The center of the safe zone was actually a former military base, and surrounding it were grain depots, a water plant, a power plant, and so on, covering a large area.
However, despite the large space, the population of S City was just too massive. Even though many people had already turned into zombies, there were still far too many to all fit in the safe zone. The government was currently working on establishing more safe zones elsewhere, and the most important requirement for a safe zone was ensuring a sufficient food supply.
Not far away, many people were cultivating farmland, men and women, young and old, because the safe zone had a rule: you had to work in order to receive food rations. Some people had brought enough food and refused to work, but more than half of the ordinary citizens had taken the initiative to contribute.
Building walls, building houses, farming, the whole safe zone was bustling with activity. Humans are creatures of limitless potential. A wall of that size should’ve taken much longer to finish, but in just one week, most of it had already been completed, with absolutely no corners cut.
Now, the safe zone’s broadcast played nonstop, sharing all sorts of morale-boosting news. Since satellites were still operational, countries all over the world were doing their best to maintain communication, and people could still access some news online. It was said that globally, at least one-tenth of the population turned into zombies instantly, another tenth had been infected in the days following, and yet another tenth had died from various disasters, car crashes, gas explosions, and so on. Most of the city roads in S City had been blocked by traffic jams. It was rumored that on one such road, a vehicle caught fire, and in the end, the entire stretch, both zombies and survivors, were reduced to ashes.
This massive city had too many people, too many vehicles! If Ling Qingyun and Zhuang Cheng hadn’t left early, just a few more days and they would’ve been trapped in the city, where the number of zombies was only increasing.
Currently, the leadership of the safe zone was composed of former officials from S City. Now, both China and other countries had unanimously agreed that food supply was the most urgent problem to resolve. So within the safe zone, every possible piece of land that could grow food was being reclaimed.
No doubt, as the survivor population increased, the safe zone would continue to expand outward.
Ling Qingyun had just returned from a mission. His jacket had been taken away by the medical team, so he was only wearing a wool sweater, a gift from Zhuang Cheng. He himself would never spend hundreds or even a thousand yuan on a sweater, even if he could afford it. But Zhuang Cheng was different. Majoring in English, minoring in French, and even studying a rare language, Zhuang Cheng had excellent Chinese as well, good enough to earn a little extra as a writer, nearly matching the salary Ling Qingyun made moving goods at the supermarket.
Besides that, Zhuang Cheng’s parents were well-off and frequently sent him money. He didn’t need to rent a place while studying either, so he was wealthier than Ling Qingyun, even though Ling Qingyun was already working full-time.
He thought of Zhuang Cheng again… Ling Qingyun sat on the ground, the north wind stinging his face. Maybe it was just the wind, but he felt like crying.
Yesterday, he woke up in the safe zone. That afternoon, he joined a chaotic battle and earned the genuine appreciation of Zhang Yi. That same night, he officially became a soldier under Zhang Yi’s command. And this morning, he joined Zhang Yi’s squad to drive their military truck to raid a supermarket on the outskirts of S City.
This supermarket had already been looted, most of the high-calorie foods were gone. But to them, food wasn’t the only priority, daily necessities were also important. So from napkins to sanitary pads, from stationery to toothpaste and toothbrushes, they loaded up everything except for some flashy, useless toys. Along the way, the team members were even allowed to eat the expired cakes.
After all, it was winter. Although the cakes were past their expiration date, they didn’t taste much different. In the past, they might’ve refused to eat expired food, but now… after eating the mess hall’s horrible food day in and day out, those meat floss buns and pastries from the supermarket tasted heavenly!
The people working the fields had already started heading back to their living quarters. Right now, the safe zone lacked everything, even the living areas didn’t have proper lighting. All soldiers and volunteers assigned to missions were expected to rescue more survivors and bring back as many supplies as possible.
Ling Qingyun watched them hurriedly heading back, but he remained seated on the concrete ground, staring at the dim sky. Now, the whole world felt desolate and bleak.
“Ling Qingyun! Didn’t I tell you to go sleep? We have a mission early tomorrow morning!” Zhang Yi approached, carrying something that looked like a spiked mace and called out.
“I’m about to go,” Ling Qingyun stood up and looked at the mace behind Zhang Yi. “Is that for me?”
“It’s for you, you guy who doesn’t even know how to use a gun!” Zhang Yi tossed the mace on the ground. The thing looked intimidating, and fortunately, the safe zone was currently melting down all sorts of metal to forge weapons, which was the only reason he could get his hands on such a good piece of gear!
Ling Qingyun picked up the mace. It was hollow inside, but the sharp metal spikes and its weight were enough to prove its power.
As he gripped the mace, Ling Qingyun didn’t take Zhang Yi’s words to heart. Before the apocalypse, he had touched a real gun once, his old boss had one, though not enough bullets. So at the end of the day, he didn’t know how to use a gun properly.
Still, not knowing didn’t mean he couldn’t learn. But Ling Qingyun didn’t plan to. Instead, he applied for a spiked mace, and the reason was simple: they worked as a team, and during a supply raid, a zombie could jump out from behind any shelf. Close-quarters combat skills were just as important. Besides, the guns handed out now were either outdated or rushed in production, sometimes a shot wouldn’t even faze a zombie.
Of course, for sharpshooters like Zhang Yi, blasting a zombie’s head off in one shot wasn’t a problem.
It had been over a week since the outbreak. Humanity had learned a few things about zombies: the only way to stop them was to destroy their heads. Anyone bitten would typically turn within an hour. Zombies were slow-moving, but they seemed to be more agile at night.
Because of that nighttime agility, they weren’t assigned missions after dark. However, since many mission locations were far, setting out early was often unavoidable.
“We’re heading to the Third Hospital in S City tomorrow. Hospitals are where the most zombies gather. I don’t know if we’ll even come back,” Zhang Yi said gloomily.
The safe zone lacked everything. On top of that, most of the survivors who escaped didn’t want to go out and fight zombies or do missions. That would be one thing, but some wealthy second-generation rich kids and officials’ kids—because they had nice cars and money, escaped with a lot of valuables and food. Now, in the safe zone, they acted like big shots and did nothing.
Zhang Yi and the soldiers risked their lives every day to rescue people and bring back supplies, but those rich kids would take gold rings or food just to trade for a phone charger…
Sighing, Zhang Yi looked at Ling Qingyun with admiration. Someone with such awareness should have already become a soldier of the people!
“When we go out, killing one more zombie means one less enemy!” Ling Qingyun wasn’t worried about his own survival. To be honest, he really wanted to check the construction site again. If Zhuang Cheng had turned into a zombie, it’d be best to kill him and let him rest in peace… Thinking this made Ling Qingyun’s heart ache again.
Maybe he could fight all other zombies, but just couldn’t bring himself to kill Zhuang Cheng, even if Zhuang Cheng had no memory of him as a zombie.
“You’ve got a good mindset! Get some rest early. We assemble at 2 a.m. tomorrow!” Zhang Yi patted Ling Qingyun’s shoulder and said he was going to sleep early too.
Ling Qingyun smiled bitterly behind his back. In elementary school, his teacher said he was an unclean, uncivilized kid. In middle school, he got called a little hooligan for fighting. After graduating, he actually became a real thug. Even Zhuang Cheng wouldn’t say he had a good mindset…
The safe zone was seriously short on medical supplies, and medicines were nearly depleted. Many had already died due to lack of drugs and proper treatment. After all, many people now suffered from diabetes and hypertension—conditions that required continuous medication.
“This time, our goal is to bring back the entire hospital, and don’t forget the two pharmacies opposite the hospital,” Zhang Yi briefed the team. This mission wasn’t simple, so more than just their squad was sent.
Over a dozen big trucks, some military and some civilian, mostly carrying regular soldiers, assembled at 2 a.m. and then headed together toward S City’s Third Hospital.
The hospital was located in the suburbs, quite far from where Ling Qingyun lived. Since he rarely got sick and tended to tough it out when he did, he hadn’t even heard of it before. Once on the truck, he started looking at a map with the others.
Before the zombie outbreak, to quickly fit into a new group, one had to be talkative and socially skilled. But now, with death looming constantly, social skills meant nothing. These soldiers looked down on anyone who tried to flatter them, but if someone wasn’t afraid to die and willing to charge ahead…
Ling Qingyun, unlike others, didn’t show any fear when facing zombies. Instead, he charged at them head-on. Because of this, even though the others had only known him for two days and had only gone on one mission together, they already regarded him as a full-fledged member of the team.
Several trucks sped along the road, aiming to avoid being surrounded by zombies. Along the way, they ran over quite a few zombies and smashed into small cars blocking the path. Finally, around noon, they approached the hospital.
“I just remembered a joke,” Zhang Yi suddenly grinned, baring his teeth. “A child asked his mother, ‘Why do the nurses who give me medicine wear masks?’ The mother told him, ‘That’s to stop them from eating the medicine.’ Then the kid said, ‘I get it now…'”
“What did he get?” asked a young soldier in the team. He looked no older than eighteen or nineteen—clearly a fresh recruit.
“He said, ‘The doctors who do surgery also wear masks, so it must be to keep them from having group meals!'” Zhang Yi said grimly. “You know, when people first started turning into zombies, there were no warning signs. Some guys even turned mid-way while doing it with their wives and ended up biting off half their wife’s breast. Imagine what might’ve happened in the ER if someone turned during surgery… A group feast, maybe.”
The young soldier who asked the question couldn’t help but gag, and the others’ faces turned pale.
“Pull yourselves together!” Zhang Yi shouted. “If you’re already disgusted or afraid of this, how are you going to face zombies up close? This time, we’re not staying in the trucks. We’re going into the hospital! There will be a ton of zombies and horrifying sights inside. I expect all of you to toughen up!”
Everyone’s mood turned serious, and Zhang Yi’s eyes immediately landed on Ling Qingyun, whose expression had remained unchanged. “You all need to learn from Ling Qingyun! He’s not afraid of zombies!”
Ling Qingyun stayed stoic. “Captain Zhang, we’ve arrived. Also, those masks didn’t stop anyone from eating.”
Sure enough, the hospital wasn’t far ahead. In front of the building, several cars had crashed into one another, and some zombies wearing white lab coats were gathered around them. The cars were already long abandoned, either the occupants had been eaten or had turned into zombies themselves.
It had been over a week since the outbreak. The blood, brain matter, and flesh on the doctors’ and nurses’ lab coats had long since rotted, giving off a foul corpse stench. The once solemn and pure uniforms now appeared utterly grotesque.
Thanks to Zhang Yi’s earlier warning, the people in their truck were mentally prepared and remained composed. But in other trucks, some new soldiers couldn’t help but vomit when they saw the scene, like a nurse with half her face gone, holding what looked like a child’s thigh and occasionally taking a bite. Or a doctor, crooked glasses still on, with intestines hanging from his body and a surgical knife lodged in his chest, perhaps from a patient who resisted when he turned.
Because the wrecked cars were blocking the hospital entrance, their trucks had to stop. They began shooting the wandering zombies outside while organizing a team to enter and rescue survivors.
The first team to enter was the special forces, Ling Qingyun wasn’t part of that group. However, after the special forces went in, his team was ordered to enter as well.
They took the emergency corridor. Just as they stepped inside, two zombies lunged out. Ling Qingyun was at the front and swung his spiked club with precision, smashing one zombie’s head open. The other was taken down with a single shot to the head by Zhang Yi, who fancied himself a sharpshooter.
Ling Qingyun advanced cautiously. Although he wasn’t afraid to die, he wanted to kill as many zombies as possible first. He also hoped to check on Zhuang Cheng’s situation. When Zhuang Cheng pushed him away with such strength at the end, Ling Qingyun couldn’t help but want to convince himself that Zhuang Cheng would be okay.
The zombies initially appeared late at night, and it was said that people with weaker constitutions were more likely to turn into zombies. This meant at least half the patients in the hospital had turned. That wasn’t the worst part, the hospital doors were generally left unlocked. Even though zombies couldn’t open doors, survivors could. So, as long as one person in a ward hadn’t turned, they would open the door and escape when attacked by zombies…
Because of this, the hospital corridors were filled with zombies. Fortunately, since it was night and the number of people in the hospital had dropped by nearly half, the zombies never managed to completely surround them.
Walking further into the emergency room area, the smooth floor was dotted with spots of blood and rotting flesh covered in green mold. The smell of disinfectant couldn’t mask the heavy stench of decay. Some of Zhang Yi’s men wore homemade gas masks and wrapped themselves tightly. Two even wore motorcycle helmets.
Inside the hospital, rhythmic noises could be heard, probably zombies moving around—and occasional gunshots echoed from other areas.
Ling Qingyun, holding his spiked club, led the way. As he turned a corner, a group of pale, gray-faced zombies suddenly appeared before him. These zombies had been gathered in front of a door, either standing idly or knocking on the door and walls. Now, seeing the team, they began approaching.
The zombies seemed to come alive all at once, growing unusually excited. Even the old zombie with only a couple of teeth in his mouth opened it and blinked. An unknown liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth onto the head of a smaller zombie in front of him…