Chapter168 Miranda Near Death
The back of the solid wood chair struck Zron squarely on the head.
The chair was already old, the wood long decayed. Under such violent impact, it instantly shattered into pieces, splinters flying everywhere.
"Ah...!"
Zron screamed, the sudden blow sending him staggering backward.
Blood immediately poured from his forehead, covering his eyes.
Intense pain and dizziness hit him, his vision going dark. His legs gave out and he dropped to his knees with a "thud," clutching his head and howling in agony.
Miranda didn't dare stop.
She dropped the remaining half of the chair leg, ignoring the numbness in her limbs from prolonged binding, and ran for the door.
The light outside stung her eyes painfully, but she couldn't spare time to adjust. After rushing out of the room, she discovered this wasn't an exit at all.
It was a long, dark corridor.
Abandoned hospital rooms lined both sides, walls peeling, the floor covered with broken glass and garbage.
At the end of the corridor, a large iron door showed light through its cracks.
That must be the exit!
Hope ignited in Miranda's heart. She ran toward that door with all her might.
Reaching the large iron door, she reached out and pushed hard.
It didn't budge.
The iron door had been locked from the outside with a thick iron chain and padlock. Without a key, there was no way out.
Just then, a roar came from the room behind her.
"Bitch! I'll kill you!"
Following that came stumbling footsteps and the sound of heavy objects hitting walls.
Zron was coming after her!
Miranda's heart leaped to her throat.
She absolutely couldn't let him catch her. If caught now, he'd kill her without hesitation!
Miranda forced herself to stay calm, her eyes quickly scanning the rooms on both sides of the corridor.
This was an abandoned clinic with a simple structure.
All the room doors were old-style wooden doors. She randomly chose one to hide in, then closed the door and slid the bolt behind it.
The bolt was already rusty and couldn't provide much security.
Miranda looked around. This seemed to be a storage room, filled with abandoned iron bed frames and cabinets.
She desperately dragged a cabinet.
Using all her strength, she finally moved the iron cabinet to the door, firmly blocking it.
Just as she finished, Zron's voice sounded outside.
"Bitch, get out here!" His voice was terrifyingly sinister, carrying a heavy bloody smell, echoing through the empty corridor.
Seeing the empty corridor, though Zron didn't know where Miranda was hiding, he knew she couldn't escape.
"I know where you are..."
Zron's voice was somewhat distorted. "I can see you, little bitch. Stop hiding."
He was lying, trying to trick her.
The abandoned clinic's rooms all had the same structure. The corridor lighting was dim. When she'd ducked into this room, he hadn't caught up yet. He couldn't have seen her.
Miranda took a deep breath, forcing herself not to listen to the hair-raising footsteps outside.
She had to stay calm.
She turned, her gaze quickly sweeping through the dim storage room.
Then her eyes fell on the window boarded up with planks.
That was the only way out.
Miranda searched the room for tools. Finally, in a corner, she saw something rod-like.
Her heart jumped. She grabbed it and looked.
It was a rebar about as long as her forearm, probably removed from some old equipment. The broken end was somewhat sharp. More importantly, one end of the rebar had been flattened, forming a chisel-like shape, perfect for use as a pry bar!
Miranda gripped the rebar tightly, her palms slick with cold sweat. She rushed to the window in a few steps and thrust the flat end hard into the gap between the boards and window frame.
The rusty nails scraping against wood made a slight sound.
In this deathly silent environment, Miranda froze in fear, her heart stopping, instinctively looking back at the door.
No movement outside.
Miranda gripped the end of the rebar with both hands and pressed down with all her strength.
The first nail loosened. The board lifted at one corner.
Cold sweat from Miranda's forehead dripped down her nose, splashing onto the dusty windowsill.
Her palms, having poor blood circulation from prolonged binding, were now rubbed raw by the rough rebar from excessive force, burning painfully. But she had no time for pain.
"Bang!"
The door to the adjacent room was kicked open.
"Not here?" Zron cursed irritably. "Damn it, she couldn't have flown away!"
His patience was wearing thin bit by bit, that near-explosive rage making the air feel thick.
The footsteps sounded again.
This time, closer.
Right next to Miranda's room.
Miranda's hands shook badly. She bit down hard on her lower lip, her mouth filling with a rust-like bloody taste.
The second board.
"Creak..."
The board made a sound as it was forcibly pried off, falling to the ground and raising a cloud of dust.
Light streamed through the opening. Three more to go.
"Tap, tap, tap."
The sound of leather shoes stepping on broken glass outside the door clearly reached Miranda's ears.
Those footsteps stopped at the door.
Miranda's movements instantly accelerated.
Outside the door.
Zron stood at the entrance and pushed the door, finding that unlike the previous ones, this room's door wouldn't open.
"Heh..."
A laugh suddenly came from outside, full of malice.
"You're in there, aren't you?"
Zron's voice penetrated through the door crack. "I can smell you. That perfumed smell rich people have."
Miranda's whole body trembled. She didn't make a sound, but her knuckles gripping the rebar began turning white.
"Not talking?"
Zron's tone suddenly turned vicious. "Think I can't get in if you don't talk? When I catch you, you'll see how I torture you!"
"Bang!"
A thunderous crash.
The fragile wooden door shook violently. The iron cabinet behind it made a piercing scraping sound, sliding back several centimeters.
The door hinges were already severely corroded. That kick loosened all the screws.
"Open up! Open this door!"
Zron went crazy, kicking the door over and over.
Thud, thud, thud.
The cabinet retreated bit by bit. The door gap grew wider, dust falling in showers.
"Crack..."
That was the sound of the already rotten bolt behind the door deforming and twisting under the massive impact.
It couldn't hold much longer.
Two more kicks at most and this door would be completely destroyed.
A flash of determination crossed Miranda's eyes. She spun around and thrust the rebar into the gap of the last board again.
This board was the widest, the most firmly nailed.
"Faster, faster."
She shouted silently in her mind, her arm tensed to the limit.
"Bang!"
Another earth-shattering crash.
The door made sounds of breaking under the strain. The bolt flew off completely. The iron cabinet used to block the door toppled with a crash, raising clouds of dust as it hit the ground.
In that instant, the world seemed to move in slow motion.
Through the flying dust, Zron's blood-covered, hideously twisted face peered into the room with bloodthirsty light.
"Found you..."