Infection

On the third day of the Apocalypse World, also the sixth day since the RT virus outbreak, the more adaptable survivors had just barely managed to suppress their fear, still far from accustomed to the brutal end times. It was precisely because of this that people still retained a shred of conscience—at least they still saw themselves as human, at least some still held onto hope.

Liu Chengjun seemed to recognize his strength and came again to persuade him to go to Pingnan City together, listing all sorts of reasons, but An Yang still refused.

After a simple breakfast, An Yang swept his gaze across the room and finally pulled off a metal table leg, like a thin steel pipe about a meter long, and tossed it to Chen Yafei.

"We're clearing out the rooms on the twelfth floor. This steel pipe is for your protection. And remember your task."

Chen Yafei caught the steel pipe, his face pale as he gritted his teeth. He then took two kitchen knives from the kitchen and tucked them into his waistband before following An Yang out.

When they reached the twelfth floor, Liu Chengjun's survivor team was already clearing rooms, trying to scavenge food, fresh water, and other daily necessities, along with weapons like table legs and kitchen knives.

Their tactics were quite interesting. Two people carried a tempered glass table to block the doorway while prying the door open. When a zombie came out, it would be trapped by the glass table, and the third person would use a sharpened steel pipe to viciously smash the zombie's head.

Overall, their coordination was good!

Liu Chengjun had wrapped himself tightly in a thick down jacket. Two tattooed young men held the table legs to brace the tempered glass table against the doorway. A zombie spotted them and charged over immediately, but was firmly blocked by the transparent glass table. With its intelligence, it could only keep clawing, but its arms weren't longer than the table legs.

It was clear Liu Chengjun had some combat training—his technique was solid. He raised the steel pipe sharply and drove it diagonally down into the zombie's face, splattering a spray of foul blood.

"Ah... pfft!"

The zombie fell, and Liu Chengjun let out a breath, wiping the sweat from his face. He turned and spotted An Yang at the stairwell entrance, eyes widening as he said, "An Yang, Chen Yafei, what are you two doing?"

An Yang withdrew his gaze and smiled. "Nothing better to do, so I'm bringing Yafei out to broaden his horizons."

Liu Chengjun paused. From An Yang's tone, he couldn't detect any of the tension that came with the apocalypse. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. "You two really have nothing to do."

An Yang nodded. "You go ahead. We're heading to the eleventh floor to see if we can find something to eat."

Liu Chengjun looked at the gleaming war blade in his hand, then at Chen Yafei, who reeked of amateurism. He couldn't help but draw a sharp breath, momentarily speechless.

Judging by An Yang's stance, he planned to clear an entire floor alone with just a single blade. That kind of confidence and strength was truly astonishing!

Going down to the eleventh floor, the hallway lights were dead, leaving only the emergency safety lights glowing an eerie green, making the place look especially grim.

An Yang handed the Master Key Card to Chen Yafei and said, "The hallway in the rooms is too narrow for me to maneuver. You open the door. If there's a zombie in the living room, lure it out. Leave the rest to me!"

Chen Yafei took a deep breath, countless scenarios flashing through his mind in an instant—how he should dodge, how to resist the zombie, and so on. He took the card and nodded solemnly.

An Yang suddenly smiled, raising his war blade. "Don't look like you're heading into battle. If you run into a zombie, just run. Remember, don't run toward me. If there's only one zombie, fine. But if there are two or three, you'd better lure them the other way so I can strike from behind."

Chen Yafei's lips were dry. He asked, "What if I run into four or five zombies?"

An Yang said calmly, "Then close the door."

Chen Yafei nodded seriously, walked to the first door, shot him a glance, and slowly pressed the card against the sensor.

An Yang raised his war blade and pressed himself against the wall on the other side.

"Beep beep beep..."

The door suddenly opened.

Chen Yafei looked nervously inside, his legs already trembling, but he saw nothing. Not sure if a zombie was lying in wait, he swallowed hard and called out.

"Uh... open sesame."

Still no movement inside, but a few low growls came from the next room, as if zombies had heard the noise outside.

A few black lines appeared on An Yang's forehead, but he knew the room was clear of zombies and lowered his blade, nodding at him.

The kid was a bit timid, but his personality wasn't bad—neither spoiled nor arrogant. Mostly, he was smart and quick on his feet. He hadn't messed up yet.

Chen Yafei let out a huge sigh of relief, his face already drenched in sweat. He grabbed the door handle and nearly collapsed.

An Yang walked into the room. The rooms on this floor were also suites, but without separate kitchens, and the facilities weren't as luxurious as the thirteenth floor's suites. Still, they were much better than an ordinary hotel.

"Scavenge everything. Take whatever food there is, and anything else useful."

"Got it!"

Chen Yafei recovered a bit, sweeping the food from the living room into his backpack, while An Yang started clearing the two bedrooms, slamming each door loudly to make sure no zombies were inside before opening it.

Leaving that room, the backpack was already more than half full. The two set their sights on the next door.

Chen Yafei couldn't help but feel nervous again, but this time it was better than before. Knowing there were zombies inside at least spared him some of the anxiety and fear of the unknown.

The door opened again, and two muffled growls came from inside.

Chen Yafei's eyes went wide, but he didn't panic. He even stood there and held up two fingers to An Yang before starting to run the other way.

By then, the zombies had already reached the door.

"Roar!"

The moment he bolted, a tall male zombie and a female zombie burst out of the room, their eyes locked on him as they charged straight ahead without a sideways glance.

An Yang was faster. He took a few quick steps, caught up to the female zombie, and decapitated her with a single slash before continuing forward.

Chen Yafei was tall and lean, a decent runner, but the tall male zombie was faster, closing the distance rapidly.

Until a spray of blood shot out, and the tall male zombie's head flew into the air, crashing to the ground with a thud.

Chen Yafei finally stopped, collapsing to the floor and propping himself up with his hands.

"Phew..."

He had heard the wind and growls right behind him, felt the zombie about to catch up. He had just run for his life, his mind blank, and still hadn't fully recovered.

"Let's rest for a bit. Once we've rested enough, we'll get to work." An Yang flicked the blood off his blade and squinted as he spoke.

Chen Yafei looked at him weakly, then lowered his gaze to the headless corpse twenty-some meters away. The carotid artery and blood vessels were clearly visible. His eyes went wide, and with a wretch, he vomited.

When he came back to his senses, only awe and admiration remained.

These zombies weren't slow in their movements, yet they'd been decapitated with a single slash. The scene was still quite impactful.

He swept a glance over the corpses on the ground. His face went pale again, but he had no choice but to steel himself, pull out his cleaver, grit his teeth, and chop at the zombie's skull.

An Yang watched him with a slight frown. He couldn't completely ignore the sight either, but at least he had some resistance to it.

"Be careful. Don't let their skull bones cut you. You might get infected."

"O-okay... urp..."

By the time Chen Yafei couldn't even bring up bile anymore, he finally managed to extract two crystals. He wiped them clean, stuffed them into his pocket, and gasped heavily, his face nearly as white as paper.

"An... Brother An, let's keep going."

By noon, aside from one suite that seemed to be hosting a party, the two had cleared the entire eleventh floor, and their own room was now piled with a large stash of food.

Chen Yafei was no longer as afraid of the zombies. He no longer vomited when cutting open their skulls to search for crystals. His adaptability was terrifyingly strong—or maybe it was just that there was nothing left to throw up.

Back in the room, Chen Yafei went to the bathroom to wash his hands, and also washed the crystals until they were spotless. He counted them one by one and laid them out on the coffee table.

"Brother An, there are seventeen in total."

An Yang nodded and took them.

Chen Yafei stared at these glittering, translucent things, hesitating.

"Brother An, what do you use these crystals for? Can you eat them or something?"

"Want to give it a try?"

"Uh... if I eat one, will I turn into a zombie? Or will I get super strength or something?"

"I don't know. But you could try it. If you eat one, I'll find out."

"Uh... I'll pass."

"No problem. If you ever feel like eating one, just tell me. I'm curious too—whether eating these things turns you into a zombie, or gives you powers or something."

"Uh... I suddenly lost interest."

When the two went out again, they heard cries and wailing coming from the survivor squad. An Yang stood still and listened for a moment. It seemed one person had been scratched by a zombie but hadn't been eaten.

Some argued for executing him, giving him a quick death. Others sympathized with him, or were simply his friends or family, insisting he might not necessarily turn into a zombie. Everyone could end up in his shoes someday, so they should give him a chance.

In the end, Liu Chengjun decided to lock him alone in a room. If he hadn't turned by the next day, they'd let him go. If he did turn...

An Yang didn't pay much attention. He was just a little curious. He continued downstairs to clear and sweep, gathering supplies and collecting crystals along the way.

Chen Yafei's adaptability was truly remarkable. In less than half a day, he had completely mastered the technique of luring zombies. Sometimes he even dared to spar with them using a steel pipe. When extracting crystals, his face still went pale, but he no longer vomited.

Before, with Chen Yafei around, An Yang's zombie-clearing had only been less dangerous. Now, even the speed had increased significantly.

In less than an hour, the two returned carrying backpacks stuffed full of food. By then, the unfortunate member of the survivor squad had already turned into a zombie and been executed by Liu Chengjun and the others. A group of people close to him were in low spirits.

Only then did An Yang truly confirm: getting scratched by a zombie really did mean infection!

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