The Walking Dead : Rules of Survival

When Shu Guang came to give me an IV, Li Jianguo didn't come along—he just sent Li Jiaqiang over with the key.

Li Jiaqiang and I had been out on operations together many times, so we had some camaraderie, at least.

He wasn't like Li Jianguo, who only ever put on a fake front.

After Shu Guang arrived, Li Jiaqiang opened the door and followed closely behind.

He helped hang the IV bottle, arranged the backrest, and so on.

While fussing around, he kept rambling, "Sister Chen, you really have to take care of that wound—make sure it doesn't get wet. Even at night, keep it outside the blanket when you sleep. If you sweat and it gets irritated, then the IV would've been for nothing."

It was hard for me not to let my disgust toward Li Jianguo spill over onto Li Jiaqiang—after all, they were blood brothers, the same family through and through.

In today's world, with his younger age and sturdier build, Li Jiaqiang was clearly Li Jianguo's right-hand man.

Still, the man was being kind right now, so I couldn't very well stay silent and act too prickly.

I forced a dry laugh and said, "You're not wrong, Brother Li. I really do have to be careful. If it gets infected and festers, and I die in this room—just imagine how many people would be heartbroken."

Li Jiaqiang probably picked up on the sarcasm in my words.

His hands, busy tucking in my blanket, paused for a moment.

After staring blankly for a couple of seconds, he let out a sigh and gave an awkward grin.

"Sister Chen, you're a good person. You won't die."

Like I said, Li Jiaqiang wasn't like his brother—he didn't deal in empty platitudes.

He picked up on what I meant, but didn't try to explain or argue.

He just accepted it.

After securing the IV needle, Shu Guang took my temperature again.

Once everything checked out, he turned to Li Jiaqiang and asked, "Brother Li, this IV will need to be changed again in a bit… What do you think?"

Li Jiaqiang waved his hand and quickly replied, "You stay here, you stay. Don't bother locking the door for now. I'll cover for you if my brother asks."

"Then thanks a lot." Shu Guang smiled and gave a polite thanks, then got up to see Li Jiaqiang to the door.

Once Li Jiaqiang had left, I jumped out of bed in one swift motion.

After asking Shu Guang to hold the IV bottle for me, I hunched over and slipped out into the hallway.

Leaning over the edge of the balcony, I quickly scanned the area below.

Sure enough, there were two men stationed at each of the stairwells on either side of the building.

No wonder Li Jiaqiang had felt so confident leaving the door wide open—he had already decided that, with my injuries, there was no way I'd make it out of this building.

And while he was at it, he'd done himself the favor of looking generous.

With age and experience, even the most honest-looking people have long since become sharp and shrewd inside.

To avoid being spotted by the men downstairs, I didn't dare linger on the balcony and quickly returned to the room.

Before Shu Guang could say anything, I asked, "What's the situation outside?"

Shu Guang was momentarily stunned, then smiled and said, "I'm one of Li Jianguo's people, you know. Do you really think I'd tell you if you asked me like that?"

I rolled my eyes at him and urged, "Cut it out. Just tell me—what's going on?"

To be honest, last night I really did suspect that Shu Guang might be one of Li Jianguo's crew.

Either that, or just a fair coward who'd switch sides when things got rough.

But seeing him this morning, panting and out of breath when he arrived—it was obvious he'd been in a rush, truly worried.

And that little medical kit—yesterday, when he helped me do a quick patch-up, it wasn't there.

Now it had suddenly appeared, and it was fully stocked.

That meant he had packed it right after I got injured yesterday.

Li Jianguo's men only took a few minutes to fetch him—he wouldn't have had time to prepare it on the spot.

With just these two points, I could tell I hadn't misjudged Shu Guang.

He was someone I could trust.

Shu Guang indeed put away his joking expression, glanced out the window at the corridor, and only after making sure no one was around did he lower his voice and ask, "Do you know about Suo Tian going missing?"

I froze for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I know. Why?"

Shu Guang continued, "We were originally planning to go out and look for him. After all, with what happened to you, we figured we needed a leader to rely on. But Li Jianguo wouldn't allow it—he insisted that a horde of walkers could show up any day now, and it's too dangerous to leave the building. Then, starting last night, he even held another meeting and told everyone we're not allowed to visit you in this building without permission."

"Didn't Shen Feng and the others say anything?"

"Of course they did! They were furious. Your brother and his group almost got into a fight with them. But it was useless. Li Jianguo's people outnumbered them. Now that Suo Tian is gone, he doesn't have anything holding him back. This place is his kingdom now. People like us—our words don't count for anything anymore."

Shu Guang stood up and adjusted the IV drip to make it flow faster.

"He didn't leave any kind of message? Like where he went or what he was going to do?"

"Nothing. Not a word. He only took his sword and a survival pack. Didn't bring anything else, didn't leave anything behind."

I lowered my head and quickly sifted through my thoughts.

The situation was unfolding just as I had predicted.

Judging from the current situation, Li Jianguo clearly intends to keep me locked up for the long haul.

Never mind whether the incoming horde of walkers will kill me— even if I manage to hide safely and wait it out, with the way Li Jianguo and his people have set their sights on taking over this place, there's no way they'll allow me to stay afterward.

The only question is, when they say I "won't be staying," do they mean kicking me out of the school—or sending me to the grave?

If that's the case, then rather than sit here waiting to die, I'd be better off making a move myself and escaping this place.

As long as I can avoid the walker horde, there might still be a sliver of hope.

Besides… I want to go find Suo Tian.

I don't understand why he would leave without a word, all on his own.

But then… I glanced out the window—what about Yangyang and the others?

"Chen Yang, what are you thinking about?" Shu Guang's voice broke my daze—probably because he'd waited too long without getting a reply.

I turned to look at him, stayed quiet for a while, then took a breath and asked, "Shu Guang… is there any way you can help me leave this place?"

Shu Guang looked surprised.

"You want to leave? Your wound's going to take at least a month to heal. If you head out now, you're just walking to your death! Besides, Li Jianguo would never agree to let you go—letting you leave would be like setting a tiger free."

"I know," I said.

"What I'm asking is—how can I escape without Li Jianguo and the others finding out?"

"Escape?" Shu Guang stared at me for a moment.

"Li Jianguo wouldn't go so far as to kill you just to silence you."

He probably had some idea of what I was thinking.

"I can't take that risk. Not just him—there's also that woman, Song Meijing. She's lost her mind. Completely irrational now. She'd love nothing more than to see me dead."

Shu Guang frowned, his expression darkening.

After a long pause, he looked up, as if he'd made some serious decision, and said to me, "If you're going to go, do it soon. Once I leave, Li Jiaqiang might come by to check if the door's locked properly—if he notices you're gone, it's over. And that walker horde? It'll be here in just a day or two. The news didn't broadcast the exact time, but based on earlier reports, they're probably not far off."

I glanced at the window on the other side of the room.

Fourth floor.

This side of the building didn't have security bars on the windows.

I'd checked before—behind this building was a sprawling urban village.

A dense cluster of old, run-down houses.

If I could avoid being seen and make it down to the second floor, then find a way to jump from there, I could get into that urban village.

Once I'm inside, even if Li Jianguo finds out I'm gone, I doubt he'd risk going in to look for me.

Most of the people in his gang are cowards hiding behind a tough front.

They're only good at bullying the weak when they outnumber them—when it comes to walkers, they're even more terrified than anyone else!

What really ticks me off the most is—

Last time we went out, that quiet wreck Wang Yongqiang, who kept nervously chugging water and shaking the whole time, is now actually posted downstairs as a guard.

And to think I even tried to comfort him back then.

But just as a side note—that guy, timid as he may be, barely braver than a fart, he sure didn't mess around when it came to running.

His speed during a retreat? Nothing short of impressive.

I shook my head, trying not to dwell on useless thoughts.

I stood up, glanced at the nearly finished IV drip, gritted my teeth, and yanked the needle out in one go.

I used to think scenes like this were super cool when watching TV—the main character or heroine just ripping the needle out like a badass when in a rush.

But now that I'd actually done it myself, I realized just how much it hurt.

Grimacing in pain, I blew on the puncture for a good while until Shu Guang, flustered and anxious, rushed over with a cotton ball and pressed it down.

That's when I remembered—oh right, you need to stop the bleeding too.

"Hurry, while we still can—let's check out the second floor and see if there's a way down from there." I pressed on the wound with one hand and urged Shu Guang on.

"What are you so damn anxious for?" he snapped.

"Can you at least give me a heads-up before doing something like that? Who pulls a needle out like that? Hold on—I need to pack up the supplies in the kit. Take it with you. You'll need to figure out how to treat that wound on your own once you're out."

The two of us crouched low and moved in stealth, hearts pounding, until we finally slipped into an empty classroom on the second floor.

Only then could we breathe a little easier.

Wiping the cold sweat that had formed on my forehead from the tension, I checked the height from the second floor to the ground.

Roughly estimated—it was just over three meters.

About the same as the height I'd jumped from at the hospital last time.

The difference was that last time, I had plenty of footholds to support myself—but this time… I looked at the bare wall.

There was nothing.

I'd have to rely entirely on my own strength.

I silently cheered myself on.

Jumping down shouldn't be a big deal—it wasn't that high.

As long as I could stop being locked up like a monkey, even breaking a leg might be worth it!

But then again… if I really did break something, how would I run?

That'd be it.

I'd be as good as dead!

Back and forth my thoughts went.

Looking down again… it somehow looked higher than before…

I swallowed hard and turned to ask Shu Guang, "If I leave like this, what about Yangyang and the others? Is there any way to get them out with me?"

Shu Guang thought for a moment and said, "There's definitely a way. It wouldn't be hard for them to leave—if they just told Li Jianguo they wanted to go, he'd let them. The problem is, the moment they do that, Li Jianguo will realize you're missing. And by then…"

I waved my hand, stepping back from the window.

"I meant a more plausible way—like saying they need to go out and fetch something… and then sneak them out with that as an excuse."

Shu Guang glanced at me.

"Alright. You go first. I'll figure out a way to let Shen Feng and the others know."

"Good. Tell them I'll be waiting at the mall."

I glanced down the window again as Shu Guang adjusted the strap of the medical kit to its longest length and slowly lowered it outside, tied to his clothes.

Then he turned to me, his brow tightly furrowed.

"Chen Yang, once you get out… where are you planning to go?"

I thought for a moment.

"I don't know. I'll figure it out as I go. Things have gotten to this point—I don't think there's any time to set up a shelter like this again. I definitely can't go back home. Maybe I'll try to head toward one of the shelters mentioned in the news."

"You… you're not going to look for Suo Tian?"

I paused for a second… then smiled and said, "Of course I'll look for him. But only if I'm sure I can stay alive first. Otherwise, even if I find him, he'll probably just chop my head off with his blade."

Shu Guang still looked concerned—clearly, my bad joke didn't amuse him.

I dropped the smile and patted him on the shoulder.

"Shu Guang, you're a reliable guy. I hope I'll see you out there later."

A faint light flickered in Shu Guang's eyes.

He looked at me and finally managed a small smile.

"Go on. There's a dagger at the bottom of that kit—make do with it for now."

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