XG 19 - Finding a zombie

 

Not knowing his secret was exposed, John was sweeping as much stomach-filling food into the large plastic bag. Satisfied, he immediately thought of searching for his Goddess and brushing her favorability.

 

The sound of chewing and crispy plastic bags entered his ears while he journeys back. John's face unconsciously frowned. He could see that Suzie Yap’s partner was someone important to her, or else why would she still let the infected girl remain alive? She had literally barged into the washroom to rescue that girl. 

 

But John has no plans in letting that girl continue tagging along and threatening his safety. Suzie Yap only needs to focus on him and once they experienced hardship together, she would definitely succumb to his seduction. His smile grew wider, already imagining that moment.

 

Moving silently as he pulled out a pocket knife from his jacket, John headed to where the infected girl was, his gaze becoming ruthless. But the sharp gaze was immediately dispersed like a cloud facing the fierce wind when he saw the girl was not the one from the video. 

 

His body trembled in fear as he watched the infected girl shove food into her mouth non-stop. Was she trying to hold back her urge to bite people by eating food?

 

His distracted state had his guard down, and only when he felt pain on his back did he become aware of the danger way too late. 

 

Nurul Hanani noticed someone was getting closer to her and raised her head, just in time to see a woman coming behind that man. She trembled from the sudden chill when she saw Suzie Yap's eyes staring at the man as if he was trash that needed to be removed.

 

Her body jerked in reflex when the unguarded man was stabbed on his back. With wide eyes, she watched as the elder woman grabbed the man's neck and dragged him away. That man's trashing failed to dislodge the choking grip, but it successfully made the wound wider on his back. 

 

"Do you think I will let your kind of person around me?” Suzie Yap whispered and they left Nurul Hanani's view.

 

Among her family members whose careers were in the police force, Nurul Hanani did not hesitate to admit she was the one with the lowest sense of justice. No thanks to Wong Xue Guo’s influence, she would choose to help her family and good friends whom she trusted, whether they were right or wrong, instead of outsiders.

 

Hands shaking as she grabbed a new pack of potato chips, she messily tore it and stuffed herself again. 

 

Guo Guo, your mother is way too different from what we think!

 

After going through countless snack bags, Nurul Hanani drank two bottles of water to moisten her dry throat. She even drank two bottles of milk under Suzie Yap's advice and felt her state was much better than before. Her mind was much clearer and she could finally move, but still in a sluggish way. 

 

She finally feels alive!

 

The disadvantage of her current state was that the bite on her upper arm revealed its presence strongly, working her pain receptors to the max. 

 

Suzie Yap grabbed the bag filled with snacks and brought them out of the convenience store. "Continue eating."

 

Ignoring her curiosity about what happened to the male worker, Nurul Hanani obeyed, opening a potato chip gingerly to avoid moving her injured arm much. "Mrs Wong, how much should I eat? Is it better to save some in case there's no more food?"

 

Like Wong Xue Guo, Nurul Hanani had also watched tons of apocalypse-setting movies and had lately been binging Netflix movies. She knew food was an important item to get in those situations.

 

"Eat all if you can. We will not be staying in this mall for that long."

 

After a long thought over it, Nurul Hanani finally agreed with Mrs Wong's words. Low Lin Ya's father will be coming for them and luckily, they only need to go one floor up to reach the rooftop. They would not even need to spend one night in this terrifying mall.  

 

"Mrs Wong, where are we going?" Nurul Hanani noticed they were not going back to the hideout, but going around the floor without any visible direction. 

 

Eyes travelling everywhere they passed, Suzie Yap answered vaguely. "Finding a zombie."

 

For a second, Nurul Hanani thought her ears were working wrongly. "... Huh?" 

 

Like a devil, Suzie Yap slowly smiled at the bewildered girl. "You don't think you are saved, don't you?"

 

"I… don't?" Why does Nurul Hanani feel that she will need to face more pain later? "Why do we need a zombie? How is that going to cure me?"

 

"You need to get bitten again- oh, I spotted one." Suzie Yap ran to the zombie that had also spotted the living humans and charged over-enthusiastically.  

 

Luckily, there were a few more zombies on their current floor, or they will have to go to the next floor, which will definitely have more zombies. After all, the exit out of the building was at the ground floor or basement, and they had to travel down. In short, the highest floor actually had the lowest number of zombies at this current time and was the safest. 

 

After hearing that sentence, Nurul Hanani momentarily wanted to run away. But she discarded that idea the next second, knowing that her only chance of survival lies in Mrs Wong.

 

Come on, Hani! Aren't you brave? 

 

Her choice of weapon was also a kitchen knife, which was given by Suzie Yap. She had not actively fought with those zombies before, choosing to grab Low Lin Ya to run in that chaotic situation. It was Chen Yibo that secured their back as they hurriedly searched for a safe place to hide after they saw the elevator was packed, along with the incoming zombies. 

 

After that… she does not remember much. She heard bits of arguments among her classmates, and in the end, only three of them willingly stayed behind to stay with her. Her mood back then was complicated. She was happy she was not left alone but also worried they would be in danger because of her. 

 

There were three zombies, two killed by Suzie Yap and one being left alive for a reason. Nurul Hanani does not even have the chance to do anything. The shame of being useless erased half of her fear of needing to be bitten again.

 

Seeing how easily Suzie Yap manhandled the zombie without fear and even dislocated its jaw, Nurul Hanani was glad Wong Xue Guo did not come along and had a mental breakdown. After all, she knew her friend had viewed her mother as a perfect and noble lady, the beautiful fairy with knight bodyguards protecting her. 

 

"Choose a spot on your body that you don't mind leaving a scar," Suzie Yap said.

 

"Can the previous place be used?" Nurul Hanani asked in dismay. No matter how tomboy she acted, she was still a female that cared about her scars. 

 

"That works too, but it will take even longer to heal with the reopened wound. You have to keep yourself still, don't pull away no matter how painful it is."

 

With a nervous gulp, she removed the bandage from her wound, which looked horrifying under the bright light. It was still bleeding, and she could see how deeply the zombie had bitten her.

 

Suzie Yap nodded once she saw the wound. "Good, your shrunken flesh makes things easier." 

 

Nurul Hanani froze upon hearing that. Did she not just need to be bitten? Why does it make things easier whether a person was thin or not? 

 

They chose a good hiding spot, a dressing room, and Nurul Hanani lay on the floor for the convenience to be bitten.

 

"Before we start, I will explain the procedure and I will need your cooperation. If anything goes wrong, you will die and that's not what we want at all. That’s why you need to be honest with me about the changes you feel in your body."

 

Nurul Hanani nodded and tried to ignore her nervousness. "Got it."

 

"I could make sure you only need to get bitten once so that you will only have this one scar, but I would not stop the bite until you feel something different than hunger. While you are bitten, keep your mind away from messy things. Just focus on passing this hurdle, and you can think of a way to protect yourself from zombies to keep yourself distracted from your pain. You must tell me if you start feeling something else because I will immediately remove the zombie from you. Too much of the virus will turn you into a zombie immediately."

 

Nurul Hanani shakily laughed. "Mrs Wong, how sure are you that this method will work? More importantly, how do you know this?"

 

"I have my sources. This is your last chance to pull out if you change your mind."