The east side was packed.
Too many people. Too little space. The fence was a mix of chain link, welded scrap, and hope.
Floodlights shook in the rain. Soldiers shouted for civilians to move back, but nobody listened. People pressed close because the light felt safer.
Then something hit the fence from outside.
Bang.
The chain link jumped.
Someone screamed.
A soldier fired through the mesh and the muzzle flash lit up faces for half a second. The smell of gunpowder mixed with wet trash.
Lan Huan pushed forward without slowing. He Li stayed half a step ahead, checking the ground so nobody tripped. He Chenyu kept close, eyes scanning. Qin Yi followed, pale but focused. Luo Yan ran last, heart punching his ribs.
Bang again.
The fence bowed.
A gap opened for a second, then snapped back.
A woman near the front cried out, "My kid!" and tried to shove forward.
A soldier grabbed her and yelled, "Back!"
She slapped him.
He shoved her.
People started yelling at each other.
Luo Yan's stomach turned. It wasn't just zombies. It was people.
Lan Huan shouted, "Clear the fence line! Move civilians back!"
A few soldiers looked at him and obeyed on instinct when they saw his insignia. Others didn't know who he was, or didn't care.
A man in a soaked officer cap turned. "Who the hell—"
Lan Huan didn't waste time explaining. "If the fence breaks, you lose this lane," he said. "Move them."
The officer hesitated, then yelled at his men. "Push them back! Now!"
The crowd fought it. People were terrified of being left behind.
Outside the fence, silhouettes pushed in the rain. Slow shapes. Too many.
Luo Yan saw hands through the mesh. Fingers hooked like claws.
Then a zombie head slammed into the fence, face splitting on metal.
Someone vomited.
He Li's voice was tight. "Weak point. Ten meters left."
Lan Huan moved there. The fence had been patched with thinner scrap. It shook with every hit.
A soldier near it was shaking so hard he could barely hold his rifle.
Lan Huan grabbed the rifle barrel and pushed it down. "Stop wasting rounds," he said.
The soldier stared. "Sir—"
Lan Huan's voice was low. "Aim when you can see. If you can't see, hold the line."
The soldier swallowed and nodded.
Bang.
The fence bowed again.
A hand shoved through the mesh. Then another.
A civilian screamed and backed up into others.
The crowd surged.
Luo Yan felt it like a wave. If they panicked now, they would crush each other before the zombies even got in.
Lan Huan looked at Qin Yi. "Illusion," he said.
Qin Yi's face tightened. "Small," he warned.
Lan Huan nodded. "Small."
Qin Yi lifted his hand.
The air shimmered.
People near the fence suddenly heard a clear, sharp order that wasn't real.
"Back. Now. Three steps. Or you die."
The voice sounded like it came from right behind them, from someone they would obey.
The civilians flinched and stepped back without thinking.
Just three steps.
It was enough space for soldiers to move.
Qin Yi swayed, pain flashing on his face. He pressed his fingers to his temple. "That's all," he muttered.
Lan Huan didn't push him. He looked at He Li. "Light," he said.
He Li nodded and bent light in a thin strip along the fence line, making the mesh easier to see, the hands easier to target.
Soldiers fired fewer shots, but better shots.
Outside, bodies fell.
Inside, people stopped screaming for half a breath.
Then the weak patch snapped.
Metal tore with a loud squeal.
A hole opened the size of a person.
A zombie shoulder shoved through.
The officer yelled, "Patch it! Patch it!"
Nobody had time.
Lan Huan stepped forward.
"Luo Yan," he said, fast and low.
Luo Yan's mouth went dry. "I can't hold long," he said.
Lan Huan didn't argue. "Just enough," he said.
Luo Yan lifted his hands.
Void Screen.
A dark pane snapped into place over the hole like an invisible shield.
The zombie slammed into it.
The impact erased. The screen cracked.
Luo Yan's arms shook. His vision blurred.
He could feel the pressure pushing from outside. Too many bodies.
He couldn't hold it.
Lan Huan's storm crackled. Lightning snapped across his hand, controlled, and struck the fence edge, welding two pieces of scrap together for a second. Not a real fix. A brace.
"Patch now!" Lan Huan shouted.
Two soldiers lunged with a sheet of scrap metal. They shoved it over the hole from inside and tied it with wire, hands shaking.
Luo Yan held the Void Screen while they worked.
It cracked again.
His stomach rolled.
He could taste blood in his mouth.
Then the patch held.
Not strong, but closed.
Luo Yan dropped the screen and nearly fell.
He Chenyu grabbed his elbow and kept him upright. "Easy," he said, low.
Luo Yan breathed hard. "I'm fine."
He wasn't.
Lan Huan scanned the fence. "Hold for now," he said. "No one opens this gate."
The officer nodded, still shaken. "Yes, sir."
A soldier shouted from farther down, "They're piling up!"
Outside, zombies were pushing their own dead forward, pressing bodies into the mesh like sandbags.
The fence was holding, but it was bending.
Lan Huan's jaw tightened.
He didn't summon the dragon. Not yet. Not with civilians this close and no room to control the damage.
He looked at He Li. "Find me a second line," he ordered.
He Li nodded and ran along the inside lane, light bending around him so he could slip through people.
Lan Huan looked at He Chenyu. "Get wire, boards, anything," he said. "We build backup."
He Chenyu nodded and started moving.
Lan Huan looked at Luo Yan, voice lower. "Can you stand?"
Luo Yan swallowed. "Yes."
Lan Huan nodded once. "Then stay behind me."
Luo Yan did.
Not because he wanted to hide.
Because right now, Lan Huan was the only thing between him and the fence.
The rain got heavier.
Another hit shook the mesh.
Then, through the sound of metal and shouting, Luo Yan heard something else.
A different sound.
A higher pitch.
Like a scream, but not the same as the others.
Fast.
Hungry.
Closer than it should be.
He Li came back at a run, face tight.
"Sir," he said, "something is moving on the outside. Not slow."
Lan Huan's eyes went hard. "How many?"
He Li swallowed. "One. For now."
And then the fast scream hit again, right outside the east fence.
Right where Luo Yan's Void Screen had just been.