The quiet lasted three seconds. Maybe four if he was being generous.

Jian Yuche stood near the twisted remains of the gate where the metal fence posts and bars jutted out at wrong angles and vehicle debris was scattered across the driveway from zombies who tried to go through the military trucks instead of around them.

His hands were still raised from the last strike, his breathing controlled but heavier than it should be.

The silence felt wrong. Too complete. Like the pause before the storm broke.

Then everything hit at once.

The birds dropped from the trees in a coordinated dive, at least a dozen of them targeting different soldiers simultaneously. Cats appeared from the sides, slipping between the defensive line with that same wrong speed. Snakes struck from under bodies, aiming for ankles and exposed legs.

And the human zombies—the ones that had been climbing over the piled corpses near the gate when the rest of the men had been distracted—reached the gate at the bottom of the driveway and kept coming, faster than before, their movements more aggressive.

"They’re climbing now," Yuche called out, his voice sharp and immediate.

A zombie grabbed the gate railing and pulled itself up with unnatural strength.

Yuche’s hand moved instinctively and the metal railing twisted sideways, bending at a sharp angle that caught the zombie’s arm and pinned it against the post.

The zombie pulled but couldn’t free itself and Yuche didn’t bother to over think it. He just moved to the next threat—a cat launching toward Zhao Rui’s exposed throat.

His hand jerked and a piece of broken fence post shot sideways, catching the cat mid-leap in a spear and slammed it into the ground hard enough to break its spine.

More zombies reached the bottom of the driveway. Three at once, climbing over each other, hands grabbing for the edge of the pile of zombies. Yuche pulled metal from the debris near the gate—a twisted section of massive bars fence—and dragged it across the ground with a sharp scraping sound.

It jammed between two posts, creating a barrier that forced the zombies to climb over or around instead of straight up. Two zombies tried to push through and got caught in the gaps, their arms tangled in the metal. The third climbed over and Chenghai’s fist crushed its skull before it reached too close to the others.

"Left side—block it," Yuche said, his eyes tracking movement.

A cluster of four cats came from the left, moving in formation, spreading across multiple targets. Lingyun threw fire but the angle was wrong and the cats were too fast. Yuche bent a section of metal siding from a nearby vehicle and slammed it into the ground vertically, creating a temporary wall that forced the cats to veer right into Chenghai’s range.

Chenghai caught two with brutal efficiency. The other two slipped past and Zhenlan redirected them with air pressure before they reached the soldiers by the porch.

Snakes struck from below. Yuche saw one aiming for Sun Ming’s ankle and pulled a metal rod from the debris, snapping it down like a trap that caught the snake’s body and crushed it against the pavement.

Another snake came from the right and he twisted a piece of broken railing into a crude spike that pinned it to the ground before it could strike. A third snake slipped through entirely and Wang Junjie stomped on it hard enough to break its spine.

The birds dove again.

Zhenlan caught most of them with his air but two slipped through, aiming for Chen Minghao and Liu Zhenyu. Yuche pulled metal from the gate frame and sent it spinning upward in a wide arc that clipped both birds mid-flight and sent them crashing into the driveway.

They hit hard but kept moving, wings broken and dragging. Lingyun burned them before they could recover.

More zombies stumbled up the driveway trying to get to the porch. No matter what was going on, everything seemed to be focused on the porch.

Yuche shook his head. He didn’t have time to figure out what was drawing the zombies to their front door. He had to keep them away.

There were five zombies this time, climbing over the barrier Yuche had created, their movements coordinated and relentless.

Yuche pulled another section of fence and jammed it between the porch and where he was standing, narrowing the approach and forcing the zombies into a tighter lane.

Chenghai positioned himself at the choke point and dropped them one by one as they tried to push through. His breathing was heavier now, his movements slightly slower, but he didn’t stop.

"Don’t step there," Yuche called out to Tan Wei, who was moving left to adjust his position.

A cluster of snakes had gathered under the bodies near Tan Wei’s path.

Yuche bent a section of metal sheeting and slammed it down over the area, trapping the snakes underneath. Tan Wei adjusted his footing and continued moving without breaking stride.

The attacks kept stacking. Birds from above, cats from the sides, snakes from below, zombies climbing over each other to just get closer to the front door.

Yuche kept pulling metal, bending it, redirecting it, using it to control space instead of chasing individual kills. He twisted debris into barriers, snapped metal shut around zombie limbs to trap them, funneled threats into narrower lanes where the others could handle them more easily.

It wasn’t enough to stop everything. Just enough to slow it down. Just enough to keep the defensive line from collapsing completely.

A zombie broke through the barrier and went straight for Gao Sheng’s exposed side.

Yuche pulled a metal rod and jammed it through the zombie’s leg, pinning it to the ground. Gao Sheng finished it with a headshot.

Another zombie climbed over the railing and Yuche twisted the metal post it was gripping, forcing it to lose balance and fall backward into the driveway where Chenghai’s fist crushed its skull.

"Funnel them," Yuche said, his voice tight but controlled.

He pulled more metal from the debris and created a crude V-shape that directed the zombies climbing from the left into a narrower approach. The soldiers adjusted their fire to cover the new lane.

The zombies kept coming but the spacing was tighter now, easier to manage. Zhenlan redirected a cluster of birds into the same lane and Lingyun burned them before they could scatter.

But the timing was off.

Yuche noticed it in the way the soldiers reacted—delayed responses, missed shots, coordination slipping.

Chen Minghao fired at a zombie and the shot went wide, forcing Liu Zhenyu to adjust and cover the gap.

Zhao Rui called out a threat on the left but Sun Ming was already engaged on the right and couldn’t shift fast enough. Tan Wei reloaded but his hands fumbled slightly and the magazine took an extra second to seat properly.

It felt wrong. They were trained. They should be sharper than this.

But they were also tiring. Anyone would be given the situation.

Yuche didn’t have time to think about it. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

A cat slipped through the defensive line and went for Deng Kai’s throat. Yuche pulled a section of broken fence and slammed it sideways, catching the cat mid-leap and crushing it against the porch post.

Two snakes struck from below and he bent metal over them like a crude trap, pinning them both before they could reach anyone. A zombie climbed the steps and he twisted the railing around its arm, holding it in place long enough for Chenghai to finish it.

The pressure wasn’t dropping.

If anything, it was building. More birds circled in the trees. More cats appeared from the sides. More snakes struck from below. More zombies climbed over the bodies piled near the gate.

Yuche kept pulling metal, kept bending it, kept trying to control the space. His hands ached. His focus was stretched thin. He was stabilizing small sections but it wasn’t enough.

The attacks kept coming faster than he could compensate.

Chenghai was slowing down. Not much, but enough for Yuche to notice. His strikes were still brutal but the rhythm was off, the recovery time longer. Zhenlan was stretched between the air and the birds, his movements precise but reactive instead of proactive.

Lingyun’s fire was less effective at close range, the risk of hitting their own people forcing him to pull back on intensity.

Yuche pulled another section of metal and jammed it between two porch posts, creating another barrier.

A zombie tried to climb over and he twisted the metal shut around its leg, trapping it. Chenghai crushed its skull.

Another zombie came from the right and Yuche bent a metal rod into its path, forcing it to stumble. Gao Sheng shot it before it recovered.

The birds dove again. The cats kept coming. The snakes kept striking. The zombies kept climbing.

Yuche kept pulling metal. Kept bending it. Kept trying.

It still wasn’t enough.

"Back off." Rouxi’s voice cut through the noise, calm and direct.

Yuche’s hands stopped moving. He looked toward the threshold where she stood, her expression unreadable, her posture relaxed.

"Or not. The choice is yours."