The word count of this text message was significantly higher than the previous one. It clearly detailed the characteristics of the zombies for everyone and stated plainly that the viral infection wasn’t just limited to Linyan City—it was nationwide, worldwide.
From the final paragraph, it was evident that the municipal government was also experiencing a zombie outbreak, and their internal situation was likely dire. The message told everyone that there might not be any new texts, though there could be.
This implied that the municipal staff sending the messages had either been infected or were trapped somewhere. If no further messages came, it meant the entire city government had fallen and the virus was beyond their control.
Lin Yuzhi looked at the message and understood that there likely wouldn’t be a next one. They were probably already infected. After all, the theory about scratches and bites was something he and Xu An had only guessed at initially. With the suddenness of the outbreak, hospitals were the first to fall. If even the hospitals—the places capable of identifying the virus—had collapsed, then those who knew nothing of the situation would be even more lost.
By the time people tried to save infected colleagues or friends, a second wave of outbreaks was inevitable. That peak probably happened yesterday or today. Without knowing the risks, the second wave of infected individuals emerged, biting those who hadn’t been turned yet—including the municipal staff mentioned in this very message.
When the first message was sent, the staff didn’t know about the transmission via scratches and bites; now they did, which only meant their own colleagues had begun to turn.
Lin Yuzhi let out a small click of his tongue, scratched his hair, and took a screenshot of the message to send to Xu An. An immediate response came back.
XA: I received it. The municipal government is likely near collapse.
Fish Cracker: What do we do then?
XA: If the military hasn’t collapsed yet, there should be a result soon. If there’s no support for a long time, it means the military has collapsed too. If you can, when you come back, could you bring a piece of zombie flesh?
Lin Yuzhi was still wondering if the military had fallen when Xu An suddenly asked for a piece of zombie flesh. What does he want that for? He was confused but nodded anyway. Then, he relayed the information he had just gathered.
Fish Cracker: The juniors I met said someone hiding with them was bitten, and they just suddenly mutated and bit several other students. They were forced to flee. It sounds like the person was bitten around the 2nd.
Xu An looked at the message and thought it over. Between the government’s text and the students’ accounts, it was confirmed that bites and scratches led to infection. Based on the students’ timeline, the incubation period was roughly seventy-two hours—three days. Symptoms would appear within that window.
After holding his phone for a moment, he replied.
XA: Be careful. The estimated incubation period after being bitten or scratched is about 72 hours. Pay close attention to others and yourself.
In times like this, one had to be extra cautious. You couldn’t afford to gamble on anything. Lin Yuzhi understood and sent back a “Cat Nodding” emoji.
Seeing that Lin Yuzhi hadn’t moved for a long time and was just staring at his phone, the students couldn’t help but feel worried. After a while, they finally spoke up. “Senior, did something happen?”
The unknown only fueled their terror. Lin Yuzhi looked at them, hesitated, and then opened the text message for them to see. Though it was a short message, they read it over and over again. Finally, they looked at each other and began to weep in despair.
“What do we do? What are we supposed to do now?”
The hopeless questions hung in the air. When they were hiding in the restroom, they could still hope that the riot was only at the school and that rescue would come soon. But now they knew it wasn’t just the school—it was the outside world, the entire world. Thinking of their dead classmates and their families, the crying started again.
At that moment, one of the two girls, Zhu Shan, stood up. She clutched the hem of her school uniform, seemingly reaching a decision. After a moment, she walked up to Lin Yuzhi.
“Senior, I… can I borrow your phone to call my parents? I’m really worried.” Her eyes were red again. She bit her lip, knowing the request was unreasonable, but Lin Yuzhi was the only one with a phone. She desperately wanted to know the situation at home.
Following her lead, the others also looked at Lin Yuzhi expectantly. Lin Yuzhi looked at his phone and eventually handed it over. The others chimed in, also wanting to borrow it. Lin Yuzhi didn’t refuse them, though he didn’t know if the calls would go through.
As expected, only one person managed to connect; the others couldn’t get a signal. In the end, they could only comfort one another. Lin Yuzhi didn’t know how to console them either. Watching them return the phone, he remained silent.
He understood their pain. They were trapped in school with no information about their families. In his case, he had no one left. His father died saving someone from drowning when he was a child; his mother died of cancer during his sophomore year of high school; and his grandmother, unable to take the shock, had a fall and passed away soon after. He lived with his other grandmother for a while, but she also passed away due to chronic illness after he dropped out to work and pay for her hospital bills. He had been alone since.
Because of this, since the outbreak began, he didn’t have to worry about family members getting hurt; he could focus entirely on finding Xu An. Seeing them so upset about the failed calls, he sent an emoji to Xu An.
Fish Cracker: [Cat Crying.jpg]
XA: What’s wrong?
Xu An’s first thought was that Lin Yuzhi was injured. His grip on his phone tightened in worry. But soon, a new emoji arrived—a cat shaking its head, meaning he was fine. Only then did Xu An relax and ask again what was wrong.
Lin Yuzhi sighed.
Fish Cracker: Have you called your family? Any news?
Up until now, he hadn’t heard Xu An mention his family or where they were.
XA: The calls won’t go through. They are in the Capital.
Fish Cracker: You can’t get through either, huh? They should be fine. There’s a saying, right? No news is good news.
XA: You’re right.
Lin Yuzhi felt like he had actually managed to comfort someone for once. He sent back an “OK” emoji and then closed WeChat to check the Scholarly Shop.
The shop was filled with a dazzling array of items. He saw ice cream for five points—not expensive, but he only had one point left. He figured he could eat some tomorrow after finishing his “exam.” The weather was incredibly hot, and with the classroom doors and windows shut, it was stifling. To make matters worse, he was still wearing his jacket with books strapped to his limbs.
He pulled his jacket back a bit, hoping to catch a breeze. He had thought about the air conditioning, but the classrooms only had ceiling fans. Turning a fan on would definitely attract the zombies outside.
He had to endure it. He picked up a clean book to fan himself and started searching the floor for anything useful. He collected every blank exam paper he could find, along with some textbooks.
The students, having recovered slightly from their grief, saw him scavenging and asked curiously, “Senior, what are you looking for?”
“Exam papers.” Lin Yuzhi held up a stack and then picked up a clean Chinese textbook to flip through. There were many annotations, but since the term wasn’t over, they only went up to a certain point. Since there was no blood on it, he tucked it into his backpack.
The students didn’t understand why he wanted exam papers, but they helped him collect them anyway. They were careful not to bump into desks to avoid alerting the zombies outside. Simultaneously, they gathered supplies, picking up backpacks left by other students to hold useful items. They realized they would have to rely on themselves from now on, so they needed supplies—and especially weapons.
For weapons, they eyed the mops in the corner. Like the sticks the boys were already carrying from the restroom, these were mop handles. The boys, being stronger, took the mops to a window far from the door. Finding a good angle, they snapped the handles; the jagged ends could be used to fend off zombies.
Afterward, they continued searching. Lin Yuzhi rummaged through the desks. There were forty or fifty of them, and even though many were overturned, he could still find things. Sure enough, he found several packs of chocolate cookies in one desk. It was hot, so he wasn’t sure if they were still good, but he took them anyway.
He also found pencil cases in several desks and took all the pens inside. He kept one particularly cute cream-colored pencil case with a little fish drawn on it. Flipping through more desks, he found two packs of crispy noodles and a notebook. He glanced through it—it looked like math notes.
Not sure if it would be useful, he sent a photo to Xu An.
XA: You can bring some blank notebooks. Regarding class notes, I’m currently recording them for you starting from Grade 10.
Fish Cracker: You actually remember that!
Lin Yuzhi was shocked. Then he saw Xu An send a “Fish Blowing Bubbles” emoji followed by an “Mhm.” He really remembered. The God of Study… Lin Yuzhi felt like kneeling before him. Still, he stuffed the notebook into his bag since he was already there.
He also found some small handheld fans in several desks. They were rechargeable, and he even found the charging cables. He turned one on and found it still had a charge. In this heat, without AC, these little fans were a godsend.
After scavenging for a while longer, he returned to his spot to take inventory. The students also huddled together to count their finds. There wasn’t much—mostly just small snacks. However, they didn’t keep all the snacks for themselves. After dividing them up, the two girls brought a portion over to Lin Yuzhi.
Looking at him, they said softly, “Senior, we found these nearby. We’ve shared them, and this part is for you. Thank you so much for today. If it weren’t for you, we would definitely have died here.”
Lin Yuzhi waved them off while counting his papers. “It’s fine. You guys are calling me ‘Senior,’ after all. Hey, are those exam papers you picked up still useful to you? If not, give them to me. I found two packs of crispy noodles; I’ll trade you. And you don’t need to give me those snacks, I have my own.”
He had food, and the shop had plenty to offer. But he needed the papers—completing one gave points. He figured that if he really couldn’t do well on the actual “exam,” he would just grind papers every day to boost his score. It was like “grinding” in a video game—one step at a time, he could surely build up his points.
“Oh, those papers… we actually picked those up for you, Senior. We forgot to bring them over.” The two realized and hurried to hand over the papers. They still tried to give him the other items they found.
Lin Yuzhi ended up accepting them but warned them that zombie blood could be infectious, so they had to be careful before eating. He also mentioned being careful with the water supply. Finally, he gave them two of the four handheld fans he had found.
His warnings frightened them, but since the items were taken from inside desks, they were relatively safe.
Back at their spot, they sat together to calm their nerves, occasionally glancing at the windows. They had thought about sitting with Lin Yuzhi, but he seemed quite busy, so they didn’t disturb him. They huddled together, discussing what they should do next.
Lin Yuzhi counted the papers—about ten clean ones covering various subjects. He picked one and took a photo for Xu An.
Fish Cracker: Is this one easy?
XA: Easy.
With that answer, Lin Yuzhi was full of confidence as he started the paper. However, he forgot that Xu An’s definition of “easy” was on a completely different level from his own. Soon, he was scratching his head, struggling through the problems.
If he couldn’t solve one, he skipped it. But then he realized he had to skip almost everything. Eventually, he could only stumble through the paper at a snail’s pace.
The nearby students watched in astonishment. They exchanged looks and whispered, “Is Senior really that studious? He’s actually doing an exam paper while the world is full of zombies!”