Chapter20: Bob's Life-Hanging Moment

"We've arrived! We've arrived!" The soldier's voice was tinged with excitement, clearly eager to reach this place. The walls were splattered with blood, the ground littered with scattered corpses. It looked like a massacre had taken place here, leaving nothing behind. Still, he led the remaining people into the building without hesitation.

"Sarah? Are you here?" The soldier's voice was filled with a touch of desperation, calling towards the basement.

"John?" A voice from the basement responded with surprise after a few seconds.

"My God, you're still alive!" The soldier let out a breath of relief, tears streaming down his face as he rushed into Sarah's arms, embracing her tightly.

In the midst of the apocalypse, finding a loved one was like a miracle—something nearly impossible. The others stood by, feeling a sense of joy in the small reunion.

"Wow~" A child's cry rang out, innocent and helpless, like the call of a small life.

Jack and Bob exchanged a glance. Could it be… this woman is carrying someone else's child?

"How did you give birth?" The soldier looked at Sarah, his eyes full of pity.

"I gave birth in the basement," Sarah said, tears welling up. "At the time, I had prepared a lot of supplies, some food… Thankfully, we both survived." Her voice trembled as she spoke, clearly recalling the struggles she had faced. When she looked at Leo, now mutated, and at Bob, only partially mutated, she felt a jolt of fear but, as a biologist, she couldn't help but be curious. She watched them curiously, noting how calm and non-aggressive they seemed, then asked, "Are these your friends?"

"These are all my friends. They saved me from the military camp," John explained.

"Looks like you've found a new purpose in life," Lily teased with a smile.

"I promised you all that my life belongs to you," John said, slightly embarrassed.

"It's alright, it's alright." Lily quickly reassured him, "We're stronger together now. All those things we said before are off the table!"

"As a token of gratitude, just let your wife check on my friend's condition," Jack added from the side.

Sarah began drawing blood from Leo and Bob to check their health.

"I need to tell you something else," John said, his voice tense. "There are extraterrestrial beings."

"We know," Jack responded calmly, not at all surprised.

"An army of extraterrestrials—around a hundred or so," John added.

"An invasion?" Tom asked, shocked.

"It's not an invasion. They were copied by humans," John replied in a hushed voice. "With the collapse of the world, the old order is gone, and genetic cloning is no longer a taboo." He took out a photo from his pocket, showing soldiers with strange creatures by their side, creatures about the size of dogs.

"We've seen one, but how could there be so many?" Jack furrowed his brow, carefully taking the photo and inspecting it. "This one looks different from the one we saw before—this one's much smaller."

"You've seen one?" John asked, surprised.

"On a video. It was much bigger," Jack replied, pulling out a video recorder and showing the footage to John and the others.

"Could it be that they took the extraterrestrial creatures' offspring? Maybe they didn't grow properly, resulting in their strange appearance?" John mused.

"So all these are just juveniles?" Jack asked, his eyes widening.

After some more discussion, the results of the medical tests came in.

"Bob has a large amount of foreign viruses in his body, which are still active. The viruses are fighting with his cells, but they're also merging with them. From what we can see, his cells are growing stronger, and there's a good chance he'll return to his original state." Sarah explained.

"So I can get back to normal, right?" Bob asked, his voice tinged with hope.

"From what we can see, yes. The chances are very high," Sarah nodded.

"As for Leo…" She looked at Leo, her voice filled with awe. "His blood is incredible. His own cells have merged with the zombie virus and he can control it." She praised him, "People like him are usually dissected alive when discovered, just to extract their genes."

Leo, hearing this, shrank back a little and moved closer to Jack.

"I have this weird feeling," Jack suddenly said, "I think his intelligence is growing really quickly. It's like he's about to awaken a lot of abilities or wisdom."

"He might be the result of a human-zombie cell hybrid—an ultra-intelligent human, but not necessarily the perfect solution," Sarah continued. "It's obvious that as time passes, his skin is aging faster. Judging from his bone age, he's about 20, but his skin looks like someone who's 30."

Leo clung to Jack's arm, glancing at him, but Lily remained silent, her eyes following Jack.

Jack asked again, "Have you ever heard of Tony Sparrow?"

"Heard of him," Sarah replied. "He's the most wanted man in the city, and he might be the strongest human known. He could be a perfect hybrid of human and zombie, inheriting the vitality and energy of zombies, and possibly living much longer." She paused. "No one has ever seen him, though—just speculation. Some even think he might be dead, hiding somewhere. But many are still trying to find him, doing illegal experiments to replicate his genes."

"Crap!" Bob's condition suddenly worsened, completely deviating from Sarah's predictions. The zombie virus inside him began attacking his cells violently. His arms started showing more and more signs of zombification, and he began shaking uncontrollably.

"What should we do?" Jack asked urgently.

"I recommend mercy," Sarah suggested calmly. "If we put him down now, it'll ensure our own safety."

Hearing this, Jack immediately helped Bob up and began walking toward the adjacent building. "I'll keep an eye on him. If it gets too bad, I'll do it myself. You all take care of yourselves." Without looking back, he walked away.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked nervously. He didn't know what to do, so he pulled out the black stone he had found earlier. "Bob, do you want to try this stone? I suspect it might be able to help with your situation. A desperate measure, but it's worth a shot."

Bob, trembling, reached out for the black stone. As soon as his fingers touched it, his arm began to wither rapidly. Jack quickly snatched the stone away, and the spread of the decay halted. Bob screamed in pain as his body stiffened for a few seconds before collapsing onto the ground.

Jack desperately tried to wake him up. When Bob opened his eyes, they were clear once more, but his arm had deteriorated beyond recognition, now fully zombified.

"Should I poke it?" Jack asked cautiously.

"Give it a try," Bob motioned to the knife in his pocket.

Jack gently slid the blade across Bob's arm. There was no blood, the skin had completely dried out, and though there was no pain, the arm was still under his control. The sensation was terrifying.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked, concerned.

"I feel fine mentally, it's just this arm," Bob smiled faintly. Though his condition was dire, he remained optimistic. "At least my mind is still intact. That's a blessing in itself."