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墨書 Inktalez
In the center stood a Zombie that appeared to be around five years old. Despite its sharp fangs, grayish complexion, and silver hair, there was a glimmer of clarity in its orange eyes, filled with hatred as it stared at H Base. Its right arm was severed at the elbow, and it protected a frail Middle-Aged Woman Zombie with its left hand. The woman's face bore a chunk bitten away, her clothes were tattered, and her mind seemed foggy. Though she was unaware of much, she instinctively followed the young Zombie.
Before the apocalypse, H City was the Provincial Capital City, home to about seven million people and over fifty thousand military personnel stationed there. When the apocalypse struck, only a small number of people were initially infected with the Zombie Virus. The health and public security departments quickly reported the outbreak, prompting local government and military to activate emergency protocols, confining the primary infected Zombies at the H Province People's Hospital. To prevent public panic, they kept this information under wraps at first, mobilizing the city's best doctors for concentrated treatment. However, all medical staff who came into contact with the infected ended up contracting the virus themselves. This revelation sparked widespread panic that spread like wildfire. At this point, Head of State Dai Guozheng publicly issued an Announcement to the People of the Nation, detailing the severe outbreak and stating that there was currently no cure available and that the mortality rate was extremely high. He urged citizens to stay indoors and remain in their cities as a nationwide curfew was imposed.
The nation was in shock as H City also initiated a citywide lockdown. Hundreds of people were sent to the H Province People's Hospital, and within a week, the hospital was severely overcrowded. Other major hospitals were also filled with suspected virus carriers. Each hospital was tightly sealed off by military personnel. In one instance, a group of Zombies broke free from a locked room and approached the soldiers outside. Their grotesque appearances and inhuman forms brought an overwhelming sense of dread upon the soldiers who had been on duty for sixty hours without proper rest. Eventually, one soldier could no longer bear the mental strain; overwhelmed by fear, he fired his weapon. The gunshot shattered the tension among everyone present. The soldiers, spurred by adrenaline, began shooting wildly until all the Zombies lay dead on the ground. They soon realized that Zombies could indeed be killed. Those shot in the head fell lifelessly while others with severed limbs continued to writhe on the ground; even those shot in the heart crawled slowly onward. This discovery was immediately reported to the government and Military Command, quickly spreading across the nation. Before communication lines were severed, this information saved many lives.
As deaths in the city surpassed a thousand and more Zombies flooded in from outside, both local government and military faced a manpower shortage. They decided that before dealing with external threats, they must first secure their own territory. While organizing troops and armed police to eliminate incoming Zombies, they also instructed officers to strengthen defenses around military construction sites while confining any remaining Zombies within the city limits. Given that H City was an ancient capital with historical walls still standing in its core areas, some humans began awakening their Abilities. Among them were earth-type and metal-type abilities; although they were only at initial levels, this excited many people. The government quickly issued recruitment orders for these individuals to join the City Guard, offering special provisions and generous living conditions.
As conditions worsened during the apocalypse, supplies began to dwindle—water, electricity, gas ceased; factories shut down; schools closed; businesses halted; currency became worthless; basic survival became increasingly problematic. Only those with Abilities within the City Guard maintained relatively decent living standards. Urban dwellers without land or awakened abilities viewed joining the City Guard as an honor—a topic for another time.
After completing defensive works at city gates, local authorities dealt with confined Zombies. Due to their large numbers, they were all concentrated in a large stadium capable of housing over thirty thousand individuals. Some of these starving Zombies, unable to access fresh human flesh, became agitated and began devouring each other. Initially slow-moving like their counterparts, these powerful Zombies started differentiating; those consuming more of their kind became noticeably faster and more agile—they learned to dodge attacks. At first, many would sneak out at night to visit mutated relatives beyond the fences; some returned home after being scratched without revealing what had happened—resulting in entire buildings becoming nests for new Zombies. Others unable to bear witnessing their loved ones suffer secretly killed humans to feed them; within chaotic residential areas, several disappearances went unnoticed until military surveillance discovered dismembered limbs inside the stadium.
With order breaking down in the city, for easier management purposes, H Base divided it into several districts: one area for former government officials and military personnel's residential quarters; Zone Two for members of the City Guard and free-willed Ability users; Three Districts for wealthy merchants, middle-class citizens, and skilled craftsmen without abilities; Zone Four for ordinary civilians; and finally,Zone Five, which separated from original Zone Four, primarily housing vulnerable populations such as elderly or disabled individuals.
Faced with an ever-increasing number of Zombies and dwindling combat effectiveness among troops, local authorities initiated a plan for clearing out these creatures. Initially humane in approach—only targeting mutated Zombies—those unwilling to cooperate faced expulsion from the city. However, as more infections arose faster than they could be cleared away, policies grew stricter: “Better to mistakenly kill one hundred than let one escape.” Suspected carriers were also executed on sight while rewards were offered for reporting cases leading to verified kills—promising food and shelter as compensation. This led to further chaos within city limits as families unwilling to separate from infected relatives confronted armed soldiers only to be bitten by their transformed kin behind them—both met fatal ends together. Some even ran into streets dragging members of the City Guard or military personnel into their homes only to execute their soon-to-be-turned parents or spouses one by one. Others tenderly kissed infected lovers before taking their own lives together.
Some took advantage of this turmoil for personal vendettas—falsely accusing others of being infected due merely to minor injuries while soldiers either accepted bribes or sought scapegoats for failures in duty—reporting anyone without verification led to indiscriminate shootings resulting in numerous innocent deaths while many fled outside city limits. At this juncture,City Guard Vice Captain Qin Zhi Han stepped forward appealing to gradually controlling figures like Colonel Jiang and Colonel Zhu, outlining pros and cons of current situations leading them both towards corrective measures.
This internal cleansing plan resulted in tens of thousands dead among residents while over a hundred thousand fled core areas into outer cities. Soldiers too began turning into Zombies, resulting in over four thousand casualties among ranks—a significant loss of manpower ensued. Authorities ordered selection of outstanding members from among able-bodied individuals within the City Guard into military ranks as reinforcements—among them was also Qin Zhi Han. Gradually soldiers awakened their own abilities aligning closely with those from within the ranks of City Guard .
After sealing off borders completely within city limits led all remaining internal threats eradicated—the outer city's inhabitants either continued northward or relocated towards satellite towns surrounding H City —initially avoiding contact but eventually some exiles awakened abilities themselves prompting authorities back in H City extending olive branches promising re-entry into inner city life for those possessing abilities. Ultimately though exile bases rejected such proposals agreeing instead upon mutual support agreements safeguarding each other’s territories against future threats.
Following several sieges by waves upon waves of relentless Zombies along came an unprecedented calamity known as Dark Day freezing devastation leading population numbers plummeting below one million across H City .
Among this dwindling population residing predominantly within Zone Four and Zone Five where numbers surged highest—each district subdivided into grids housing three or four thousand individuals apiece—the most rapid mutations occurred among elderly or disabled residents within Zone Five this time exhibiting enhanced combat capabilities nearing initial level ability users while appearing en masse triggering panic across other districts.
At this moment, nearly ten thousand Zombies had gathered outside the city, each possessing at least first-level basic strength. Such a powerful horde of Zombies posed the greatest challenge that H Base had faced since the apocalypse.
Inside the city, there were only about three thousand Ability User Soldiers, most of whom ranged from first-level basic to second-level intermediate. The regular soldiers, even after the expansion, numbered just over thirty thousand.
The atmosphere in the conference room was tense, as everyone understood that this was a battle for survival.
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