CuRiOsItY 2
Chapter Four: Inside the School Elevator
Mei Lijuan and Zhuang Jianyi were slammed into the elevator together. After the doors closed, the elevator began to rise.
Principal Chen looked at the students who had rushed in and scolded them,
"Why aren't you in class? What are you doing running in here?!"
Suddenly, the power went out. The elevator stopped halfway up, and the sudden halt caused the students inside—along with Principal Chen—to fall to the floor.
A female student stood up in fear and ran around blindly. In the chaos, she stepped on Jianyi's foot. Jianyi kicked her away.
The elevator was now completely dark. Nothing could be seen.
Principal Chen calmed himself and said to the students,
"Don't panic. Stop running around and calm down first."
Hearing his words, everyone slowly stood up.
Inside the elevator were Principal Chen, Lijuan, Jianyi, two male students, and one female student.
As Male Student A lowered his hand, he accidentally touched the female student's thigh. She immediately jumped up and slapped him across the face.
Male Student A glared at her angrily. Male Student B pointed at the girl's nose and shouted,
"Are you crazy?! How dare you touch my big brother!"
The female student snapped back,
"He touched my thigh—does that make him right?"
Unable to save face, Male Student A called Male Student B over, and together they began punching and kicking the female student.
Principal Chen noticed and roared,
"What are you doing?! Stop it! If you keep this up, I'll expel you!"
Seeing that the female student had stopped moving, Male Student A and B clapped their hands excitedly, then looked at Principal Chen.
"Go ahead, expel us. You think I'm afraid of you?" Male Student A said.
He walked up to Principal Chen, grabbed him by the collar, and said viciously,
"I could kill you right now. Believe it or not!"
Seeing that Male Student A was about to attack Principal Chen, Jianyi rushed forward and slammed his head into the elevator door. Male Student A crashed into it heavily.
Male Student B tried to rush over to help, but Lijuan pulled out her lighter—used for smoking—and set Male Student B's clothes on fire. He began struggling, and Lijuan kicked him hard to the ground.
Seeing this, Jianyi threw Male Student A on top of Male Student B and stepped on both of them, preventing them from getting up.
Jianyi said to Principal Chen,
"Hurry—open the hatch on top and climb out."
Principal Chen snapped out of his shock, opened the ceiling hatch, and climbed out. Once outside, he helped pull Lijuan and Jianyi up.
Looking at the exit above him, which was about a meter higher, Jianyi heard Principal Chen say,
"Step on my shoulders. Climb up and open the door."
Jianyi quickly stepped up. Lijuan noticed that the fire below had already reached the cables supporting the elevator.
After reaching the top, Jianyi used all his strength to pry open the exit door and climbed through.
He turned back to grab Principal Chen, while Lijuan supported Principal Chen's feet from below. Principal Chen managed to climb up.
When it was Lijuan's turn, Jianyi couldn't reach her hand no matter what. Lijuan glanced at the elevator cable, which was about to snap, took a few steps back, and jumped with all her strength.
The cable broke.
The elevator, along with the cable, plunged downward. At the same moment, Lijuan managed to grab Jianyi's hand, and Jianyi slowly pulled her up.
The three of them collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion, grateful to have survived—and relieved that there wasn't a single zombie on their floor.
Principal Chen stood up and looked at the people fleeing in all directions below. Filled with confusion, he asked,
"What on earth is happening here?"
Jianyi began explaining everything to him.
Not long after, Lijuan stood at the edge of the floor, watching the sunset in the distance. Jianyi walked over to her side.
Lijuan asked,
"Still haven't found any food? I'm starving."
Jianyi shook his head.
Lijuan took a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket, pulled one out, lit it with her lighter, and began smoking.
She exhaled a cloud of secondhand smoke. Jianyi inhaled it and coughed. Lijuan pulled out another cigarette, held it out to him, and asked,
"Want one?"
Jianyi waved his hand and shook his head.
After putting the cigarette pack away, Lijuan pointed at the zombies below and asked Jianyi,
"You're the so-called school heartthrob they talk about, right?"
Jianyi smiled.
"I used to be."
Lijuan looked him up and down and said,
"You do look pretty good."
Jianyi joked,
"Falling for me already?"
Lijuan laughed and shoved him lightly, then took another drag.
Jianyi said with concern,
"You should smoke less. It's bad for your health."
Lijuan sneered softly.
"You think I don't know?"
At that moment, Principal Chen walked over and said,
"Give me one."
Lijuan looked at him and smiled,
"Didn't you tell me earlier today that if you caught me smoking again, I wouldn't be allowed to stay at this school?"
Principal Chen chuckled quietly.
"At a time like this? Smoke however you want from now on."
Lijuan handed him a cigarette. The three of them stood there, watching the sun disappear behind the mountains.
The next day, Jianyi was woken by loud noises. He stood up and looked down to see Yeey and his group escaping through the school gate.
He quickly woke Lijuan and Principal Chen. Together, they watched as the group fled the campus.
A sudden idea flashed through Jianyi's mind. He sat down with Lijuan and Principal Chen.
Jianyi said,
"Later, we'll throw these books to the back to make a huge noise and draw the zombies over there. Then we jump down from here and run out through the school gate."
Lijuan asked in shock,
"Jump down from here? We'll break our arms and legs!"
Jianyi continued,
"This is the second floor, and below us is the playground—it'll help reduce the impact."
Principal Chen patted him on the shoulder and said,
"Worthy of being a student from our school. Very smart."
Jianyi scratched his head shyly.
Soon, Principal Chen and Lijuan carried a large stack of books to the back and began throwing them down one by one. The loud noises successfully attracted the zombies.
After seeing all the zombies move away, Jianyi slowly climbed over the outer edge of the second-floor wall and jumped down.
Lijuan looked at him and asked,
"Are you okay?"
Jianyi nodded.
"Hurry, jump."
Lijuan jumped down. Jianyi caught her, and their eyes unexpectedly met. They gazed at each other deeply.
At that moment, Principal Chen jumped down and said,
"You two can keep flirting. I'll head off first."
Embarrassed, Jianyi and Lijuan stood up and ran toward the school gate.
At the gate, Jianyi and Principal Chen climbed out together. With Jianyi's help, Lijuan climbed out as well.
After taking only a few steps, Jianyi suddenly ran into Boss Wu. Startled, Boss Wu thrust the sharp wooden stick in his hand straight into Jianyi's throat.
Everyone present was shocked by the scene.