LCFM Chapter 45

Below the slope, one overturned and burning bus after another lay scattered across the land, stretching as far as the eye could see. It was a scene of utter devastation.

Infected people roamed among half-eaten corpses and congealed pools of blood. They wandered aimlessly, senselessly, their movements slow and staggering. The entire sight was horrifying beyond words.

Several of the men who had insisted on following Kang Cheng up the slope collapsed to the ground with a thud. Terrified, they kicked their legs and scrambled backward, trying to get away.

Jiang Xinghuai inhaled, then exhaled, but his knees still gave out. He grabbed onto Fu Yan’s arm for support.

Fu Yan caught him, wrapping an arm around him. His fingers trembled as he looked at the scene before them.

“Everyone, move down.” Though shock and fear rippled through him, Kang Cheng forced himself to calm down quickly. He began directing everyone to help each other down the slope.

Walking beside Fu Yan, Kang Cheng lowered his voice. “Mr. Fu, can you estimate when they were infected?”

Supporting Jiang Xinghuai carefully, Fu Yan paused for a moment before answering. “Judging from the skin decay and the color of the blood, it should be around two to four o’clock this morning.”

“This morning…” Kang Cheng turned to glance back at the slope, his face pale and ashen. “There were over fifty thousand people here. That’s not even counting—” He bit his lip hard, unable to continue.

When the virus first broke out, the state immediately realized how critical it was. Because of its special nature, the government had swiftly mobilized the military to set up shelters in every province to rescue civilians.

But the situation had turned out far worse than anyone could have imagined. In the beginning, a total of thirty-eight quarantine shelters were established across the country. Within less than a week, only nine remained. The rest had all fallen.

Their own military district was among the survivors. For a month now, even as the virus spread completely out of control, their district had stayed untouched. It’s the most heavily armed and thoroughly organized of them all.

Kang Cheng had never imagined they would fall.

Even less had he imagined that, before the virus, their entire force would be wiped out.

The crowd gathered around the vehicles fell completely silent. No one could withstand the weight of what they had just seen, nor the terror of this sudden, merciless virus. Everyone’s hearts pounded in fear, unease spreading like frost through their veins.

“What’s wrong?” Fu Yan turned his head toward Jiang Xinghuai. The boy hadn’t said a word since coming down from the slope, and his face looked pale and strained.

Jiang Xinghuai shook his head without replying. He couldn’t even describe what he was feeling. Only that it hurt.

So many people. People he knew, people he didn’t know. Just a few hours ago, they’d all been alive. Now, they were monsters.

They were all dead.

Fu Yan slipped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into his embrace.

Jiang Xinghuai turned his head and buried his face in Fu Yan’s chest, silent for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was muffled and tinged with a nasal tremor. “I’m a little scared.”

Fu Yan’s hand, which had been patting his back, paused for a moment. He sighed softly and held him tighter.

From nearby came the sound of a woman’s stifled sobs. Mixed with it, carried faintly on the wind, was the low, guttural wailing of infected people in the distance.

Fu Yan brushed his chin against the top of Jiang Xinghuai’s head and murmured in an almost inaudible voice, “Me, too.”

The wind was picking up, growing stronger and sharper. Worried that the gusts might carry sound and alert the infected a few hundred meters away, Kang Cheng quickly steadied his emotions and urged the shaken people on the ground to get back into the vehicle.

Only Mo Wang refused to board, biting at the edge of the car door.

It paced in frantic circles, even barking at Kang Cheng several times.

“Mo Wang! Quiet! Do you hear me? Quiet!” Kang Cheng pulled on the leash, his voice low but commanding.

But Mo Wang, unusually disobedient, kept struggling and straining against the leash, dragging the man forward.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Xinghuai asked, staring out the window.

Outside, there was nothing.

Fu Yan glanced toward the fading stretch of concrete road, his brow furrowing. A military dog would never disobey orders so recklessly.

Unless—

Kang Cheng realized it at almost the same moment. He crouched down and unbuckled the leash around Mo Wang’s neck.

A trained military dog wouldn’t ignore commands for no reason. If it was desperately trying to lead them back along that road, there could only be one explanation. There was a survivor out there who needed help.

“Mo Wang! Search!” Kang Cheng issued the command.

Mo Wang let out a short, low bark and bolted like an arrow toward the right side of the slope.

Kang Cheng climbed quickly back into the bus. “Start the engine!”

The military bus swung around, turning its head, and roared back to life.

The distance wasn’t far. After a little more than twenty minutes, Mo Wang, limping on its injured hind leg, stopped outside a field of wheat that had been crushed flat.

In the middle of the field sat a scrapped minivan, its front end rammed deep into the wheat. Pinned against the door was a tall infected man.

Hearing the sound of their approach, the infected turned its head, locking eyes with Mo Wang, who was the closest to it. The dog crouched low, growling deep in its throat, but didn’t rush forward.

“Shoot,” Kang Cheng ordered Lei Pengtao, who was stationed on the roof of the vehicle.

Lei Pengtao raised his rifle, aimed carefully, but froze the moment he got a clear look at the infected’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Kang Cheng demanded.

“Chief… It’s the Chief…” Lei Pengtao’s eyes reddened, his hands trembling as he slowly lowered his gun.

Kang Cheng froze.

The infected man’s military uniform bore a bloodstained shoulder insignia on the left. He let out a low growl and staggered toward the Mo Wang.

Mo Wang kept backing away.

The distance between man and dog gradually closed. Mo Wang whimpered, glancing back at the people in the vehicle, then stopped retreating. It crouched low, not attacking. Its tail is wagging, just like the very first time they met.

The infected drew closer.

Bang—

A gunshot rang out.

The infected collapsed, falling right beside Mo Wang. Mo Wang licked his cheek.

Kang Cheng’s hands, gripping the gun, wouldn’t stop shaking.

The wind swept through the wheat field, carrying faint, almost inaudible whimpers.

“What happened to Mo Wang?” Jiang Xinghuai frowned at the dog lying motionless on the ground. “Its leg—”

“Mo Wang was the Chief’s dog…” Kang Cheng explained softly, then led the soldiers off the vehicle toward the tightly shut van.

Just as they were about a meter away, the van door opened from the inside. A pale hand grasped the doorframe, and a head slowly peeked out.

“Dr. Zheng!” Kang Cheng exclaimed in surprise, lowering his raised gun.

“I’m fine. Do you have any fever medicine?” Zheng Yi turned around again, lifting a little girl out of the car. “Ranran has a fever. She needs treatment immediately.”

“Academician Qian’s daughter?” Kang Cheng stepped forward and took the girl into his arms. “We should still have some medicine. Mr. Fu brought it.”

“Fu Yan is with you?” Zheng Yi looked up, surprised and relieved.

“Yes, Mr. Fu! Mr. Fu!” Kang Cheng, holding the little girl, ran ahead.

Seeing the situation from afar, Fu Yan grabbed the medical kit and got out of the vehicle.

Jiang Xinghuai followed behind him. When he saw Zheng Yi approaching, his eyes widened in shock.

“What are the symptoms?” Fu Yan asked, taking the girl to examine her.

“High fever,” Zheng Yi replied. “She needs to have her fever reduced immediately.”

“Qian Ranran, can you hear me?” Fu Yan held the girl and walked toward the vehicle. “Let’s get her inside first.”

He had just turned around.

“Wait…” Kang Cheng frowned deeply and suddenly caught hold of the little girl’s leg beneath her dress.

He lifted the hem of her skirt.

On the girl’s slender, pale calf was a torn bite wound. The flesh around it had turned purple and greenish-blue, and strange black vein-like lines were spreading beneath the skin.

It was the typical wound left by an infected bite.

“What happened?” Kang Cheng asked, his expression dark as he looked at Zheng Yi.

“She was bitten,” Zheng Yi said calmly, turning back to look at him.

Kang Cheng took the little girl back from Fu Yan’s arms. “Dr. Zheng, even if she’s Academician Qian’s daughter—”

“She was bitten, yes. But that wound was inflicted more than ten hours ago. In the several hours since, her wound has been slowly healing. There’s been no further deterioration or signs of necrosis.” Zheng Yi continued speaking evenly.

“What do you mean?” Kang Cheng was stunned.

“You’ve already guessed it, haven’t you?” Zheng Yi turned to Fu Yan, his eyes bright, his words deliberate and firm. “She might be an antibody carrier.”

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