Lin Ye did not have the habit of smoking, so he never carried any ignition tools on him.

"Don't look at me, I don't smoke either."

Mia took out a lollipop, tore off the wrapper, and put it into her mouth.

"It's fine, Brother Yao and the others all smoke, the lounge should have their lighter."

But the lounge was a considerable distance from the pharmacy room, and Lin Ye felt that going to fetch a lighter might be less safe than staying right here.

"Then do we go out?"

Mia bit the lollipop nervously.

Lin Ye didn't answer. He understood the importance of the choice clearly, but this was the first time he'd encountered a decision where choosing wrong could mean death.

"...I want to go out. That monster is very strong, this kind of door won't stop it. It may still be killing people out there; it won't care about us. If everyone outside gets killed, we'll be in danger. As for rescue, we're on the seventh floor, and the incident might not be limited to the hospital. By the time the police come up, we might already be dead."

Lin Ye recalled all the details he'd seen earlier. After that intestine shot out from the patient, its target had been extremely precise, as if it could see the relative's exact location.

"I trust your judgment. What do you need me to do?"

Mia packed the improvised Molotov cocktail into a yellow plastic bag and asked.

"Wait until the noise outside quiets down a bit, then I'll open the door and check the corridor. If there are no monsters in the corridor, we'll go get the lighter and the phone."

Lin Ye took two scalpels from the medicine cabinet, handed one to Mia, and Mia shoved a lollipop into Lin Ye's mouth.

"Don't be too nervous, Doctor Lin, it's just an intestine."

Mia forced a smile, her voice trembling slightly.

"You're right, it's just an intestine."

The sweetness spread in Lin Ye's mouth; he actually needed a sugar boost right now.

Before long, the chaotic noises in the corridor completely died down. Lin Ye used the key to unlock the door and peered through the crack to check outside.

Splattered blood had soaked the floor and walls, some torn limbs lay scattered on the ground, and the strong stench of blood rushed into the pharmacy room.

"How is it?"

Mia whispered in Lin Ye's ear.

Lin Ye didn't answer. He merely made a follow-me gesture.

The two slipped into the corridor quietly. The corridor was terribly silent; no living person appeared in their sight.

Lin Ye crouched low and walked at the front, constantly listening for movement nearby. Passing each room, he would glance inside to check the situation.

They soon approached the doctors' office. Lin Ye planned to search the lounge for a lighter first. He instinctively looked back at Mia, but what he saw chilled him to the bone.

A long string of intestines covered in eyeballs trailed silently behind Mia, the other end of the intestines still disappearing into the pharmacy room.

Lin Ye grabbed Mia's arm and bolted forward. The intestines emitted sharp shrieks and, like long worms, writhed toward them.

The writhing was fast, but the tail seemed stuck inside the pharmacy room, which hindered its movement.

Seizing the opportunity, the two luckily rushed into the lounge, and they didn't encounter any other monsters on the way.

Lin Ye quickly found the lighter Brother Yao had hidden in a cabinet. Before the intestine monster broke into the lounge, Lin Ye ignited a Molotov.

The monster forced its way into the lounge, and when the Molotov struck it, flames quickly enveloped the part that had pushed inside. The creature seemed to have a very high fat content.

While the monster roared and struggled, Lin Ye threw a second Molotov, this time hurling it at the part of the creature near the door, hitting its rear section.

The smell of burning fat filled the lounge. Lin Ye soaked two towels at the sink, clamped them over their mouths and noses, and then swung a chair to smash the burning monster out the door.

"Go!"

Lin Ye dragged Mia out of the lounge. They sprinted toward the staff passage as fast as they could. That passage required an access card to enter; even if there were monsters inside, there shouldn't be too many.

However, before they could reach the staff passage, several monsters rushed out of the emergency stairwell. They came in different shapes, but all were constructed from human organs.

Mia handed a Molotov to Lin Ye. Lin Ye lit it and threw it at the monsters. The two worked together smoothly; in less than ten seconds they had thrown four Molotovs. Due to the narrow environment, the creatures were all engulfed in roaring flames.

Lin Ye pulled Mia toward the staff passage. Before they got close, he took out his access card, but quickly realized the staff passage's door was gone.

In the dim stairwell came the monsters' piercing, overlapping screams, as if they were using those sounds to communicate.

"What do we do?!"

Mia had felt something was off about the hospital before. Why were the staff passage and the emergency stairwell both lit with those yellow bulbs?!

Those old-style bulbs were low-wattage, perfect for a horror-movie atmosphere in this sealed space.

"We can only go to the storeroom."

Only two Molotovs remained. Judging by the sound, there were at least a dozen monsters below. Forcing their way out would be suicide.

Bang bang bang!

Just as Lin Ye turned to dash for the storeroom, what sounded like gunshots echoed from the staff passage.

The sound wasn't far away, maybe only a floor or two below them.

The storeroom was on the other side of the lounge. Should they go to the storeroom to make more Molotovs, or go down to check the source of the gunfire? This was another option that could kill them.

"...Let's go down and take a look. If we run into monsters, throw Molotovs to cover the retreat, then go straight to the storeroom!"

Lin Ye made the decision in half a second. He wouldn't hesitate in this situation.

"Okay!"

Mia followed Lin Ye into the staff passage. They descended only one floor and saw a blonde woman in a police uniform down below fighting monsters with a baton.

"Stand back! I'm going to throw a Molotov!"

Lin Ye lit a Molotov and, as the female officer retreated, threw it toward the monsters. The flames ignited the creatures and temporarily separated them from the ones below.

"Come with me!"

Lin Ye led the policewoman back up to the seventh floor. He didn't stop, instead taking the three of them toward the storeroom.

The flames couldn't hold back the monsters forever. They had to prepare defenses before the monsters surged up.

"Do you have the storeroom key?"

Lin Ye was a doctor; the storeroom was managed by the nurses.

"No, only the head nurse and Sister Li have the storeroom key!"

Mia answered quickly.

"The key should be on them, that's a problem."

Lin Ye was about to try a lock-picking trick he'd learned before, when the female officer following them suddenly spoke up:

"No need for a key. I can open the door."

"Right, you should have spare magazines."

Lin Ye had seen the officer fighting the monsters with a baton earlier and had assumed she'd used up her bullets.