Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

”Stay back. Let me go in first... What is that weird crying sound?”

I wanted to go in with him, but Dad’s firm look made me fall back and wait outside. Slowly, he stepped one foot into the store, then another.

Next thing I knew, he was walking down the aisles with no problem.

”Huh, where is that weird crying sound. Shit!”

Within the blink of an eye, Dad’s machete was raised into the air as a long-haired woman had its sharp claw aimed right at his neck.

I immediately rushed in with my metal pipe, aiming it right at the woman’s head. But to my shock, it barely made a dent.

The metal pipe had somehow been bent 90 degrees as the long-haired woman turned her head towards me.

Its red eyes sent a chill down my spine as it lunged towards me before I had time to react at all.

”Fuck!”

I could feel a sharp tear on my chest as its claw scratched me. But before it could go any deeper, blood immediately spewed all over my face.

”Zhaobin, are you alright?” Dad worryingly asked as he shoved some of the weight off my body.

”I-I don’t know.”

As I wiped the blood off my eyes, I could see a long-haired woman’s head on the side, completely decapitated from its body.

Looking down, however, I could see a clear-cut wound right on my chest—almost the same cut as the one back in the village.

”Dad, am I going to die?” I nervously asked, my mind realizing the long-haired woman was a zombie.

”No, you’re going to live. You are not going to die here.”

Dad tried to comfort me as he ripped his shirt apart and tried to stop the bleeding, but it barely stopped it at all.

”Ahem, it’s fine, Dad... Please take care of Jieqiong. Tell her I love her.”

”No! not like this! Stay with me!”

As footsteps rushed into the store, my consciousness faded.

---

When I woke up and opened my eyes, I thought I was dead based on the white ceiling above me.

But as I turned my eyes to the sides, I was still fully alive. I somehow ended up on a bed in some sort of room.

Looking further down, I could see a ton of bloody bandages on the floor, with freshly applied bandages right on my chest.

”I’m still alive?” I thought to myself, unable to believe I somehow didn’t turn into a zombie.

Slowly, I got up from the bed. Walking over to the door, turning the handle. To my surprise, a mysterious man in a red and white apron was right outside.

”You’re finally awake... Want some water?”

I immediately asked him where my parent were. Only to be told they were in a safe area for now.

”Here, have a seat. I know you have a lot of questions. I have plenty of time to answer them.”

I asked him why I’m still alive, and he chuckled a little.

”Why do you think my white apron looks so red? Isn’t it obvious I’m a doctor?”

I quickly shook my head. The man before me didn’t look like a doctor at all. More like a chef, considering the hat he wore.

”Okay, maybe I don’t look like a doctor. But I was the one who sewed up your wound and bandaged you.”

When I thanked him and asked him how I hadn’t turned into a zombie, I finally got an answer that cleared all the confusion.

”You got attacked by a mutant. They don’t infect humans... You can think of them as monsters that only kill humans for fun.”

I asked him what mutant I faced and what other mutants are out there, only to get a small chuckle again.

”You got attacked by a witch... And there are too many kinds of mutants to count. Just remember, any zombie that doesn’t act like a zombie is probably a mutant.”

I slowly nodded as he handed me a bottle of water, which I drank in a few seconds before putting down an empty one.

”Let’s talk about who I am and where we are at... You see this thing?”

As soon as the mysterious man pulled out a pistol from his drawer, my eyes were in shock.

”I’m not just a doctor. But also a soldier. We happened to drive by you guys and decided to bring you all back into our base.”

I immediately got up and bowed down in gratitude, only to be stopped by the doctor as he signaled me to sit back down.

”Now that you’re all fine now. I’m going to let you go... But not before I give you this rulebook.”

The doctor paused for a second, pulling out a small booklet from his apron before putting it into my hand.

”Inside it are some of the basic rules. Just remember, always follow a soldier’s order and don’t act stupid.”

With a short pad on the back, I was sent straight out of the room. What I saw next stunned me.

There were rows upon rows of tents, all filled with people sitting next to them, with boredom on full display.

Kids were running through the gaps of the tent, most of them looking a little on the malnourished side.

In the distance was a massive wall. It was so tall that it almost felt like a skyscraper, blocking the sunlight from reaching in. If it weren’t for the blue sky above, I would have assumed myself to be in some sort of air raid shelter.

Soon, like a pond fish being dropped into the ocean, I instantly felt lost. I had nowhere to go and didn’t know where my parent were.

I started walking down the narrow path ahead of me, going through all the tents as more and more people appeared, all sitting in front of their tents with some items to sell.

From cash to diamond rings to expensive watches, the conversation nearby indicated that all of them wanted food in exchange.

After walking through the crowds of people, I finally encountered something a little different.

It was a bunch of police officers standing by a building that had the label ’water’ at the very top.

”Can I have some water?” I asked, feeling my mouth a little dry.

”Your ID?” The police officer on the left asked.

I quickly reached into my pockets, only to realize I had lost my wallet long ago, back when the outbreak started.

”You’re new here, right?” The police officer on the right questioned.

I told them I was, and he told me to head west for a new ID first. I thanked the two of them and began heading in that direction.

Walking down the path, I could instantly feel the surroundings beginning to change. The tent city slowly disappeared.

In its place was a paved road, with grass and even trees alongside it. There were even soldiers armed with guns patrolling the road.

After walking for a bit, I saw a person who looked extremely malnourished trying to run down the paved road, only to be beaten by a soldier with batons.

I was a little scared by it. But seeing all the soldiers ignoring me, I continued down the path until I finally reached a booth with the label ’civic station’

A middle-aged woman was sitting inside the booth, her face heavily covered in makeup as if she were trying to hide her wrinkles.

”What do you want?’ The woman asked, her eyes still focused on the phone inside her hand.

I told her I came here to get a new ID. This time, she finally turned her head up to look at me.

She instantly flinched a little as if she was surprised to see me all bandaged up, but quickly returned to normal as she handed me a piece of paper for me to fill out.

It was just asking for my basic information, like name, age, and gender.

After filling it out, she typed something into a computer. Next thing I knew, a plastic card filled with my information was now in my hand.

”You should probably read the booklet before you do anything else. Goodbye.”

This time, I listened to the advice. I headed back to the tent area before finding a shaded area to have a little read of the booklet.

The first page was a little map of Henan, with a little red dot at Pingdingshan as if that was the location I was currently in.

Next were the actual rules. Most of which were just basic common sense, like no fighting other people and no stealing.

It also contained provisions such as the water limit, food limit, and basic necessity limits, as well as a list of job opportunities.

However, as I got closer and closer to the end, I was stunned by the single line on the very last page.

All men ages 16 to 40 had to report to the army office to be drafted.

No exception.