In The Zombie Shadows Chapter 1

What does it feel like to wake up surrounded by zombies?

Jake Qi's face was filled with "confusion".

He was even more confused when he found that he had become a civet cat, lying on a trembling branch. He had become a snack in the eyes of the zombie brother.

After cautiously taking a look, the people under the tree were instantly excited.

"Roar!"

Attracted by the roars of their kind, more zombies came from all directions and surrounded the big tree where Jake Qi was. The faces of the innermost ones were full of ferociousness, with a mouthful of fangs showing, and they kept roaring and scratching.

The cracked bark was soon scratched into a rolling shutter door, stained with black blood and dust, and strips hanging down. Regardless of the current situation, it has an alternative artistic flavor.

Jake Qi withdrew his gaze, having no time to think about the causes and consequences of all this. The top priority was how to escape safely and not become the food of the group under the tree.

With the help of the dense branches and leaves, Jake Qi carefully moved his limbs.

Perhaps because he was not used to his "new body", his front foot suddenly fell into the air. It's not a sharp claw that pops up instantly, it's 10% going to fall freely.

The branches made a dangerous snapping sound, and Jake Qi's hair exploded on the spot.

The zombies under the tree became even more excited. They roared one after another, waving their arms continuously, and their fingernails with carrion left in them scratched through the air, emitting bursts of stench.

Jake Qi vomited on the spot.

In order to survive, he moved carefully little by little, found a point of leverage, jumped up, and successfully jumped onto another thicker branch before the danger came. His whole body was balled up, hiding as much as possible.

With a click, the branch he was resting on broke away from the trunk and fell in the air, hitting a zombie on its head.

It can only be said that the latter was unlucky. When the branch fell, its mouth opened wide, and the sharp break penetrated directly into the mouth and pierced the esophagus.

Black blood gushed out like a fine spring, and the zombies around him suddenly became quiet. After two seconds, they all gave up the "snacks" on the tree and pounced on their injured peers.

There were too many zombies. When Jake Qi stretched his neck, he could only see the backs of people crowded together, as well as broken arms and limbs that were constantly being thrown away, sometimes mixed with a few bones hanging with flesh and blood.

The zombies cut the injured into pieces, obviously looking for something.

Finally, a zombie let out a harsh roar, grabbed a black heart, and started biting it excitedly.

The surrounding zombies naturally refused to sit still and roar, and a melee broke out.

In the melee, black blood splattered everywhere, and it was not uncommon to see severed hands, broken legs, and even a few heads flying out.

Jake Qi lay on the tree, witnessing everything in front of him, his body shrank tighter, his big almond-shaped eyes unblinking, his pupils suddenly dilated, and then quickly shrank into two vertical thin lines.

Stay in the tree, or take advantage of the chaos to escape?

After some consideration, Jake Qi chose the former.

Regardless of whether it was wise or not, for now, it was obviously safer to stay in the trees.

Gua---

A shrill cry suddenly appeared.

A black cloud covered the sky.

Jake Qi raised his head and found that there were seven or eight crows with a wingspan of more than two meters and red eyes gathered above his head.

By the way, is this still a crow?

Jake Qi wasn't sure.

After the crow appeared, it pounced directly on the battle group under the tree. As the wings vibrated, there were gusts of wind. With the help of the wind, they cooperate with each other to tear open the chest cavity of the prey, smash the skull of the prey, pick out the transparent crystal nuclei one by one from the flesh and brain, shake off the remaining blood threads, and swallow them straight into the belly.

From the moment the crow appears to the end of the battle, it almost takes the blink of an eye.

Jake Qi stared blankly, becoming increasingly uncertain as to what kind of place he was wearing.

The zombies all fell, and the crows screamed in victory. A few of the assisting birds flew forward to receive trophies from their companions, not forgetting to rub each other's wings to express their gratitude.

"Quack!"

The biggest crow cawed and discovered Jake Qi hiding in the tree.

The crows immediately gathered and surrounded the tree crown.

Jake Qi was furious and wished he could give himself a slap.

There was clearly a chance to escape just now, why didn't you run? Now I can't even run away!

The crows did not attack directly, but flew around the tree trunk twice. One of them flew close to Jake Qi's hiding place, folded its black wings, stood firmly on the branch, and looked at him carefully.

Jake Qi retreated cautiously, and the hair on his body exploded, trying to make his body appear larger.

It was all instinctive and he didn't think much about it at all.

The crow tilted its head and looked at him, seeming to be studying the species of the little thing in front of it. After a moment, he nodded towards him in a very humane manner, as if to express that he had no intention of taking action.

"Quaa?"

Jake Qi didn't make a sound and was furious.

"Quack?"

Jake Qi remained silent and continued to explode.

The crow was a little impatient and called twice to his companion. The feathers on his body began to tremble, and in front of Jake Qi, he transformed into a brown girl with long legs and six-pack abs.

Jake Qi was petrified on the spot.

What about the promised end of the world?

What is rhythm?

"Ahem!" The girl didn't seem to be used to talking. She cleared her throat and said in a hoarse voice, "You are a cat, a cat from the original Blue Star population, right?"

The girl didn't speak Chinese, and her pronunciation was a bit strange, but she was surprisingly understandable.

Jake Qi didn't know how to react, so he simply kept silent and continued to maintain his explosive state.

"Don't be afraid, I am also a native species and I won't eat you." The girl smiled, with a deep outline and exotic facial features, but the sharp fangs were particularly scary.

"It's rare to see a native species, by the way, this is for you." The girl spread her fingers, and there was a transparent crystal core lying quietly in her palm, "Eat it, you can become stronger. Don't pretend to be stupid, I know you understand."

After saying this, the girl approached Jake Qi, not caring about the latter's roar, and put the crystal core in front of him.

"It's not safe here. You can't protect yourself yet. It's best to leave as soon as possible and find a place to hide. Remember, don't go to the west and north. There are high-level alien races and large groups of alien beasts there. I'm in the south and I'm in danger. You can come to me."

Jake Qi looked at the crystal core, then at the friendly girl, and finally plucked up the courage to speak, but what he said was "meow".

This "meow" can be said to be euphemistically repeated a thousand times, and it can melt a heart of stone.

Jake Qi froze on the spot, but the girl's eyes were bright. She picked up Jake Qi and rubbed his ears, letting the cat's claws scratch the back of his hand and forearm. There was no pain or itch at all.

"Lydia." A deep male voice suddenly sounded, with obvious disapproval in his voice, "It's time to go."

"I know." The girl curled her lips and put down Jake Qi reluctantly. When her companion didn't see it, she took out another crystal core. "Remember, eat it in two parts, be careful. When you grow up, Those things are prey. Also, try to avoid the aliens, especially the ones with pointed ears."

As Lydia spoke, he raised his hands to make the shape of the ears of the advanced aliens.

"Remember, you must avoid them! They are few in number but the most terrifying, and they like to catch primitive species..."

Jake Qi sat on the tree trunk, his tail wrapped around his front paws, and his cute appearance attracted another round of rubbing.

It's not that he has no ambition, it's just that there is a huge disparity in strength between the two parties. One of the girl's fingers can compare to his two claws. It's useless to struggle, it's better to lower your body, maybe you can hear more useful information.

"Lydia."

"coming!"

The girl glanced at Jake Qi with regret, whispered a few words, then spread her wings, and left the big tree where Jake Qi was hiding with her companions, and soon flew into the clouds and disappeared.

Jake Qi waited for a long time, never daring to leave the tree crown.

He was not familiar with the place, and even if it wasn't safe, where could he go? Walking around will only make you die faster.

The air was filled with a pungent smell, and frightening roars and hisses could be heard in the distance from time to time.

In an instant, the clear sky was covered with dark clouds, lightning crawled across the clouds, thunder roared, and large raindrops fell one after another.

The rain fell into a waterfall and soon formed a curtain of rain. It was hazy, and everything in the world seemed to be covered with a layer of gray fog.

Jake Qi was hiding in an ancient tree with dense branches and leaves. Where the leaves are densest, it is difficult for rain to penetrate.

Lying on the branch, Jake Qi licked his front paws, plucked at the crystal core left by Lydia, and considered whether he should eat it. Just when I was undecided, a "meow" sound suddenly came from my ears.

Illusion?

Jake Qi is not sure.

Meow---

The cry came again, and Jake Qi cautiously stuck his head out and began to look under the tree.

At some point, a palm-sized kitten covered in tiger stripes stood under the tree, looking pitifully at the top of the tree.

The kitten's whole body was soaked by the rain, and its smooth hair was tangled and clinging to its body. Its ribs were clearly defined and it looked increasingly thin. Seeing Jake Qi appear, the kitten meowed even more vigorously, and its big blue eyes seemed to be shining.

Jake Qi quickly understood the meaning of the other party's cry.

"Mother!"

What? !

Jake Qi slipped with his front foot and almost fell free in mid-air.

He hurriedly raised his back paws and carefully observed an unexplainable part. He made sure that the parts were complete and he let out a sigh of relief. Looking under the tree again, the kitten was still meowing pitifully. It stood up, scratched the trunk of the tree with its little paws, and looked up at Jake Qi.

"I..."

Jake Qi wanted to say that he was not this child's mother.

However, facing such a pitiful little creature, whose voice seemed to be stuck in his throat, he could not harden his heart after all.

At this moment, there was a sudden roar in the rain.

Danger!

The hair all over Jake Qi stood on end. I don't know where the courage came from, and I flew down the tree at an incredible speed, grabbed the kitten by the back of the neck, stretched out my sharp claws, firmly grasped the trunk, and quickly climbed to the crown of the tree.

"Meow---"

The kitten screamed in terror, its whole body trembling.

Jake Qi had one in his mouth and it was difficult for him to move around. He turned his head habitually and almost slipped from the tree.

In the heavy rain, more than twenty zombies were running at full speed, faster than imagined. Judging from their appearance, they were obviously much more "high-class" than those who surrounded Jake Qi before.

After the zombies, a group of weird insects swept over the sky.

It was still far away and blocked by the rain, so Jake Qi couldn't see clearly. The only thing that was certain was that these bugs had bad intentions, and the group in front was obviously running for their lives.

Realizing that the situation was critical, Jake Qi's adrenaline surged, and he exerted force on his four claws. As fast as a bolt of lightning, he flew up to the top of the tree in twos and threes.

Returning to the place where he was hiding before, Jake Qi stretched out his front paws and hooked them over two branches to completely shield himself and the kitten.

Thinking of the situation where zombies were searching for crystal nuclei, Jake Qi couldn't help but frown as he was reminded of Lydia's words, for fear of attracting the attention of uninvited guests. I saw the kitten staring at the crystal core again, with longing in its eyes. I was heart-broken, swallowed one myself, and stuffed the other one into the kitten's mouth.

It's life or death this time.

Even if you are poisoned to death, it is better than being eaten by the group below!

When the crystal core fell into the stomach, there was no pain as expected. Instead, a warm current rose from the stomach, and the whole body felt warm, as if lying in a hot spring.

"Meow."

The kitten let out a sweet cry, came forward, stretched out its little tongue and licked Jake Qi's chin.

"mom..."

Jake Qi frowned and shook the beard around his mouth. After all, he couldn't resist the power of the hair ball. He reached out with his front paws and took the kitten into his arms. He instinctively licked the cat's ears and back of the neck to make sure that it was a little kitten in his arms. The tom cat said, "From today on, you are my son, call me dad."

Only after the last note fell did I realize that he could speak?

Although the voice is a little hoarse and the pronunciation is a little strange, he is indeed speaking.

"Dad?" Kitty tilted his head.

"Yes." Jake Qi licked the back of the kitten's neck and then started to lick the kitten's chin again, "Do you have a name?"

"No." Kitten shook her head, "Mom went out to find something to eat and never came back..."

"Huh?" Jake Qi paused and narrowed his eyes. Do you think this little thing is not admitting his mistake, but is seriously relying on him?

"Daddy." The kitten meowed in a sweet voice and rubbed Jake Qi's front paws flatteringly.

What else can you do in the face of such a cute creature?

You can only admit defeat.

"From now on, your name is Qining." Jake Qi lay on the branch and rolled the kitten into his arms, "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Qining shook his head and lowered his ears.

His mother is gone and never comes back, and even if there is one, he is the only one left now.

Jake Qi did not ask any more questions and hugged Qi Ning tighter. Feeling how thin the kitten was, I couldn't help but admire him for being able to come here alone and then successfully find himself.

Under the tree, the roar gradually faded away.

Perhaps the insect swarm was lured away by the zombies and had no time to discover the freshly minted father and son. Or perhaps it was due to other unknown reasons that they never came close to the canopy of the tree.

Jake Qi took a careful look under the tree. The rain had washed away the remaining blood, not even a bone residue was left.

Obviously, when the insect swarm passed by, they didn't forget to "clean up".

"dad?"

"It's okay. Let's go to bed first and gather strength."

Qining was very obedient. He probably finally found support and no longer felt lonely and afraid. He quickly closed his eyes and snored.

Jake Qi lay on the branch and looked into the distance through the gaps in the leaves.

This world is completely unfamiliar, and he is not even sure whether this is the earth.

He didn't know why he came here, and he didn't know what was waiting for him. The only thing he knows is that no matter whether he can find the answer or not, he must work hard to survive!

After confirming that there was no danger for the time being, Jake Qi hugged Qi Ning tightly, and the two furballs, one big and one small, nestled together. Surrounded by branches and in the pouring rain, they found a moment of peace and quiet.