_Creak…_
The security door swung inward. Before Zhang Xiaowen could warn them, a zombie slumped against the door smeared black-red gore across the threshold and collapsed face-up at the girls' feet.
"Cover your—"
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Magic Cube's audio sensors spiked into red zones as screams reverberated through the corridor.
•••
Fifteen minutes later, the "oversized toy car" sat parked beside the sofa where two girls devoured cream-filled cookies like starved rodents. Their smoke-stained kitchen told the story: charred cookware, half-burnt books used as fuel, and a pot of undercooked rice.
"Slow down. You'll choke." Zhang Xiaowen handed over a canteen of mountain spring water.
Meanwhile, Magic Cube scanned radio frequencies. Static resolved into a broadcast: _"Zzzzt... New An Town Shelter... municipal government... supplies... Mayor urges citizens..."_ A holographic terrain map projected from its headlights showed the shelter's precarious location—downwind from the city, a feast waiting to happen when the seasons changed.
"The shelter's suicide," Magic Cube declared. "Eight hundred humans equals an all-you-can-eat buffet scent trail."
The girls gaped at the talking toy car.
"My... hobby project," Zhang Xiaowen lied through her teeth. "Any other survivors here?"
"Last night... someone sang nursery rhymes on a balcony," the older girl recalled.
Before Zhang Xiaowen could facepalm, Magic Cube's claw emerged from the doorway trash bag holding a bloodstained sanitary pad.
The younger girl turned beet red.
"Menstrual blood. Zombie GPS." The robot's eye-lights narrowed at the offending item. "Congratulations—you rolled out the welcome mat."
Zhang Xiaowen massaged her temples. "Dispose of these... properly next time. Stay quiet until we return."
As they exited, Magic Cube transformed back into a clunky robot, stairs clanking under its wheels. Behind them, the door locked with extra _thunks_—the girls barricading themselves against both zombies and embarrassment.