Infection

Chu Xiang kicked the shopping rack in frustration. Apart from a pile of useless toys and household goods, there was nothing edible to be found. The T-virus had ravaged the world for half a year, and the lucky survivors had already searched every available food source. This convenience store, located in a roadside gas station, had its door partially collapsed, and countless survivors had passed by, searching in vain. Now, not even a crumb of bread remained.

With his stomach burning with hunger, Chu Xiang weakly sat by a pile of collapsed shelves. He pulled out the walkie-talkie from his back pocket. "Song Jun, Song Jun, it's Chu Xiang. How's the situation on your end?"

The walkie-talkie crackled, and Song Jun's voice came through, "The fuel tanks are empty. We can't refuel. That Mercedes is now a pile of scrap metal. What about you?"

Chu Xiang licked his dry lips with difficulty. "Just as you predicted, there isn't even a single mouse droppings in here. Looks like we'll starve to death before the zombies get us. How can we survive without fuel to get to the next town? I can't accept it."

Chu Xiang, 25 years old and 1.8 meters tall, was quite handsome and had a somewhat elegant appearance. However, his emotional experiences had been quite painful. From childhood until now, he had been dumped by four different girlfriends. His last girlfriend, Cheng Xue, was three years younger than him. She left him because her parents favored wealth over love, eventually being forced into a relationship with a high-ranking official's son. For this reason, Chu Xiang made the most painful decision of his life—suicide.

However, Chu Xiang didn't remember what happened after he jumped off the cliff. His memory stopped just a second before the leap. When he woke up again, he realized the world had changed. A biological virus named the T-virus had swept across the globe. It spread through the air, and only 10% of the 7 billion humans had immunity. The rest were infected and turned into zombies.

These zombies roamed the earth, searching for fresh flesh. Another 500 million humans died from bites or the chaos, leaving only 200 million survivors scattered across the 5.1 billion square kilometers of Earth, while countless zombies and mutated creatures hunted the remaining humans.

After Chu Xiang jumped off the cliff, he regained consciousness in a hidden military base. All the soldiers there were dead. It took him half a month to walk out of the mountains, and another month to reach H Province. Only by crossing H Province could he return to S Province, his hometown. His goal was to find his parents and sister.

The journey was dangerous, and Chu Xiang didn't want to recall it. He had followed ten or more fleeing groups, totaling around two to three hundred people, but by now, he was the only survivor along with Song Jun. Among the groups were stunning beauties, but when they were bitten and infected by zombies, Chu Xiang had no choice but to end their lives.

Suddenly, a rustling sound interrupted Chu Xiang's thoughts. Although he had checked the gas station for zombies before entering, there was no sign of them. Who knew there could still be one hiding in the shadows? His nerves immediately tensed, and without standing up, he pulled out the M54 pistol he had found along the way. There were only three bullets left.

Through the collapsed shelves, he saw the scene outside. A female zombie, with only her upper body intact, crawled out from behind a broken fuel pump. Despite her pale skin and lifeless eyes, she was still quite beautiful, especially her large and firm exposed chest. The only unfortunate thing was that she was no longer human. These zombies could survive even with only half their bodies, as long as their brains remained unharmed.

Chu Xiang couldn't help but feel a sense of regret. Such a beautiful woman shouldn't be crawling around, her upper body exposed and her lower half missing, bleeding thick, foul-smelling blood. He aimed his gun, determined to end her suffering. He had a deep sense of admiration and care for beautiful women, though his own background had never allowed him to be favored by them.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a loud crash sounded. A shelf that hadn't collapsed yet suddenly toppled toward him. In a split second, Chu Xiang was trapped under the heavy shelf, and his M54 pistol was knocked far away. A tall male gas station worker, now a zombie, stepped toward him, a dark liquid dripping from the corner of his mouth, likely from recently eating one of his own companions. Seeing fresh meat, the zombie's pale face twisted into a strange grin.

Panicked, Chu Xiang tried desperately to push the shelf off, but the heavy metal racks were welded solid, and he couldn't move. His gun was far out of reach, and he realized it was too late to stop the zombie, which was now nearly upon him.

The male gas station worker, large and ravenous, lunged toward Chu Xiang. Closing his eyes in resignation, Chu Xiang thought, "Damn it. At 25, still a virgin. I was hoping to make something of myself in this chaotic world, but now I'll die at the hands of a male zombie. Life's just unfair!"

As he braced for death, suddenly, with a thud, the male zombie staggered backward, and several shelves collapsed with a deafening crash.

"Chu Xiang, are you alright?" It was Song Jun's voice! Chu Xiang's eyes flew open, and he sighed in relief. He wasn't going to die! The feeling was indescribable.

The male gas station worker lay motionless on the ground, a steel arrow sticking out of his skull. Song Jun had just saved him with a homemade crossbow. He quickly walked over and helped Chu Xiang move the shelf off him.

Song Jun, three years older than Chu Xiang, had suffered severe burns on his left eye and face. Though almost healed, his appearance had become terrifying. If Chu Xiang hadn't saved him back then, Song Jun would likely have died in the fire. For this reason, Song Jun considered Chu Xiang his savior. Over the course of their journey, they had looked after each other and avoided many close calls with zombies. They were now seasoned veterans of this chaotic world.

As the shelves were cleared, Chu Xiang got up, first picking up his gun. It was essential to keep a weapon at hand, as using fists against zombies would most likely result in infection. "I'm fine. Luckily, you came just in time. I'd be dead otherwise."

Song Jun, looking anxious, pointed at Chu Xiang's forehead. "It's not just fine. You're hurt. Should I bandage it? I have some gauze here."

Chu Xiang touched his forehead, realizing that the male zombie had caused a cut when the shelf fell on him. He hadn't noticed in the chaos of the fight, but now that he felt it, the pain made him wince. He was lucky the zombie hadn't bitten him near the wound. Otherwise, the infection could have been fatal.

Chu Xiang said, "The cut's not serious. We need to get out of here. There's not even a rat dropping in this place. We need to find food and water. If we don't, we'll starve to death, even if we're not eaten by zombies."

The only way to survive a zombie encounter was to run, unless you had overwhelming firepower to keep them at bay. Zombies were emotionless and relentless, and once they pounced, they would kill. In narrow spaces, the risk of being injured was much higher. Once bitten, the infection was inevitable, and in just hours, the infected would become zombies.

Song Jun helped Chu Xiang quickly evacuate the wrecked convenience store. Behind them, a drop of black blood dripped from the corner of the shelf that had pinned Chu Xiang earlier. It was unmistakably not the blood of a human, but neither of them noticed.