Chapter 120: The Idea Was Beautiful
Chapter 120: The Idea Was Beautiful
An Ran straightened up and stood from the ground. In any case, Yun Tao was not around right now, and Ren Xian was busy handling his own business, so she could move around the security office boldly and without worry, so long as she did not make too much noise.
The first place she needed to search was the surveillance room. The office was crammed full of supplies, with nowhere to even put a foot down. If her car keys were in the office, there was no way she would be able to find them in a short time, so she went directly to the surveillance room instead.
Inside the surveillance room, one entire wall was covered with monitors. Because the complex was using a solar-powered backup electrical system, all of the neighborhood’s cameras were still functioning. An Ran swept her gaze across the wall of monitors, saw nothing obviously wrong, then turned and searched every corner of the surveillance room. On the control console in front of the monitors, she found her car keys.
Overjoyed, An Ran grabbed her car keys, shook the crystal charm hanging from them, then turned and left the surveillance room.
Outside the surveillance room, Liu Yuan was kneeling on the ground, already holding a large armful of food. Standing in the doorway, An Ran smiled at her, raised the car keys in her hand, and pointed toward the square. Liu Yuan understood at once. Hugging the food in both arms, she took the lead and went straight toward the car.
An Ran brought up the rear. Since they were already here, she figured they might as well load more food into the car. After all, Yun Tao was not around, and Ren Xian was occupied. Who would care whether the car parked in the square had its doors open or closed?
On the way here, An Ran and Liu Yuan had already discussed everything. Whether they found the car keys or not, they were leaving today. An Ran still had a spare key. If she failed to find her main car keys, then she and Liu Yuan would go home, gather the children and some clothes, and An Ran would come back to drive the car away.
And if Yun Tao and Ren Xian discovered it, so what? As long as the children got into the car and An Ran drove it straight out of the complex, neither the supplies nor the zombies would pose any problem to her.
The idea was beautiful.
But reality was cruel.
The moment Liu Yuan, arms full of food, crossed through the landscaped strip and found An Ran’s car, she saw at once the man standing beside it: Yun Tao.
Yun Tao wore a black security uniform, with a police baton tucked at his waist. On his head was a cap embroidered with the white characters “Special Duty.” At the temples exposed beneath the cap, black hair was threaded with strands of white. He stood under the sunlight with his hands clasped behind his back, legs braced apart, staring at Liu Yuan with an expression of utter lifelessness.
“Ah—”
Liu Yuan could not hold it in. She screamed in fright and dropped all the food in her arms to the ground.
An Ran, one hand clutching the car keys and the other reaching down for a bag of candy on the ground, heard Liu Yuan’s cry from outside the security office and immediately ran out carrying the candy.
Close behind her came Ren Xian, who had been in the lounge taking care of his own business. The moment he heard a woman screaming outside, Ren Xian—already tired of fooling around with Xiao Mei—jumped off her at once. Without even putting on his clothes, he snatched the police baton off the wall and rushed out of the security office.
He happened to collide with An Ran just as she was heading toward the landscaped strip.
She turned. The bright sunlight lay across her body, neither hot nor cold. Looking at Ren Xian standing naked in the doorway, police baton in hand, wearing an expression of ugly irritation from thwarted desire, An Ran’s body reacted faster than her mind. She instantly gave up on going to Liu Yuan, spun around, lifted her foot, and charged straight at Ren Xian.
At that moment, An Ran’s thoughts were very simple: if she could get rid of one of them, then that was one less to deal with. She would finish off Ren Xian first, then go to Liu Yuan.