Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 299: A Safe Place

Chapter 299: A Safe Place

It was the middle of the night when the first series of screams cut through the air, waking all of us up.

"And so it starts," grunted Rip as he sat, perched on the chair we moved in front of the window. "They are grabbing people from their houses."

"They’ve made it to the core already?" I asked, my eyes wide as Wang Chang Ming and I cuddled on the couch.

None of us knew when the zombies would come, but we weren’t taking any chances.

We moved all of the furniture in the living room to the sides, and mattresses were dragged out of Fan Teng Fei’s space in the center for the guys to sleep on.

We had emptied almost all of Bin An Sha’s condo, not sure exactly what our next move was going to be. But there was no way we were willing to leave anything behind if worse came to worse.

"No!!!!" screamed a woman. "Not my son! Please, not him!!"

More screams joined hers until it seemed like everyone was crying out for someone.

"What is the point of this?" I asked, looking at Rip.

"Fear," he replied. "Fear makes everything taste better. We can smell it, taste it, feel it..."

His voice drifted off as a smiling face appeared out of the darkness to press against the glass. Unable to stop myself, I let out a scream, causing the zombie to smile wider. I could see the razor-sharp teeth, and it playfully lunged forward, biting the air.

Theoretically, I knew that the glass was enough to stop it from coming inside, but another part of my brain pointed out that most of the people currently screaming probably thought the same.

The zombie reached forward until its fingertips touched the smooth surface. It gently tapped the window as if asking to come inside. When none of us moved, it seemed to get more frustrated as it started to tap out a beat against the glass as if it was thinking about what it was going to do next.

Taking in a deep breath, I looked at Rip. "Can you control it?"

All of the men looked at me, not knowing what I was thinking. But Rip simply nodded. "Zombies, while faster and stronger than humans, are still a lot weaker than me," he shrugged. "And there’s only one of them."

"That we know of," grunted Fan Teng Fei. "I don’t know if it’s a good idea to invite it inside, not knowing how many are out there."

I wanted to argue that we were high up, that there couldn’t be that many zombies out there, but this one had to come from somewhere.

"Remember the plus one rule," grunted Cheng Bo Jing. "If you see one, assume there are two. If you see two, assume there are three, and if there are three..."

"Assume there is more," I answered, remembering his words when I was a kid. He had told me that it was his way of never underestimating the enemy’s numbers.

Apparently, while we were talking, the zombie was getting impatient. Reaching up to where the clasp to lock the window was, he created a claw and, with his nails, cut a perfect circle into the glass.

"That’s possible?" I gulped, clutching Chang Ming closer to me. We continued to watch as the zombie quietly removed the broken piece, stuck his bony hand through the opening, and unlocked the window.

No wonder they were able to snatch people out of their beds. If we had been asleep, or even alone... "Fuck the other window," grunted Bai Long Qiang as he and I had the same thought.

The men leaped into action, creating a circle around me and the boy. Rip remained by the window, watching as the zombie pushed the lower half up, and the whole thing slid up silently.

I was starting to get sick to my stomach as the cold night air blew into the living room. I was never going to have confidence in the cabin after tonight. Not if zombies could do that.

Why couldn’t we get the idiot zombies from the movies? The ones that couldn’t get upstairs and were easily killed with a hit to the head? I would take that any day over these ones.

As soon as the window was opened enough for the zombie to be able to get inside, he paused, cocking his beach ball of a head to the side as he stared at Rip.

I could see the zombie working out who was stronger and what he needed to do in order to get past Rip to the rest of us.

But a brief glance over Rip’s shoulder and the zombie gave it all away.

"From the bedroom!" I screamed just as a second zombie launched itself over the couch we had placed in front of the hallway and directly onto Si Dong.

The man grunted as sharp claws cut into his shoulder as the momentum of the creature dropped him onto his back.

Not thinking, I reached forward and touched the zombie, yanking out its life force in one go.

It was different from using the highway of roots to take from them or even what I had done the first time with the Reaver. It was like I had taken its heart out in one strike, killing him instantly.

The zombie shuddered for a moment before it dissolved into dust.

Silence descended on the living room as the zombie from the window stared at where the second zombie had disappeared.

Suddenly, it roared at me so loud I wanted to cover my ears with my hands, but instead, I covered Wang Chang Ming’s.

I refused to break the staring contest between me and the creature. Neither one of us moving a muscle.

That was until the zombie flung itself backward, freefalling from the window.

Rip quickly stuck his head out of the window.

"What?" I asked, not knowing how to finish that question. What happened to the zombie? Why did it do that? How did it get up here in the first place? Were we even safe?

There were so many questions zipping through my mind that I couldn’t find the words to ask any of them.

"It’s gone. They are all gone," grunted Rip, bringing his head back into the condo and closing the window.

Not like that would do much good. We saw just how easily they were able to get into this place.

I don’t think there is any safe place after tonight.