Weapon in hand, Yang Bin allowed himself a smile.

No one could blame him for being paranoid. In times like these, he had to strangle every threat in the cradle. That was how you stayed alive a little longer.

"We're from Room 308. I'm Yang Bin, this is Chen Hao. And you guys are?"

"Room 716. I'm Zhao Kun. This is Skinny Monkey and Old Hei," the tall man said.

"Only three of you in your dorm?" Yang Bin asked.

"There was a fourth. He turned." Zhao Kun's jaw tightened. "Luckily we caught it early this morning. Otherwise we'd all be done for."

"Not bad-actually getting away from a zombie."

"Wasn't much of an escape. Three of us, one of him. He fell off the top bunk on his own. We pinned him down and tied him to the bed frame with a sheet. That's the only reason we're still breathing."

"Still impressive."

"What about you two? You're from the third floor. Why are you up here?"

"Uh... we were drinking up here last night. Never went back to the dorm."

"........"

"Alright. Lucky bastards."

"Yeah," Yang Bin smiled. "I think so too."

The two groups settled into easy conversation. They were all classmates, after all. Without competing interests, getting along came naturally enough.

That lasted until around noon, when several stomachs broke the peace.

Skinny Monkey clutched his gut, embarrassed. "You guys got any food? We haven't eaten since this morning. Getting pretty hungry."

"Does this rooftop look like it has food?" Yang Bin spread his hands.

He and Chen Hao hadn't eaten since last night either. They'd just been gritting through it.

"So what do we do? Even if the zombies can't get in, we'll starve to death up here eventually."

"Just hold out," Old Hei said. "Rescue will probably come soon."

"What if it doesn't come for days?"

"That's... no way, right?"

"Nothing's impossible." Chen Hao's voice was flat. "We can't pin our survival on someone else showing up. We need to figure out food on our own."

"How? There are two zombies right outside the door. We can't even get out, let alone scavenge."

"Maybe..." Yang Bin's tone shifted, deliberate and serious. "We let them in. Deal with them here. Then head down to the dorms for supplies."

"Are you insane?" All three of them recoiled. "Let them in and we're dead!"

They'd fought a zombie before. They knew exactly how terrifying it was. Having finally clawed their way to safety, the last thing they wanted was to face those things again.

"There are only two out there," Yang Bin said. "Five of us. We have a real shot. But if more zombies show up later, we'll never get out."

"You're dreaming." Zhao Kun's brow furrowed hard. "You haven't fought one. You don't know what it's like. They don't feel pain. You hit them and nothing happens. One scratch, one bite-and you're finished."

"Exactly," Skinny Monkey shook his head. "Letting them in is suicide. You want to die, fine. We don't."

Even Chen Hao looked uneasy. "Brother Bin... you sure about this?"

"Sure or not, we have to take this step." Yang Bin's voice was calm, certain. "This is the rooftop. Zombies have zero intelligence. We just need to push them over the edge. That's it. Easiest way to kill a zombie there is. If we can't even manage that, then forget about ever leaving this roof."

"Mm." Chen Hao straightened. "Brother Bin, I'm with you."

"No way!" The other three shook their heads in unison. "We're not agreeing to this."

"We were here first." Yang Bin's eyes went cold. "Since when do we need your permission?"

"Hah!" Zhao Kun's temper flared. "We don't agree, and I'd like to see who dares-" He reached for the steel pipe. His hand closed on air.

His face darkened instantly. The pipe was already in Yang Bin's grip.

"Give it back!"

"You think that's happening?"

"That's mine!"

"Was yours."

"......."

"Fuck! Without the pipe, there's no chance in hell I'm letting you open that door!"

"That's not your call."

Yang Bin looked at him-one flat, frigid glance-then kicked the ladder.

It crashed sideways off the door.

"Holy shit!"

Zhao Kun and the other two lunged, slamming their bodies against the iron door before it could swing open.

"You psycho!" Zhao Kun roared. "You're gonna get us all killed!"

"Waiting up here is dying slow." Yang Bin's voice didn't waver. "At least fighting gives us a chance. You don't want to fight? Then keep holding that door. Let's see how long your arms last."

Neither side budged. The air on the rooftop went razor-tight.

Bang. Bang.

The iron door shuddered. The zombies outside had gone quiet earlier, but the noise inside had woken them up. They threw themselves against the metal again.

The three braced with everything they had, shoulders grinding against the door. They looked back. Yang Bin and Chen Hao stood watching, arms folded.

Their faces went white.

"What do we do, Brother Kun?" Skinny Monkey's voice cracked. "We can't hold this forever."

Zhao Kun's expression cycled through fury, fear, and calculation. Finally he gritted his teeth.

"Fine. You want to fight, we fight. But at least have a goddamn plan first! What kind of move is just kicking the ladder away?!"

"Hm." Yang Bin nodded, perfectly composed. "Fair point."

He strolled over, picked up the ladder, and wedged it back against the door.

"Haaah..."

All three slid to the ground, legs gone to jelly. They'd thought reaching the rooftop meant safety. They hadn't expected this.

A long moment passed before Zhao Kun looked up at Yang Bin. "Talk. How do we do this."

Yang Bin scanned the rooftop. "When we're ready, Skinny Monkey and Old Hei pull the ladder away together. Once the zombies come through, you two use the ladder to pin one against the wall. The three of us handle the other. Goal is to shove both of them off the edge as fast as possible."

"Easy to say." Zhao Kun shook his head. "Zombies are fast. That ladder's heavy and awkward. If one gets past it and closes the distance, the ladder becomes dead weight. Then those two are screwed."

"I've been watching them," Yang Bin said. "Physically, they're about the same as a normal person. Their edge is pain tolerance-they don't flinch. But they've got a fatal weakness too: zero intelligence. They don't dodge.

"The second a zombie steps through that door, those two ram the ladder into it and pin it to the wall. It won't have the brains to sidestep. I don't see how it gets close. And if they still manage to screw that up, that's on them."

"Fine." Zhao Kun's jaw worked. "Say you're right. What about the other one? I've got no weapon. You expect me to punch a zombie bare-handed?" His eyes locked onto the steel pipe in Yang Bin's grip. His pipe.

He'd had a bar stool too, but they'd rushed in too fast and left it outside the door. Now he had nothing.

"There are bricks all over this roof." Yang Bin gestured at the ground. "Grab a couple."

"Bricks." Zhao Kun stared at him. "Bricks. Why don't you use bricks, then?"

"I have a steel pipe. Don't need to."

"......"

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