Chapter 19 Raid on the Hangar

Chapter 19: Storming the Hangar

Oliver watched the two figures ahead with a peculiar expression...

As they neared the heliport, Bai Suizhi parked the car beside the guardrail fence. Instead of disembarking immediately, the trio remained inside, surveying their surroundings.

Oliver leaned over the front seat, craning his neck to peer forward. The vast tarmac lay empty—not a single helicopter in sight. He groaned in dismay, "There’s no helicopter here at all. What do we do now?"

Kahn turned to Bai Suizhi, his gaze questioning.

Bai Suizhi’s voice was low and steady. "Just because there aren't any outside doesn't mean there aren't any inside. We might need to check the hangar."

Oliver hesitated. "But how do we get in? The main entrance is surely blocked, and we have no idea what's inside. Isn't it too dangerous?"

Kahn glanced at the guardrail. "If the main entrance is out, we can climb over the fence here." He wasn't familiar with the interior layout either, but if Bai Suizhi decided to go in, he would offer his unconditional support.

Bai Suizhi wasn't entirely confident, but having come this far, he couldn't bear to give up without trying. His tone remained calm and composed. "From our current position, we only need to cross this tarmac to reach the hangar. Right now, there are only three zombies wandering the tarmac. The three of us can easily handle them."

At this point, Oliver was already growing restless. Bai Suizhi signaled with his eyes for him to remain calm and continued analyzing their situation: "But we can't predict what's inside the hangar. Still, the interior is compact and offers cover, giving us room to maneuver. If things go south, we can always retreat to the tarmac. The tarmac has its clear advantages and disadvantages—it's spacious enough for guerrilla tactics against zombies, but its drawback is equally obvious: there's no cover whatsoever. If we get caught, it's certain death."

Bai Suizhi clearly and logically outlined both the feasibility and potential dangers of assaulting the hangar. He then looked at the other two occupants of the car, observing their reactions. Oliver's thin eyebrows were knitted together, his fingers twisting, clearly in a state of indecision. Kahn, however, simply stared ahead calmly, his thoughts unreadable.

Bai Suizhi asked Kahn directly, "What do you think?"

Without altering his posture, Kahn casually replied, "Up to you."

Bai Suizhi raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Oliver stopped frowning and untwisting his fingers, his expression turning peculiar as he looked at the two in front. He had a vague sense that some strange magnetic field had formed between them, leaving him excluded. Before he could fully process this, Bai Suizhi turned to him and asked, "What about you, Oliver?"

Still somewhat dazed, Oliver repeated, "Me what?"

Bai Suizhi sighed. "How can you zone out at a time like this? I'm asking what you think—are you coming in with us or staying here?"

Oliver caught the keyword in that sentence: "us"? Did Kahn just say he was going? Didn't he only vaguely say, "Up to you"? Did I miss something?

Oliver's thought process clearly hadn't caught up with this already well-coordinated pair. Seeing Oliver drifting off again, Bai Suizhi promptly interrupted, "Hello?"

Oliver instinctively responded, "Hey yo, bro..."

Bai Suizhi and Kahn stared expressionlessly at Oliver.

Oliver let out an awkward, embarrassed laugh, then shook his head to force himself to focus on the present, dismissing irrelevant thoughts. He then said naturally, "Ahem, of course I'm going with you guys. How does that saying go again? 'Born of the same root...'"

Bai Suizhi couldn't bear it any longer and completed the poem, though it didn't quite fit the situation: "Born of the same root, why torment each other so urgently?"

Oliver slapped the back of his head and said admiringly, "Bro Bai, you're so smart!"

Bai Suizhi gave him a look that spoke volumes, debating whether to tell him the phrase wasn't used correctly. Yet, he felt that in such a critical moment, Chinese poetry lessons should be set aside. After all, given Oliver's grasp of Chinese, it wasn't a matter that could be clarified quickly.

So Bai Suizhi took a deep breath and said patiently, "Everybody, are you ready?"

Oliver: "Yeah, bro, go go go!"

Kahn said nothing, merely staring ahead with a determined gaze.

And so, this bizarrely mismatched little team reached a consensus and launched their assault on the hangar.

Oliver shed his "deceptively real zombie disguise"—his limited-edition apocalypse skin—and, guided by his well-equipped seniors, donned sleek protective suits and powerful weaponry.

His eyes gleamed as he triumphantly brandished a Swiss Army knife in the air a couple of times, excitedly asking, "Where did you get this? That's awesome!"

Bai Suizhi, while wrapping a protective bandage around his wrist, replied, "Picked it up on the road. When we're traveling and get stopped by zombies, we take the opportunity to scavenge for useful items. Everything you see in this car has been handpicked by us."

Oliver chuckled, "One generation plants the trees, another gets the shade."

The phrase wasn't used incorrectly, but it was unexpectedly grating nonetheless.

Bai Suizhi glanced at Oliver’s grinning face in the rearview mirror and found himself at a loss for words. He could only bark, "Let’s move out!"

The three of them stealthily exited the car, quickly clambered over the fence, and with a swift push and kick, scaled to the top. They then spun around and dropped down in quick succession, successfully landing on the tarmac.

Staying low, they sped along the wall, hurrying toward the hangar entrance. Just as they approached, the three resident zombies on the tarmac finally noticed the newcomers. Their eyes glowing green, they surged forward with an almost welcoming enthusiasm.

The trio, who had come to steal the plane and were now seen as potential zombie prey, were not to be trifled with. They had already discussed their breakout plan in the car.

As the fierce zombies charged toward them, the three showed no sign of panic. Instead, they stood firmly in a line, slowly drawing the medium-length knives from their waists and pointing them at the zombies. Their menacing demeanor was reminiscent of butchers brandishing blades at livestock.

Unsurprisingly, the three zombies quickly turned into lifeless "salted fish," lying stiffly on the ground to bake in the sun, waiting for the day they would become nutrients for the flowers and grass growing by the wall—though whether they were pollution-free and harmless remained uncertain.

The three would-be compost makers stealthily slipped into the hangar. As soon as Oliver saw the situation inside, his eyes lit up, and he whispered excitedly, "There really is a helicopter! We’re saved!"

Inside the hangar stood a massive, sleek helicopter, as if prepared just for them. Bai Suizhi and Kahn also breathed a sigh of relief.

Bai Suizhi pressed Oliver’s shoulder, signaling him to stay alert. The three of them continued to press against the wall, slowly inching toward the helicopter.

Kahn, who was slightly ahead, suddenly pushed Bai Suizhi and Oliver backward, shouting sharply, "There are several zombies hiding behind the helicopter!"

Due to the helicopter’s large size and their position in a blind spot, they hadn't noticed the zombies concealed behind it. Bai Suizhi and Oliver quickly stepped back, giving Kahn space to retreat.

Bai Suizhi and Oliver took up positions at the entrance to ambush the zombies. As soon as Kahn retreated, they swiftly restrained the two leading zombies, locking their throats with their arms and cleanly stabbing the knives into their brains. They then tossed the incapacitated zombies aside and continued dealing with the ones emerging behind them.

Instead of staying at the entrance to fight the zombies, Kahn led the pursuing zombies on a run around the tarmac. They had agreed earlier in the car that if the number of zombies was too large, one person would lure most of them away while the other two took the opportunity to take them out systematically.

With Kahn acting as the "zombie leader," guiding the zombie squad in circles, Bai Suizhi and Oliver lived up to expectations, efficiently dispatching the remaining zombies as easily as slicing through watermelons.

The two then quietly joined the back of Kahn’s zombie squad, blending in so naturally that they seemed to merge with the zombies, creating a strangely harmonious atmosphere.

As the lead runner, Kahn maintained a steady pace, even breathing, and a calm demeanor, never once looking back. Meanwhile, his "running mates" began dropping off one by one.

Bai Suizhi and Oliver seized the opportunity to pull a few lucky stragglers aside for one-on-one or two-on-one PK sessions. After eliminating these unqualified runners, they quietly returned to the group to select new candidates.

Gradually, only one zombie remained, closely following Kahn. The zombie, still running out of inertia, found its lead runner suddenly stopping, turning around, and gripping its neck. A momentary blankness seemed to appear on the zombie’s purplish, grimacing face, its stiff fingers curling into a question mark shape.

Kahn mercilessly killed the running mate who had accompanied him for half a lap around the tarmac. He then brushed off his sleeves and walked calmly toward Bai Suizhi and Oliver in the distance, leaving no trace of his deeds.