Song Jinhe returned a smile. That was why having a doctor in the team mattered so much.
Jiang Shian looked at the gruesome wound on her hand. “There’s a dental clinic nearby. We should be able to find anesthetics and suture needles and thread there.”
“I have them.” Song Jinhe took her backpack and used it as a spatial transfer station to take the items out. “Lidocaine, suturing needles with thread, and tools.”
Having stayed in a hospital for a long time had its advantages. When stocking up supplies, she could take a more complete set. Food and daily necessities could be improvised, but medical supplies absolutely could not be compromised.
Song Jinhe had thought that removing the gauze already stuck to the wound, glued together with blood and tissue fluid, was painful enough.
Only when the anesthetic was injected did she realize what real pain was. Her entire arm felt like it no longer belonged to her.
“It’ll be over soon,” a low voice sounded beside her.
“Are you a doctor too?”
“Too?” Jiang Shian set down the syringe. Wearing sterile gloves, his long fingers picked up forceps and clamped the suture needle. “Not exactly.”
That… made Song Jinhe a little uneasy.
“I’ve studied it. Don’t worry.” Seeing her avoid looking at the wound, Jiang Shian didn’t mention that his strongest subject had actually been anatomy.
The anesthetic took effect, and the suturing itself didn’t hurt. His hands holding the tweezers and forceps were steady and precise.
Outside the window, clouds churned. Shifting light fell across his focused eyes.
Local anesthetics wear off quickly, and with such a severe wound, it would start hurting if it wasn’t stitched up quickly.
He worked in an orderly manner, tying knots and cutting the thread, then set down his tools and bandaged the wound. “Don’t let it get wet before the stitches are removed.”
“Thank you.” Song Jinhe put on her clothes and asked sincerely, “Is there anything you need?”
She couldn’t treat her own wound this well. It made sense to offer something in return.
“Do you remember the process of awakening abilities?” Jiang Shian removed his gloves.
Song Jinhe nodded and described what had happened at the time. “So… does that mean those who endure it become ability users, and those who don’t become zombies?”
“People who die will turn into zombies, so what you said isn’t wrong. There is a connection, but the essence is different. You can see it through DNA and brain nerve comparisons.”
Jiang Shian lowered his eyes and said calmly, “Those who first showed ‘infection’ symptoms will not become ability users, even if they survive 48 hours.”
“The human genome contains only about 1.5% sequences that actually code for proteins, while viral fragments make up more than 8%. Evolution is an extremely complex process, and where these viral elements came from still has no definitive explanation.”
He stated the information directly, but Song Jinhe didn’t understand it.
“The original zombie virus has no infection source. There is no conventional ‘infection’, it’s a virus originating from within human genes. Ability users can be seen as people who won a genetic lottery; compared to ordinary humans, they are more adaptable to this world.”
Because they couldn’t face the truth or the present world, some of those who came closest to the truth chose to give up in despair, leaving behind suicide notes donating their bodies voluntarily for research.
Song Jinhe understood that last sentence.
Only at this moment did she truly feel that sense of powerlessness.
She had never felt much about this world before. When she arrived, it was already the apocalypse. Even knowing it could never return to what it once was, all she had thought about was how to survive here.
The same hospital, two similar yet entirely different worlds, no one could really say what the cause was.
“Right, one more reminder. The group from the commercial center has accomplices in the city. When they see those zombies with unusual causes of death, they’ll become interested in your equipment.”
Seeing Song Jinhe pick up her backpack and stand, Jiang Shian spoke. “You’d better stay put for the next couple of days. It’ll prevent your wound from reopening.”
Song Jinhe nodded. “What are you planning to do? It’ll be dark soon.”
“In situations like this, two people are safer than one.”
Song Jinhe didn’t object. Given her current condition, she couldn’t go far anyway. Staying together was indeed the best option.
“I’m going zero-cost shopping, no, I’m going to find supplies. Want to come?”
Jiang Shian stood up and walked out of the small bar with her. For some reason, it hadn’t been raining these past two days, but it was getting dark very quickly.
He glanced at Song Jinhe beside him, who was awkwardly trying to stuff her injured arm into her backpack with difficulty, giving off a somewhat disabled-yet-determined air, and said calmly, “You can switch to a more convenient way of carrying your things.”
At that, Song Jinhe’s expression changed slightly, her eyelashes trembling. “So you really saw it back then.”
This was going to be troublesome. She probably couldn’t beat him, and there was no guarantee he didn’t have a hidden pistol or grenades.
Not to mention whether she could succeed, turning on someone who had already helped her twice didn’t feel right. And they currently shared a common enemy, while this person also clearly had many secrets.
Seeing her pull a knife out of thin air didn’t necessarily mean he understood everything.
As for the fact that items could drop from her space, Song Jinhe would never tell anyone.
The glass door of the dental clinic was open, and streaks of blood stained the clean white walls.
Inside, the zombies, having caught the scent of fresh prey, immediately became agitated.
When they opened the first operating room, a zombie covered in blood, its lips torn away to expose blackened gums, lunged forward impatiently. Jiang Shian stepped in front. The dagger in his hand cleanly pierced the zombie’s head, the entire process taking less than two seconds.
Song Jinhe tried not to move her right hand, relying on one hand to carry supplies. Her usual efficiency in “zero-cost shopping” was greatly reduced.
Painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, disposable gloves, masks, and surgical instruments were all packed into the bag.
She had already checked the remaining capacity of her space earlier. Once her hand healed in a couple of days, she could thoroughly search this place.
The wound on her hand was getting increasingly painful. Song Jinhe swallowed a painkiller dry and continued forward with a kitchen knife in her left hand.
By the time they came out of the dental clinic, it was already quite dark. The roars of nearby zombies and the sound of wind shaking doors and windows became increasingly distinct.
Song Jinhe glanced at her watch. It was not even five in the afternoon, and it didn’t look like it was going to rain either.
“Night is falling earlier.” She remembered this happening before, but not at this time. She couldn’t shake a sense of unease.
The two of them quickened their pace and returned to the bar, where they moved a cabinet to block the door. The howling wind cut through the alley, and the familiar sharp screams sounded like a death knell.
It was the special type of zombie they had seen that day, and from the sound of it, there was more than one nearby.
Song Jinhe drew all the curtains. It was too dark outside. Thick clouds blocked out all light, like a curtain had been drawn over the world. Nothing could be seen clearly, only the zombies’ death-filled screams could be heard.
“How many are nearby?” Jiang Shian asked from the small kitchen in the back, where he lit a fire and cooked two servings of pasta with the available ingredients, also opening a canned food item.
“One making that kind of scream, and seven or eight ordinary ones. They’re very close. My sensing range isn’t even as useful as just listening.”
Song Jinhe wasn’t used to eating with her left hand, but the pasta tasted unexpectedly good once she did.
On the table was an emergency lamp set to its dimmest setting. Their silhouettes were reflected on the faintly yellowed wall, while nearby the window was covered with two layers of tablecloth.