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“……” Cao Zheng and Yang Xiaomeng were taken aback, their expressions quickly shifting to one of disbelief. Wu Wentao chuckled, half mocking, half teasing, as he stepped forward and pressed the gun's muzzle against Cao Zheng's chest. Without waiting for anyone to intervene, he cocked the gun with a click and said coldly, “You have ten seconds to reconsider.”
“You…” Cao Zheng was furious, straightening his back as if to block the gun.
“Nine.” Wu Wentao remained unmoved, leisurely starting the countdown.
“Go ahead and shoot,” Cao Zheng said defiantly, a cold smile creeping onto his face.
“Wait, wait, wait! Let’s talk this out. I can go with you; someone has to look after the house,” Yang Xiaomeng interjected, sweating profusely as she stood between them trying to mediate.
“Eight.” Wu Wentao continued counting without looking up, taking a deep drag from his cigarette. Song Jiu and the others were at a loss for what to do.
Qianqian rushed over in a panic, grabbing the gun's barrel and urgently said, “I’ll lead the way; we can go.”
“Qianqian, don’t give in to them!” Cao Zheng shouted as he pushed her aside, glaring at everyone with an expression that suggested he was ready to die. It was clear to anyone watching that he wasn’t unwilling to help; rather, he was stubbornly resolute—a true hard rock.
Wu Wentao’s expression remained impassive as he counted down to two before suddenly swinging the gun towards Qianqian. At one, he spat out his cigarette butt and tensed his arm, finger hovering over the trigger.
Cao Zheng froze for a moment before his face changed dramatically; however, that brief moment of hesitation cost him dearly.
“What the hell?” Song Jiu exclaimed in shock—was this really happening? In that instant, Jin Bo acted faster, kicking the gun away just as a loud bang echoed through the air and flames erupted from the muzzle. The sound of gunfire lingered in the air as smoke dissipated. The people at the center of the storm broke into cold sweats—everyone except Wu Wentao.
Qianqian was completely stunned.
“Are you serious?” Jin Bo shouted angrily as he shoved Wu Wentao hard enough to make him stumble. Those who were too principled often found themselves caught in the middle; Jin Bo understood Wu Wentao’s intentions but couldn’t stand by his actions as a companion—this was Jin Bo’s limit of patience and concession.
“Forget it.” Song Jiu sighed in relief and stepped in to separate them. In reality, neither of them intended to escalate things further. Wu Wentao shrugged off the incident and walked away with the gun slung over his shoulder.
Song Jiu put away the map and handed it to Luo Yu before turning to Dr. Zhong and saying, “Huihui, Guli, Sister Jia—those three are in your care.”
Dr. Zhong nodded gravely.
“Jiu Jiu, I’m going with you,” Chef Jia declared, stepping forward with an unchanging expression and pointing at himself. “I’m not just good for cooking.”
“So am I,” Pockmarked Girl chimed in while waving her Steel Saw Blade, directly placing herself in the combat lineup. She squeezed Huihui’s icy palm reassuringly and said, “Don’t worry; I’ll bring Yuan An back safe and sound.”
“Be careful,” Huihui replied, a strange sense of bitterness welling up inside her as she realized she had become the center of everyone’s protection. While feeling grateful, she couldn’t help but feel deeply guilty about her own helplessness.
The crowd dispersed to gather weapons and ammunition; only one firearm was left for Dr. Zhong while others were distributed according to their groups. However, resources were limited, leaving one group without any spare firearms.
“I’ll team up with Luo Yu; we’ll grab a gun when we get there,” Song Jiu said as he waved off Fang Fei who offered him a weapon. He glanced at Jiao Ziqian and added, “Be careful; don’t act recklessly.”
“I know; Brother Jiu, you two be careful too,” Jiao Ziqian replied with a sniffle, his expression somewhat odd. Once upon a time, he had been part of a golden trio with Song Jiu and Luo Yu; now he found himself paired with Ying Dou Dou and Fang Fei.
Looking down at his watch, it was already past three in the morning—the sky was overcast with clouds blocking out the moonlight and stars dimming under heavy tension. Song Jiu secured his injured hand tightly with bandages before sliding two sleek Steel Saw Blades into his belt and waved his hand decisively: “Let’s go…”
As they left the courtyard empty behind them, a chilly evening breeze swept through.
Dr. Zhong sighed as he wrapped an arm around Huihui’s shoulders and returned to the empty room they had just vacated. Moments later he re-entered the room where the injured were being kept carrying a medical kit and called out urgently to the three still standing outside: “Get inside; it’s time for the injured to take their medicine.”
Yang Xiaomeng wore a worried expression as she patted Qianqian on the back and asked concernedly, “Are you okay?”
Qianqian’s face was pale; she hadn’t recovered from her earlier shock yet stood frozen for a moment before finally exhaling deeply with a complex expression on her face as she shook her head.
Reaching out to grasp Cao Zheng’s calloused hand gently, she whispered softly, “Why don’t we go help them?”
Cao Zheng looked at her in surprise but didn’t respond.
“He…he’s just putting on an act,” Qianqian said thoughtfully as she recalled what had just transpired moments ago; now that her emotions had stabilized somewhat she could see some clues emerging. As one of the founders of an outdoor club, she wasn’t unfamiliar with shooting—at that distance if someone truly wanted to kill out of anger, even that Young Man wouldn’t have had time for retaliation.
Moreover, she clearly saw that when Wu Wentao aimed at her, his gaze lingered on Cao Zheng before he pulled the trigger only after kicking away the gun…
“This group…” Cao Zheng shook his head in frustration; by nature he genuinely disliked these people. Even though they hadn’t caused any substantial harm so far—how should one put it? They clearly appeared as villains yet extended humanitarian aid by treating Dai Wei…
If both sides canceled each other out there wouldn’t be much hostility involved; however they were unreasonably preparing to seize resources which made it impossible for Cao Zheng to swallow this indignation.
But until now resources still lay within their camp; even those people had consumed their own rations for dinner—aside from fetching water from wells there hadn’t been any outrageous behavior.
Then there was what just happened—it seemed domineering but was actually just a feint that left everyone baffled.
To call them good people would be misleading given their actions reeked of banditry; yet they hadn’t done anything wrong—they merely went about their own business while occasionally borrowing accommodations or requisitioning vehicles…
In today’s world ravaged by Zombies where survivors had witnessed too much degradation of humanity after collapse—trusting or helping others had become high-risk options; one misstep could lead down an irreversible path making relationships easy to entangle yet difficult to untangle.
If it were merely leading someone somewhere that wouldn’t be unreasonable—but they clearly intended to engage in battle without any ties or obligations—it made no sense risking their lives for strangers’ sake if something went wrong.
Yet putting aside rationality and personal feelings—as someone with an explosive temperament—Cao Zheng couldn’t deny that when Song Jiu called out “Let’s go” earlier… it stirred something within him…
Tsk tsk tsk… images began forming in his mind of these people charging into Industrial Park battling against hordes of Zombies alongside unknown enemies amidst bloodshed and chaos—a battlefield filled with carnage.
Cao Zheng felt heat rise in his cheeks as he felt ashamed for harboring such excitement within himself.
Just then an abrupt hoarse cry echoed from inside followed by Dr. Zhong bursting through the door looking frantic: “You all get inside and restrain him!” He rushed back into the resting room calling Huihui up urgently.
Cao Zheng and others’ expressions changed drastically.
Inside the room brightly lit up like daybreak, Cao Zheng and Yang Xiaomeng struggled desperately holding down Dai Wei who was convulsing uncontrollably—their eyes nearly bleeding from anxiety.
“What happened to him?” Qianqian asked frantically; earlier when stitching up wounds Dai Wei seemed stable—how did things suddenly turn so dire? Seeing Dai Wei grow increasingly pale while blood poured from his mouth and nose made it seem like he was having seizures—foaming at the mouth—it looked like death was imminent.
Dr. Zhong wore a grave expression ignoring Qianqian’s panicked questions while leaning down speaking briefly with Huihui who looked dazed before nodding resolutely after some thought.
“Listen carefully—you two hold him down but be careful not to get scratched by him—understand?” Dr. Zhong rolled up his sleeves pulling out an unopened syringe from his medical kit while appearing somewhat anxious.
“What do you mean?” Cao Zheng gasped upon hearing this—avoid getting scratched? Could it be…?
Dr. Zhong swallowed hard: “I overlooked something—we killed many Zombies when we came out of the tunnel—it’s possible we cut him during that time… contaminated with Zombie Blood.”
“What?” Qianqian turned pale realizing what Dr. Zhong meant instantly—her face drained of color as despair filled her gaze directed towards Dai Wei.
Cao Zheng and Yang Xiaomeng shared similar expressions—they had witnessed too many sufferings caused by Zombie bites leading victims into agonizing deaths only for them to rise again later; having come through safely until now only to fall victim due to indirect infection?
With this thought anger surged within Cao Zheng as he glared at Dr. Zhong almost burning holes into him with his eyes.
Fortunately Qianqian managed to retain some semblance of rationality despite feeling despair momentarily before looking towards Dr. Zhong pleadingly: “Doctor… do you have any way to save him? Please…”
“No need for pleas—I’ll do my best,” Dr. Zhong took a deep breath saying: “But I can’t guarantee anything—it could go either way.”
Cao Zheng and Yang Xiaomeng stared blankly—there might still be hope? Did they truly possess Antibodies or Vaccines?
Dr. Zhong shook his head wryly: “We have Antibodies but no Vaccine has been developed yet—we can only treat this like a dead horse being used as a live one hoping for luck.”
Huihui sat on a stool rolling up her sleeves exposing her pale arms clenching her fists gently allowing Dr. Zhong tie off her arm with rubber bands.
Qianqian along with others froze—what was this supposed to mean?
Dr. Zhong steadied himself suppressing tremors in his hands before inserting a tiny needle into Huihui’s vein.
The atmosphere inside thickened palpably—the only sounds remaining were Dai Wei’s incessant retching mixed with heavy labored breaths filling every corner of silence around them.
Moments later Dr. Zhong sat beside Dai Wei holding an injector filled with crimson blood while Huihui pressed cotton against her wound trying to staunch bleeding—her complexion slightly pale but thankfully not much blood had been drawn though this risky method left uncertainty lingering heavily in their hearts.
Cao Zheng along with others ceased questioning anything further—their expressions filled with astonishment mixed with hopefulness—all five pairs of eyes fixated intently on that needle watching it pierce Dai Wei's skin entering into veins where Dr. Zhong gently pushed 20ml of blood freshly drawn from Living Person into Dai Wei's body.
Qianqian opened her mouth wanting to ask about blood type compatibility but swallowed those words back down instead remaining silent instead watching anxiously alongside everyone else.
“Will it work?” Cao Zheng gritted his teeth asking quietly.
“Not sure,” Dr. Zhong wiped sweat off his forehead staring intently at Dai Wei awaiting any reaction anxiously.
Huihui spoke softly: “Shouldn’t we give him more?”
“No need—he isn’t losing blood,” Dr. Zhong shook his head firmly stating that without proper equipment they couldn’t ascertain whether Huihui's Antibody-laden blood would function like Vaccine—it all depended on fate now.
Five minutes passed yet nothing changed—blood continued oozing from mouth and nose unabated.
Ten minutes later symptoms lessened though vomiting persisted while bleeding slowed down.
Twenty minutes later vomiting ceased entirely along with bleeding stopping altogether.
Including Dr.Zhong everyone held their breath staring intently without daring even blink away from Dai Wei's condition…
An hour passed before Dr.Zhong removed thermometer checking its reading revealing relief washing over him—a smile breaking through tension lines across face.
Temperature dropped indicating normal blood pressure stabilizing heart rate returning back within acceptable range.
Barring unforeseen circumstances Dai Wei would survive—not only that once awake there existed high possibility he'd become second known Living Person carrying Antibodies.
Of course this remained mere speculation since Antibodies/Vaccines hadn’t been developed yet whether Huihui's Antibodies could sustain effects on another person remained unknown still.
To ensure safety Cao Zheng bound Dai Wei's hands securely onto bedpost locking door behind leaving window open solely for observation purposes.
Two hours later everything returned back normalcy…
Cao Zheng along with Yang Xiaomeng watched over Dai Wei while Dr.Zhong sat inside waiting alongside Huihui—the rest who hadn’t joined main group already asleep unaware events transpiring here.
After some time Qianqian entered carrying two steaming bowls setting them down before both men smiling faintly despite pallor still lingering on face.
“There isn’t much good stuff here—but enough for filling stomachs,” Qianqian said somewhat shyly pouring oil into bowls adding few drops atop each dish.
Huihui blinked surprised then smiled inhaling aroma saying cheerfully: “Smells great!”
“Eggs should help replenish blood right? I’m not too knowledgeable about these things,” Qianqian sat opposite them noting how eggs represented rare luxury food remaining after losing hens during recent rainstorm which claimed lives unexpectedly leaving them puzzled over loss.
Huihui wasted no time digging into egg custard
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