Rob's Daily Life

In the morning, Robert was awakened by the watch on his nightstand. Before he even opened his eyes, he felt Sam's large tongue licking back and forth across his face.

"How did you sleep last night? That loud noise really gave me a start!"

Once his thoughts had cleared a little, he sat up immediately, gave the dog's head a good rub, and began his daily routine.

He started with his morning rituals: washing up, exercising, and taking Sam for a two-kilometer run on the treadmill. After showering, he went alone into the basement, which had been converted into a laboratory, to check on the vaccine samples.

Donning his white coat with a sense of ceremony and washing his hands thoroughly with soap, a hint of weariness appeared on Robert's face.

He knew today might be just like the many days before—a day of disappointment—and the expression on his face reflected the melancholy in his heart.

Yet, even amidst that melancholy, he couldn't help but wonder about the loud noise he had heard coming from the direction of the Empire State Building last night.

A bomb? It didn't quite sound like one, but what else could have made such a sound?

Was it the Darkseeker, or... a human?

After rinsing the soap suds from his hands, Robert shook his head, grabbed a disposable paper towel to dry them, and decided to stop thinking about the outside world for now. He pushed open the second iron door and stepped into the lab.

He opened the partition, woke the computer on the workbench, turned on the recording function, and spoke to the portable camera.

"Dr. Robert, September 21, 2012. Serum GA-391, animal testing, recording start."

After this routine statement, Robert attached the camera from the top of the monitor to his glasses, put them on, and entered the simple biological laboratory inside the glass partition.

He turned off the UV lamp and lifted the black cloth covering the glass cages.

Instantly, the hairless rats that had been quiet a moment ago became frantic, slamming against the glass panels and snarling wildly at Robert.

If you aren't sure what the sound was like, imagine an angry lemming.

Watching the rows of frenzied rats, Robert began to record, "Compound 1, 3, 4... no reaction. Compound 2, 5, 6... host killed."

As he recited the numbers of one failed test subject after another, his tone grew increasingly calm. Having experienced so much disappointment, he had become accustomed to the feeling.

"Wait!"

Just as he finished reading the numbers of all the rats killed by the new serum, a hairless rat in a cage at the edge of the rack, previously marked as dead, suddenly moved.

Approaching cage number six, Robert leaned down to observe the rat carefully.

After being infected with the KV virus, these rats would lose all their fur, their pupils would lose their natural response to strong light, their muscles would become denser, and their skin pigment would vanish.

But this hairless rat was acting just as it had before it was captured and injected with the virus, sniffing the air inside the cage with quiet curiosity.

Beyond that, compared to the other hairless rats, this one showed a subtle difference in color.

After observing the rat closely, a glimmer of anticipation appeared on Robert's face. He took out a small flashlight to shine on the quiet creature and recorded, "Partial pigment recovery, slight pupil contraction. Serum GA-391, Compound 6. The next step can be human trials!"

His experiments were aimed at turning the Darkseekers infected with the KV virus back into humans, so the "human trials" he mentioned naturally referred to capturing Darkseekers for testing!

"You have to hold on, number six..."

He tapped the glass of cage six twice, then left the lab with a mix of trepidation and hope.

Back on the first floor, he found Sam waiting for him at the entrance to the basement lab. He reached out and ruffled the dog's head. "I know you're excited, let's go!"

He put on his favorite black jacket, changed into his outdoor shoes, grabbed the disc he had rented from the video store yesterday, and walked to the entryway.

Beside the entryway stood a wooden cabinet; opening it revealed a rack of firearms and ammunition.

Hanging on the back of the cabinet door were some keys, maps, and other items. He grabbed the ball Sam loved to play with, the key to the video store, and finally, his most trusted weapon with the most complete set of accessories: the M6920 Rifle.

Ready to head out, Robert opened the front door. Seeing the brilliant sunlight outside, he couldn't help but pause, looking toward the stone archway in the distance, which was bleached white by the sun.

If it were before the apocalypse, this would have been a beautiful day...

He drove away from the villa area, entered the deserted city overgrown with weeds, and arrived at the video store he frequented.

Two mannequins stood at the entrance of the store. As Robert took out his keys to open the door, he glanced at them inadvertently, appearing quite surprised to see them there. "Hey! Good morning, Maggie. Good morning, Fred! What are you two doing here so early? Your outfit looks great, Fred—don't let it get wrinkled!"

While speaking, he opened the door, told them "See you later," and walked into the store.

The interior was also filled with many mannequins. To the left of the entrance shelf, there were three mannequins dressed as a family that had come to pick out a movie with their son.

Robert smiled and waved at them silently, as if he could hear their enthusiastic greetings, and the smile on his face grew even brighter because of it.

There was a disc case in his jacket pocket—one he had rented on his last visit. Seeing the two ladies near the shelf, he specifically asked Sam to stay put and not follow him in.

Walking easily and naturally into that aisle, Robert placed the disc back in its original spot.

Suddenly, he noticed a "young lady" to his left; she often came to that aisle to look for romance films.

Robert's face took on the shy, awkward expression of a pure-hearted boy. He stole glances at the girl multiple times, wanting to muster the courage to strike up a conversation but fearing rejection—his clumsy demeanor was something even he couldn't bear to watch.

After picking out a movie at random, he fled in a panic toward the checkout counter.

"Good morning, Hank! I've already watched half of the movies starting with G... Hey, who is that girl over there?"

He greeted the familiar cashier, Hank, hoping to learn the girl's name indirectly.

The mannequin's gaze was locked on the table, wearing a baseball cap that obscured his face.

The natural expression Robert had been maintaining slowly faded. He hadn't yet decided in his mind what the girl's name should be, so Hank had no way to answer his question...

"Forget it, see you tomorrow!"

Giving Hank one last smile, Robert left the video store with Sam. Afterward, he went to the nearby park to harvest the corn he had planted in the ground.

While picking the corn, he kept thinking about that young woman, pondering how he should greet her, and decided that he absolutely had to get to know her tomorrow!

After finishing the corn, Robert arrived at a high-end apartment complex and took out his map to determine his scavenging target for the day.

With his gun raised, Sam kicked open the door to one of the apartments and entered first, his coordination excellent; after a quick sweep to confirm there was no danger inside, he let out a soft bark to signal that it was safe.

"Good boy!"

With a smile and a word of praise for Sam, Robert began searching the apartment for useful supplies, and while passing by one of the bedroom doors, he noticed a sticky note attached to it.

It read: To Lucy, do not open until Christmas!

Looking at the message, Robert gently pushed the door open and saw a room decorated beautifully and filled with childlike wonder.

Seeing this room reminded him of his own daughter; his throat bobbed as he swallowed, and he quietly closed the door again.

Leaving the apartment, he drove toward South Street Seaport, Robert turned on the AM all-channel broadcast for his distress signal; anyone with a car radio within New York City would be able to receive his message on the AM frequency.

After filling up the car with gas, Robert drove to the South Street Seaport, carrying the physical documents for GA-391, prepared to conduct a theoretical demonstration and analytical research.

He pulled out a chair to sit down and took the files out of his briefcase, but when he reached for the pen he had left on the table, he found it missing.

"Where did my pen go?"

He searched around the table but couldn't find it, until finally, Robert's eyes landed on the "Housing Registry" on the table, noticing that it seemed to be tilted.

With a look of confusion, he flipped open the book and found the pen he had been looking for, along with a crooked sentence written in English: You are not alone!

Thanks to everyone who voted and tipped!