Chapter 41: Do It
"Sigh..."
Lin Fan swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue. He said nothing.
The first zombie had been Brother Li from upstairs. After that came his daughter, the woman who sold vegetables on the 6th floor, the young couple from the 4th floor, and a few "people" from downstairs whom he didn’t know.
Even though Lin Fan had been consciously trying to avoid it, the scene before him still stirred something within.
Every zombie had once been a living person. They were all victims of this catastrophe.
Was there any chance for them to recover?
Lin Fan had studied medicine, not metaphysics. He didn’t know.
But the living had to go on living, and the dead deserved to rest in peace.
The only two things Lin Fan did every day were to ensure he, a living man, stayed alive, and to give peace to the dead who stood in his way.
So he could sense that while the woman understood this on a rational level, she still couldn’t let it go.
She was filled with hatred, but she didn’t know who to direct it at...
Despite the myriad thoughts racing through his mind, Lin Fan showed no sign of them.
Just as he was about to check the area behind the gas station, the woman suddenly spoke.
"Young man, the generator is indeed back there... It’s supposed to kick in whenever the power goes out..."
"I just don’t know why it’s not running. Maybe it’s broken..."
"I have the key. I’ll go open the door for you..."
Saying this, she fumbled in the corpse’s pocket and pulled out a set of keys. Then she took off her uniform vest, covered the corpse’s head with it, and stood up. With a slight hunch in her back, she walked toward the warehouse behind the gas station.
Lin Fan gripped his weapon and followed her. The three students, not knowing where else to go, could only follow behind Lin Fan.
The five of them walked toward the back, a heavy silence hanging between them.
"We had a child once. He got sick and passed away..."
"He might have looked sturdy, but he was actually riddled with health problems..."
"How could he just... Sigh, it’s all fate..."
The woman mumbled to herself as she walked.
The group arrived in front of the door. The warehouse was perfectly still; not even Lin Fan could hear the slightest sound.
The woman took a set of keys from her pocket. Looking lost, as if she didn’t know which one fit the lock, she began trying them one by one. As she fumbled with the keys, she continued speaking.
"My husband was in charge of this warehouse. I’ve hardly ever been here..."
"There’s a hole in the back wall. Stray dogs are always sneaking in..."
"The manager was always telling him to patch it up, but he never did. He’d just say it’s been so windy and rainy lately, to let them have a place to hide. He said it was a way to build up good karma..."
"How could a man like that just..."
With a CLICK of the lock, the woman instinctively twisted the handle. The door opened with a CREAK, just a crack...
Immediately, a strange presence billowed out from the crack, and Lin Fan’s ears picked up some bizarre gurgling sounds!
"...Get back! Now!"
Lin Fan roared the second he sensed the danger.
The three students were already timidly trailing behind. When they heard Lin Fan’s shout, they froze on the spot, looking around in confusion.
Lin Fan was to the side of the door, while the woman was still holding the handle.
The moment Lin Fan sensed something was wrong inside and shouted his warning, he instinctively reached out to pull the woman back...
THUD!
The double doors flew open violently. One door sent the woman flying!
The other slammed right into Lin Fan!
He quickly pulled his arms back, crossing them to protect his vital spots, but the immense force sent him flying!
He crashed heavily into the three students behind him!
"AHH!"
Screams erupted as the four of them tumbled into a heap.
Luckily, they cushioned his fall. Lin Fan wasn’t seriously injured, but his arms, which had blocked the door, were numb, and his chest felt tight.
He had just sat up when a sweet taste filled his throat. "PFFT!" He spat out a mouthful of blood, which seemed to relieve the pressure in his chest...
His health was now [276/305].
And three figures appeared in the dust and smoke billowing from the broken warehouse doors.
[1000/1000]
[1000/1000]
[2679/2679]
...
"I... fuck!"
"Get up!"
The moment he saw the health bars in the smoke, Lin Fan screamed at the others behind him. He rolled to his right, snatched up the spear that had fallen from his grasp, and used it to push himself to his feet.
But the three monsters didn’t turn toward Lin Fan. Instead, they all turned their heads in unison and headed in the direction the woman had been thrown.
Shrouded in the smoke, Lin Fan couldn’t make out what the monsters looked like.
’Two with a thousand health, and one... a monster with nearly three thousand health that isn’t even fully mutated... Fuck!’
"Don’t just scream. Can you move?"
Lin Fan glanced back. The three students, who only had about 50 health to begin with, were now down to an average of 20 after the impact.
’Almost a total party wipe...’
The two male students were already unconscious. Only Chu Zhaozhao was left, sitting on the ground, clutching her head and groaning in agony as blood seeped through her fingers...
"Hey, you... Chu Zhaozhao..."
Lin Fan saw the monsters going after the woman. He felt a flicker of pity, but knew she was as good as dead after a hit like that. ’I have to use this time to act!’
"Listen to me! Some monsters got out—horrifying monsters. If you want to live, do what I say!"
As he spoke, he yanked Chu Zhaozhao’s hands from her face, gripped her shoulders firmly, and stared into her dazed eyes.
"You have two choices. One: get up right now, run back to the room you were hiding in at the gas station, and don’t come out. Two: I’m leaving these two to you. Figure out a way to get both of them into that room and hide."
"The choice is yours! You’re not dead yet! Get up! Move! Now!"
Lin Fan laid out the only two options she had. As for which one she chose, he couldn’t care less.
He only did this to stop her from freezing in shock. ’Better for her to escape alone than for all of them to end up as monster chow!’
Without waiting for her to react, he finished speaking, raised his spear, and chased after the monsters.
A fleeting glimpse through the smoke had given him a vague idea of the three monsters’ forms, and he needed to get a better look.
He charged through the smoke, rounded the back of the main gas station building, and finally saw the three health bars again!
Lin Fan also finally got a clear look at what the three monsters were.
They were the same Mutant Dogs he’d encountered before!
The two with [1000] health looked almost identical to the one he had butchered, only they were slightly larger!
About the size of a large Alaskan Malamute!
The one with [2679] health was a full size larger, its body nearly as tall as Lin Fan himself!
A thick, black, viscous liquid oozed down its body, only to be reabsorbed when it reached its feet, making it look like a constantly shifting tiger made of tar!
The two smaller Mutant Dogs were currently devouring something. What looked like a lower leg and a foot still protruded from their flower-like maws, swaying with the creatures’ movements.
The larger Mutant Dog had its head tilted back, chewing on something. Strands of long, black hair streamed out from the seams of its mouthparts.
Seeing this horrifying scene, countless thoughts raced through Lin Fan’s mind, and his heart began to pound!
His ears were filled with the THUMP-THUMP of his own heartbeat, which reminded him of the ringing sound he’d heard when he first saw a [1000] health bar.
’Twenty-six hundred health, and it’s still mutating...
The other two are a thousand health, just a bit bigger than the one in the freezer...’
’Most importantly, I know the Mutant Dog’s weak point is its chest. And those two Mutated Zombies from before proved that health doesn’t equal absolute power.’
’I still have potions, and I need more of them, whether it’s for future fights or to face that [10000] health monster!’
He looked at the three Mutant Dogs, but his thoughts turned to that black fog...
’It’s just a little over two thousand health. I wasn’t even scared of ten thousand!’
’Let’s do this!’