The medical officer’s explanation regarding the zombies sent the whole room into panic again.
Although going to work in the greenhouses was dangerous, everyone more or less had the feeling they didn’t have to be the unlucky ones.
However, the Hives they lived in, their safe haven, was now also in crisis. This was even more horrifying than going to work in the greenhouses, even more difficult to accept.
Feng Chen touched his forehead again. Although he didn’t have a fever, his heart rate sped up. He subconsciously put Yan Bubu on the ground.
Yan Bubu was tightly squished between everyone’s thighs. He couldn’t see anything anymore. He gently tugged on the corner of Feng Chen’s shirt. Although he didn’t dare to say it directly, his eyes hopefully peered up at the teen.
Yet Feng Chen didn’t seem to notice. He stared straight ahead, his hands at his side gradually clenching into fists.
Yan Bubu didn’t seem to notice. When he saw that Feng Chen wasn’t going to carry him, he stopped asking and perked up his ears.
At this point, someone else asked, “So what kind of fever turns you into a zombie? What if it’s just a cold?”
The medical officer: “According to the information available so far, the mutants’ conditions vary. Some have symptoms similar to that of the common cold while others simply have a persistent fever that occasionally resolves for a short time. However, the interval in between fevers will not exceed three days.”
At this, Feng Chen slowly exhaled and loosened his clenched hands. His palms were sweating.
It was true that he had frequent low fevers and occasional high ones some time ago, but his body temperature has been normal for almost a month now. According to the medical officer’s last statement, he wasn’t a carrier of the virus.
Yan Bubu was staring at the thighs of the person in front of him, so bored he counted the number of small squares on those pants. Then he felt his body suddenly lighten as he was picked up . He could see again!
He turned and beamed at Feng Chen, who was holding him, but Feng Chen didn’t look at him. He just freed a hand and turned the child’s head back.
Major General Lin once again took the mic, his cold voice resounding throughout the underground cavern. “From now on, everyone will have their temperature taken in the morning and at night. Anyone who develops a fever must immediately head to the medical station for quarantine and observation.”
“Yes. If your body temperature is normal for three days after the fever resolves, you can be temporarily released from quarantine and return to the Hive.” The medical officer added.
Someone suddenly shouted, “The person who lives next door to me has had a fever for days now!”
As his words fell, others spoke up, “When I went to get food today, I heard the man in line behind me saying that his son-in-law was also running a fever.”
“The family that lives in Hive C’s 54C, their youngest son is running a fever.”
“Fuck you, man! My son went to the medical station a few days ago for a checkup and returned after a few days. The doctor said it was just a cold, so what the fuck are you going on about?”
“…How should I have known? Constant vigilance is good at times like this.”
Zombies appearing in the Hive was a big deal. Everyone started racking their brains to recall if there were any feverish people around them, sizing each other up warily.
But the broadcast that gathered them here told those with cold symptoms to stay in their rooms to be examined by medics, so those who were reported weren’t here right now. They were in their respective rooms instead of here, at the square.
However, there were also sick people who snuck out. They screamed and cried once identified by others, hugging their family members and not letting go. The people around them would then work together to push the feverish person to the soldiers, who would then escort them to Medical.
“My daughter just has a cold, a cold! She’ll be fine in a few days. She doesn’t need to go to Medical. I’ll lock her in our room, okay? It’ll be fine if she stays there, right?!” A shrill, piercing female voice caught Yan Bubu’s attention. He looked over and saw the older woman he was in the lift with earlier.
The older woman’s hair was disheveled, and two of her shirt buttons had popped open, but she couldn’t care less. She clutched a young girl in her arms, kicking everyone around her away and biting the hands that reached out like a rabid animal.
The girl buried her face in her shoulder, shivering in fear. She shrieked, “Mom, I’m not going, I’m not going!”
The people around her accused, “No matter if it’s the cold or whatever, she just needs to stay at Medical for three days of quarantine. Didn’t you hear what the medical officer said? If everything is good for three days after the fever is gone, you can come back to the Hive.”
The older woman hugged her daughter and shouted regardless, “Damn you all, stay away from my daughter! She’s not sick like that. Stay away! None of you can touch her! How many of those who went to Medical came back? The Western Union Army didn’t treat them at all, they just corralled them up and killed them!”
“That’s nonsense! My mother had a cold a few days ago and she just came back from Medical with a few days worth of cold medicine. Won’t it become apparent whether your daughter is a zom– a mutant soon?”
If it was any other disease, it would be fine, but the zombie virus was a big deal and put the lives of everyone in the Hive at risk. A few people started rolling up their sleeves to forcibly separate the older woman from her daughter.
For a while, the older woman’s angry curses mixed chaotically with the loud accusations of bystanders.
“Stay away, stay away! Whoever dares to reach out again, I’ll–” The older woman’s voice suddenly cut off. Those who were thinking of restraining her took the opportunity to twist her arms behind her back. They urged the people here, “Quickly now! Take her daughter away.”
Feng Chen watched from afar with Yan Bubu in his arms. When he saw the older woman suddenly stop struggling and stand there dully, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He shouted, “Don’t touch them! Get back!”
His voice was drowned out in the noise. Even if someone heard him, they didn’t take him seriously and went over to pull the young girl who was lying on the older woman’s shoulder.
The girl was no longer screaming. She allowed herself to be dragged back two steps. Her head was down, one arm hanging at her side, her face blocked by her long dark hair.
“Calm down, ma’am. Your daughter will be back from quarantine in no time…” A few people held the older woman back, one of them trying to persuade her. His voice cut off when his gaze fell to her shoulder.
There was a gaping hole leaking fresh blood between the older woman right shoulder and neck. Her silvery white shirt was already soaked red.
“I, I didn’t hit her, ah. I didn’t do this…” That person couldn’t process what had happened for a moment and mumbled blankly.
Feng Chen shouted again, “Stay away from them! Get back!”
As soon as those words fell, the girl, whose head was down, suddenly whirled around and lunged at the person pulling on her arm.
The moment she lunged, her hair spread out to the sides, revealing a face already covered in blue and purple veins and a mouth stained with blood.
She was so fast that no one had time to dodge. The man just wanted to let go and leave, when the girl latched onto his shoulders and bit his face.
All this happened in just a few seconds. Only when the screams started did the people around them snap out of it and start running away. The older woman who was just standing there gurgled like her throat was clogged with phlegm. Blue and purple gradually surfaced on her face.
“Run! There’s z-zombies!!”
Someone let out an ear-splitting scream of terror, panic spreading through the crowd like a flood. Everyone in the square began to run.
When people were in danger, they would subconsciously flee to the place they felt safest, which was home. Thus, the whole square was swarming towards the Hives, surging forward like a living wave.
Some people were carried forward by the crowd, their feet not even touching the ground. Some stumbled and fell to the ground, the countless pairs of feet stomping over them instantly ending their lives. The older woman and her daughter were grabbing anyone who passed by and pouncing on them, tearing into them wildly.
On the platform in the center of the square, the medical officer said to Major General Lin with a pale face, “It’s over, Major General. The mutation rate has accelerated dramatically and there’s no incubation phase anymore.”
Feng Chen, holding Yan Bubu, was forced to follow the crowd forward. He tried to keep his balance so that he would not fall down.
The only thing he could do was run too without falling, which would be certain death.
Being trampled to death by the crowd was more likely than being bitten to death by a mutant.
Yan Bubu was scared stiff by all this, but the sight of a man trampled to death on the ground made him gather his courage and slap someone who was about to slam into Feng Chen across the eyes.
Although he wasn’t that strong, even adults would find a slap to the eyes painful. Not to mention the chaos made it impossible to determine what had happened. The man assumed there were zombies here and ran away while blinking back tears.
But there were just too many people. The fervent desire to survive made these people recklessly rushed to the Hive. Feng Chen was hit several times in a row and tripped over a rock. He stumbled a few steps and fell to the ground.
He couldn’t stop himself from falling, he could only adjust his posture to fall in a half-kneeling position instead of on his stomach. He braced both knees hard against the ground and immediately lifted his upper body, shielding Yan Bubu beneath him.
“Awubengga Adawuxiya, Awubengga Adawuxiya...” Yan Bubu shouted while picking up a rock bigger than a steam bun off the ground and holding it tightly in both hands.
Someone’s foot hit Feng Chen’s back and they tripped over him. Feng Chen couldn’t care less about other people right now. He knew that, if he collapsed, he would definitely be trampled to death along with Yan Bubu.
What seemed like an endless stream of people slammed into him. Sharp pains came from his back. Feng Chen held Yan Bubu and tried to stand up again, running with the flow of people while looking around.
He knew that going to the Hive’s gate was useless right now. There wasn’t room for so many people to pass through so a crush would form there. The only way was to find a place to hide first.
He saw a large excavator parked a few dozen meters to the left and fought his way there. Because he had to go against the flow of the running crowd, he had to bow his body slightly and use his shoulders and back to absorb the impacts.
He could clearly sense his strength had increased a lot. The people who collided with him along the way were actually knocked off their feet. Even though he was holding Yan Bubu, his footsteps remained steady.
However, he didn’t notice how the head of the man he just knocked away was covered in blood. A piece of torn off scalp was hanging over the side of his face, revealing a large portion of skull. The man didn’t seem to feel any pain and stood there with an eerie expression and a gurgling in his throat.
The black of his pupils quickly spread like ink to the rest of the eye as spider web veins appeared on his face. He then hissed and lunged at Feng Chen with his mouth wide open.
Feng Chen was so focused on what was in front of him that he didn’t notice the man approaching from behind. However, Yan Bubu who was lying on his shoulder saw and let out a shriek of fear. As the man’s terrifying face came close to the back of Feng Chen’s head, he raised his rock and smashed it hard against that face.
All the while screaming, “Awubengya Adawuxiya!”
Although Yan Bubu wasn’t that strong, the rock was pretty sturdy. The man’s head was knocked back.
If an ordinary person was smashed like this, they would double over in pain. However, the man only slightly leaned back before lunging at Feng Chen again.
However, as soon as Yan Bubu brought the rock down, Feng Chen noticed that something was wrong and glanced back. The moment the man pounced on him, he took a half-step to the right, holding the child securely while raising his leg to kick the man in the chest.
His instantaneous strength exceeded that of many adults now, but the man only staggered back a few steps before coming back for round two.
Feng Chen placed Yan Bubu on the ground and reached for his dagger, only to hear a crisp gunshot not far away.
The man stopped abruptly. He just stared at Feng Chen with bulging, furious eyes before collapsing slowly to the ground. There was a bullet hole in the back of his head seeping out purple-black blood.
Not far away, with gun in hand, Major General Lin entered the fray with a group of soldiers.
The crowd was still screaming, howling and running. The scene was absolutely chaotic like the second coming of the apocalypse. The situation was growing out of control.
Feng Chen picked up Yan Bubu again and rushed towards the excavator no matter what, bumping into a couple of people along the way before he ducked behind the large excavator.
He panted as he looked through the back window of the excavator. That girl who was just frantically tearing people apart slowly fell down with bulging, furious eyes and an extra bullet hole in her forehead. Black blood dripped down both sides of her nose.
Major General Lin’s gun was still smoking, a black vulture hovered above his head, spreading its wings and calling at the crowd.
He said a few words to the soldiers beside him. Although Feng Chen couldn’t hear, he recognized the shapes of the words.
“Kill all those who have been bitten.”
The soldiers started shooting, not only the older woman, but also those who had been bitten by mother and daughter and were now lunging at the others to tear them apart.
One of them roared and lunged at the nearest soldier, fearless even when his chest became swiss cheese. He didn’t go down until a bullet penetrated his temple.
After dealing with the mutants, the ground was strewn with dozens of corpses. Major General Lin raised his gun to shoot at the ceiling, the soldiers also raising machine guns and spraying up. Continuous gunfire echoed in the cavern, shaking the entire underground space.
Feng Chen’s eardrums were pained until a pair of soft little hands covered his ears. Yan Bubu covered his ears, his mouth still loudly reciting the magic spells he couldn’t hear.
Feng Chen pressed Yan Bubu’s head into himself, letting his left ear press against his chest and covering his right ear tightly with one hand.
The two just half-crouched behind the excavator like this, covering each other’s ears.
The people running finally stopped and crouched down in panic. Some paired up and covered each other’s ears like Yan Bubu and Feng Chen, while others subconsciously raised both hands above their heads in surrender.
After the gunfire subsided and the surrounding area quieted down, Major General Lin roared with a dark look on his face: “Everyone section off by area and stand still! Only those who get their temperatures checked can go back to the Hives.”
Only a few dozen people had been killed by the mutants, but more than 300 had been trampled to death. Especially at the gates of the three Hives because everyone was scrambling to get inside to no avail. When the crowds withdrew, the mounds of dead bodies at the gates came into sight.
Only then did people come to their senses. Some sat on the ground, as if their souls had been sucked away. Other called out the names of their loved ones, searching for them in the crowd. There were touching reunions and devastated displays of grief aplenty.
The soldiers began to clean up the bodies, placing them into black body bags and carrying them away. The families of the deceased chased after them, pleading with them to let them see their loved ones one last time…
The voice of the soldier in charge of assigning tasks came out from the loudspeaker: “People from Hive A, go to the far right and stand according to floor and area. Hive B, stand in the middle and Hive C go to the far left. The administrator of each area is responsible for checking the temperatures of their residents. Those with normal temperatures can return to the Hives. Any abnormalities must be immediately reported to the Western Union Army…”
Feng Chen was still leaning behind the excavator, burying his face in Yan Bubu’s hair.
For some reason, maybe the dread of what life would be like in the future, maybe the shock from the horrible event just now, or perhaps just all the emotions he’s kept pent up this whole time… Regardless, tears suddenly flowed out of his eyes.
He wrapped his arms tighter around Yan Bubu, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if he wanted to draw some comfort and courage from that soft little body.
Yan Bubu sensed something. He wanted to look up but couldn’t. He could only quietly let Feng Chen hold him. His free right hand found its way to the teen’s back and gently patted him there.
Yan Bubu was very gentle, his motions more stroking than patting. But Feng Chen’s body still trembled as if the touch was painful.
Yan Bubu’s hand paused in the air, then carefully landed on his back and stayed there.
Feng Chen calmed down after a long moment. He let go of Yan Bubu. Aside from the slight redness at the corners of his eyes, you couldn’t even tell he had been crying.
“Come on, let’s get in line to take our temperatures.” He said hoarsely.
