no longer dared to gather in large groups carelessly.

Soon the surroundings quieted down again, but several gunshots rang out in the second half of the night, occasionally mixed with sounds of people panicking. Those few infected survivors didn't make it, and others couldn't help but break into anguished sobs again.

They had thought they were safe, but it turned out things weren't as secure as they had imagined.

Xu Duoduo trembled at each gunshot. It was enough to almost give her a heartbeat, even though she didn't have one. Later she realized it was just her nerves being too tense.

What was pulsing wasn't her heart, but her nerves. The subsequent incident involved that woman whose husband had tried very hard to resist, but ultimately couldn't escape the virus. His whole body had started to mutate. As Chen Xiaofei raised his gun, the woman began screaming and tried to lunge forward.

Her piercing screams made everyone's scalps tingle. Suddenly, a chorus of shrieks erupted from outside the factory building, echoing back and forth in extremely high pitches. Someone cried out in fear: "Ahhh, why are there monkeys?!"

Chaos broke out inside the factory.

Wang Weihu and Bai Shu snapped awake. The two of them got up without hesitation, immediately looking towards the source of the commotion.

Something kept banging on the main door, and there were sounds of claws scratching the metal sheets on the roof, creating an eerie screeching noise that sent chills down everyone's spine.

When Xu Duoduo looked up again, she saw that the windows had been smashed by monkeys throwing rocks. She found herself face to face with one of them - or rather, something that could no longer be called a monkey. Its face was terrifyingly grotesque, with enlarged teeth, blood-red eyes, and extremely long, sharp claws.

The other survivors naturally noticed this too, and upon seeing it, another wave of piercing screams erupted.

It couldn't be helped.

They were all ordinary people, and it was impossible not to be afraid. It was mostly just instinctive reactions.

However, hearing the screams seemed to excite the mutant monkey horde even more. They started shrieking in excitement.

Wang Weihu immediately shouted for the survivors to be quiet, "Everyone find a place to hide together! If you're too spread out, we can't protect you all!"

As he spoke, he had already shot down several monkeys. Bai Shu went hands-on, grabbing survivors and tossing them to one side, herding them into one area.

Chen Xiaofei also rushed over to help Bai Shu protect the survivors, while Wang Weihu assisted in clearing out the mutant monkey horde. "Damn it, how did we end up encountering such troublesome creatures!" he cursed.

As for Qin Luo, he was single-handedly slaughtering the monkeys. He had switched to dual blades, moving much faster than the monkey horde could react. With each slash, he could take down several monkeys, leaving the ground covered in wet, bloody streaks.