Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Screaming Zombie

Moreover, in order not to lure these zombies near the Baishui River camp, Qin Fei had to pick a spot somewhat farther away. Near the gas station he had visited earlier, there stood a water tower.

This water tower was rather tall, and the only way up was to climb the metal ladder that ran up the center of the structure. In the world of Seven Days to Die, zombies could indeed climb metal ladders, but they couldn’t open doors. Conveniently, the metal ladder of this tower was blocked by an iron gate halfway up. The zombies Qin Fei would attract with his blacksmithing would be stopped by the gate at the base of the ladder.

As for fuel, Qin Fei already carried several pieces of coal in his backpack, and along the way, he’d picked up some twigs. Altogether, these materials were sufficient for his needs.

The Navingan region wasn’t densely populated, and being a rural area, the houses were all low. The water tower had been designed in accordance with the height of these buildings, so it stood only about twenty meters tall.

After climbing the water tower and closing the iron gate behind him, Qin Fei began his preparations. In addition to the essential fuel, he had borrowed an iron basin from the lady doctor before leaving the camp—perfect for holding the coal and the crowbar.

For the quenching solution, Qin Fei chose a mild saltwater mix. Due to the devastation wrought by viruses and war, there were few plants and animals left in this world. Most food came from cans and packaged goods, which included their own seasonings, so people rarely needed extra salt. It was easy enough for Qin Fei to get some from the lady doctor.

He tossed the charcoal into the basin and ignited it, then placed the crowbar inside. Given the crowbar’s inherent hardness and toughness, Qin Fei didn’t need to expend too much time or effort to forge it into a suitable crossbow limb.

If he’d had access to a proper furnace, the charcoal could have reached temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius. But burning coal in a basin like this, without a bellows or similar tool, would only reach about seven or eight hundred degrees at most. Still, that was enough.

Qin Fei wasn’t aiming to turn iron into steel—he simply wanted to increase its hardness a bit. If he really did get it up to steel-making temperatures, the resulting steel would be too stiff to use as a crossbow limb; he wouldn’t be able to draw such a thick, steel bow.

Once the crowbar glowed red-hot, Qin Fei used tongs to pull it from the flames, quenching and hammering it repeatedly in the saltwater solution. The process wasn’t complicated, but it was time-consuming.

Night soon fell. Coal was hard to come by, so Qin Fei knew this forging had to succeed on the first try. He had no intention of returning to camp, even as darkness settled in.

As he worked through the night, the heat generated by his forging on the water tower gradually began to attract a small cluster of zombies. Qin Fei glanced down from above—there were five zombies circling the base, slapping the iron railings ceaselessly.

Since mutating into zombies, their speed had slowed dramatically compared to normal humans, but their strength had become bizarrely formidable. In short order, they battered the outer railings to pieces, leaving a gaping hole. Demonstrating a fragment of intelligence, they crawled through the breach and turned their attention to the tower’s cement foundation.

Qin Fei wasn’t worried. Judging by the speed of these five zombies, even if they pounded at the foundation for days on end, they likely wouldn’t bring the water tower down. He felt perfectly calm. Once daylight came, the zombies would lose their ability to run, and he could simply climb down and slip away.

With that in mind, he worked with renewed urgency, hammering away at the crowbar, hoping to finish before dawn and make his escape.

He toiled through the night. When the first threads of dawn painted the horizon, a piercing female scream suddenly shattered the silence below the tower, echoing into the sky.

“Ahhh—!”

The scream was so shrill and unnerving that it sent a cold wave of fear coursing through him. Trembling, Qin Fei stood bolt upright. He peered down in the direction of the cry.

There, staggering toward the base of the tower, was a female zombie dressed all in white—white clothes, white skirt, even her hair and skin were white.

It was a Screamer Zombie from Seven Days to Die!

Because this creature’s appearance so closely resembled a certain ghost from horror folklore, it was nicknamed “Sadako.” The one who had just screamed was none other than this “Sadako.”

Her screams would draw nearly every zombie in the vicinity.

As Qin Fei recognized her, his pupils contracted violently and panic seized his heart.

This is bad!

How could this thing have shown up?

From what Qin Fei had learned, the world’s rules should have matched those of Seven Days to Die’s A19 version. In A19, Screamer Zombies were most easily attracted by chainsaws and power drills; the probability of a fire source drawing one was extremely low—about as likely as winning the lottery.

That such a rare event had occurred was beyond anything Qin Fei had anticipated.

After a few more chilling screams from the “Sadako,” it was as if a dinner bell had been rung in a canteen: zombies surged in from all directions, charging madly toward Qin Fei’s position.

Soon, the entire base of the water tower was surrounded, with zombies frantically pounding at the cement foundation as if their lives depended on it.

A rough estimate put their numbers between twenty and thirty. Among them, Qin Fei spotted two hulking brutes, each over two meters tall—likely mutant variants.

After a while, a sudden creak and groan echoed from the foundation below—the unmistakable sound of steel snapping.

Standing atop the water tower, Qin Fei felt the whole structure shift and tilt alarmingly.

The tower was collapsing!

But even then, there was no way he could climb down. With dawn not yet fully broken, all the zombies below could still run. In this situation, descending meant certain death; he’d rather risk being crushed atop the tower than become zombie food.

Forging was out of the question now. He plunged the red-hot crowbar into the saltwater to cool, then stowed it in his backpack.

All he could do was keep a constant watch on the situation below. The moment the zombies lost their ability to run, he would scramble down without delay.

The wait was agonizing.

Qin Fei thought he’d never been so frightened in his entire life as he was during these few hours atop the water tower.

With the zombies’ relentless assault, the tower shook more and more violently.

Creeeak—

Another metallic groan sounded from below. Simultaneously, the foundation seemed finally unable to bear the weight of the structure.

The entire water tower toppled violently toward the ground.