VACCINE, NOT MEDICINE

The meeting room was spacious and modern. It was dominated by the color white except for the black chairs. A giant screen faced a rectangular table, and the people sat on the chairs surrounding the table.

Nine people were present in the room, and six empty chairs were not occupied by anyone because not everyone could attend such an important meeting.

The one sitting at the head of the table was none other than the leader of the East Block, Marc Bosche, and it was clear that he would be the one leading today's meeting.

"Before we begin today's meeting, I would like to thank everyone present in this room today. There is the director of the Dawn Virus Research Center, the leader of the Security Bureau, the head of the Food Supply Department, the head of the Command Center, the head of Home Affairs Development, the head of the Financial Department, the commander of the Fortress Defense, and also the senior researcher of the Dawn Virus Research Center and the former director of HAZ Pharmaceutical," the leader of the East Block began the meeting, and the people mentioned nodded politely to him.

After seeing the response, he continued, "The reason behind our meeting today is because Mr. Horan, one of the senior researchers at the Dawn Virus Research Center, reported to me briefly that he has found a cure for those infected with the Dawn virus. I would like to hear a full report from you, Mr. Horan."

Damian Horan sat to Marc's left, and he nodded politely to the leader before he began to explain, "For the past twenty years, I have been researching the Dawn Virus both when I was the director of HAZ Pharmaceutical and after the company merged under the Dawn Virus Research Center. From the research I conducted, it was discovered that the virus carried by the meteor caused human DNA to mutate, and that was the reason why humans could turn into zombies. DNA mutations can not be reversed, but I managed to find a formula to normalize the DNA structure. I will show you an illustration of it, sir."

An operator was sitting at another table next to the large screen in the meeting room, and after the person received a nod from the senior researcher, he clicked something on the monitor in front of him, and the large screen began to show an illustration of how DNA could mutate due to the Dawn Virus. The illustration then showed how a human turned into a zombie due to the mutation, but then the illustration once again showed the person's mutated DNA.

Something was injected into the person's body, and it immediately coated the DNA. Some parts of the DNA that were previously affected by the Dawn Virus gradually returned to normal because of the injected formula, and several people in the meeting room looked amazed at the illustration.

"So, the formula can turn a zombie back into a normal human?" Marc immediately asked Damian after the large screen stopped showing the illustration.

Damian had turned his gaze away from the screen and focused his eyes on the leader, but he did not immediately answer the question. Instead, he seemed to be thinking about something before pointing at the screen and explaining, "Just like the illustration shows, some parts of the DNA did return to normal, but unfortunately, the virus didn't only affect the DNA but also the brain, and the formula couldn't do anything to the infected brain."

"What do you mean, Mr. Horan? Why did you say that the formula couldn't do anything to the infected brain?" It was the head of the Security Bureau who questioned the senior researcher.

The tall and burly man was named Vince Schuven, and he looked completely confused after hearing the researcher's explanation.

For a moment, the researcher hesitated before finally opening his mouth to answer, "That means that zombies can not completely return to normal after being injected with the formula, Mr. Schuven. In fact, the formula only returns the skin and nails to normal, but the other characteristics of zombies will remain."

The people who had previously looked amazed after seeing the illustration suddenly looked disappointed, and Vince frowned before asking again, "Then, what's the use of the formula, Mr. Horan? Only the skin and nails will return to normal, but the consciousness and eyes will remain the same. And what about the virus in the zombie's body? Will the virus die and not spread to other humans if bitten?"

"..." Damian Horan seemed silenced by Vince's question, and he no longer looked confident, just like when he explained the illustration that was shown on the big screen.

"I admit that the formula is still not perfect, Mr. Schuven," instead of Damian, it was Shavia who replied to Vince's question. "But at least we now have a new hope to return the zombies to normal humans. Maybe we can even try to inject the formula into the zombies outside the fortress to see the effect of it."

"Are we going to risk ourselves just to inject that formula?" This time, it was the commander of the Fortress Defense who spoke up. "Maybe you don't know the real situation out there because you work in this comfortable place every day, but the situation in the fortress is like a battlefield. Countless zombies are outside our fortress, and they slowly but surely become more ferocious because they aren't allowed to have something in their mouths. How are we going to inject the formula into their body?"

It was Tom Burther who had just spoken up, and Shavia fell silent after hearing his question.

"I agree with Commander Burther that it's too risky to try injecting the formula into the zombies outside the fortress," Vince Schuven once again spoke up while looking at the woman. "You and your men have been researching the Dawn virus for years, so you surely know how dangerous it is. If the virus enters the body of a physically weak human, that person will instantly die, and they will become food for those zombies. However, if the human is physically strong, they will transform into a zombie because of the infection, and they will become strong opponent for humans. All we need now is a vaccine, not a medicine."