Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

”Great, Number One Program sounds good, Sister Cheng Xu is awesome!”

”This name is really nice, it feels so right, Brother Su, you’re impressive.”

”Hey, I contributed too, you guys are just sucking up, aren’t you?”

Wu Lue felt a bit left out as everyone praised Zhang Su, so he clamored for recognition.

”That’s right, the main inspiration for this name came from Luezi!” Zhang Su affirmed Wu Lue’s contribution, then turned to the female zombie: ”From now on, you’ll be called Number One Program, Cheng Xu, Sister Cheng Xu, all these refer to you. Understand?”

”Aow aow!”

Sister Cheng Xu eagerly acknowledged her new identity, nodding repeatedly.

”In her current state... does she retain memories from before?”

Chen Hanzhou suddenly asked.

Zhang Su initially planned to ask about Dragon Head Camp after bringing Number One Program back, but since Chen Hanzhou asked, he went ahead: ”Do you have any memories from before you turned into a zombie?”

Number One Program’s gray eyes stared blankly, her stiff neck shook slightly, then she pointed to her head.

”It seems like... she probably doesn’t remember anything.”

Zhang Su shrugged, considering her current state a miracle among miracles, accepting the loss of memory.

”Hold on, Brother Su, I’ve found a problem!”

Chen Hanzhou suddenly spoke up.

”What is it?”

”Didn’t you notice, the zombies in the carriage don’t seem to be enhanced!”

Chen Hanzhou pointed at the window.

His words made everyone ponder.

Zhang Su contemplated for a moment and nodded: ”Judging from their attack behavior, they do resemble the zombies from the early outbreak, unless... it’s because they weren’t exposed to the rain, which doesn’t make sense because even the zombies in the skyscrapers got enhanced...”

”The high-speed train carriage is too well-sealed, right? No air circulation, blocking the enhancement rain’s effect?”

”No, no, no, it’s just an illusion that they’re not enhanced.”

Wu Lue had somehow gone to another carriage, returned with a smug look, seemingly having figured something out, and wanted to reclaim his lost face.

Everyone turned to him, waiting for him to continue.

”I just checked, there are big ones in Carriage Six.”

”Indeed!” Guo Dachao returned from Carriage Four, shrugging: ”There are two in Carriage Four too.”

”Big ones... alright.”

Chen Hanzhou shrugged helplessly.

Big ones are special zombies that appeared after the most recent rainfall; since there are big ones, these zombies must have undergone enhancement. Their previous attacks and actions didn’t show frenzy, suggesting various reasons.

”Anyway, Sister Cheng Xu can control them, whether enhanced or not, fully control them, and clearing the carriage becomes easy for us!”

Pang Dakun pointed to the zombies quarreling earlier, joyfully announcing.

”Hmm...”

Zhang Su pursed his lips and said: ”Controlling zombies to attack each other is indeed slow, training might improve it, but there’s no time for practice now, let me ask.”

Zhang Su looked at Number One Program: ”I noticed controlling zombies to attack others is difficult for you, but is soothing them to not attack us easier?”

”Aow!”

Sister Cheng Xu nodded, gesturing towards the carriage with her finger still near her head.

”You mean... you can soothe the zombies in one carriage?”

”Aow!”

Sister Cheng Xu nodded.

”So confident? Good!”

Zhang Su nodded, then addressed the group: ”Let’s assist Cheng Xu with an experiment, Teacher Yu, is it possible to explosively breach a door with minimal power?”

”I’ll try my best!”

Yu Qing agreed promptly and made an ”OK” gesture, assuring it was feasible.

”I observed earlier, the doors connecting this carriage are locked, zombies from other carriages can’t come over. First, let Cheng Xu soothe the zombies in Carriage Five, then Teacher Yu will breach the door. If the zombies don’t react, we enter and finish them off!

If the breach breaks the zombies’ control, don’t panic, the door is not wide. Let them come one by one, and kill them all. I counted, there are only about thirty heads. Even with the other carriage, there’s no pressure. Does everyone understand?”

”Understood!”

Everyone responded in unison.

”Very good.”

Zhang Su pulled out a steel rod from his left waist and instructed Sister Cheng Xu: ”You just stay here to soothe the zombies in the carriage, ignore what we’re busy with here, nothing will harm you, understand?”

This time, Sister Cheng Xu didn’t make a sound; she imitated Yu Qing’s oddly twisted ”OK” hand gesture.

”Wow, Sister Cheng Xu is hilarious...”

”Yeah, didn’t expect to gain such a companion on this journey.”

”Hope she can keep this state, she’s really amusing.”

Everyone readily accepted Number One Program; not only did she show no aggression, but she also exhibited a sad yet unique sense of humor, making her feel inexplicably endearing.

While others had time to chat casually, Yu Qing didn’t. She took out C4 brought back by Zhang Su from Lego Mall, cutting and preparing explosives as needed.

Lately, Yu Qing had been busy on the mountain; crafting explosives was one task, researching their power also became a subject. Indeed, explosions are an art, molecular motions are enchanting, a fraction more or less could be awkward!

Her research partner on explosive artistry was Mo Qianlan, the youngest on Celestial Horse Island.

Without making everyone wait long, Yu Qing, under Pan Guoliang’s guidance, adhered the explosives, pressed the remote button, boom boom boom...

A series of intense explosions erupted, dust clouds swirling up, fainter than the noise of zombies slamming against the window.

Clang!

The door fell, louder than the explosion itself.

”Attention!”

Everyone braced, adopting defensive postures, like countless zombies would pour through the door the next moment.

However, the actual scenario was quite pleasant; zombies under Number One Program’s soothing stood quietly. Only two zombies near the door showed slight resistance but quickly returned to calm.

”No problem, program initiated, stable, very well done!”

Zhang Su initially lavished praises, then said: ”Keep it up, we’re going in to clear these zombies!”

Number One Program didn’t respond. Her neck trembled slightly, eyes fixed on the window, knowing if she shifted her gaze, the zombies inside would regain freedom.

”Come on, follow me!”

Zhang Su didn’t call everyone into the carriage; it was narrow inside, no need for twenty-plus people to join. He casually picked five or six.

He was the first at the door, sniffing; a faint stench entered his nostrils, reminiscent of the early outbreak days, soon gone after the big freeze. He gestured for everyone to wear masks.

Not fearing the virus, but to prevent ’chemical attacks’ causing nausea, potentially startling zombies and causing trouble.

Blood long dried on the ground had crusted over, roughened surfaces increased friction between shoe soles and the ground, stepping on it involuntarily conjured up desperate images from inside that carriage, slightly heavy hearted.

In the aisle, Zhang Su glanced toward Carriage Four, most zombies were awake, in a daze, circling slowly. Numbers suggested some hadn’t awakened.

”We’re just walking in?”

Zheng Xinyu followed Zhang Su, softly asking as she peeked into the carriage, those zombies standing between seats felt eerily peculiar.

”What else?”

”Alright, first time staking out, feels a bit uncomfortable...” Zheng Xinyu gripped the steel rod tightly, her gloves creaking.

”Watch your step, let’s go!”

Zhang Su signaled towards Carriage Five, leading the group, followed by Zheng Xinyu, Guo Dachao, Zhang Ya, Liu Tianji, and others, one by one.