Then he took a breath and knocked lightly on the door 5 times. After a few second, there was no signs of anyone moving within the room. However, the door of the next appartment was. .h.i.t from the inside. The scratching noise indicated that it was a zombie inside. Growing worried, Lius.h.i.+ tried to open the door, and was schocked to see that it wasn't even locked.

"Zhuying" he loudly whispered as he rushed in.

Lu cursed under her breath as she followed him in. The place was empty. As they looked around, they saw no traces of struggle.

Lius.h.i.+'s gaze was drawn toward a tee-s.h.i.+rt placed on her bed. It was a tee-s.h.i.+rt with a hand-painted drawing representing him and his sister playing. It was a gift she had made for him, but he refused to wear it because he found the patern silly. She decided to keep it, and it became a recurring gag between them. He carefuly took it in his hands, his expression nostalgic for a few seconds before turning serious.

He knew his sister well. Even though she could be willful and mischevious, she always listened to him for importants matters. There had to be a very good reason why she wasn't in the appartment, and also why she left her precious s.h.i.+rt in plain view. Turning it around, he saw a message written on the back. It read "Brother, wait for me".

"... What?"

"Is something wrong, brother Lius.h.i.+?"

"She left a message" he said, showing him the tee-s.h.i.+rt. "She didn't leave any other explanation. Just saying to wait. With how things have changed, how can she leave with any explanations? This isn't nearly as rea.s.suring as she thinks! G.o.ds, she left the safety of the room..."

Seeing Lius.h.i.+ so distraugh, Lu felt sorry for him. Not knowing wether her family was alive or not was really hard for her. She didn't like to see him in that state so she stepped toward him and hug him from behind. She put her chin on his shoulder and talked softly.

"It'll be okay. You warned her, and she most likely saw what happened in the streets. Since she choose to leave, you can bet that she took some precautions. I'm sure she's fine. She trusted you to make it here, so have some faith in her as well."

He was surprised at first, but quickly calmed down. He was growing fond of her, so he liked the hug. He would have enjoyed it more without the vests. And he agreed with her words as well. He was letting his worries get the better of him. He thanked her, and she released him with a slight reddening of her cheeks. With the s.h.i.+rt in hand, they returned to the Doomtrooper.

Once inside, they contacted Xiaotian with the comm unit and explained what happened. It was decided that Lius.h.i.+ and Lu would wait in the car in front of the building, and Xiaotian would stay at the entrance of the estate in the Doomsday Ride.

At noon, they got canned food from the trailer, not wanting any of them to move away from their vehicles. Lius.h.i.+ spent half of the waiting time chatting with the sisters, on and off. Xiaotian was able to join the talks through the comm.

Lius.h.i.+ was talking about his childhood and his life with his sister, and Xiaotian or Lu would comment with stories of their own childhood. One of the sister would sometimes use the occasion to tease the other in front of Lius.h.i.+. The talks often deviated toward a certain subject such as food, entertainment or events. The strong bond they created over the last few days was deepened that afternoon.

Shortly after 5pm, the situation changed. The 3 people had stopped chatting and were entertaining themselves in their own way. Xiaotian was listening some music, Lu was playing mini-games, and Lius.h.i.+ looked like he was resting, but was in fact designing more equipment for scouting and security. In the Doomsday Ride, the monitoring system alarm rang, prompting Xiaotian to pause the music.

It had happened several times when zombies came in range. They weren't shot automatically because the system was set on warning instead of defense. It was a setting Lius.h.i.+ added in the previous town to avoid shooting wounded but non-infected people that would at first look like zombies. The turrets would only fire on Xiaotian's order, else they would remain folded and hidden.

Xiaotian checked the camera feed and saw 4 people moving toward the truck. There were 2 women and 2 men, carrying scavenged tools as weapons. The women were leading the way while the guys were scanning their surroundings and checking their backs.

As for said group of survivors, they were perplexed. It started some distance away from the estate. They were returning back to a familiar area to check something, and it had changed. Some of the abandonned cars that were on the streets had been moved, and the zombie corpses they found had been either shot or run over.

"Whoever killed those zombies was a good" said one of the guys. "Do you think it was someone from the military?"

"I don't think so" said the other man. "They have no reason to be come that deep into the city. There is a reason they retreated and entrenched themselves in Sattelite Town. They have to rely on us scavenger for anything they need in the city. What do you think, boss?"

"I don't like it" said the woman leading the way with a scowl on her face. "Since they have guns, they're probably thugs and criminals. Like a certain pain in the a.s.s" she finished with a deadly edge in her voice.

"... The Bleeding Wolves?" asked the other woman after thinking for a moment.

"Maybe. We can't be certain until we meet them. Let's be extra careful."

"""Yes."""

As they moved, they got more worried because the people who had shot the zombies seemed to be moving toward the same place they were going to. The leader of the group got worried and increased the pace. The zombies that had been attracted by the scent of blood were quickly dispatched with a flash, a craking noise and the smell of burnt flesh.

When they reached the street leading to the entrance of the estate, they stopped. Ahead of them, they could see the back of a truck, causualy parked in the middle of the street, with several zombie corpses not too far from it.

"I think we found them" said one of the guy.

"Really?" the second girl replied sarcastically.

"There is noone outside standing guard" said the second man. "Should we check the truck?"

"... Yes. Let's go" replied the leader.

Slowly, using the few parked cars in the area as possible s.h.i.+elds, they moved forward. Back in the truck, Xiaotian watched their approach on the screen, and contacted her comrades.

"Brother Lius.h.i.+?"

The answer came 2 seconds later.

"Yes Xiaotian? What is it?"

"There are 4 survivors coming over here. 2 guys and 2 girls, armed with knives, sticks or pipes, and a machete."

"What about the girls?" he asked in an anxious voice.

"Wait a moment."

Xiaotian understood what Lius.h.i.+ asked. When he made preparations to leave Jiangbei, he also had pictures of his sister. On the way to Nanjing city, he had shown the girls a few pictures. Lius.h.i.+ wanted Xiaotian to comfirm wether or not his sister was with them. She watched as they got closer to the truck, and after comparing what was on the monitor to the available picture, she smiled.

She rolled down the window, causing the 4 people to stop about 10m away from the truck, and stuck her head out. Since they didn't seem to have any long range weapons, she wasn't worried about being attacked. She was certain it was her, but wanted a confirmation.

"h.e.l.lo" she greeted them with a small smile.

"Hi" answered the leading girl, tense.

Seeing them so guarded, Xiaotian got a bit worried.

"He still refuse to wear that s.h.i.+rt you know" she probed.

The leading girl froze and her eyes widened.

"Brother Lius.h.i.+?" she blurted with hope in her voice.

Xiaotian's smile grew larger.

"I am Wen Xiaotian. Nice to finally meet you, Jiang Zhuying."

"You know my brother? He's here?" she asked as she rushed toward the truck.

"Your brother saved me when he left Jiangbei, and helped me look for my sister. They are waiting in front of your residence in an armored SUV."

"Really?" she replied, happiness blooming on her face.

"Yes."

As she was about to rush in, Xiaotian stopped her.

"Wait! We've been here since before noon, so some zombies may have wandered out. And we've been ambushed by an agile mutant beast in the middle of a town before. Wait here, I'm calling them back."

"Ah, yes. Thank you" she replied.

Xiaotian briefly contacted the Doomtrooper.

"It's her. Come back."

It didn't take long for the Doomtrooper to appear from within the estate. The moment it stopped, Lius.h.i.+ got out the car, his gaze fixated on his sister. She was dressed in tight jeans, black s.h.i.+rt and a denin jacket, hiking boots and dark blue fingerless gloves. She had a lean and fit body, with an average bust and a round bubble b.u.t.t. She looked to be in good health, and had her eyes fixated on the car since it appeared.

As soon as she saw him, her breath was stuck in her throat for a moment. It wasn't because he was there, but because of what he was wearing. The bodysuit and the armored vest, with the various pieces of protecting gear ,and the harness carrying the weapons. At that moment he looked like a hero from action movies. Her hero. Before she knew it, she had ran to him and gave him a fierce hug, which he gladly returned.

"... Brother Lius.h.i.+."

"I've come as promised. It's good to see you well little Ying."