僵尸觉醒：从行尸走肉到传奇

第 10 章：杰西卡的中指

Thud! Thud!

Jessica and the zombie rolled across the ground several times, the sheer force of the Mother Zombie's hatred driving it. The weight of the zombie pinned Jessica down, and its dull, rotting brain seemed to come alive as it smelled fresh blood, biting eagerly toward her.

Swish! A knife appeared in Jessica's hand, as if by magic, and she stabbed it straight into the zombie's skull.

With a powerful kick, she sent the corpse flying off her, barely having time to stand up before another zombie hurtled toward her, smashing into her body. One after another, zombies came crashing down, each one fast and powerful, clearly driven by the Mother Zombie's fury.

"Hmph!" Python Jessica let out a cold snort, rolling swiftly on the ground. She grabbed her fallen Barrett sniper rifle, slammed its stock into a zombie's skull, and then nimbly weaved between desks and chairs, dodging more incoming undead. With lightning speed, she ran along the wall for two steps, dodging the last flying zombie before flipping and landing in a crouch.

Her Barrett was now slung securely over her back. Her icy blue eyes glimmered with cold intent, while her golden hair flowed forward. Once again, Jessica and the Mother Zombie locked eyes, their gaze burning with mutual recognition. But what stunned everyone watching was that the usually composed and elegant Jessica, while slowly backing away, suddenly raised her hand and extended a slender middle finger—a classic international gesture.

"Roar! Roar!" It didn't matter if the Mother Zombie understood the gesture; the absolute defiance in Jessica's action was clear. Furious roars erupted from the Mother Zombie as its rage mounted.

...

"Oh, shit! You really shouldn't have provoked it! It's gone mad! Fall back!" Silver Fox's voice burst through the radio in panic as zombies were flung toward them in droves. The horde, now stomping over their dead, surged forward.

"Help! Somebody, help me!" A desperate scream rang out—it was Hound. He was pinned under two zombies, struggling to break free.

Snow Leopard narrowed his eyes, raising his rifle to assist.

...

"Damn it! Why am I always the one getting targeted?!" Nathan cursed loudly, trying to make sense of his rotten luck. Five or six zombies had been launched straight at him like some kind of sick joke. The Mother Zombie was relentless!

Swish, swish, swish!

Nathan had to admit, in situations like this, knives sometimes worked better than guns. With one swift cut, he severed a zombie's decayed hand, followed by a reverse slice that sent its head tumbling from its neck.

His movements were sharp and graceful—ducking, lunging, kicking, and slashing. Each opportunity was seized with precise skill as he killed one zombie after another, alternating between his knife and gun.

Jessica, hearing Nathan's loud complaints and noticing he had called her an "old woman," diverted her attention from Hound to him. Her eyes narrowed as she raised her rifle and fired a shot. A zombie that was just about to pounce on Nathan collapsed to the ground, its head blown apart.

Nathan felt a chill down his spine. "Damn, you walk by the river long enough, you're bound to get wet, huh?" he muttered.

"Thanks! And for the record, I didn't mean to call you an old woman..." Nathan grumbled as he made his way toward Jessica.

"I don't care where you learned those combat skills, but your overconfidence will get you killed," Jessica retorted coldly.

Suddenly, Nathan's eyes flashed with a deadly intent, and before Jessica could react, he fired his gun directly at her.

Bang!

The bullet whizzed past Jessica's ear, hitting the zombie sneaking up behind her square in the head, sending it crashing to the floor.

A faint smirk played on Nathan's lips. "The same goes for you."

Jessica raised an eyebrow, a flicker of something unidentifiable passing through her icy blue eyes.

"Shit! They're getting through! Hurry up, guys—Lion and Tiger are probably already on the rooftop!" Silver Fox's voice was urgent as he looked at the growing number of zombies.

"Got it!" Snow Leopard replied, helping Hound to his feet. But as soon as they took a step, another zombie flew through the air, knocking them both down.

"Let go of me! Let go!" Hound, in his panic, couldn't distinguish between Snow Leopard and the zombies anymore, kicking Snow Leopard away. In doing so, he sent his teammate straight into the clutches of two more zombies.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Damn it, Hound! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Python and Silver Fox both shouted at the same time.

"He's infected! He got bitten earlier! He's as good as dead anyway!" Hound screamed in a frenzy as he ran, sweat pouring down his face. In mere seconds, he had sprinted far ahead of the group, shoving Silver Fox aside as he bolted for the exit.

The zombie horde seemed to pause briefly, but the cost of that delay was a life—Snow Leopard's.

"Roar... roar..."

Hissing and growling filled the air as the approaching horde engulfed Snow Leopard. His face was frozen in disbelief as his eyes remained fixed on his teammates, even in death—a look that would forever be etched into Nathan's mind.

"Snow Leopard... Snow... Leopard..." Silver Fox muttered under his breath, his body trembling slightly. He shook his head violently, then dashed toward the door.

"Python! What are you doing?!" Nathan suddenly saw Jessica, eyes red with fury, attempting to rush toward the mass of zombies where Snow Leopard had fallen.

"Let go of me! I have to save him! Let go!" Jessica, usually so cold and detached, was now completely unrecognizable. But Nathan didn't have time to make sense of it. If he let her go, she'd just be throwing her life away.

Nathan grabbed hold of her, pushing and pulling with all his strength to keep her from running into the horde.

"Get off me! Get off, you coward who abandons his comrades!" Jessica swung a fist at Nathan.

Nathan sidestepped her punch, grabbing her wrist. But before he could react, her other hand flashed, revealing a knife. She was a knife master, too! In the span of a few seconds, they exchanged five or six rapid blows.

"You're insane! He's already gone! You can't save him, you can't even retrieve his body! You'll die too if you go in there!" Nathan shouted, frustration and anger boiling over. The horde wasn't going to wait for them. They'd devour everything in their path.

Nathan's words froze Jessica in place. She stared at him blankly, her eyes losing focus.

Thud!

A zombie suddenly flew toward them, but Nathan swiftly turned and kicked it away. Without wasting any time, he hoisted Jessica over his shoulder and sprinted toward the door.

Click...

Jessica watched as the door slowly closed behind Silver Fox. Snow Leopard's body had already vanished in the sea of zombies. In his place, a green-haired figure came into view—the Mother Zombie, its needle-like eyes filled with mocking hatred as it glared at Jessica through the narrowing gap in the door.

"Humans... will die!" the Mother Zombie roared.

The mercenaries all froze. It could speak?