Chapter 10: The Great Evolution

February 9, 2013

Since being tormented to the brink of death by the D - virus nine days ago, after more than a week of recuperation, his body has almost recovered, and he has gradually regained his strength and can start training. Although he has gone through a life - and - death test like a nightmare, there hasn't been much change in his body. His strength hasn't increased, nor has he become more agile. Zhang Xiaoqiang still hasn't taken off his myopic glasses. Thinking about those protagonists in Qidian novels who, after being infected by the virus, either gain spatial abilities and have a storage space to play with, or turn into supermen and look for top - level zombies to fight all over the world. Why don't I have such good luck?

Not only was he so tormented by the D - virus that he wanted to commit suicide, but for a whole week, his whole body was so weak that he couldn't even hold a rice bowl.

"Alas!!" Zhang Xiaoqiang let out a long sigh. People have different fates!

"Ha! Hu! Ha! Hu!" Zhang Xiaoqiang panted. The iron spear stabbed forward again and again and was retracted again and again. Sweat kept pouring out from his forehead, soaking the scar on his head, causing a slight stinging pain. He kept stabbing with the spear, trying his best to expend his physical energy and gain a little more capital to save his life.

He put down the iron spear, rubbed his sore wrist, and picked up the mineral water on the coffee table and took a big gulp. "Ha!" He felt a sense of comfort. Although it was the end of the world, Zhang Xiaoqiang actually felt that compared to before, he was now living a more fulfilling life. Every day, he got up and exercised his physical strength, had breakfast, did 5,000 stabbing practices, had lunch, took a short nap, practiced stabbing again, had dinner, played a single - player game for a while, and then went to sleep! He didn't even have the heart to appreciate the AVs he had treasured before. His physical strength was rising sharply, while his weight was dropping sharply.

"People! They are all forced out!" Zhang Xiaoqiang sighed.

As usual, he came to the window and raised the binoculars to observe. It had become a habit. Besides the zombies, there was no other scenery for him to look at. In the binoculars, the zombies seemed to be right under his nose, and every move could be seen clearly.

Although it had rained heavily for more than ten days, the sky was still so gloomy and dark. The black - gray clouds, layer upon layer, blocked the winter sun. Only in a few weak places was there a little light shining through, illuminating the entire city.

"Could they be starting to evolve?"

Zhang Xiaoqiang muttered to himself while holding the binoculars. The heavy rain a few days ago hadn't washed the streets clean. Broken bones, shattered glass, and discarded beverage bottles were scattered everywhere.

Thinking of the heavy rain a few days ago, his body felt a bit隐隐发痛. The rainwater not only carried the virus but also had strong corrosiveness. The iron protective fence outside the window had become rusty. If he hadn't been looking at it every day, Zhang Xiaoqiang would surely have thought that the protective fence had been corroded by water vapor for more than ten years. Could those rainwaters be the so - called acid rain?

The clothes corroded by the rain were torn to pieces by the zombies during their wandering, leaving only some ragged pieces hanging on the zombies sporadically.

The zombies on the street were still wandering as before, with a bit more flexibility in their steps. The nails on their claws had grown longer. Some zombies had begun to become tall and strong, and they no longer staggered when walking, which was no different from normal people walking. Their exposed skin was pitch - black and shiny. Many ordinary zombies blocking their way were knocked to the ground, but it had no impact on them at all. Some other zombies had become even more emaciated, their figures had become shorter, and they had become more agile. Their joints were more flexible, and they could already climb over some low obstacles. The nails on their claws had grown even longer, more than twice as long as those of ordinary zombies.

Zhang Xiaoqiang felt a bit cold in his heart. The zombies had started to evolve. Did humanity still have hope? He held the binoculars, his hands slowly exerting force. The blood color on his fingers began to fade, turning blue.

He put down the 10 - times binoculars. His mouth was full of bitterness. He lit a cigarette, took a deep puff into his lungs, and then slowly exhaled. Leaning against the windowsill, his mind was filled with decadence.

Through these days of observation, there were about two hundred zombies downstairs from Zhang Xiaoqiang. Among them, nine were evolved and mutated zombies, three were agile - type, and six were strength - type. The mutation rate was about 5%. There were 500,000 people in Y City where he was. The number of evolved and mutated zombies was 25,000. The population of China was 1.5 billion, so the number of mutated zombies was 75 million. What about the world's 7 - billion population? He shivered... He didn't dare to calculate further.

Zhang Xiaoqiang leaned against the windowsill, staring blankly at the zombies downstairs. The floor under his feet was full of cigarette butts. He thought of an American movie he had watched before, "Dances with Wolves". The protagonist of the movie, Lieutenant Dunbar, had lost contact with the outside world. He lived a peaceful and monotonous life alone in the boundless wilds of the sky, with only a wild wolf whose two front legs were both white accompanying him.

He was much stronger than Zhang Xiaoqiang. He had the entire wilderness, while Zhang Xiaoqiang could only be trapped in the house by countless zombies and look out of the window. The wild wolf named "Two Socks" liked to frolic around him, while Zhang Xiaoqiang only had an "Anonymous Cockroach" that would only lie quietly at the bottom of the bottle, feigning death.

Zhang Xiaoqiang picked up the mineral water bottle and held it in front of his eyes. The cockroach was still feigning death at the bottom of the bottle. He shook the bottle body, and the cockroach scurried around at the bottom of the bottle, constantly trying to climb out of the bottle mouth but falling down again and again. Zhang Xiaoqiang watched quietly, feeling a bit sorry for the cockroach. More importantly, he felt sorry for himself. He was no different from the cockroach in the bottle. Both were bound by their respective fates.

Looking at the cockroach, a feeling of boredom welled up in his heart. He suddenly wanted to go to the rooftop to see the sky, the earth, this city, and the Yangtze River on the edge of the city!

As soon as he had the idea, he took action. He fastened his military knife, hung the binoculars, picked up the iron spear, and went out. He climbed the stairs. The zombies in each room smelled Zhang Xiaoqiang's scent and scratched at the doors. He went up the stairs to the rooftop. Looking at the vast world, the pent - up feeling in his heart gradually disappeared. The world was still so gloomy. On the rooftops of the distant buildings, several zombies were wandering around. Only the Yangtze River was flowing quietly as it had yesterday.

When he was watching intently, the sound of "Dong... Dong... Dong..." as if a heavy object was hitting came into Zhang Xiaoqiang's ears. "It's coming from downstairs." Zhang Xiaoqiang judged.

He put away the binoculars, picked up the iron spear, and walked downstairs. "Dong... Dong... Dong..." The sound became clearer and clearer, and the movement became louder and louder.

"Seventh floor, sixth floor, fifth floor. It's here."

The iron door near the upper stairway was vibrating violently. It was as if there was a rhinoceros inside hitting the iron door. As the iron door shook violently, the grayish - white putty around the door frame and the old wall paint fell to the ground one after another. The space in the corridor was too small. Zhang Xiaoqiang wanted to go downstairs first.

Thinking of the protagonists in Qidian novels, none of them had any difficulty in killing zombies, as easy as cutting melons and vegetables. Why did he have to be so careful here? It was really speechless and made him want to cry!

Just as Zhang Xiaoqiang went down to the fifth floor, "Boom..." The iron door was knocked open. Caught off - guard, his whole body was knocked flying onto the iron door of the opposite house. He took all the recoil force of the iron door. His mouth felt sweet, and a mouthful of blood welled up in his mouth. A tall figure pounced on him fiercely. Before his mind could figure out what was going on, his body rolled to the ground.

"Gee..." A harsh metallic screech came from the iron door next to Zhang Xiaoqiang. A tall zombie scratched several clearly visible marks on the iron door with its claws.

In an instant, Zhang Xiaoqiang, lying on the ground, kicked the zombie's leg with all his might. Taking advantage of the force, he slid down the lower stairway towards the fourth floor. The stairs knocked on his back one by one. He was so nervous that he didn't feel any pain. The only thought in his mind was to raise his head.

"Bang..." Zhang Xiaoqiang hit a broken sofa piled up in the stairwell. His head was still a bit dizzy. "Roar..." The zombie upstairs pounced on Zhang Xiaoqiang again. The zombie had no vision and missed its step. With its two claws outstretched, it flew down. He didn't have time to think. The iron spear held tightly in his right hand was raised. His left hand supported the spear body, and the end of the spear was pressed against the broken sofa behind him. His eyes stared fixedly at the zombie.

"Pu..." The triangular spearhead stabbed into the zombie's chest. The zombie, with great inertia, was pierced through by the iron spear until the galvanized water pipe was stuck in the gap between the ribs and stopped. As soon as the spearhead stabbed the zombie, Zhang Xiaoqiang let go of the iron spear and rolled to the side. The zombie, pierced through by the iron spear, fell on the old sofa. He knew that this kind of injury was not fatal to the zombie. As he got up from the ground, he pulled out the Huya knife from his waist. "Chi..." The Huya military knife was stabbed into the zombie's temple. He twisted the knife and pulled it out.

"Hoo..." It was solved. Zhang Xiaoqiang was wearing thick clothes in winter, and fortunately, he wasn't injured.

The zombie fell to the side. Zhang Xiaoqiang cleaned the dirt on the Huya military knife and inserted it back into the scabbard. He used his foot to turn the zombie's body over and pulled out the iron spear. The zombie was lying on the ground face - up, with a tall and strong body of more than 180 centimeters. This was a strength - type mutated zombie. The blue veins on its muscles were knotted, and the nails on its claws faintly showed a metallic texture.

He didn't care about it anymore. Zhang Xiaoqiang walked towards the house where it lived.

As soon as he entered the door, he smelled a stench of corpses. He walked into the living room and looked around. The house was decorated very nicely. The living room was paved with mahogany floors. Next to the window was a huge fish tank. The water in the fish tank was murky, and several dead fish were floating in it. There were many calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall. He walked to the door of a bedroom. The floor of the bedroom was paved with expensive handmade wool carpets. There were three skeletons, one large and two small, scattered on the carpet. On the wall above the Simmons bedside, there was a huge photo frame. The young and heroic male owner, the delicate, lovely, and somewhat charming female owner, and two lively and beautiful twins. The family of four was smiling happily together. The scattered skeletons and the smiles in the photos were in stark contrast, looking extremely cruel!

Next to the bedroom was the study. The study was connected to the balcony. All the glass on the balcony was broken, and the broken glass was scattered on the floor. When he walked onto the balcony, the glass shards under his feet were stepped on and broken even more, making a "creaking" noise. The balcony had been soaked by the rain, and the wooden floor was still a bit wet and slippery. The wall paint in the corner had started to fade and peel off.

Zhang Xiaoqiang seemed to have figured it out. "The male owner mutated and turned into a zombie, biting his wife and two children to death in the bedroom. He ate them before they mutated. After it rained, the zombie broke the glass on the balcony to catch the rain. Today, it evolved into a strength - type zombie."

Zhang Xiaoqiang searched the house and found that this family didn't cook at home. There was nothing in the kitchen. There were only a few cartons of milk and two cans of coffee in the refrigerator. There was still more than half a bucket of water on the water dispenser. He went downstairs with his harvest.