She also understood the quiet pressure of having to protect what mattered to you in a world that did not care. For that reason, she wanted to give them a chance. Just a chance, nothing more.

Whether they would survive in the future was still unknown. In this kind of world, being kind once did not guarantee anything. It only opened a door.

Bai Li closed her bag again and glanced at Yan Cijin. Yan Cijin met her eyes and did not say anything, but there was a small understanding there, a quiet one. Bai Li had made a choice, and Yan Cijin had supported it. That was enough for now.

Behind them, the road still groaned with distant zombie sounds. Ahead of them, the city was still broken, still dangerous, still full of people who would do anything to survive. But for one small moment, in the middle of all that ruin, three frightened souls had been pulled back from the edge. Xu Wei held her wife and child close, her face tense but determined. Shen Qiao kept stroking Xiao Yu’s back while trying not to cry again. The child finally stopped shaking so hard, though his fingers still clutched his mother’s shirt like he was afraid letting go would make everything disappear.

Bai Li did not say anything else. She only got back on the bike, steady and calm as ever, while Yan Cijin moved up behind her. The engine started again, low and fierce. Before leaving, Bai Li looked once more at the three of them and said, "Live."

Twenty minutes later, Bai Li could already see the gate of Jianghua riverside Complex ahead of her. The sight gave her a little relief, but not enough for her to relax. In this world, a familiar gate did not mean safety, and a place that looked close could still turn dangerous in a second. She kept both hands steady on the motorcycle and continued driving into jinghua riverside complex with careful control, never letting the zombies behind her get too close. They were still twenty or thirty meters back, but that did not mean much. Zombies did not get tired in the same way people did, and if she made one bad move, they could still rush up and make everything ugly in an instant. Bai Li did not want that. She had already come this far, and she had no intention of throwing it away because she got careless at the last second.

Once she rode into the community, the first thing she did was crush two zombies head on. The impact was heavy and ugly, but she handled the bike like she had complete control over it, as if the chaos around her was just another road she had to pass through. Then she made a clean drift to the right. The front of the kawasaki ninja 400 stayed steady while the back swung around in a perfect arc, and that movement smashed into two more zombies on the other side. It was a smooth, fast move, the kind that looked almost casual if someone did not know how dangerous it really was. Bai Li did not waste time admiring it, though. She had already seen enough zombies to know that every second mattered. Every second she stayed out in the open was a second the horde could use to close in on her.

After that, she turned the motorcycle around and rushed toward Building 9. She knew where she was going and did not need to slow down to think. In just a dozen seconds, she braced herself against the ground and brought the bike to a stop at the entrance. The moment the motorcycle finally settled, the noise of the engine still hanging in the air, Bai Li patted Yan Cijin’s hand, which was tightly wrapped around her waist, and said, "Dr. yan, we’re here. Get off and open the building doors for me, be quick."

"Okay." Yan Cijin answered right away. She loosened her grip on Bai Li’s waist, placed both hands on Bai Li’s waist for a better hold, and then stepped off the motorcycle in one quick motion. Even though the ride had been rough and the world around them was still dangerous, she did not hesitate or panic. She moved fast, but not clumsily. She jogged to the building doors and pulled them open, then moved inside to clear a passageway for Bai Li. Her actions were neat and smooth, with no wasted motion, which was exactly what Bai Li needed from her right now.

Luckily, the building doors were wide enough. Bai Li did not waste a single second. She accelerated and rode the motorcycle straight into the building until it was completely out of sight. Only after that did she shut off the engine, get off quickly, and let the motorcycle vanish into thin air. Even after seeing that happen more than once, it still looked a little unreal. But at this point, there was no time to stop and think about the strange parts of the system. She had more important things to worry about.

Bai Li did not dare to be careless after they entered. She reached out and took Yan Cijin’s wrist, then led her through a large white door on one side. Inside was an emergency staircase, and Bai Li chose that immediately. In the apocalypse, stairs were still the safest route. The power system in JINGHUA City was still running now, but nobody could say how long that would last. A blackout could happen at any time, and the elevators could fail at any moment. Even if they did not fail, there was nobody coming to repair them anymore. No workers, no maintenance crew, no one to help. So stairs were the best choice, even if they were tiring.

The stairwell was empty at first, which was a good thing. But Bai Li still heard faint rustling sounds from outside the building entrance, and that was enough for her to guess that the zombies chasing the motorcycle were probably turning back and coming for them again.

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TO BE CONTINUED.