Chapter 16—The Zombie Apocalypse

Song Yu’s eyes were glued to the TV as it broadcasted the overwhelmingly beautiful meteor shower. Sprays of light flew past the sky, its visage beautiful and haunting. He kept watching, not blinking as one small meteor fell apart from its pack and descended.

“…we can see that a small meteor has fallen off course! I repeat! The government has issued Country D to be vigilant of falling particles. I have just gotten feed from the satellite imaging that the meteor will hit Country D’s farming mountains in less than ten minutes. All evacuations have been notified to those in these cities: …..”

Song Yu continued to watch the news. He saw the live footage of the meteor hitting D Country. The explosive power from the meteor caused the mountains to tremble. The meteor size was as big as a mansion, and with its powerful trajectory, it slid through the mountain ranges and annihilated the local villages.

The death count was unknown. Song Yu stared deeply at the meteor. He didn’t watch the live feed in his last life, so he didn’t know what the meteor looked like, but just looking at it now caused his spiritual awareness to fluctuate.

The debris of smoke and dirt had dissipated somewhat. A drone captured the immense size of the meteor. It was a sickly green color, pulsing veins of purple. It looked…alive. Song Yu shuddered as he tightened his hold on Squinty-eyes.

It was this very image that captured the attention of B Country’s bio-medical team.

…

Lan Zhou wrinkled his forehead as he got a phone call from his father.

“I will not subject my team to go all the way to the meteor site. Do you think you own even a fraction of my company?”

On the other side of the phone was Lan Zhou’s father whose scheming eyes very vibrant with the site on the TV. The meteor would be a part of Country D’s jurisdiction. However, it had a backwards science field. Country B was the closest country and had the best facilities. The company that got bid to go to the meteor site had already started.

“I’m telling you as your father! You WILL do this. Do you know how much money and prestige you could achieve with this one thing? Your company is just starting out in B Country, and this will projectile you to a better position!”

Lan Zhou scoffed. In two days, people will start coming back to life as zombies. What prestige? Even the high-so military families were scraped during the apocalypse. Only the strong survived.

“So why don’t you go then? Bring your own team of bio-chemists and go on this long pilgrimage to salvage your disgusting reputation.”

“You think I don’t want to? You fucking unfilial bastard! The Lan family doesn’t have any company ties to the biomedical field. You think I don’t want to just leave you on the street to fucking die?”

Lan Zhou sneered and crushed the phone.

Wang Cheng and Yu Ci entered the room, both wearing military garb. The dark blue fabric was breathable and elastic enough for movement. Their chests had lightweight Kevlar that was infused with rubber. Over their hearts were long range walkie-talkies. Wang Cheng and Yu Ci had the buffest bodies, so garbed in the military uniforms made them look dangerous. Especially their eyes that held over 25 years of zombie-apocalypse experience.

“The military base will sponsor our team. We put all of the stuff in Wang Cheng’s space and perishables in our backpacks. As long as we teach the military how to control their spiritual awareness for the first 3 months, we can leave. General Xiao especially wants a better understanding on how the spiritual grading works.”

Yu Ci shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. Lan Zhou sighed.

“He wants all of us?”

“Yeah. Especially you, boss. Since you have a higher grade, you are more adept at teaching.”

“General Xiao always knows how to draw me in.” Wang Cheng rolled his eyes.

“He didn’t change a bit. Still so snarky.”

Lan Zhou threw the crumbled phone as he moved to the table filled with maps.

Yesterday, they came to the military barracks they used to live in their past life. Under the jurisdiction of General Xiao, this military base had one of the most offensive armies available against the zombies. He spent almost 15 years at this base and trusted the people here.

Coming in unannounced was definitely unheard of, especially when Lan Zhou broke through the gates with his blue flames. They were escorted to General Xiao and told him about what will happen in the next few days.

It took convincing, however General Xiao wasn’t an idiot. He was a robust 50 year old veteran. Seeing the powers of this group, he didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the situation.

“If what you’re saying is true, we will do our best to dispatch the military into the cities. We won’t be chickens with our heads cut off and instead take the offensive in saving as many civilians as possible. What do you need?”

“We need to inform the people to stay in their homes. The more people not outside are better than them dying on the run. Have them take out red flags to show that there are residents there. Have the soldiers prepped in clothes that are tear proof and infused in rubber. Zombies are dependent on hearing and warmth. Keep the military soldiers tight and in groups.”

General Xiao listened and only interjected when he didn’t understand something. By the time their meeting ended, General Xiao had several high-military generals on a video call who listened with rapt attention. Looking at Lan Zhou, they knew he had experienced war. You didn’t get to this aura from puppies and rainbows. His eyes were telling of war, death, destruction and pain.

He wasn’t lying.

Lan Zhou opened his palms and a gentle blue ball of flames emitted. It looked beautiful clasped in his hands. General Xiao wanted to touch it, but approaching the flames, he didn’t feel heat. Instead…he felt the prickliness of cold. It was so hot, it was cold.

“This will melt your bones, so it’s advisable not to touch.” General Xiao gently put his hand away.

“When will the virus start affecting the people?”

Lan Zhou looked at the TV. It had only been an hour after the meteor had fallen. He sighed.

“Two days at the most.”

General Xiao nodded his head, reaching to rub his temples. The time was too short.

“And you are sure Xiao Ci can make the vaccine?”

“We need to find a certain ability user who can purify the chemicals needed. We don’t have any information other than what we remember at the beginning. He should be established in B Base after its formation which will be in 3 months. We will go find him and bring him to the military base.”

Lan Zhou’s voice got lower.

“And he will be fully compensated. The military base won’t hurt him, and he will life the rest of his life well.”

General Xiao look puzzled. Didn’t you not know him?

Lan Zhou just gazed until the general gave his ascent. Lan Zhou knew better than anyone that the pure ability user had suffered under the medical team. He will go before any of that happens and save him. This was one redemption he needed to accomplish.

After that, the military factions in twenty six countries were informed of the zombie apocalypse. Some took it seriously whilst others shrugged it off. Lan Zhou didn’t care about those and continued to prep for the oncoming war.

He was now looking at a map of the surrounding countries. He pointed to a specific area in the colder regions.

“This is where Paradise Base will be erected later. If the pure ability user wants to, after the vaccine is successfully made, we can help his establish the base for disaster relief.”

Wang Cheng was uncomfortable with Lan Zhou’s decision, but he didn’t show it. He had always felt that the rumors of the Paradise Base were unfounded. It was a base that was the closest to economy and infrastructure, but at what cost? On the surface, it looked perfect, but the way to get to Paradise Base was long and arduous causing most of them to die.

And when he learned that Xiao Ci died at the hands of the outer perimeter of Paradise further sealed his dislike. There was just…something wrong with that base and its occupants.

“The pure ability user was the cornerstone of the base. If we stop the past events, the medical team is already dissolved, so there won’t be anyone tortured, the survivors wouldn’t break out and the base wouldn’t be born. Instead, let’s put him into the military base. If we have him here, we won’t have to worry about anything again.”

Yu Ci also nodded.

“Besides…we don’t know what this pure ability user is like. He might be arrogant or distrustful. We cannot take chances. I know…Lan Zhou, we know that your intentions are pure, but we cannot risk other people’s lives any more than we have to.”

Lan Zhou felt his two friend’s words were valid. He stared at the map once again. It might have been because he was responsible for the many deaths at the hand of his father’s greed. It was a stone in his heart. Even when he brought B Base to its knees, it didn’t dissipate his regret and agony.

“I know. The past is the past. I’m sorry…I just need more time to adjust.”

Wang Cheng and Yu Ci patted his shoulders and left Lan Zhou to his thoughts.

Lan Zhou sat down as he stared at himself in the window. His 26 year old face stared back at him. His eyes looked dangerous, sad, and filled with grief. The sacrifices he had made in his last life still haunt him in this one. Maybe…he wasn’t as fine as he thought.

He leaned his head back as he thought of the past. Death always took a toll on a person. Even after more than 20 years in the apocalypse, he couldn’t help his tightened heart as his comrades died.

He just wanted to go into obscurity into the dense forests and live a simple life. If the vaccine proved to be successful and the world went back to the way it was, he would like to go far away. His heart needed to heal just a little bit more, and the memories of those 20 years would disappear little by little.

Lan Zhou felt another oncoming headache and rubbed his temples. He felt a flicker in his heart as he recalled that night with Song Yu. He recalled that beautiful gaze upon him, with its tinge of love and sadness.

Why did he look like he was going to cry?

Lan Zhou sighed bitterly. By tomorrow, that gaze could become milky white with the infection. But…that hopeful but…

If one day they would meet again, Lan Zhou would want to hold him tight in his embrace and slowly let that gaze heal his lonely heart.

 

 

Bonus chapter! Surprise!! A new cover art for NEET Life!!!!!