Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Hostage situation
"I was initially surprised by it, but it's the zombie apocalypse, so I'm numb to it at this point," Kate replied.
"Interesting. You're the first one that had said that to——"
Just as Tianci was about to finish talking, her eyes changed back to normal.
Xiaoyun held onto Tianci just before she was about to fall face-first onto the floor.
"Whew, that was close." Xiaoyun let out a sigh of relief.
"Can you let go of me?" Tainci nervously asked as she could feel Xiaoyun's hand holding onto her chest.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to——" Xiaoyun immediately started apologizing as he realized the softness in his hand.
"It's okay. It's my issue..."
Tianci immediately got up from the bed and sat back in her seat as the room fell silent.
"Tianci, are you sure you are fit for this job?" Kate curiously asked as she observed the whole interaction between the two.
Tianci took a deep breath to calm herself before she replied to Kate.
"Yes, I'm fit for this job. Ms.Yueyue said I can do it." Tianci replied with a calm voice.
"Well, if she says so."
Just as Kate got up from the bed, suddenly, there were several loud yelling sounds outside.
"Everybody hands up! You are all hostages! Don't play stupid with me." A man's voice yelled out in the hallway.
"What the hell is happening out there," Xiaoyun mumbled.
Kate and Tianci were immediately on high alert as they pulled their pistol out of their bags and walked up to the closed door.
"I go check what's happened. You stay behind to protect Xiaoyun, okay?" Kate suggested.
Tianci nodded in agreement with the plan as she opened the door for Kate.
The two both peeked outside and noticed no one was in the hallway, so Kate proceeded to sneak out into the hallway as Tianci carefully closed the door.
---
"You two, drag those patients out of their bed... If they are unable to move, just leave them on the bed. But try to get as much hostage as you can."
A middle-aged man who seemed to be in charge directed the two other middle-aged men holding a rebar as a weapon.
"Yes, boss." The two middle-aged men left the hospital's front desk as four others stood still.
"Boss... Is this really a good idea?" One of the four men decided to ask.
"Do you want to go back to building houses? I'm tired of doing that boring manual labor. Just trust me, if we get enough hostages, the police will cede to our demand." The middle-aged man explained his plan.
"Who are you guys? Why are you doing this?" The front desk nurse nervously asked as she watched the security guard knocked out unconscious onto the floor.
"We just moved into this town. I'll admit, this town is amazing. It's much better than the hellhole we had been into.
But I don't want to work. It's the damn apocalypse, and you telling me I need work in construction? Fuck that."
The man in the middle complained loudly, and the other three nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, you three, go get more hostages. We have to be fast before they notice we left the escape the restricted zone."
"Yes, boss."
The other three left to get more hostages as a man in the middle slowly approached the nurse.
"I-I understand your complaint, but everyone has to work to contribute to the town." The nurse moved back a little as the man moved closer.
"I don't care. Why should I contribute when those high-up leeches off of us?" The man complained back.
"You mean the mayor? He hasn't leech off us at all. He's been running the town as well as he could, and he doesn't even indulge in luxury or anything." The nurse tried to argue back, but it fell on deaf ears.
"Yeah, yeah, keep bootlicking him. Something is wrong with this town. Everyone praises him, but I see them working like a slave. There's no true freedom like on the outside, and I'm sick of it."
Just as the man was about to move, the first two men returned with several doctors and nurses walking with their hands tied to the back.
"Boss, we got all the doctors and nurses out. What do we do now?" One of the men asked as they got their brand-new fruit knife from the break area.
"The other three are getting more hostages. You two go barricade the door." The man directed the two as he joined in to help with the two.
"Yes, boss." The two walked up to the front as they started moving all the barricades to the front door.
Just as the door was completely blocked off with shelves and chairs, several cars could be heard from the outside.
There was an entire SWAT unit outside the hospital as they stepped out of their cars and aimed their guns toward the front door.
"Li Cibing, you are surrounded. Surrender now, and you'll walk out alive. And anyone with him, if you surrender, you'll be allowed to walk out alive too." The SWAT leader yelled through the megaphone.
"Don't listen to them. If we go out now, they'll just kill us. There is no turning back." The man warned the other two.
"I don't like this Cibing..." One of the men spoke up.
"Then you shouldn't have followed us in the first place. If you are going to step out, go for it." Li Cibing didn't force him to stay.
The man hesitated for a second but chose to stay at the end.
"Good choice. If you were going out, I would have killed you myself." Li Cibing warned as he reached inside his jacket to signal the other weapon he had in store.
As the two men talked to each other, the third man decided to ask something in his mind.
"Where did the other three go?" The man curiously asked.
"They went to go get more hostages... why are they taking so long?" Li Cibing suddenly had a bad feeling.
---
Meanwhile, in the administrative building.
"Yuqi! There's urgent news from the police department." Shuli yelled as she rushed into the office room.
"What is it?" Yuqi looked up as she finished signing up a document.
"You know the new restricted zone that we set up for the newcomer for the twenty thousand people, right?" Shuli asked as she calmed down to catch her breath.
"Yeah, what about them? Is there something wrong?"
"Yes! Six climbed out of the temporary fences and sneaked past the police guards. They are now heading in a random direction." Shuli explained.
"What! What the hell is Li Zhen doing!"
Yuqi immediately pulled out her phone and dialed Li Zhen's phone number.
"Hello——"
"Li Zhen, what the hell are you doing?" Yuqi angrily yelled out through the phone.
"Mrs.Yuqi, I want to say it's not our fault——"
"What do you mean it's not your fault?" Yuqi interrupted Li Zhen from finishing.
"I don't have enough police to guard the entire parameter. It's just that simple. Mrs.Co-mayor, have you seen the map that you drew out? How are we supposed to guard that?" Li Zhen argued back.
As the realization set in, Yuqi calmed back down and apologized.
"Sorry, I didn't think of that... are the suspect captured yet?"
"Um, do you want to hear the good or bad news?" Li Zhen suddenly started sounding more nervous.
"What's the good news?" Yuqi asked.
"Those newcomers are trapped in a single place now." Li Zhen replied.
"What's the bad news then?"
"They are trapped in the hospital." Li Zhen's replies got quieter and quieter.
"Hospital! Did you just say the hospital?" Yuqi yelled out through the phone again.
"Yes, they are currently in the hospital. But I'm sure they won't hurt the workers or the patients inside. They need them as hostages." Li Zhen explained.
"But do you know who's inside the hospital? If he gets hurt——"
Yuqi cuts herself out as she almost accidentally leaks out Xiaoyun's location.
"Who is he? Mrs.Yuqi, who are you talking about?" Li Zhen curiously asked.
"Nothing. I want to see that none of the patients and workers inside the hospital are hurt. Do you understand me?" Yuqi asked.
"Yes, ma'am."
Yuqi hung up the phone as she looked down at the table.
"Those people are in the hospital... what do we do now? Nami told me earlier that Xiaoyun is still injured and can't even move from the bed."
Yuqi's face looked completely lost as she stared at the unfinished work at the table.
"Didn't Tianci go to be Xiaoyun's bodyguard? We just have to put faith in her now." Shuli tried to comfort Yuqi as she patted her on the back.
"You're right... I guess we just have to put our faith in her." Yuqi replied as she looked much more hopeful.