Chapter 49

Wen Jiuze was infected with the zombie virus.

The air, heavy with the smell of blood, seemed to stand still.

Xue Ling suddenly ran over, grabbing his arm and dragging him toward their car.

She was pulling him so forcefully that Wen Jiuze almost stumbled and fell. He dropped the knife and followed her willingly.

She hurriedly opened the car door and took out some clean water to wash his wound.

Although they both knew it was pointless.

But Wen Jiuze didn’t refuse. He accepted the water and used it to rinse the deep gash across his body.

Once the coagulated blood was washed away, the bluish tint on his skin became more pronounced.

Wen Jiuze wiped the exposed flesh as if he didn’t feel the pain.

He had seen people turn into zombies many times before. Some would cry in disbelief, others would go mad, hurting themselves or seeking revenge on others.

At first, some people had tried to stop the spread of the virus by cutting off their flesh or arms.

But all infected people, even with the smallest wound, eventually turned into zombies. The only difference was the speed of their transformation.

Wen Jiuze estimated that his transformation speed was moderate. He wouldn’t become a zombie in minutes, nor would he take two or three days to change. He might last for a day.

He put down the kettle and looked at Xue Ling.

She was still staring at his wound, her face twisted with distress.

Wen Jiuze had seen that expression before, months ago when she first saw her mother. It was the kind of look that meant she wanted to cry but couldn’t.

Xue Ling didn’t use water to pretend to cry like last time. At this moment, she was engulfed by a sense of confusion.

She couldn’t remember what she was supposed to do. All she could feel was an overwhelming sense of fear and helplessness, raging inside her body.

How could a dead body generate these emotions? Why did it still bear the emotions of the living, half-alive yet dragging them around?

In a daze, she wandered around in place, her gaze drifting, her hands stiffly clenched into fists in front of her chest.

She suddenly remembered that it was her decision to bring Wen Jiuze to the northern base.

She had insisted he come.

If he hadn’t come, they wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. If they had stayed near the New Fourth Base…

Wen Jiuze grabbed her stiff hands: “What’s wrong? You’re acting like a broken robot.”

He held her hands firmly and spoke in that familiar, annoying tone.

Xue Ling couldn’t control her strength, and her fingers cut into his hand. Reflexively, she looked at his hand, wanting to pull away.

Wen Jiuze gripped her hands tighter: “A lot of lice don’t itch, and a lot of debts don’t trouble you… If you want, go ahead and hit me, scratch me, bite me—whatever.”

Suddenly, Xue Ling yanked her hands free and threw herself at him, clutching him tightly. Her head collided with his chest, and she stomped her feet in frustration. She lifted her head and let out a strange sound, her sharp fingers scratching his back.

When Xue Ling crashed into his arms, Wen Jiuze instinctively wrapped his arms around her, his hand brushing against the cuts on her arm and waist.

“I know… I know you’re hurting. I understand, it’s okay…” He lowered his head and kissed the side of her face, his lips touching her dry hair.

“We should leave now.” He sensed she was calming down a bit and let go of her.

Using a crowbar and other tools, Wen Jiuze managed to get the car’s wheels out of the pit.

Because Xue Ling was so unsteady, he remained calm, even taking the time to siphon gasoline from another car and restarting the engine.

Xue Ling climbed into the car as if drained of energy. She took her writing board and wrote: “Vaccine.”

Her hands were shaking, and the writing trembled along with them.

Her gaze was like the dying embers of a fire, sparking a glimmer of hope.

Wen Jiuze didn’t comment on it. He knew it was already too late.

To inject the vaccine, they would need to reach the Northern Base, which was still a long distance away.

Not to mention how to obtain such a precious vaccine, the real issue was that he didn’t have time. If he didn’t make it to the Northern Base soon, he would completely turn into a zombie.

Xue Ling knew this too, but in her panic, she had forgotten.

Wen Jiuze didn’t remind her. He leaned over from the driver’s seat and hugged her, saying:

“If we go this way, we should be able to reach Huaixi City. It was a busy city before the apocalypse. I heard it was very prosperous.”

Now, though, it was one of the cities with the most zombies. Almost no one scavenged there anymore. It was the closest zombie city to here, and it was in the opposite direction from the Northern Base.

“How about we live in Huaixi City from now on?” Wen Jiuze said.

He figured he wouldn’t make it to Huaixi City, but after checking the gasoline, he thought they had enough.

“Speak up. You’re not planning to ditch me halfway, are you?” Wen Jiuze said, a slight smile on his face, but his tone serious. “Don’t think I’m a hassle. Keeping me around will be very useful.”

“For example, you’re too thin, and there are too many zombies on the street. You can’t push through them. I can clear the way in front.”

“And if we run into people, I can help distract them so you can escape, right?”

“Other zombies walk alone. You’ve got a loyal pet—how impressive.”

“Xue Ling… you can’t leave me behind, understand?”

Xue Ling sat in her usual seat next to him, wanting to scream, to run around, or to lie on the ground and never get up.

But none of these actions would help her vent her emotions. She felt like a volcano with no way to erupt.

Wen Jiuze, this jerk, still wanted her to respond, to agree to his request at a time like this.

“Say something. You can’t refuse something so small, can you?”

Xue Ling didn’t want to speak to him. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to speak either. He would just be behind her, howling like a dog. She might as well get used to it now.

Wen Jiuze suddenly said again: “What will you do when no one can charge your tablet at the base anymore? The tablet won’t work either.”

He muttered to himself: “Huaixi City is so prosperous, they should have generators and solar charging, you can go find them.”

Xue Ling didn’t want to listen to him.

But he kept talking.

“Let’s live in Huaixi City from now on. Don’t go out too much. It’s a huge place, and there’s plenty of room to move around.”

“There’s even a museum in Huaixi City. If you have time, you can take me to visit it.”

Finally, Xue Ling couldn’t hold back. She grabbed Wen Jiuze’s hand and squeezed toward the driver’s seat.

Wen Jiuze stopped talking and pulled her onto his lap. They both squeezed together on the seat.

Xue Ling wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling his usually warm skin gradually losing its warmth. She couldn’t help but hold him tighter.

Wen Jiuze glanced at the road ahead and, with one arm around her, said: “I feel like I’m going to be strangled to death by you before I turn into a zombie.”

Xue Ling released him and suddenly slapped him hard across the face.

She hated him so much right now—more than when he inexplicably broke up with her years ago.

Wen Jiuze was stunned for a moment after being hit, but he quickly tugged at the corner of his mouth and said, “Hitting someone in the face, that’s pretty harsh, isn’t it?”

Xue Ling didn’t hold back with this slap, and she ended up breaking his mouth.

But the wound didn’t bleed much, just a dark red trickle that quickly coagulated.

Wen Jiuze looked down at her, his hand cradling the back of her head, and he kissed her lips.

“I can still feel the pain now. Otherwise, would you prefer to wait until I’ve fully turned into a zombie before you hit me?”

Xue Ling’s sharp teeth clicked together as she raised her hand again.

Wen Jiuze pulled her hand down and kissed her again.

The car passed through the wilderness and the dilapidated town, and the bright sky gradually darkened.

The gorgeous sunset on a sunny day was Xue Ling’s favorite scenery during this period.

Leaning on Wen Jiuze’s chest, the orange sunset reflected on the car window, filling Xue Ling’s eyes. She quietly listened to the heartbeat in Wen Jiuze’s chest, which was slowing down.

His heartbeat had dropped below normal. When did it start? Was it when the sun first set?

His life was slipping away, but she had already used up all her intense emotions in the past few hours. Now, she just listened, as if feeling the last rays of the sun.

As the sunset faded, their car drove into the night.

After a long silence, Wen Jiuze spoke, “You’ll have to drive the rest of the way. Do you know the way?”

“…”

“You should, you’re so capable.” She could walk from Yu City to Anxi City all on her own.

“If the car stalls on the way, do you know what to do?”

“…”

“It’s okay. If the car breaks down, we can walk to Huaixi City.”

His speech began to slur.

What does it feel like to become a zombie? It’s like you can clearly feel your blood turning cold, and your brain begins to freeze as if rusting.

The wounds on his chest and body didn’t hurt, though there was a pain somewhere deep inside, yet he couldn’t pinpoint where.

There were many thoughts in his mind—one moment thinking, and the next moment, it felt as if everything had been erased, leaving only a frozen void.

During the silence, Wen Jiuze looked at the darkening road ahead, forgetting who he was.

Occasionally, he looked down and saw Xue Ling, and then he suddenly woke up, remembering her name and realizing there were still things he needed to say.

“Xue Ling, was this also the case when you turned into a zombie?”

It should have been different for her. She had become a zombie while still conscious, which must have been even harder for her to accept.

After a long period of silence, Xue Ling finally reached over and took the steering wheel when Wen Jiuze unconsciously let go of it.

She sat upright, leaning against Wen Jiuze, and turned on the headlights.

Two beams of light shone far ahead.

A dark red color appeared in Wen Jiuze’s eyes, and his skin began to turn pale. His face, which usually wore a carefree smile, seemed expressionless now due to the stiffening.

He stared at Xue Ling for a while, then slowly reached over and wrapped his arm around her waist.

“…Ling.” He was probably calling her name, but his pronunciation of the surname was a bit unclear.

The dark night outside pressed down on them like his heavy body.

Xue Ling took a silver handcuff from the storage box beside the seat and locked one end on her wrist and the other on Wen Jiuze’s.

Wen Jiuze’s hand moved slightly, causing the chain to make a soft, crisp sound.

“It’s not… that you said… wearing it… would be like a dog wearing a leash, and you… won’t be able to run?”

But she was someone who couldn’t hide her soft heart, even if her words were harsh.

A few years ago, when they had just met and had no real relationship, she had seen Wen Xuan beating him and looked at him with that kind of tender, worried gaze.

During that time, she often visited his school, almost as if she was looking for him.

When she saw him, she instinctively checked to see if he had any injuries, but she would only glance and then leave, never talking to him.

Wen Jiuze had once received anonymous medicine deliveries, but unfortunately, she had been seen when she sent it, so the anonymity lost its meaning.

She alone still thought she had kept it well hidden.

Wen Jiuze never understood why she felt sorry for him.

Later, he realized that it was a path every lover must go through.

He would fall in love with her because she taught him how. Wen Jiuze was simply learning from her, and over time, he found it easier and easier to feel sorry for her.

He moved his wrist in the handcuffs, then slowly sat up a bit straighter.

He didn’t want to die.

He didn’t want her to live with a moving corpse after this.

At dawn, Xue Ling drove the car onto a cleared road.

Wen Jiuze had been still for a while, not moving or making a sound.

“Ah.” Xue Ling suddenly cried out.

“Ah.” The second sound was softer.

Wen Jiuze, who had his head resting on her shoulder, suddenly stirred, as if waking up, and turned his head to touch her cold face.

He mumbled a “Good morning.”

Wen Jiuze had once relied on his own willpower to survive several life-and-death situations.

But this time, he sensed the omen of death.

How much longer could he hold on? Would he last until sunrise?

At the end of the road, there was a light, and Xue Ling saw it was a temporary camp. A convoy was resting by the roadside, and they were blocking the road for an unknown reason.

If it were before, Xue Ling would have taken another route to avoid conflict, but today, she didn’t avoid it. She drove straight toward the roadblock, preparing to crash through.

People with weapons emerged from the camp, making an obvious signal and shouting, “The road ahead is closed. Pull over to the side.”

Xue Ling didn’t listen.

There were many people at the temporary camp, and there were also many cars. The guards were well-armed and very alert.

In the early morning, in one of the white cars in the camp, Wen Yi had not slept yet and was reviewing some data.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside, interrupting Wen Yi’s thoughts. She didn’t stand up to check, but soon someone knocked on the door of her car.

A soldier at the door said, “Dr. Wen, zombies have entered the camp.”

Wen Yi looked tired but coldly replied, “So? Can’t you deal with it?”

The young soldier scratched his head, “No, the zombies came in by car.”