The surveillance feeds were clearly much more numerous than last time.
Some of them were even constantly moving—most likely footage transmitted from helicopters or other mobile devices.
A technician who had been monitoring the recordings turned around when he saw our group enter.
He immediately stood up from his chair, walked over to Suo Tian, nodded, and said, “There are too many walkers outside the north side of the city. They’ve already started piling up.”
Suo Tian stepped forward and followed him to one of the monitors, watching for a while.
The technician kept pointing at the screen, explaining the current situation, while Suo Tian occasionally responded with a few remarks.
The two men in military uniforms stayed behind Suo Tian, constantly replying over their walkie-talkies.
For a moment… in this noisy, crowded office where everyone was busy with their own tasks, I was the only idle one who had insisted on coming, standing there staring at the screens.
The footage was extremely clear.
For a moment, it almost felt like watching a Hollywood blockbuster.
The number of walkers outside the city wall was at least double what I had seen last time.
The wall itself was sturdy, so there was no need to worry about them breaking through, but just looking at the dense mass outside was enough to make one shudder.
Some of the screens showed a section of road separated by wire fencing near the main gate—it was probably the route assigned last time.
But now, because the number of walkers was simply too great, the road that had cost so much manpower and resources to build was clearly no longer passable.
Large groups of walkers crowded both sides of the wire fence, and in some places, the seemingly sturdy fencing had already been warped out of shape.
To be honest, I even doubted whether vehicles had ever properly passed through that road before.
Back when that road was being built, both Gao and Suo Tian had already pointed out that the wire fencing wouldn’t withstand such a massive number of walkers.
But the higher-ups at headquarters were stubborn—who knows if they had ever even come out to see the situation for themselves—and insisted on having it built anyway.
And now, it had all gone to waste.
After staring at the dense tide of walkers outside for a while longer, I started to feel nauseous.
Looking at it too long, the sheer density of those rotting heads—packed together like a cluster—was enough to trigger trypophobia.
I looked away and focused on something else.
Better not to watch those screens—the numbers were overwhelming, and there was nothing I could do to help anyway.
Watching would only make me more anxious.
The room was bustling with noise—the crackling of walkie-talkies, the sounds of strange instruments, people shouting back and forth.
The whole atmosphere was incredibly tense.
Suo Tian was still in front of the monitors, discussing something with the others.
From time to time, the uniformed men beside him would relay new information to him through their radios.
After quite a while, Suo Tian finally stepped away from the monitors.
He turned, said something to the people beside him, and then walked toward me.
I looked at him and asked, “Are we going out?”
“Mm. Stay close to me,” he said, reaching out to pull me along.
The two uniformed men glanced at me a couple of times, then went back to exchanging information over their radios.
After leaving the office, I couldn’t help but let out a deep breath of relief.
That feeling of everyone being busy while I stood there doing nothing—it really wasn’t pleasant.
Suo Tian kept hold of me as we walked.
We weren’t moving very fast.
Noticing the direction we were heading, I asked quietly, “What are we going to do now?”
He pointed toward the top of the city wall. “There.”
I froze for a moment, glanced up at the wall, then instinctively looked back at the office behind us.
“Then… what we just saw—once we go up there, we’ll be able to see it with our own eyes?”
Suo Tian looked at me. “Do you want me to send you back first?”
Hearing that, I quickly waved my hands. “No need. They’re just a few walkers. It’s not like I haven’t killed any before. Let’s go take a look.”
I said it boldly, but as we got closer to the city wall, the deafening roars of the walkers from outside still made my heart start pounding faster.
If the groups of walkers we had encountered before could be called “hordes,” then judging by the overwhelming noise outside now, it felt like all the walkers in the world had gathered outside this wall.
Of course, it’s impossible for all the walkers in the world to gather here.
But considering the population base of our country, the fact that we had only encountered so few walkers along the way before really had to be credited to Suo Tian.
As we climbed the stairs, I unconsciously tightened my grip on Suo Tian’s clothes, took a couple of deep breaths, and followed him up.
As mentioned before, the construction of this city wall was somewhat similar to the Great Wall, just taller.
The moment I stepped onto the platform with Suo Tian, the already deafening roars became even more real as they crashed into my ears.
“Overwhelming” was no longer enough to describe the scene—if we’re talking about the end of the world… only now did I truly feel that this was what a real apocalypse looked like.
Gao was also standing on the platform, holding a pair of binoculars and looking into the distance.
After someone beside him reminded him, he turned to look at Suo Tian.
Without any joking greeting this time, the two of them walked aside and began discussing something in low, serious voices.
I stood off to one side alone, not daring to look directly below at first.
Instead, I looked toward the far end of the wall.
Just like last time, at intervals there were structures resembling artillery platforms, with cannons mounted on them.
Behind them stood team members, much like soldiers guarding a city in ancient times.
I didn’t recognize the uniforms they were wearing—probably from some other unit.
In the distance, people in black uniforms and military attire were scattered about in small groups, all closely watching the situation below.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, I gathered my courage and stepped toward the edge of the wall, preparing to see what it looked like down there.
Step by step, I slowly approached the edge.
A young team member guarding a nearby cannon turned to look at me and grinned.
“A young lady probably shouldn’t look—it might keep you up all night.”
“…I’m practically the same as a guy. It’s not like I won’t be able to sleep. How bad could it—” I retorted, but by the time I reached the edge and saw what was below, the rest of my words got stuck in my throat.
I couldn’t even manage to gasp.
…
My ability to comprehend numbers completely failed in that instant.
The mass of walkers packed densely below was beyond any accurate count—at this point, describing them in terms of numbers had no meaning at all.
“Corpses covering the land” was the first phrase that came to mind, and after that, my thoughts went blank.
Outside the wall was an open expanse.
From this height, I could see far into the distance.
I kept pushing my gaze farther and farther… and still, it was nothing but walkers.
They surged, writhed, and roared.
Separated by just one wall, the outside had become entirely the domain of the undead—a living hell brought into the human world.
The feeling was completely different from watching it on the monitors.
My steps unconsciously moved back a couple of paces… how could there be so many?
In the distant sky, several helicopters were circling, flying toward headquarters.
The uniformed officers standing beside Suo Tian and Gao immediately picked up their walkie-talkies and began speaking, then turned to report quietly to the two of them.
Soon after, I saw the helicopters change direction before getting too close.
Then Suo Tian walked over to me. “We’re heading to the north side of the city now. Do you want to go back?”
This time, I didn’t insist.
I knew they were going to handle serious matters, and the scene below had shaken me too deeply.
As soon as he asked, I nodded quickly. “I’ll go back… I’m tired… I’ll go rest.”
“Mm.” Suo Tian nodded, then glanced at the people behind him.
“Make sure she gets back safely.”
…
Sitting in the car, even after driving for quite a while, I still hadn’t recovered from what I had just seen.
I stared blankly out the window, only finally pulling my wandering thoughts back when we entered the bustling streets of the city.
Watching the bustling crowd outside, while waiting at a red light, I glanced a few more times at the entrances of bars and shopping malls that had already resumed normal operations, and couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh.
The uniformed driver heard it and looked over at me. “What’s wrong? Why the sigh?”
Knowing he was just asking out of politeness, I smiled back and replied, “The walkers outside—before they became what they are now, they all lived normal lives like we do. Thinking about it… it feels a bit tragic.”
The driver let out a light chuckle. “You’re quite sentimental.”
I smiled at him and didn’t respond further.
It wasn’t until we arrived at my house and I got out of the car that I thanked him.
Hearing the commotion, Lili and the others came out.
Seeing that I had been dropped off, they asked curiously, “Where’s Suo Tian?”
“He was called away for something urgent.”
As soon as I entered the house, I saw Chen Pu sitting on the sofa chatting with Yangyang.
I frowned slightly without thinking.
Just as I turned my head back, I noticed Xu Shu staring at me without blinking.
I gave her a quick smile, greeted the others, and then turned to head upstairs.
Following behind me, Lili asked softly, “What did the check-up say?”
Without turning back, I waved my hand. “Nothing serious. Just told me to eat lighter food from now on.”
Uncle Gazi immediately chimed in, “Lighter food? Like porridge? Noodles? What kind of nutrition is that supposed to have?”
…
Ignoring the voices behind me, I hurried back to the third-floor room, threw myself onto the bed, pulled the blanket over my head, closed my eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
I hadn’t dreamed in a long time.
Maybe because my nerves had been shaken today, I ended up dreaming again—absurd, bizarre scenes.
Though calling it “absurd” wasn’t quite right… it was more that my fear of the dream itself was overwhelming.
— The end of the Chapter–
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