Chapter 55

Chen Yajing was as good as her word; news came on the third day.

The patrol team had found an abandoned coast guard ship along the coast. It had already been towed to the port and cleaned up. They were just waiting for supplies, fresh water, and equipment to be loaded on before they could set sail.

The entire tube of pale red serum was pushed in. Ning Yu pulled out the needle, and Chen Yajing took a long, deep breath.

The office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Wan Biao and other confidants stood guard with their guns. After an unknown amount of time, Chen Yajing's expression suddenly changed. She seemed to be in extreme pain and gripped the armrests of her wheelchair tightly.

“...Ah...”

“Yajing!”

“Miss Chen!”

“Ah...” Chen Yajing gasped violently, her body trembling nonstop, the veins on the back of her hands bulging.

The blanket on her lap slid off. The muscles in her legs, which had gone slack due to paralysis, actually began to tense up. A few seconds later, pressing down on the armrests of her wheelchair, she actually managed to stand up slightly!

Wan Biao was so surprised he was speechless: “It’s working?!”

But Ning Yu said sharply: “Wait!”

After Chen Yajing had risen a few centimeters from her wheelchair, her face turned a mottled red and blue, and her arms began to tremble. Then, under everyone's anxious gazes, her strength suddenly gave out, and she fell heavily back into her wheelchair!

With a thud, her confidants rushed forward to help, but Ning Yu stopped them with a raised hand.

The extreme pain caused Chen Yajing's face to spasm. The scar on her left cheek twisted, and cold sweat streamed down her pale face, making her look somewhat ugly and terrifying. But no one around her looked away; on the contrary, everyone's expression was grim. Wan Biao closed his eyes heavily.

A few minutes later, the pain, which had come in waves like a tide, each one stronger than the last, finally began to recede. Shaking, Chen Yajing let out a breath and slumped back into her wheelchair, exhausted.

“...It failed again,” Ning Yu said hoarsely, putting down the empty syringe.

Wan Biao's disappointment was hard to hide: “Why did this happen, Professor Ning? Didn't you say the vaccine research had made a breakthrough and was close to success?!”

Ning Yu wanted to explain something, but Chen Yajing stopped him:

“Don’t be like that, Wan Biao...” she said wearily, “This isn't Ning Yu's fault.”

She pushed on the armrests to sit up, her gaze sweeping across every solemn face in the office before she smiled sadly: “From the moment we accepted the virus injection, we knew anything could happen. The fact that I can still sit here today is already a very good result, isn't it? At least we still have hope for success.”

“No, Yajing.” Ning Yu packed up his medical kit, stood up, and said slowly: “Your immune system can't take any more modifications or experiments. Even one more failure could be fatal. You could die at any moment from an immune disorder, or something more serious...”

“You will completely turn into a zombie.” He finally managed to say the words, surrounded by shocked stares.

Wan Biao roared: “Professor Ning!”

Chen Yajing gently lowered her eyes.

Ning Yu said: “I'm certain the direction of the vaccine research is correct. However, in the history of primate evolution, we've never encountered a virus this powerful and deadly. The fragile human immune system is simply incapable of producing an antibody strong enough to match it. I once thought the serum in Rommel's hands would allow me to perfect the vaccine, but Rommel has clearly...”

He raised a hand to press the spot between his eyebrows, as if to forcefully suppress his emotions, and shook his head, not continuing.

“Yes, Ning Yu.” Chen Yajing said calmly: “Sometimes, the gap between ‘close to success’ and ‘actual success’ is a distant, slim one, a gap of decades or even generations. The Black Death that ravaged Europe from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the smallpox that killed the Egyptian pharaohs three thousand years ago, HIV for which no effective cure has been found, and Ebola, which still leaves us helpless... If someone told me the zombie virus would persist on Earth for hundreds of years, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.”

“But,” she said, “that doesn't mean our generation can just sit here and quietly wait for it to naturally disappear from the Earth over time. We must still fight it to the death.”

The office was very quiet, with only the sound of people's breathing rising and falling.

There were two knocks on the door.

“Come in.”

A guard slipped inside and hurried over, speaking softly: “Miss Chen, the Captain Zhou you requested is here. He’s waiting outside.”

Chen Yajing and Ning Yu quickly exchanged a glance. She asked the guard: “What about the one with him, the one called Si Nan?”

“He didn't come with him.”

Wan Biao signaled to his men, and they silently went through another door in the office—it led to a separate resting room.

Only after the resting room door was left ajar did Chen Yajing nod at the guard: “Please have Captain Zhou come in.”

The guard took his leave.

Ning Yu backed away, carrying his medical kit, his gaze meeting Chen Yajing's pale face. From outside the door, Zhou Rong's footsteps could be heard approaching. Ning Yu opened his mouth, his voice soft but clear: “This is the last time.”

Chen Yajing smiled slightly: “You should say, at least there's one last chance.”

Zhou Rong pushed the door open and entered.

Ning Yu turned sharply, his white coat flaring out in an arc. He brushed past Zhou Rong without a glance at anyone and strode out of the office.

“...” Zhou Rong watched Ning Yu's figure hurry away down the corridor, looking a little surprised. He turned back to glance at Chen Yajing: “Are you unwell, Miss Chen?”

“Just a routine check-up,” Chen Yajing gestured with her hand: “Please, sit.”

Zhou Rong said: “It's fine, I'll stand.”

Zhou Rong wore a short black jacket, jeans, high-top military boots, and fingerless sniper gloves. It was a very sharp look that made his height seem imposing. Chen Yajing narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, then smiled after a moment: “I just realized, Captain Zhou has never sat down in front of me.”

“Is that so?”

“May I ask why? Is it because you sense something is wrong with me, and a soldier's instinct has you ready to act or retreat at any moment?”

Chen Yajing's tone was surprisingly calm when she asked this, even carrying a hint of curiosity. Zhou Rong looked down at her, meeting her gaze, but in that instant, his peripheral vision swept over the entire office. A moment later, he smiled and shook his head: “No, soldiers are just used to standing.”

Chen Yajing nodded to show she accepted the explanation, her attitude very natural: “Alright, Captain Zhou.”

She paused, then continued: “I invited you here today to discuss the matter of supplies for the sea voyage... I've written a list. It's the most help I can provide within my current abilities. Please take a look.”

Chen Yajing opened a folder, pressed two fingers on a piece of paper, and gently slid it across the desk toward Zhou Rong.

·

Meanwhile, in front of the cafeteria.

A pair of greasy gloves grabbed the axle, and Si Nan slid out from under the car's chassis, wiping away his sweat.

He was wearing only a black tank top, revealing the fair muscle lines of his upper body; because he had been lying on his back, the thin fabric of the tank top outlined his flat, firm abs.

Yan Hao averted his gaze, a little unnaturally: “How is it?”

“Wrench.”

Yan Hao took a wrench from the toolbox and handed it over. Si Nan slid back under the car.

The golden noon sun shone down on the open ground. In the distance, dust rose slightly from the sports field. People in thin jackets passed by in twos and threes. The air already carried a slight warmth of early spring.

“Do you need help?” Yan Hao asked, squatting.

Si Nan's voice came from under the car: “No.”

“...Should I go get you something to drink?”

“No.”

Yan Hao was at a loss. After a while, he confirmed again:

“You really don't need help?”

Si Nan poked his head out and said seriously: “Really, I don't. I can handle it myself.”

Si Nan was lying down, Yan Hao was squatting. The two looked at each other, one up and one down, for a moment before Si Nan finally couldn't help but ask: “Why don't you go help Chuncao fix that bus? I really can do this myself. Or is it that your pride as an Alpha can't bear to watch me fix a car alone?”

“No,” Yan Hao said helplessly: “The captain ordered me to never let you be alone, so watching you is my mission... although I feel like it's just a form of mental torture.”

“?”

“I can look but can't touch,” Yan Hao muttered, “Getting into a fight would be more satisfying.”

Si Nan reached for a screwdriver, slid back under the car, and said: “I don't know, but the beatings, competition, sadism, and masochism between you two straight-A chauvinists is probably some kind of kink. I don't really want to understand it.”

Yan Hao squatted on the ground, holding his forehead, feeling almost weak: “That's the relationship of obedience between a superior and subordinate in the military...”

“In the eyes of us normal people,” Si Nan couldn't help but laugh, “it's called S&M.”

After clanking around for a while, Si Nan finally tightened the last screw. He slid out from under the car, got into the driver's seat, shifted gears, and pressed the clutch.

The armored vehicle's engine started with a dull roar.

“Done!” Si Nan took off his greasy gloves and tossed them aside. “Later, have someone replace the bumper, the headlights need to be replaced too, and then it should be about ready.”

Yan Hao leaned against the car door with his hands behind his back. His melancholic expression made it hard to tell if he was disillusioned with the world or just giving up on himself. After a long moment, he finally mustered his courage: “Can I ask you a question?”

Si Nan: “Never loved.”

“...” Yan Hao was exasperated: “No, no, I want to ask why you chose the captain in the end... Was it really just because when you were trapped in Changsha, he was the one who jumped out of the helicopter and eventually found you, and not me?”

Si Nan’s hand, which was pulling out the car key, paused slightly.

The dense, lush scent of a rainforest from his youth, carried on the gentle afternoon breeze of early spring, slowly wafted over his face.

But that was a bittersweet secret, like a ripe wild fruit giving off a fragrant aroma, lingering long and hidden in his heart, unwilling to be shared with anyone.

“That's not it,” Si Nan laughed.

Yan Hao held onto the car door, leaning in slightly to stare at him. Si Nan propped his chin on his hand, his elbow resting on the steering wheel: “That afternoon when I passed through T City and rescued you from the parking garage...”

“I sped through the street on my motorcycle, you guys rammed the armored vehicle over to meet me, and Zhou Rong threw out a grappling hook from the roof, catching me in mid-air and rolling into the cabin with me.”

“—That was the first time I met you all, and the first person I saw was Zhou Rong,” Si Nan said leisurely: “It was probably fated from that moment on.”

Yan Hao now felt very much like he was about to become disillusioned with the world, but a trace of unwillingness to admit defeat remained: “Then what if I was the one who found you in Changsha back then, and if I was the one by your side when the heavy snow blocked the road midway...”

“Who knows?” Si Nan retorted: “The fact is, that person was Zhou Rong. Objectively, none of your hypothetical conditions exist, right?”

—What he said was actually very reasonable, and Yan Hao understood what he meant.

Only Zhou Rong possessed both the decisiveness and the ability to open the cabin door and jump at that moment. And only Zhou Rong could meticulously, calmly, and tenaciously venture deep into zombie territory to search for two days and two nights, and finally succeed in bringing the delirious Si Nan away.

Every single step had to be completed by Zhou Rong. Therefore, all hypotheticals and possibilities would never have actually happened, or even if they had, they wouldn't have led to the same final result.

Yan Hao was a little disappointed and sighed.

Si Nan leaned over to pat his shoulder, jumped out of the car, and asked considerately: “Should I go buy you something to drink?”

“No, I have to go with you.” Yan Hao hugged the car door and said mournfully: “But I need some time to process this... just give me three minutes...”

“Beer?”

“Mhm. Wait—”

Yan Hao turned to follow, but Si Nan stopped him: “No need, I want to go change my clothes. Are you coming too?”

Yan Hao: “...”

“In the eyes of us normal people,” Si Nan said with a straight face, “that's called sexual harassment.”

Yan Hao could only stay where he was to process his misplaced youth and his first love, now gone with the wind. Si Nan walked into the cafeteria, used facial recognition to get a beer at the commissary, and went to the restroom to change into a T-shirt while he waited.

The black tank top was covered in filth and dust. Si Nan draped it over the edge of the sink and carefully washed the black grease from his hands. Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the distance.

—It was Doctor Zheng.

Doctor Zheng was standing under a tree outside the cafeteria restroom. He looked around as if he wanted to say something but was hesitant, then waved at Si Nan.

'He has something to say?'

At this hour, there was hardly anyone at the back door of the cafeteria. The area was quiet, and from not too far away, one could hear the sounds of the kitchen ladies washing vegetables and chatting.

Passing by the front courtyard of the cafeteria, the armored vehicle was parked in an open space. Yan Hao, full of the bitterness of his heartbreak, was forcefully removing the deformed bumper.

Si Nan turned off the gushing faucet, wiped his hands on his pants, and walked toward Doctor Zheng.