Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

As Xiaoyun drove out of Qingyuan’s road and back onto the highway, he suddenly remembered something.

”Anna, why are you here in Qingyuan? Shouldn’t you be at Foshan?”

”I was there yesterday. But then one of the workers I hired told me how there’s a very advanced CNC machine in a storage room near Qingyuan.”

”I see...”

With fewer and fewer potholes on the road, Anna could finally relax in the air conditioner as she let go of the passenger handle.

”Anyway, why are you here? How come you are coming from the north?” Anna questioned back.

”I was off to Changsha to make a deal.”

”How well did it go?”

”Waste of time.”

”That’s a shame... What kind of deal is it?”

”Asking them to help us with transporting the refugees in a more orderly fashion... But all they want is to rob us in broad daylight.”

Seeing the hint of anger on Xiaoyun’s face, Anna was a little surprised.

”Really? They really try to rob us?”

”Yeah. They literally provided nothing while we’re stuck with all the dirty work with every step of the transitions.”

”Oh.”

”Ahem, where do you want to go? I can drive you there.” Xiaoyun asked, wanting to shift the topic away from the deal failure.

”Just bring me home. I haven’t had a proper sleep for the past two days.”

As Anna lifted her hand into the air and let out a loud yawn, Xiaoyun couldn’t help but take a quick peek at the corner of his eyes.

”It’s so pale...”

”What’s so pale?”

”T-The truck driver behind us. His face looks kinda pale. You sure you don’t want to go back to your factory to check on your drivers?”

”Nah, it’s fine. His face is always pale like that. That guy barely goes out in the sun at all... You know, half of my engineering team is just a bunch of geeks.”

”I can see that... Ahem, I almost forgot to ask, what’s the CNC machine for?” Xiaoyun curiously asked as he shifted his attention back to the road.

”To make your guns, duh. It’s the magical tools that every machinist needs if they want to make something.”

”Damn, that thing is important then... But how do we make our guns currently?”

”Drilling mills, stamping machines, and by the power of the hands. At least that’s what those three Russians used to make their AKM.”

”I see... So you’re trying to compete with them using that machine?”

”Bingo! Houqin had requested me to make a gun that’s more accurate and more powerful than the AKM currently.”

Xiaoyun nodded his head slightly, his mind remembering the old report that stated a stronger caliber was needed to kill zombies.

”The only issue I have right now is that increasing caliber just fucks up with the current ammo system we have already standardized.

Not to mention how much it affects accuracy and the recoils if I added even higher amounts of Propellant in the ammo.”

”How are you going to solve that?” Xiaoyun curiously asked.

”Simple. If I can’t tackle the ammo, I can tackle the gun design. There are endless ways to make a gun stronger, like making a barrel longer.”

”Mhm...”

”I already have a solution in mind. I’m going to recreate the HK417. It’s going to shock those three who are still living off their past’s gain.”

Hearing Anna saying the conversation in almost perfect Mandarin, Xiaoyun suddenly felt a little proud inside.

”Your Chinese has gotten a lot better, Anna.”

”Thanks...”

As her face blushed a little, Xiaoyun’s mind had already moved on as he suddenly realized a flaw in her plan.

”Wait, Anna, isn’t that rifle going to be super expensive? There’s no way Houqin is going to approve your idea.”

”I know. The rifle isn’t going to be used mainstream. It’s to fight the elite forces markets that Houqin had requested.”

”Elite forces market?”

Seeing Xiaoyun looking all confused as if he couldn’t understand what she was talking about, Anna was a little surprised.

”You don’t know about the special forces you have?” Anna questioned.

”What special forces? Lingang, when did we have special forces?” Xiaoyun asked as he turned his head to Lingang, sitting in the back.

”Um... I don’t recall having special forces in the army. Isn’t everyone using the same standard-issued rifles?” Lingang responded.

With both Xiaoyun and Lingang appearing to argue against it, Anna started to realize something was off.

”How could the two of you not know that? Wait, wait, drive towards Houqin’s place. I need to ask her this myself.”

---

After half an hour of driving, Xiaoyun finally made it back to Luoping, parking his car at the logistics office as the three of them exited the car.

”You are all dismissed and free to go. Thank you for your service over the past two days.” Xiaoyun ordered as the ten armored unit exited their cars.

”No problem, sir!”

With the soldiers dispersing, the three of them began walking towards Houqin’s office. But to their surprise, they ran into her right in the entrance.

”Good afternoon, Miss Anna... Oh, and good afternoon, Commander Xiaoyun and Colonel Lingang.”

”Houqin, I need you to clarify something. Sorry to interrupt your break time.” Anna urgently questioned.

”No problem. Let’s talk in my office.”

Inside her office, Anna took the seat across from Houqin and immediately raised her question.

”Houqin. Xiaoyun and Lingang told me earlier that there are no plans for special forces. But you just told me last week that you want a better gun for the special forces.”

”I did say that... Oh, I almost forgot to show this to you, Commander.”

Houqin quickly took out a piece of paper from her desk drawer before handing it over to Xiaoyun.

”General Yiming had requested to form a special Regiment within his unit to deal with the increasing mutant activity within Dongguan.

I thought this wasn’t too big of a deal, so I forgot to show you this last week.” Houqin explained as he finished reading the paper.

”Hm... That’s fine. Looks like all of the confusion is cleared then.” Xiaoyun murmured, his face nodding in agreement.

”Scared for no reason.”

Anna grumpily whispered, her mind had almost believed that she had just lost a massive government contract.

”Sorry about that.” Houqin apologized, realizing the misunderstanding she had caused between the two of them.

”It’s fine. I’m going back home for my weekend break. See you next week.”

As Anna left the room, Xiaoyun quickly shifted his attention back to Houqin with a question.

”Is there any news or report I need to catch up on?”

”Han Bang has temporarily retreated from Jiangmen city and pulled out of the countryside completely back to Foshan.”

Houqin stated as she turned her monitor over, showing pages and pages of soldiers’ names with a red cross over their active duty status.

”Retreated? Why are they all crossed out?” Xiaoyun question.

Both Lingang and Xiaoyun were shocked. Their mind was still based on Han Bang’s last report, which went relatively fine.

”Chikungunya virus infection outbreak after the flood subsided. Over a thousand soldiers had been hospitalized in Foshan’s hospital right now.”

”Shit”

As Lingang commented in shock, Xiaoyun had already internally accepted Han Bang’s decision to retreat from Jiangmen.

”Are the soldiers okay?”

”They are fine. Most of them just have a fever. No one had died from it so far... But a few of them remained in critical condition.”

”Have preventative measures been taken yet?”

Houqin nodded her head before clicking on a file on the computer, which instantly pulled up an entire spreadsheet about the virus.

”We already employed mosquito bed nets for the soldiers to sleep in... And for civilian prevention, you’ll need to talk to Miss Yuqi.”

As the room fell into a silence, Xiaoyun’s eyes were rapidly reading through the entire spreadsheet on the screen.

The first part about the virus was what Houqin had already mentioned. The soldier had faced various kinds of symptoms, including fever, rash, and joint pain.

The second fact unforunately perfectly aligned with Han Bang’s recent report of flooding within Jiangmen. Dead water puddles are a perfect hotbed for these virus-carrying mosquitoes to spread and lay their eggs.

A single bite from those mosquitoes was enough to incapacitate a person for days or even weeks, with no cures or vaccines available.

The only way to fight it was to eliminate the mosquito itself with chemicals and take preventative measures, such as removing the excess water puddles.

”Tell me if you need anything to help with the soldier’s speedy recovery... Is there anything else I need to know about?”

Houqin nodded her head as she went back into her desk drawer before taking out a printed image.

As she handed the printed image over, Xiaoyun and Lingang were both stunned once again.

It was a grey outline right in the distance of an ocean—a massive ship that was way bigger than anyone had ever witnessed.

”The navy might still be out there.”