"Roar—!"
The moment the exterior glass was shattered, two places simultaneously echoed with the screams of the infected.
One came from the street below. When the shards of glass fell onto the pavement, dozens of infected were crushed flat, creating quite a commotion and drawing the attention of all nearby infected.
The other sound came from inside the office building. Accompanied by a series of rapid footsteps, the locked doors at both the front and back of the conference room began to be violently slammed.
Standing on the outer corridor of the building, Tracy felt a chill in her heart as soon as she heard it. Suddenly, she remembered the broken railing and had an idea. She looked directly toward the opening facing that gap and without hesitation, lifted her foot and kicked the railings until they snapped completely. Then she quickly stepped back, raised her rifle, and pointed it forward, waiting calmly and silently.
But the survivors hiding in the hallway hadn't seen what Tracy had done. They only heard the sound of breaking glass followed by the infected's screams, which frightened everyone so much they trembled, believing that some of the infected had already found them.
A soldier, seeing the situation beginning to spiral out of control, tried to calm the crowd in a hushed voice:
"Everyone, please stay calm! The infected haven't found us yet. We're still safe for now!"
However, among the crowd there were those who didn't believe the soldier's words. Hearing the infected growling louder and louder, they immediately decided to turn around and ran toward the staircase through which they had come, clearly determined to escape.
Seeing this, the soldiers tried to stop them, but once someone took the first step, many others followed. Though they managed to stop one person, they couldn't stop everyone.
When Tracy returned, she received this unpleasant news.
"Hmph!" she snorted in displeasure. Without even looking at the frightened survivors, she said with a disgruntled tone:
"If they want to leave, let them go. Why bother stopping them?"
Hearing this, the soldiers stopped trying to hold anyone back. And when there was no resistance, people reacted oppositely—they calmed down. Although some were still determined to leave, most, upon regaining their composure, realized that leaving wouldn't benefit them at all, so they stopped acting impulsively.
Brian gave a rough glance at those who had left; about ten or twelve people. In truth, he had hoped more would go, because the fewer people there were, the lower the risk of being discovered.
"Crash!"
Just at that moment, inside the building, the heavily locked door of the conference room finally gave way under the constant attacks of the infected. The entire door flew out of its frame and crashed heavily to the ground with a deafening roar, allowing a horde of infected to flood into the room.
"Roar—!"
Upon hearing that terrifying sound, Tracy and several soldiers standing on the corridor outside immediately raised their alertness, pointing their rifles forward.
The swarm of infected rushed in chaotically, and upon entering, saw the opening in the wall immediately. Driven by instinct, they ran straight toward it, not even suspecting that a trap awaited them.
In their minds, concepts like fear or death didn't exist. When the first infected stepped onto the corridor, it was already too late to stop. Pushed by the crowd and with the railing broken, it was shoved directly over the edge.
More infected kept pushing forward, and more kept falling through the gap. Although a few managed to remain standing, they were quickly shot down by the soldiers.
But with so many infected, a single gap without a railing wasn't enough to contain them, and as the soldiers continued shooting, the corpses accumulated on the corridor floor.
"Creaaaakkkk!"
At that moment, the corridor seemed unable to bear the weight any longer and emitted a mournful groan, instantly changing Tracy's expression.
This corridor was their only route across the ruins—it couldn't be destroyed. Without hesitation, she spun her gun around and started firing at all the remaining railings around the infected. Although this would complicate their own passage later, there was no choice now.
Intense gunfire struck the rusted joints of the railings, which broke without offering resistance.
Just as the last of the railings snapped, a sudden gust of wind blew through, making the corridor swing violently. This made the soldiers who were firing pale with fear, desperately grabbing onto whatever railings remained, nearly falling off the edge.
And the unprotected infected fell like waves, like human projectiles, crushing those below and leaving them stunned. They screamed furiously, but couldn't find who had attacked them.
Minutes later, when all the infected on the corridor had fallen and no others appeared from the conference room, everyone exhaled in relief.
Still, someone needed to go ahead to confirm everything was safe.
As team leader, Tracy volunteered once again to go ahead. But this time, the second half of the corridor lacked a railing, so she simply got on all fours and crawled slowly forward, making sure not to fall due to an unexpected gust of wind.
Although the process was humiliating, she successfully reached the conference room and even took the opportunity to clear away a few infected corpses left on the corridor.
After confirming safety, Tracy looked at the collapsed door of the conference room, stuck her head out, and waved to the others on the opposite side, saying:
"It's safe here! Immediately organize the group and cross over!"
When the survivors saw the corridor built between buildings, with the second half lacking a railing, the braver ones merely paled slightly, while others, especially those with vertigo or extreme fear of heights, simply trembled and didn't even dare look, much less step onto it.
Fortunately, Brian and the others weren't afraid of heights. Seeing that no one moved after a long wait, they decided to go first under the soldiers' watchful eyes, stepping onto the corridor.
Wilfred led the way, followed by Brian, Sarah, Alan, and Anna in the middle, and Lucy bringing up the rear. First, they positioned themselves on the side of the corridor that did have a railing, and after confirming there was no wind blowing at the moment, they quickly walked forward in unison, focusing only on the back of the person in front without looking down, crossing precisely in just a few seconds, without hesitation.
Seeing that some had already crossed safely gave the rest a little reassurance, serving as a good example for others to find courage.
However, to avoid collapse, only 7–8 people could cross at a time. Some imitated Brian's quick method, while others simply chose to crawl like Tracy, inching carefully forward.
Though it took some time, most managed to cross safely to the other side. But sometimes, even with caution, accidents can cost lives.
In one particular group, the man leading the line, after checking the wind conditions, warned the others before starting to walk quickly.
Behind him, several people wore relaxed and even mocking expressions, believing they had overcome the danger thanks to the success of previous groups, even going as far as joking carelessly.
But just as they were halfway across, an unexpected gust of wind blew again, violently shaking the corridor.
The leading man, the most alert, sensed the wind instantly and knew something was wrong. He shouted, "Duck!" and quickly threw himself to the ground, gripping the metal planks of the corridor tightly to stabilize himself.
However, those behind him weren't as alert. Startled by his shout, they froze in place.
When the wind hit, none reacted in time, losing their balance, faces terrified, swaying from side to side.
Inside the building, the survivors watched with hearts in their throats, tense as they saw those on the corridor struggling to keep their balance. Some, more sensitive, simply closed their eyes or turned away, unable to witness what was about to happen.
After swaying back and forth a few times, one middle-aged man lost his balance completely, tilted sideways, and fell off the edge with a terrified scream.
"Ahh!"
At this scene, several women inside the building screamed in panic, but quickly realized what they had done and covered their mouths.
Once the first person fell, the others on the corridor felt their legs weaken. Another older woman, unable to steady herself, also leaned sideways and began to fall.
But perhaps it was sheer survival instinct that kept her from giving up, refusing to die like this. Suddenly, she stretched out her hand and grabbed the hair of a young woman next to her, as if grasping a lifeline, holding on with all her might!