Chapter 157

Chapter 157: Infection

After clearing out the zombies wandering near the gas station and those in the restroom, Gu Ning and Xia Yu checked again to ensure nothing was missed before settling down in the restroom.

The restroom had a large counter, with all the shelves behind it emptied. The drawers contained nothing but RMB, and finally, Xia Yu found a pack of beef jerky on the floor, which brought her great joy.

“Finally, some gain today,” Xia Yu said, sitting on the floor with a hint of finding joy in hardship, and asked Gu Ning, “Want some?”

“No, thanks,” Gu Ning replied, walking to the door and looking out through the glass window. Outside was eerily quiet, with only a zombie trapped in the greenery across the street pacing back and forth. Gu Ning listened intently for a while but heard no sound of vehicles.

“Gu Ning, don’t worry, wait a bit longer. Captain Ji will be fine,” Xia Yu comforted while chewing on the beef jerky. “If this were a novel, someone like Captain Ji would be the standard male lead. Have you ever seen a protagonist die so early?”

Gu Ning was stunned by this bizarre logic, but somehow, her anxious and restless emotions gradually calmed down because of these inexplicable words.

The waiting time was excruciating. Gu Ning checked her watch repeatedly, never having felt time pass so slowly.

The restroom was quiet, with only the occasional sound of Xia Yu chewing beef jerky.

As time dragged on, even the initially relaxed Xia Yu began to feel uneasy: “Captain Ji told me to wait at the gas station for an hour after picking you up. If he hasn’t returned by then, we must go back. It’s already been over an hour…”

Gu Ning suddenly stood up from the floor.

Xia Yu quickly followed suit: “Are we going back now?”

Gu Ning said, “I’m going to find him.”

Xia Yu was startled, then resolutely said, “Alright, I’ll go with you!”

“No. I need you to do me a favor,” Gu Ning told her. “I want you to stay here. Maybe Ji Jiuzhe is just delayed. If he returns and doesn’t find us, he might go back to look for us. You stay here and wait. Whether I find Ji Jiuzhe or not, I’ll be back within two hours.” She paused, then added, “If I don’t return in two hours, then you don’t need to wait anymore.”

“We can leave a message for Captain Ji, and then I can go with you!” Xia Yu suggested.

“What if he doesn’t see our message?” Gu Ning replied. In fact, she didn’t want Xia Yu to come along. Although Xia Yu was much stronger than the average person, she wasn’t at Gu Ning’s level. If Xia Yu got into danger, Gu Ning couldn’t just ignore her, which would only hold her back.

Xia Yu seemed to realize something, her mood dampened as she handed the car keys to Gu Ning: “Alright then. Be careful on your way. I’ll wait here for you to return.”

Gu Ning took the keys and said, “Thank you.” Then she slung the backpack filled with bullets over her shoulder and stepped out into the night.

The mutated wolf had destroyed many buildings and greenery in its rage. To track Ji Jiuzhe’s trail, Gu Ning had to abandon the car and proceed on foot. To hide her tracks, she killed a zombie, dragged its body into a clothing store, closed the glass door, and picked out a long coat inside. She then began dismembering the zombie’s body. It was Gu Ning’s first time doing such a thing, and nausea was inevitable. When she opened the stomach, the intestines and internal organs emitted an unbearable stench. Gu Ning wrapped her hands in plastic bags but still couldn’t bring herself to look directly at the gruesome scene. She turned her face away, reached inside, stirred around, and scooped out the internal organs. Holding her breath, she smeared them all over her body. For the hard-to-reach areas on her back, she mixed blood with the organs and minced meat, piled it on the ground, and then lay down to smear it on her back. Except for her neck and above, her entire body was covered. The suffocating stench rushed up her nostrils, forcing Gu Ning to tie a scarf around her mouth. Then she walked out of the store.

Several zombies, attracted by the sound of the car, had gathered outside, aimlessly wandering around. When Gu Ning stepped out, the noise from the glass door drew the nearest zombie towards her. Gu Ning didn’t act, watching as the zombie approached. She quietly sidestepped, and the zombie passed right by her, completely oblivious to the human standing there.

Yi Shaoqing’s idea really works, Gu Ning thought.

Then she quickly darted between two zombies and headed in the direction she had previously determined. Gu Ning was fast and had strong endurance. She ran swiftly through the night in heavy clothing, reeking of foul odor, looking like an evolved zombie chasing prey.

The number of zombies on the road increased, but they all ignored Gu Ning, mistaking her for one of their own. Although Gu Ning knew the stench masked her scent, walking among the zombies still made her heart race. Even when zombies walked straight towards her, their rotting, horrifying, and disgusting faces coming close were hard to bear.

This area seemed to have an unusually high number of zombies. Before she knew it, more and more zombies surrounded Gu Ning. She felt like she had stumbled into a zombie nest, almost shoulder to shoulder with them. When Gu Ning wanted to retreat, she found herself completely surrounded, with the zombie horde pushing forward from behind. Gu Ning was forced to move forward with the horde, with zombies behind her only a few centimeters away! The guttural growls sounded as if they were right next to her ear…

“Grr… grr… grr…” The zombie behind her suddenly made a few urgent growls, its foul-smelling body pressing against Gu Ning, its head moving closer to her neck—

The hair on the back of Gu Ning’s neck stood on end, her heart pounding in her throat. She swallowed hard and silently raised her collar to cover her neck, but it seemed useless. The zombie remained pressed against her, its growls growing more urgent—Gu Ning tightened her grip on the knife, just as the zombie opened its mouth and she raised her knife! Suddenly, everything went dark as a piece of clothing fell from above, covering her head and hiding her exposed face. She almost screamed, about to move, when a hand reached out from the side and pulled her forward, leading her away.

The zombie opened its mouth in confusion, not knowing what had happened.

“Who?” Gu Ning was about to lift the clothing off her head when it was pressed down again.

“Don’t move,” a familiar voice said. “It’s me.”

This voice… the sudden surprise stunned Gu Ning, making her usually sharp senses miss the oddness in Ji Jiuzhe’s voice. She reflexively grabbed a corner of Ji Jiuzhe’s clothes, feeling a sticky texture—probably from using the same method as her. But Gu Ning didn’t let go, instead clutching the fabric tightly. The fear and tension she felt earlier seemed to dissipate instantly, replaced by an indescribable feeling filling her heart. For some reason, at this moment, she really wanted to cry.

After a moment of silence, Ji Jiuzhe asked, “Why are you here?”

Gu Ning replied, “I came back to find you.”

Ji Jiuzhe remained silent, not asking for the reason. After a while, he said, “You shouldn’t have come back.”

If I hadn’t come back, how could I have found you? Gu Ning thought. But she said nothing, letting her silence speak for her.

Gu Ning tightly held onto Ji Jiuzhe’s clothes. Covered by the clothing, her vision was pitch black, but holding onto this piece of fabric made her feel unafraid, even surrounded by zombies. This was the third time he had appeared by her side in her most dire moments. The first time, he pulled her into a narrow corner, saving her from a mutated zombie. The second time was at the fallen Zhongnan Base. And now, here. It seemed that every time she was in danger, he would appear at the most critical moment to rescue her.

“How do we escape?” Gu Ning whispered. Almost as soon as she spoke, a commotion erupted ahead, followed by an angry wolf howl not far away! Gu Ning’s pupils constricted sharply! A chill shot up from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, making her feel completely cold, so much so that she didn’t notice the arm holding her stiffen slightly.

Gu Ning lifted the clothing, revealing her eyes, and saw a mutated wolf, taller than an adult, charging through the zombie horde towards them!

“Go!” Ji Jiuzhe grabbed Gu Ning’s hand and pushed through the crowd, but with at least a thousand zombies packed together, moving was incredibly difficult.

“It’s coming!” Gu Ning exclaimed in a low voice, instinctively looking up at Ji Jiuzhe. Her pupils shrank to pinpoints, her mouth slightly open in shock as she stared at Ji Jiuzhe’s face. She had never been so scared, her voice trembling uncontrollably: “Ji Jiuzhe…”

Gu Ning finally understood why he hadn’t let her lift the clothing.

Ji Jiuzhe’s usually cold face now had a deathly gray hue. On his otherwise handsome right cheek, a blackened, ugly wound stretched from the corner of his eye to his jaw. When he looked at her, tiny red lines swam in the depths of his deep, pool-like eyes… Ji Jiuzhe twitched the corner of his mouth, the wound moving with it, and said, “You shouldn’t have come back.”

The clothing covering her head slipped off, and Gu Ning stared up at Ji Jiuzhe in stunned silence. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but her throat felt clogged with cotton, making it impossible to speak. The discomfort made her want to cry. She blinked, and tears unexpectedly welled up in her reddened eyes, falling like broken strings of beads…

Ji Jiuzhe… was infected.