Chapter 5

When Lin Chen nailed the last piece of rebar into the door frame,

dawn was just breaking.

The wound on his back was still aching; the antibiotics didn't seem to have much effect,

and it felt like insects were crawling under his skin.

He took out his phone; the system panel displayed: 【Mild infection persists,

suggest obtaining antiviral serum.】

"Where is the serum?" Lin Chen asked in a low voice,

and a coordinate popped up on the panel, at the city center hospital,

12 kilometers from the warehouse.

He cursed; 12 kilometers wasn't far in normal times,

but now the snow was up to his knees, and there were zombies and mutated creatures,

which was equivalent to sending himself to his death.

Xia Nuan brought over a bowl of hot water with sweet potato dried slices soaking in it:

"Eat something."

Lin Chen took it; the sweet potato slices were soaked soft and tasted a bit sweet.

He took a bite, suddenly remembering the smell of human flesh in the small woods last night,

his stomach churning, and he hurriedly swallowed it.

"Going to the hospital today." Lin Chen said, placing the bowl on the ground,

"The system says there's antiviral serum."

Xia Nuan's hand paused: "It's too far, how about..."

"Must go." Lin Chen interrupted her, the pain in his back becoming more obvious,

"If the infection isn't controlled, I'll die faster."

He looked at Li Wei.

The kid was huddled in the corner; last night's events seemed to have scared the wits out of him,

and he hadn't spoken since.

"You stay and guard the warehouse." Lin Chen threw him a steel pipe.

"If something happens again, handle it yourself."

Li Wei hurriedly nodded, burying his head even lower.

Lin Chen and Xia Nuan packed their things, the hunting rifle loaded with bullets,

their backpacks stuffed with compressed biscuits and water,

and they also brought that half-barrel of gasoline.

Leaving, Lin Chen sprinkled a circle of diesel around the warehouse,

and piled firewood at the entrance; if something broke in,

it could burn for a while.

The snow was still falling, the wind whipping snow foam against their faces, stinging.

The two walked toward the city center, stepping heavily,

encountering several ordinary zombies on the way.

Their movements were slow, and Lin Chen could handle them with the steel pipe,

green blood splashing on the snow like spilled paint.

"Look over there." Xia Nuan suddenly pointed to the left,

where a figure was waving in the window of a residential building.

Lin Chen raised the hunting rifle.

The figure hurriedly pulled back their hand, and the window was closed.

"Don't bother." Lin Chen said, continuing to walk forward.

In the apocalypse, strangers were more dangerous than zombies.

In his past life, he had saved a mother and daughter,

only to be led into a zombie nest by them, almost dying inside.

After walking about 3 kilometers, passing a convenience store,

the rolling door had been pried open, and it was a mess inside.

Lin Chen had Xia Nuan stand guard outside.

He went in to rummage, finding a few boxes of chocolate and a bottle of iodophor,

and the system prompted: 【Obtained emergency supplies, survival points +5.】

Just as he was about to leave, he heard Xia Nuan shout: "There's a car!"

Lin Chen rushed out; an off-road vehicle was parked by the side of the road,

the door unlocked, the key still in the ignition.

He pulled the door open, sat in, and tried it; it could start,

and there was more than half a tank of gas.

"Get in." Lin Chen shouted, and Xia Nuan hurriedly climbed in.

Driving was much faster than walking, sliding on the snow,

Lin Chen gripped the steering wheel, trying to stick to the main road,

avoiding overturned vehicles.

Passing a square, there were quite a few corpses lying in the snow,

some gnawed down to the bone, others frozen stiff.

Xia Nuan turned her head away, not daring to look.

Lin Chen, however, stared at one of them—a woman,

wearing the same down jacket as Su Qing, her hair dyed yellow.

"Is that Su Qing?" Xia Nuan asked.

Lin Chen shook his head: "She wears size 37 shoes,

this one is size 39."

He remembered clearly.

In his past life, Su Qing always complained that the shoes he bought were a size too big.

When they were almost at the hospital, Lin Chen parked the car by the side of the road,

and switched to walking.

An ambulance was blocking the hospital entrance, the back door open,

the stretcher inside overturned on the floor, stained with black-red blood.

"Search separately." Lin Chen said.

"You go to the pharmacy, I'll go to the emergency room; the serum might be in the refrigerated cabinet."

Xia Nuan nodded, gripping the steel pipe in her hand,

and walked toward the pharmacy.

Lin Chen pushed open the emergency room door, and a thick smell of blood rushed toward him,

mixed with the smell of disinfectant, making him dizzy.

The lights inside were flickering.

On the floor lay several corpses in white coats,

their necks all broken.

The refrigerated cabinet was in the corner, locked.

Lin Chen smashed the lock with the steel pipe and opened it; there were quite a few medicines inside,

among which was the antiviral serum, with a label reading "Zombie Virus Specific."

He was just about to take it when he heard movement behind him.

"Lin Chen?"

The voice was very familiar; it was Su Qing.

Lin Chen turned around; Su Qing was standing at the door.

Her face was stained with blood, holding a scalpel in her hand,

followed by a man in a hospital gown,

his arms covered in needle marks, his eyes staring blankly.

"You're here for the serum too?" Su Qing laughed, laughing a bit crazily,

"Too bad, this is the last one."

She pushed the man in the hospital gown.

"Go, kill him, and the serum is yours."

The man roared and lunged over,

his speed faster than an ordinary zombie, his nails sharp and long.

Lin Chen sidestepped to avoid him, grabbed an IV stand from the side and smashed it over,

the man was hit in the head but didn't stop, continuing to lunge over,

drool flowing from his mouth, making a hoarse sound.

"This is my new 'pet'." Su Qing leaned against the door frame,

"Modified by the virus, very obedient."

Lin Chen ignored her.

He raised the steel pipe and smashed it hard onto the man's head,

once wasn't enough, so he smashed it a few more times until he stopped moving.

Green blood splashed all over Lin Chen, mixing with the wound on his back,

the pain almost making him unable to stand.

Su Qing laughed as she watched.

"You're infected too? Great, that way I don't have to do it myself."

Lin Chen grabbed the serum from the refrigerated cabinet and turned to walk out.

Su Qing suddenly lunged from behind, the scalpel stabbing toward his back.

Lin Chen was prepared, sidestepped to avoid it,

and backhanded a steel pipe smash onto her arm, the scalpel falling to the ground.

"You want me dead that much?" Lin Chen asked,

his voice as cold as ice.

Su Qing clutched her arm, her eyes full of hatred.

"You ruined everything I had! Zhang Hao was crippled by you,

my cousin was injured by you; if I don't kill you, who do I kill?"

"Then when you snatched my supplies and pushed me to feed the zombies,

why didn't you think about that?"

Lin Chen stepped closer, "And the human flesh in the small woods last night,

that was you, right?"

Su Qing's face turned pale, and she stepped back.

"So what if it was? That old thing wanted to snatch my serum,

he deserved it!"

Lin Chen laughed, suddenly feeling she was very pathetic.

He grabbed the scalpel from the floor and threw it at her feet.

"Get out." Lin Chen said, "If I see you again, I'll kill you."

Su Qing gritted her teeth.

She glanced at the serum on the floor and turned to run,

bumping into the door frame as she ran, making a thudding sound.

Lin Chen picked up the serum and hurriedly ran to the pharmacy.

Xia Nuan was being blocked inside by two zombies,

the steel pipe in her hand dropped to the floor, her face white with fear.

Lin Chen rushed over, one steel pipe smash for each, solved the zombies,

and pulled Xia Nuan to run out.

"Did you get it?" Xia Nuan asked, her voice trembling.

Lin Chen raised the serum in his hand and nodded: "Let's go, let's go back."

The two had just run out of the hospital when they heard an explosion behind them,

in the direction of the emergency room, flames shooting into the sky.

"Su Qing did it." Lin Chen said, pulling Xia Nuan to run toward where the car was parked.

After getting in the car, Lin Chen hurriedly injected the serum,

the liquid flowing into his blood vessels, the pain in his back instantly easing significantly.

The crawling sensation under his skin also disappeared.

The system prompted: 【Infection cleared, physical enhancement +1.】

Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

He started the car and drove toward the warehouse. Passing the square,

he glanced at the female corpse, suddenly discovering she was clutching a piece of bread,

the packaging printed with "Love Bakery."

It was the one Xia Nuan often went to.

"Stop the car." Lin Chen said, and Xia Nuan paused before hitting the brakes.

Lin Chen got out of the car and walked to the female corpse.

He pried open her hand; the bread hadn't been bitten and was still intact.

He picked up the bread and turned to walk back,

suddenly smelling a fragrance in his nose.

It was the smell of roasted meat, very thick, drifting from the other side of the square.

That was a barbecue shop, the door open, lights on inside,

smoke rising from the chimney.

Lin Chen raised the hunting rifle and walked toward the barbecue shop,

Xia Nuan hurriedly followed, grabbing his arm,

her hands shaking the whole time.

On the stove of the barbecue shop, several pieces of meat were skewered, sizzling with oil,

sprinkled with cumin and chili, the fragrance coming from this.

The owner was squatting on the floor, cutting something with a knife.

Beside him lay a corpse, a child wearing a school uniform,

about the same age as Li Wei.

Lin Chen's stomach churned, and he raised the hunting rifle,

aiming at the owner's head.

The owner looked up, his face covered in oil, smiling and saying:

"Want some? Just roasted, very fresh."

Xia Nuan vomited with a "wah."

Squatting on the floor, shaking uncontrollably.

Lin Chen pulled the trigger, the gunshot echoing in the barbecue shop,

and the owner fell to the ground.

The knife in his hand fell to the floor, making a clanging sound.

The meat on the stove was still roasting, the fragrance and the smell of blood mixed together,

making one nauseous.

Lin Chen walked over and kicked over the stove,

the charcoal and meat scattered all over the floor, sizzling with white smoke.

"Let's go." Lin Chen pulled Xia Nuan up.

She couldn't even stand steadily, relying entirely on Lin Chen to support her.

After getting in the car, Xia Nuan was still vomiting, vomiting until tears came out.

Lin Chen didn't speak.

He started the car and drove toward the warehouse; in the rearview mirror,

the lights of the barbecue shop grew further and further away,

but that smell of roasted meat seemed to have stuck to his clothes.

It wouldn't dissipate no matter what.

The system prompted: 【Cleared cannibal x1, reward: random weapon box x1.】

Lin Chen didn't look.

He just wanted to get back to the warehouse quickly,

and wash the smell off his body with gasoline.

When the car was almost at the warehouse, Lin Chen suddenly frowned.

There was no smoke rising from the warehouse direction; according to reason, Li Wei would have added firewood,

it shouldn't be like this.

He accelerated, and when he looked at the warehouse entrance,

the door had been smashed open, it was a mess inside,

Li Wei was gone, there were bloodstains on the floor,

and traces of dragging, extending all the way to the woods behind.

Lin Chen's heart sank; he grabbed the hunting rifle,

and said to Xia Nuan: "Wait in the car."

Xia Nuan shook her head.

She grabbed the steel pipe: "I'll go with you."

The two walked into the woods, the bloodstains on the snow growing thicker,

mixed with Li Wei's crying and shouting.

Intermittent, as if he had been grabbed by something.

Lin Chen gripped the hunting rifle and quickened his pace,

he knew that the thing they encountered this time.

might be more troublesome than zombie dogs and cannibals.