How could it be a zombie? To say I wasn't startled would be a lie. Despite everything I’d been through—the villa, the night we finally captured Scarface—no zombie had ever been this close, nor had any zombie grabbed my wrist and giggled in that ghastly way.

The first sensation was my scalp prickling, followed by a screech like a girl when a bug crawls up her arm. I jumped back, flailing my other hand at the zombie’s grip.

That slap was a mistake. The zombie used the momentum to seize my other hand, hauling me toward the walk-in freezer with its full weight. I dug my heels into the freezer door, fighting desperately against that terrifying drag.

Seeing this, Wang Jue panicked, rushing over to lock her arms around my waist, trying to keep me from being pulled inside.

Meanwhile, Officer Wu—no, Officer Hou Dayong, I was now one hundred percent certain he was Hou Dayong—stood to the side, arms crossed, smirking, enjoying the spectacle as if watching a cage match.

Wang Jue and I used our feet to push the freezer door inward millimeter by millimeter, but the zombie's strength intensified, seemingly intent on dragging me inside to lie beside it. This simply couldn’t happen!

The tug-of-war stretched on for what felt like an age. Wang Jue began gasping for air, and my arms were growing numb, especially the wrists the zombie gripped; sensation was fading. I knew if this continued, the thing would surely rip both arms from my shoulders.

“How much longer can you hold?” Wang Jue wheezed.

“Not much longer. My arms are going dead,” I managed, even speaking was an effort.

“Remember the principle of leverage?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“Good. When I count one, two, three, you throw your weight down hard, trying to sink your arms toward the floor. I’ll use my foot to shove the freezer door in, pinning its arms against the frame. Then we both pull down hard to break its grip.”

I nodded my agreement. Wang Jue started counting. On three, I poured every ounce of strength I had into a sudden downward plunge, while Wang Jue rammed her leg against the freezer door, pushing it inward. With the combined force from above and below, the zombie was slowly forced back into the cold chamber, only its two arms remaining snagged outside. I braced my feet against the door, stopping it from being forced open again. Wang Jue shaped her hands like cleavers and brought them down hard on the zombie’s wrists—not enough force. The creature still held fast, and clear bruises were already visible on my wrists. Seeing that hacking wasn't working, Wang Jue resorted to stomping. Across the three-inch-wide lip of the freezer door, she hammered her heel down onto the zombie’s arms. Muscle and skin peeled away from its limbs like slivers of shredded paper.

After this combination of pulling and stomping, there was a sudden crack. The zombie’s arms snapped off, the hands still clinging to the wrists, sliding free of my grip and thudding onto the floor! Losing my balance, I collapsed heavily onto the ground. Wang Jue seized the opportunity, jerking the freezer door outward, quickly stuffing the remaining severed stumps back inside, and slamming the door shut. We leaned against the door—one second, two seconds, three seconds…

The freezer remained shut. The terrifying ordeal seemed finally over.

Just as Wang Jue and I were panting like dogs from exhaustion, Hou Dayong began clapping from the side, chuckling, “Impressive, truly impressive…”

Wang Jue and I spun around to glare at him, a strange, unfamiliar wave of fury surging through us.

“How about we try collaborating?” Hou Dayong asked, a smile plastered on his face, as if the last few moments had been nothing more than a minor test.