Several people were startled.
Sister Xiaohua hurriedly asked, “Is there some explanation for that?”
Xin Xiaoru explained it to them, and at the same time the police at the hospital also found the letter Xin Xiaoru had left behind.
The letter contained two parts. One part borrowed from zombie-themed movies and novels to describe information she knew from her previous life.
“The zombie virus spreads through scratching and biting. In the early stage, infected zombies move slowly, with strength similar to ordinary people, but they strike with lethal force. Even a slight scratch or bite that breaks the skin can transmit the virus, so extreme vigilance is required. The current practice of shooting zombies on sight is correct, because there is no solution yet.”
“Along with the outbreak of the zombie virus, various natural disasters will also occur, including but not limited to earthquakes, volcanoes, extreme heat, drought, and later possibly extreme cold and floods. In addition, water and soil pollution will be extremely severe. Clean soil and water should be identified and preserved as much as possible.”
The police were not particularly surprised by this part. These were also possible projections mentioned in higher-level warnings. Some people were already concentrating resources and using protective measures to preserve existing food, water, and soil. However, as frontline personnel, they were not responsible for this aspect and were unclear about the specific scale of protection.
The police continued reading. It was only when they reached the second part of the letter that they truly frowned and began to take it seriously.
This section detailed Xin Xiaoru’s discoveries in the laboratory and her own deductions.
“The zombie virus may be a mutation produced by some kind of research under the interference of radiation. If the radiation does not stop, the harmful effects of the zombie virus will continue to intensify. In addition, due to radiation interference from the external environment, the radiation levels of many electronic devices may have been amplified hundreds or even thousands of times, comparable to the radiation exposure from routine X-rays or CT scans. If these devices are not shut down, the radiation will persist, on the one hand directly causing genetic mutations, and on the other hand accelerating the spread and effects of the zombie virus.”
“Originally, the full process from injury to infection to death and then transformation into a zombie might have taken one day. Now it may be accelerated to completion in just over ten minutes. Even some people who were not scratched or bitten may mutate simply by being in the same room with radiation sources and infected individuals.”
“There are still many laboratories in the hospital equipped with radiation detectors. You can observe and record the data to see whether this is the case. If it is confirmed, I hope the information can be made public so that everyone can take precautions early.”
After reading the letter, the police immediately reported it together with the on-site case details, and at the same time asked doctors upstairs who were in good condition to discuss experimental plans and countermeasures.
Meanwhile, Xin Xiaoru and her RV, like He Guying, were placed on the police list of criminal suspects under surveillance, and also became the focus of attention for many netizens.
Scenes of them flying through the air were recorded and uploaded online, spreading widely. All kinds of speculation and zombie-related discussions flooded the internet. Keywords such as “superpowers,” “earthquake,” “natural disasters,” and “virus” directly dominated the trending search lists.
People discussed anxiously. Although they were still not sure what exactly was happening and were waiting for explanations from the authorities, that did not stop them from instinctively hoarding supplies. Prices soared overnight, and easily stored foods in supermarkets were snapped up in no time.
“Brother-in-law, look!” At the RV campsite, people who were still stranded there waiting for rescue suddenly saw messages in their social feeds. “The supermarkets are already out of instant noodles.”
The others, hearing this, crowded over to look.
This group had fled in haste, with limited phone battery. Only three intact private cars had power banks. They had agreed to turn off their phones together and take turns powering them on to receive messages, occasionally checking updates and pressing the rescue teams for progress.
The person holding the phone now was playing videos from social media.
In one video, the person hurried past empty shelves while narrating: “Instant noodles, luncheon meat, canned fruit, everything’s gone. The fresh food section is packed with people still fighting to grab stuff. I don’t even know what they’re panic-buying..”
In the next video, the same person filmed a pharmacy in disbelief: “Cold medicine and fever reducers are actually sold out! Even vitamin C effervescent tablets are gone! Are people crazy? Is this really necessary?”
The video played twice. The group looked at one another, and at the same time a trace of regret rose in their hearts.
Why had they gone and provoked the RV owner?
The rescue team couldn’t spare any manpower. The campsite was empty, with nothing left. Nothing could get in from outside, and they couldn’t get out from inside. The air was hot and stifling. There was no air-conditioning, no food, and even the water had been sold by the campsite owner earlier, once it was drunk, it was gone…
For a moment, everyone’s panic and frustration intensified.
“This is all your fault!” the short man couldn’t help blaming a burly man. “Why did you have to mess with her for no reason? You already paid 500 yuan for the RV hotel, were you really short of those ten yuan for instant noodles?!”
“Do you think I was mad about the money?” the burly man shot back. “It was because she grabbed my wife! What, I can’t complain about her a bit in private? Who does she think she is?!”
The short man turned his anger on the burly man’s wife. “Why did you have to say it on someone else’s turf? She saved you, and you still had to run your mouth. If it were me, I’d want to hit you too!”
The burly man shoved him hard. “You looking for trouble? Hit someone? Come on, come on, try hitting me!”
“You—!”
They shoved each other back and forth. People nearby hurried to break it up, physically blocking their lines of sight, and finally separated the two powder kegs.
“Our priority is getting out of here as soon as possible,” said a woman who liked to play peacemaker both within the group and with outsiders. “Let’s be clear: no matter whether it’s the rescue team or anyone else who shows up in the next couple of days, we need to speak nicely and not offend anyone. Spend money if we have to, our lives matter most! If you don’t know how to talk, then don’t talk. Let me do it. Let’s get out of the campsite early, find something to eat, and figure out our next move!”
As she spoke, she secretly hoped the RV owner would come back. After all, there couldn’t possibly be a more convenient way to get out of trouble than her RV.
When the time came, she’d even be willing to pay several thousand or tens of thousands of yuan as a relocation fee.
‘It’s all because of these useless teammates,’ the woman couldn’t help thinking. ‘They’ve caused me so much extra trouble!’
At this moment, the Xin Xiaoru everyone at the campsite was thinking about had just exited at a ramp off the inner ring expressway and found a quiet side road to stop on.
There were twelve people in the RV besides Xin Xiaoru, seven patients and their family members, and five doctors and nurses.
Xin Xiaoru took out a bedsheet and divided the already cramped RV into two areas. The women went to the side with the bed to undress, taking everything off, including underwear. The men went to the side without the bed to undress.
Some people were unwilling. Xin Xiaoru directly raised the hammer that still had blood on it. “Anyone who refuses will be treated as a zombie and dealt with on the spot.”
One person who had been scratched was still unwilling to give up. “If there’s a wound, how will it be handled? Are you letting me off here and now?”
Xin Xiaoru’s expression was indifferent. “You’re overthinking it. I’ll be monitoring you. The moment you show signs of zombification, I’ll kill you. But don’t worry—I’ll try my best to let you die with some dignity.”
The man flew into a rage when he heard this. “How is that any different from the hospital?!”
Xin Xiaoru thought to herself that it really wasn’t any different. Back then, she just couldn’t let them run wild in a powerless hospital, bringing them here was simply to add popularity points to the RV.
The man was about to say more when Xin Xiaoru suddenly struck without warning, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the wall of the vehicle.
Just as he was about to struggle, in the next second his artery was severed by a thin blade. Before the blood could spray out, Xin Xiaoru covered the wound with her hand, and it flowed down along his neck, collar, and arm, pooling on the floor.
Piercing screams rang out around them. Someone grabbed the door handle and tried to get out, but no matter how hard they pulled, it wouldn’t open. Someone else, emboldened by desperation, lunged forward and clamped their hands around Xin Xiaoru’s neck, trying to strangle her.
Yet beneath their hands, the neck that should have been slender and warm carried a faint metallic sensation, as if an invisible metal barrier were blocking the attack.
Before they could fully process this shock, Xiaohua reacted and slapped the attacker hard across the face. She grabbed their hair, the scalp tightening painfully as she forced them backward.
In the next instant, Xin Xiaoru turned around and drove the blade, still stained with the blood of the person she had just killed, into the attacker’s neck, claiming another life.
At that moment, everyone froze.
Xin Xiaoru’s peripheral vision flicked to Xiaohua’s right hand, which was red and numb. She asked softly, “Are you okay?”
The others didn’t understand what was going on, but Xiaohua keenly sensed that this RV had something special about it. Still, this was not the time to discuss it, so she shook her head repeatedly.
Xin Xiaoru looked at the rest of them. “I said before, if you’re truly infected with the zombie virus, I’ll let you die with some dignity. If you don’t even want that dignity, then you’ll just have to set off early.”
Her gaze was icy, her hands slick with blood. She was no longer the savior who had rescued people from the hospital, but a living, breathing King of Hell.
“Split up by men and women. Strip.”
No one dared say another word. They crowded together and began to undress.
Some, knowing there was no escape, confessed outright, exposing the skin where they had been scratched or bitten and voluntarily identifying themselves.
Xin Xiaoru nodded and did not force them to strip further.
After everyone had been checked, excluding the two already dead, of the remaining ten people, eight had wounds and two had none.
Doctor Lin was very fortunate, she had no injuries. Xiaohua and three others had originally thought they were fine, but upon closer inspection discovered abrasions on their calves, the backs of their necks, or their shoulder blades, wounds that had appeared at some unknown point.
Xin Xiaoru stepped forward two paces, barely leaving enough room for the two uninjured people to stand behind her, creating a psychological sense of separation.
She said to the rest, “Even if you’ve been scratched, there’s still a chance nothing will happen. The viral load under an infected person’s fingernails is lower than in their mouth. If you’re lucky enough to be scratched by a nail without much virus, or if your clothing blocked it for a moment and the virus lingered in the air long enough to die off, then you’ll be fine.”
“The odds are very small, but they’re not zero. And even if you are infected, there’s still maybe a 1% or 0.1% chance—I don’t know the exact numbers, that instead of turning into a zombie, you become an ability user.”
She pointed at herself without the slightest hesitation. “Like me. I gained the power to control the RV.”
The ashen-faced group instantly perked up, their eyes lighting up.
“So,” Xin Xiaoru said, “pray. Pray that you’re the lucky one.”