Chapter 79: The Z Hospital Battle

Hearing Fatty joke about ghosts, Liuli also showed signs of fear, instinctively moving closer to Su Mu Ying.

Seeing Liuli approach her, Su Mu Ying pulled her closer with a smile, saying, “Don’t be scared, there’s no such thing as ghosts in this world. Even if there were, would they be more terrifying than zombies?”

“Ah? Sorry, Liuli, I didn’t know you were afraid of ghosts. I was just joking,” Fatty scratched his head awkwardly.

“Little Liuli, are you scared?”

Zhang Ming: ……

…

That night, the city lay in complete silence, without a single light. The only illumination came from the dim moonlight reflecting off the snow-covered ground. Zombies roamed the city like they were the rulers of this desolate land. Under the faint moonlight, they aimlessly searched for food in the streets, as if declaring themselves the new masters of this world.

The Earth had been in this state for over three months. No production, no transport, no burning or pollution. Carbon emissions had dramatically dropped, and the global temperature had fallen by five degrees.

The six of them huddled together in a corner of the subway to keep warm, waiting for the first rays of sunlight the next day. They had endured a night with no sleep, even the usually fast-sleeping Fatty couldn’t manage to doze off in these harsh conditions.

“Grab the medicine and leave quickly! I’m sick of this place!” Fatty muttered, his mental state clearly affected by the stressful environment.

“Remember to stay alert at the hospital! Don’t act alone!” Wang Zhi reminded, still uneasy about what happened with the drone last night.

Once everyone confirmed they were ready, they left the subway entrance and made their way toward the back of Z Hospital, traveling south for about 50 meters.

Wang Zhi took out a grappling hook, and the six of them took turns climbing over the four-meter-high wall into the hospital’s back courtyard. The main entrance was filled with zombies, and the only way in would be to kill them all, which was impossible. They decided to enter through the back door instead.

The iron door was locked, and Wang Zhi turned to Su Mu Ying. “It’s up to you.”

Su Mu Ying approached and checked it. “This is an electronic keypad lock, but it’s out of power, so we can’t open it.”

Wang Zhi searched for other entrances. After a quick look around, he noticed a ventilation window on the second floor. He attached the grappling hook to the edge and climbed up, easily pushing open the window. Everyone followed him up.

As soon as Wang Zhi entered the window, he felt a tightness in his chest. The sensation reminded him of the terrifying moment when the giant snake appeared. Immediately, he scrambled back out of the window, startling the others behind him who were about to follow.

“What’s going on?” they asked, confused.

“Listen, I have a bad feeling about this—it’s the same feeling I had when the giant snake showed up. I suggest we call off this mission,” Wang Zhi said, his voice shaking.

“Boss, what are you talking about? We’ve already killed so many zombies, and we’re right here at the hospital! The medicine is within our grasp. We only need to find it, and that’s thousands of survival points! Why quit now?” Fatty protested.

“My instincts are telling me it’s too dangerous in there. I don’t want to risk it.”

The others were silent, unsure how to respond.

“Instincts? What if your instincts are wrong? What if it’s just a coincidence with the drone? We haven’t seen any real danger yet!” Fatty countered.

“Listen, Fatty, I know it’s been tough, but are you really not scared of dying?” Wang Zhi muttered, trying to stay calm.

“Then ask their opinion. If most of us agree to retreat, we’ll pull back. How about that?” Fatty suggested, looking at the others.

Wang Zhi agreed to Fatty’s proposal. They decided to take a vote. The majority would decide.

In the end, Wang Zhi was the only one voting to retreat. The rest of the group, including the usually obedient Liuli, stood with Su Mu Ying on the other side, showing their support to continue.

Seeing that everyone else wanted to push forward, Wang Zhi began to question whether he was being overly cautious, maybe even paranoid.

“Boss, Fatty has a point. We haven’t seen any real danger yet. If we turn back now, we’ll just waste all our effort. Who would accept that?” Su Mu Ying said, giving Wang Zhi a reassuring look.

“Alright, then. We’ll continue with the original plan. Find the medicine and leave immediately!” Wang Zhi finally agreed.

With the decision made, they climbed into the second floor, and this time Wang Zhi didn’t feel the same ominous sensation. They started their search, focusing on finding the medical supplies.

Wang Zhi carefully opened the door to a hallway. A few zombies in nurse and doctor uniforms shuffled around, leaving bloody stains on the walls and deep claw marks. It was a chilling sight.

Old He raised his sniper rifle, silently taking down the zombies. Wang Zhi ignored the patient rooms and headed straight for the nurse station and pharmacy.

They searched the pharmacy, but found only some injectable and oral medications—nothing close to the new antibiotic they needed.

“This isn’t it! Let’s move to another area,” Wang Zhi whispered.

He realized that the drug they were looking for—the new antibiotic—would likely be in a biological or virus lab. They just needed to find that lab, and they’d have their target.

They moved quickly, and when they reached the sixth floor, they noticed that most of the rooms were patient wards, not laboratories. Wang Zhi deduced that the lab must be in a more secluded area.

“If the lab is isolated, it’s likely on the eleventh or twelfth floors,” Old He suggested, following Wang Zhi’s reasoning.

“Right, let’s check the eleventh floor first. If we don’t find it there, we’ll go to the twelfth,” Wang Zhi confirmed.

What they hadn’t noticed, however, was that since the fourth floor, they hadn’t encountered any zombies.