Chapter 40

It is now afternoon, with intense sunlight and sweltering heat. Su Hao walked along a familiar route, entering the building entrance that faced away from the street. Before he even stepped onto the stairs, his probing awareness had already detected three zombies in the hallway. They were gathered on the fourth floor, using their heads and shoulders to ram the tightly closed door, and their claws were scratching the surface of the security door, creating a grating, bone-chilling sound.

These mutated creatures had already sensed that there were still living beings inside. They were agitated, or rather, frenzied. The bodies parasitized by the virus released an extremely powerful force, slamming into the tightly closed security door. They felt no pain and had no concept of using tools, only using their stupid and brutal methods to stubbornly and madly try to break in.

They had clearly been there for a long time. The center of the door had been dented, and cracks had appeared around the edges where it connected to the wall. The violent vibrations had caused the wall to crack, and a lot of white dust had fallen, revealing the metal bolts that connected to the door.

Without a moment's hesitation, Su Hao quickly rushed to the fourth floor. His left hand reached out, grabbing the shoulder of the nearest zombie, while his right hand grabbed the back of its neck and tore it off with a forceful twist, wrenching off the entire head. Su Hao threw the headless, decaying corpse aside, then stretched out his fingers to grab the back of another zombie's head, pulling it over and slamming it against the opposite wall with an irresistible force, splattering a shocking spray of decayed blood.

This series of actions was incredibly swift. By the time the last zombie turned around, ready to bite, Su Hao had already grabbed its arm and started to twist it. Although it couldn't feel pain, the zombie couldn't escape the constraints of its tendons and bones. Under the immense counterforce, it could only be forcibly turned and pressed against the wall, its neck twisted. The zombie, unable to move, howled in hatred and anger, flailing its limbs wildly like a headless fly. It tried to turn its head, watching as Su Hao freed his right hand, pulled out a syringe containing a ** solution from his pocket, and forcefully inserted the needle into its head.

After extracting the decayed fungal hormones, Su Hao reached back to his backpack and took out a steel axe, chopping open the zombie's buttocks to retrieve the silver bones.

Suddenly, he felt the tightly closed door behind him open a crack.

Su Hao remained silent, calmly putting the silver bone particles into a metal tube, storing it, and slowly turning around.

The door had been pushed open from the inside.

A girl of about ten years old stood at the door like a ghost. She was thin and frail, with dry, yellowish hair hanging down, covering most of her pale cheeks. She wore a wrinkled khaki skirt and a pair of worn-out buckle shoes. In her right hand, she held a rusty kitchen knife, and her left hand was hidden behind the door, seemingly gripping the handle. If anything unexpected happened, she could immediately close the door.

Her head was slightly tilted forward, silently staring at Su Hao, who also stared back at her. This strange and eerie standoff lasted for several minutes. Su Hao nodded silently, spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, wiped the axe clean on the zombie's clothes, and put it back in his backpack.

He took a few steps back, standing at the bottom of the stairs, choosing a relatively clean spot. He took out a can of food, some compressed biscuits, a few steamed buns, and a bottle of water from his backpack and placed them there.

After doing all this, he picked up his now empty backpack, smiled at the little girl, and turned to leave.

"I've seen you before."

Suddenly, the girl spoke. Her voice was sharp, standing out in the hallway filled with corpses.

Su Hao stopped, turned around, and looked at her with a questioning gaze.

"You came here before."

The girl examined Su Hao closely, her eyes peering through her hair with a wary look. She licked her slightly cracked lips and said seriously, "The fried rice you brought was very delicious."

Su Hao couldn't help but smile. He thought for a moment and said, "If you like, I can bring some more next time."

This statement bridged the gap between them, and the girl's cold and wary expression relaxed slightly. She still held the door handle tightly, unwilling to let go.

Su Hao watched her emotional changes closely. He tried to slow down his speech, his tone gentle, "You can see that it's actually very dangerous here, with these man-eating monsters everywhere. If you're willing, I can take you with me. We have plenty of food, it's very safe, and there are..."

Before he could finish, the girl's gaze turned cold. She quickly took a half-step back and slammed the door shut. Immediately, the sound of the door lock being twisted and secured came from the other side.

Su Hao stood there, frozen.

He could understand the little girl's feelings—this was a strong self-preservation instinct developed in an extremely dangerous environment. She might have been hurt, deceived, or betrayed. Subconsciously, she instinctively distrusted strangers and was hostile. Of course, Su Hao was not a bad person, and he had no perverse intentions towards the little girl. He just felt pity and wanted to provide her with a safe living environment.

Su Hao looked at the food on the stairs, feeling very disheartened. His words, though well-intentioned, had been too hasty. It was difficult to communicate with a stranger in such an unfamiliar situation.

However, the little girl had said that the fried rice was very delicious.

He smiled bitterly, shook his head, and turned to walk downstairs.

Just then, the tightly closed door opened again, and the girl's nervous and fearful eyes appeared in the dark gap.

Su Hao stood still, calmly looking at her.

The girl's lips twitched. She first looked at Su Hao's hands, then quickly glanced at the zombie corpses lying in front of the door, maintaining her vigilance as she said, "A man tried to come in last time, almost succeeding. I kept him outside, and he kept smashing the door and shouting angrily."

Su Hao smiled brightly and asked, "What did he say to you?"

The girl's eyes were full of caution as she slowly said, "He wanted to rape me."

Rape... This word confused Su Hao, and for a few seconds, his mind felt disoriented. He carefully examined the thin girl, his tone strange and uncertain, "You... how old are you?"

"Nine."

The girl answered quickly. She stood sideways, revealing the kitchen knife in her right hand, her voice carrying a heart-wrenching maturity and ferocity, "I was afraid he would attract more monsters, so I killed him."

Su Hao stood there, unmoving. He knew that if he made any sudden moves, the girl would immediately close the door, and there might be no more chance for conversation.

Sighing helplessly, Su Hao took out a pre-prepared "95" style pistol from the side of his backpack, bent down, and placed the gun and food together, looking at the girl with a questioning gaze, "Do you know how to use it?"

The girl stared at his hand, her focus shifting to the gun, her eyes gradually becoming enthusiastic but not losing her basic vigilance. She remained silent, not speaking. Su Hao could see that she was thinking hard, as if making a decision.

"Creak—"

After nearly five minutes of stalemate, the security door finally opened completely. The little girl walked out of the room, and a strong, pungent odor emanated from the dark, dimly lit doorway.

She walked to the stairs, picked up the gun, and held it curiously, examining it closely. The sunlight slanting through the hollow bricks on the side of the hallway illuminated her, highlighting her prominent cheekbones and a beautifully curved nose. Her lips were thick, stretched into a toothy smile.

Su Hao extended his right hand.

This action immediately caught the girl's attention. She gripped the gun tightly, not moving, watching the large hand slowly reach out and gently touch her soft hair.

"Can you tell me your name?"

Su Hao's voice was gentle. For some reason, he felt as if he had changed gender, like the best nanny in the world.

The girl's cold, stern gaze gradually disappeared. She hesitated and answered, "...Yang Lulu."

Su Hao continued, "Do you live alone?"

The girl's expression clearly showed hesitation. After a few seconds of silence, she shook her head and said in a very soft voice, "There's... my dad."

Su Hao looked at the young face, his eyes filled with deep doubt. He glanced at the open security door, from which a murky, unmaskable stench of corpses emanated.

He didn't pry further, took the gun from the girl, and demonstrated how to operate it, change the magazine, and explained the basic shooting knowledge. After doing all this, Su Hao handed the gun back to the girl. Just as he was about to leave, Yang Lulu suddenly grabbed his hand, holding it tightly.

Su Hao was taken aback.

"You must be a good person."

The girl looked at him, her voice no longer hostile, but with a hint of expectation and reliance, "I want to go with you. The door is broken, and those monsters can break in at any time."

The explanation was thorough, and the reason was appropriate.

Su Hao nodded, took off his backpack from his shoulder, and started to pack the food and water on the stairs. The girl stood beside him, watching him put everything into the backpack, then stood up again, grabbed Su Hao's hand, and said hesitantly, "...I want... to take my dad with us."

She led Su Hao into the room.

It was very messy, with simple furniture and no particularly striking decor. Garbage was scattered on the floor, clearly not cleaned for a long time. The walls were covered with yellowed, oil-soaked newspapers, and most of the paint on the door frame had peeled off, making everything look old and dilapidated.

The two of them walked through the living room and into the bedroom at the back.

An ordinary chair was placed in the center of the floor, with a middle-aged man sitting on it. He had already mutated, his dehydrated skin wrinkled, revealing the slightly red, half-rotten muscles underneath. His entire nose had rotted away, and pus flowed from the deep, black holes. His eye sockets were sunken, and the grayish-white eyeballs stood out. They still moved, but had no pupils.

His hands, feet, and waist were tied with ropes, and a thick towel was tied around his mouth, knotted at the back of his head. To prevent him from dragging the chair around, a bookshelf had been pushed over and wedged between the bed and the chair. The tied-up zombie could only wriggle around but couldn't break free.

Seeing a stranger enter, the mutated middle-aged man became very agitated. He writhed, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets, and made a "huh huh" sound in his throat, trying to lunge forward.

Yang Lulu took a few steps forward, standing between the man and Su Hao, with a childish and earnest expression, saying sincerely and seriously, "He's not what you think. He's just sick. If he takes medicine and gets injections, he'll get better."

Su Hao didn't know what to say.

He wanted to dissuade her, but his mind was in a mess, and he subconsciously reached for the gun, but didn't pull it out... A little girl living with a zombie was absurd no matter how you looked at it, but it was happening right in front of him, incredibly real.

"He's... your dad?"

Su Hao heard his own voice change, becoming rough and hoarse.

Yang Lulu looked at him nervously and nodded without hesitation.

"This isn't an illness... Well, I suppose you can understand it as a disease. This is the most direct manifestation of the virus parasitizing the human body. Those microscopic organisms have taken over the brain and controlled the body. We, we..."

Su Hao searched his mind for the right words to explain. He tried to make the girl understand his intentions but found that complex biology was hard to explain in a few minutes. Especially the convoluted terms and the relationship between the virus, it was far from the simple concept of the big bad wolf being evil and the little white rabbit being good. His voice grew softer, and the sense of despair and helplessness in his mind grew heavier, trapping his thoughts in a very narrow space, ready to burst in a fit of rage at any moment.

Yang Lulu's eyes showed the innocence of a child. She said softly, "Dad is just sick. He's not dead, and he can still eat."

These seemingly ordinary words made Su Hao's nerves inexplicably tighten. He watched as the little girl walked past him, out of the bedroom, and stopped at the side of the living room. She opened the refrigerator and took out a grayish-black hand from a blood-stained plastic box.

It was a human hand, cut off at the elbow. The cut was rough, and it was clear that it had been difficult and required a lot of effort to sever it from its original owner.

The girl returned to the bedroom with the severed hand and untied the towel knot at the back of the zombie's head. The mutated man's neck was tied with a wire, preventing him from turning his head. He stared at the hand with red, bulging eyes, his expression becoming grotesque.

The girl raised the severed hand to the man's mouth, and he immediately opened his mouth and bit off a large piece of flesh, chewing it rapidly and contentedly.

Watching this, Su Hao couldn't help but tremble. He asked as calmly as possible, "This... is the man who wanted to rape you?"

Yang Lulu looked up, a hint of color returning to her pale face. She nodded and smiled faintly.

Su Hao felt an inexplicable sense of panic—since coming to this new world, he had never felt this way before. It wasn't fear of a powerful enemy but a sense of horror at the irrational reality. He could understand Yang Lulu's actions, but that didn't mean he agreed with them. After all, this was a chaotic, dangerous time where death and madness were always around the corner. But the problem was that the person standing in front of him was not a wild survivor or a tormented survivor from the future. She was just a child... only nine years old.

"Listen to me—"

Suddenly, Yang Lulu felt a rough, hard hand grab her shoulders and forcefully turn her body. She instinctively lowered her head and bit down hard, blood seeping from between her teeth and the skin. Lifting her eyes, she saw Su Hao's face filled with anger and pain.

"He's not your father anymore; he's a different kind of creature. I don't know where your strange ideas come from, but you must stop this madness immediately. He's dead, he's dead! You need to face reality and be more rational. Yes—yes, he was your father before, but he's not now!"

Su Hao was growling, feeling the pain in his arm gradually ease, and he saw Yang Lulu still staring at him. Her eyes were full of shock and fear. Her pupils were lost in confusion, and the blood on her lips and her pale skin made her look like a ghost. She lacked the innocence and liveliness of her age, only showing pain and numbness.

Without warning, she suddenly burst into tears.

"I have nothing—no mother, no father. Everyone at school mocks me, no one wants to play with me, and the teacher always makes me sit at the back. I don't want Dad to turn into a monster, and no one can take him away from me. I want to stay with him, and we'll always be together..."

Her face was covered in tears, and the dirt and dust on her face were washed away in streaks. Yang Lulu turned and hugged the tied-up hand of the mutated man, squeezing so hard that the rotten flesh came off, revealing the gray, bone-chilling bone. This terrifying scene frightened her, and she froze for a few seconds. Then, as if waking from a nightmare, she suddenly turned and hugged Su Hao's leg, sobbing uncontrollably.

Su Hao squatted down, holding her in his arms, gently patting the little girl's back.

A child under ten years old, watching her closest loved one get injured and mutate. To survive, she tied up her father, who had turned into a monster, killed a man with ill intentions, and fed the zombie with human flesh.

Yang Lulu had very little to begin with, much less than others, so she cherished every bit of family love and refused to give it up.

The little girl knew the difference between life and death, understood the gap between humans and zombies. Rationality brought fear, but emotion commanded her to expel rationality and live with the zombie.

In peacetime, this would be a popular script, with countless audiences cheering.

Now, it was just an ordinary encounter among survivors.

She had beliefs and persistence.

She had pride and self-respect.

She had no extravagant desires, only wanting to live like a normal person. With parents, with family, with a home...

(Characters in this chapter: Yang Lulu, played by the reader "Cloud Treasure." Applause! Cheers! Saliva!)

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