As Song Fei had predicted, Qi Yan was waiting for him in the cafeteria when the incident occurred. Running back to the dormitory from the teaching area, he would inevitably pass by the cafeteria. It was not yet eleven o'clock, and there were very few people in the cafeteria. When they suddenly saw countless students running frantically towards the dormitory outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, they were all stunned. Some busybodies even rushed to the door to watch the excitement.
Soon, the first legion, with its quick feet, disappeared into the dormitory area, while the second legion, slower on foot, arrived entangled with the mutants. The students, nearly driven to desperation, had no chance to escape back to their dormitories and could only hide wherever was safe. So, a large group of students rushed into the cafeteria and worked together to close the glass doors.
However, seven or eight other mutants were also locked in the cafeteria.
At first, everyone could only flee among rows of tables and chairs, playing a chase with the mutants. Fortunately, the mutants' joints didn't seem very flexible, so their movements weren't obvious when they ran, but they were immediately exposed when they encountered obstacles, making it difficult to do anything to them for a while. Later, the cafeteria lady had a sudden outburst of courage, rose up, and wielded a cleaver she found in the kitchen, hacking and slashing, single-handedly taking down two mutants. If this had happened right after the accident, probably no one would have been able to accept someone using a knife against their fellow students, but after witnessing so much madness during the escape, anyone with a brain knew these people were insane. In a real life-or-death situation, the instinct for survival always comes first; ethics and morality can wait—with this in mind, the hundred or so students in the cafeteria worked together, some grabbing weapons, others helping by holding arms and legs, all to restrain the mutants' movements, and actually managed to annihilate these seven or eight mutants in the vast ocean of people's war.
"You must have been stunned," Song Fei said, her tone seemingly teasing but concealing concern and heartache. Qi Yan's account was concise and almost entirely objective, devoid of any subjective emotion, but no one could remain unmoved in the face of such a situation. So-called calmness was merely suppressing the fear deeper within one's heart.
I thought Qi Yan would stick to his guns no matter what, but to my surprise, he touched his nose somewhat awkwardly and admitted for the first time: "There is a bit of that."
Song Fei stared wide-eyed in surprise: "Why have you become so obedient?"
Qi Yan broke down as the memories of yesterday that he had tried so hard to downplay came rushing back: "A living, breathing murder and dismemberment! Would you believe me if I said I wasn't terrified and remained calm?"
Song Fei: "...That's true."
Even God wouldn't stand to hear such boasting; you'd get struck by lightning.
"Why don't you tell him what happened next?" Qiao Siqi, who had been through thick and thin with Qi Yan in the cafeteria, waited for a long time but didn't get the main point. He was so anxious that he wanted to push Qi Yan aside and tell him himself.
"What happened next?" Song Fei looked confused. "Isn't it just that the main gate was broken down after we slept there for one night, and then we ran back to the dormitory?"
Qi Yan's eyes dimmed, clearly indicating that Qiao Siqi was not referring to this.
Song Fei waited patiently, knowing it was definitely not a good thing, so Qi Yan instinctively resisted the memory.
But Qiao Siqi lost patience. He had been sitting backwards with his chin resting on the back of the chair, but now that Qi Yan hadn't spoken, he simply straightened up and took matters into his own hands: "When we were dealing with those zombies, some classmates got bitten. After we blew those guys' heads off, the bitten ones became zombies again. This cycle repeated three times, and more than a dozen classmates died in total."
Song Fei had seen a classmate who had been tackled and devoured at the stairwell get back up and walk again, and a boy who had been dragged into a room with only half his face remaining but returned to the balcony, so he could imagine the scene Qiao Siqi had described.
But he couldn't imagine how everyone in the cafeteria felt.
The classmates who had just fought side by side have now become mutants. Killing a mutant is easy, but what about killing a comrade? A mutant can lose their mind instantly, but the feelings of the remaining classmates cannot change in an instant.
When Qiao Siqi mentioned the deaths of more than a dozen classmates, his voice suddenly lowered, revealing his unconcealed sorrow. But before that, when he talked about zombies and headshots, he spoke very naturally, as if it were the natural course of events and nothing to be alarmed about.
"Stop calling them zombies and headshots all the time." Song Fei disliked this casual attitude of using movie analogies, as if those mutated classmates were no longer human and didn't need to be treated as human beings. Yet, just twenty minutes ago, he had personally pushed one of them off the building. While committing the killing, he also felt he couldn't disregard the other person's humanity; Song Fei even felt he was being pretentious. However, since the incident yesterday, he had indeed been trapped in this contradiction, like the last math problem in the college entrance exam, racking his brains but still unable to solve it.
Qiao Siqi was taken aback by what he was saying. It took him a while to vaguely understand Song Fei's point. He quickly explained, "Well, I didn't mean to joke. I really think this is the zombie virus. I also confirmed it in the cafeteria. It's useless to hurt them anywhere. You have to cut off their heads or destroy their brains to make them completely lose their ability to attack."
Song Fei felt like he was listening to gibberish and could only go to see Qi Yan.
Qi Yan spread his hands, the meaning was clear—don't ask me, I'm just a normal person who's confused too.
"I'm not well-educated, so wait a minute," Song Fei said, her thoughts a little jumbled. "Do zombies have brains? In the movies, they always dig out people's brains and say you can't eat what you need."
Qiao Siqi was embarrassed. After thinking for a moment, he changed to a more precise way of putting it: "It's true that zombies' intelligence has greatly deteriorated, but the brain tissue in their skulls is still there and still functions. It is this zombie brain that drives them to attack living people, eat human flesh, and block out the feeling of pain, weakening the flexibility of their joints and the sensitivity of their peripheral nerves, causing their movements to lack flexibility..."
Song Fei, who had been leaning back in his chair, eventually sat up straight, feeling as if he was listening to science, not alumni rambling.
At first, Qi Yan thought Qiao Siqi's story was just wild speculation. Although the chaos that had occurred still had no reasonable explanation, it didn't mean it was acceptable to make up random theories. However, the more Qi Yan listened, the more he felt that this speculation wasn't entirely unreasonable. Even when Qiao Siqi paused to catch his breath before finishing his story, Qi Yan couldn't help but add, "When those people were being slashed, whether they had broken arms or legs or were stabbed in the chest, it didn't seem to have any effect. It wasn't until one of them had his skull cleaved open with a kitchen knife that things started to go wrong."
"Yeah," Qiao Siqi nodded vigorously, "Those lying motionless on the ground either had their heads cleaved open or had their faces hacked and stabbed countless times before finally being pierced through the head. In short, their heads were destroyed. This is exactly the same as the zombie setting: painless, mindless, and slow-moving. And another thing, people bitten by them will also turn into zombies. Do you still think I'm joking?"
Song Fei couldn't refute it, but she also couldn't convince herself to believe it: "Those are all movies! This is fucking too sci-fi!"
Qiao Siqi sighed, remained silent for a long time, and then said in a deep voice, "If you were to travel back to the Tang, Song, or Yuan dynasties now and tell them that in the future two people could talk instantly even if they were thousands of miles apart, and that people could go to the moon, do you think they would think you're too much of a sci-fi fan?"
Song Fei retorted, though her voice was hesitant and lacked conviction: "That's technology; the two are fundamentally different..."
"There's no difference," Qi Yan interrupted him, clearly having sided with Johns. "Technology can develop, and so can viruses."
"Besides, art is derived from life," Jossage added. "How do you know that those zombie movies are all just made up and have no basis in reality?"
"..." Song Fei felt his steely will as a successor to socialism was about to collapse.
For a moment, 440 fell into an unprecedentedly oppressive silence. Viral infection, zombies ravaging the park—even in a game, this is considered hard mode; in reality, it's an endless hell.
A question had been weighing on Song Fei's mind for days, and he had forced himself not to think about it. But now, he couldn't bear it anymore: "So many people have died, hasn't a single word gotten out? Why hasn't anyone come to rescue us yet..."
There are some things I'm afraid to say.
But not talking about it is even harder to bear.
Qiao Siqi shook his head heavily: "If it really is a virus outbreak, densely populated areas will be the first to be affected. I suspect that the source of infection in our school came from the city. Otherwise, where would we find the virus in this desolate wilderness?"
"You mean someone from our school went to the city, got infected with the virus without even knowing it, and then it broke out when they came back?" For some reason, Song Fei suddenly thought of Xu Qiulei, whom she had met on her way to the exam.
Josh: "Possibly."
"But that doesn't make sense," Song Fei said, puzzled. "We all know that after being bitten, the virus will mutate quickly, but it takes more than an hour to get back to school from the city without traffic. How could the virus only appear after we get back to school?"
Qi Yan narrowed his eyes: "Either he contracted the disease midway and infected others, and he or the person he bit ended up returning to our school by chance, or..."
"The virus mutated in a short period of time," Joschi interjected.
Song Fei watched this charade with mixed feelings: "Why do I feel like you two know everything while I'm the fool?"
The three of them were now facing each other, their chairs having unconsciously moved closer together. Qiao Siqi patted Song Fei on the shoulder and said earnestly, "You should watch more movies, like Resident Evil, 28 Weeks Later, Zombieland, Land of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Return of the Dead, Braindead, Doghouse, Dead Snow..."
"Thank you." Song Fei interrupted him with a smile, then turned to Qi Yan, "You like this too?"
Qi Yan shrugged, her eyebrows curving into a smile: "I can analyze it with my brain."
Song Fei wanted to take a machine gun and shoot those two guys.
Qiao Siqi was still promoting it: "You really should check this out, you can learn a lot. It's a pity my laptop is in my dorm, otherwise I could give you a lesson right now..."
Song Fei was puzzled, then suddenly became curious: "Besides being disgusting, what's so fun about these kinds of movies?"
Qiao Siqi thought for a moment and answered very seriously, "At first I also felt nauseous, but after seeing it so many times, one day I suddenly thought, hey, it's actually quite cute!"
Song Fei's ears automatically blocked out the last adjective and its insane interjection ending: "If you feel nauseous, why insist on reading on!"
Qiao Siqi gazed at him quietly, then sighed, "When you're in the martial world, you're not in control of your own destiny."
Song Fei frowned: "There are people who force others to watch porn?"
Josh: "Of course."
Song Fei: "What's this martial arts world called?"
Qiao, a student from the English Department of the School of Foreign Languages, magically produced a cigarette from his pocket. It was unlit, so he could only puff on it dry, finally exhaling a barely perceptible smoke ring.
"Subtitle group."
After a detailed discussion, it turned out that Qiao's group made horror films, and all of them were Blu-ray collector's items with both Chinese and English subtitles, showing their high standards. Song Fei regretted that he wasn't fortunate enough to enjoy this type of film; otherwise, Qiao's hard drive alone would have been enough for him to devour for three to five years.
Seeing the two of them getting increasingly animated, from movies to Chinese animation and then to BL (Boys' Love) anime, Qi Yan gave a light hum and said, "Speaking of which, I just remembered something..."
Song Fei and Qiao Siqi stopped naturally and looked at him simultaneously.
Qi Yan raised her arm and waved it in front of Song Fei: "It looks like it was done in the cafeteria."Department Store
Qi Yan's sleeve was rolled up to his elbow, revealing a two-inch-long scratch on his forearm. It wasn't severe, but the skin was torn open and the blood was glaringly red.
Qiao Siqi jumped up with a shout and leaped like a rocket to the farthest upper bunk.
Song Fei grabbed his arm, her brows furrowing deeply: "What happened?!"
The scene was so impactful that Qiao Song forgot one thing—hearing them talk about gay anime reminded him of his injured arm. Was that "just happened" a bit too abrupt?
Qi Yan let Song Fei hold him; he liked the concern on the other's face. As for Qiao, he wished she could fly as far away as possible: "When I was helping to hold down a woman, I got scratched by her fingernails."
Song Fei felt his teeth chattering: "A... a mutant?"
Qi Yan nodded.
Song Fei felt a chill run down her spine, her mind going completely blank.
Qiao Siqi wanted nothing more than to grab a lasso and drag him over: "What are you standing there for? He's about to mutate!!!"
Thanks to Qiao's shout, Song Fei's blank mind actually started to work. Coupled with Qi Yan's annoying aura that seemed so familiar yet strangely comforting, she immediately felt much more at ease. She turned around and retorted, "If he wanted to mutate, he would have done so long ago. Why would he wait until now?!"
Qiao Siqi was also puzzled. Not to mention running back and climbing the balcony, he had spent almost half an hour just talking, and Qi Yan really didn't show any signs of turning into a zombie.
"It should be saliva," Qi Yan suddenly said, his calm voice filled with confidence and certainty. "Their saliva contains a virus, but this virus can only be transmitted through blood. Their fingernails touching my blood is fine, their saliva touching my skin is also fine, but if their saliva comes into contact with our blood, it will mutate. So all the mutants have been bitten."
Qiao Siqi tilted his head and thought about it carefully, and it seemed to make sense.
"If you're going to help press, then press, why the hell did you roll up your sleeves!" Song Fei felt relieved, but her anger flared up. Qi Yan's clothes were intact, but his arm was scratched, clearly indicating that his arm was exposed during the fight.
Qi Yan tilted her head, her eyes innocent and naive: "It seems like someone once told me that you have to roll up your sleeves to look like a real man when you're fighting."
Song Fei stood there, her face flushed, speechless.
The clues that Josh had noticed during the embrace on the balcony have now been completely confirmed.
Damn it, what time of day is this?!
"What should we do now?" Qiao Siqi asked. Life and death were at stake; personal feelings had to take a backseat.
This was a problem Qi Yan had been pondering. Running from the cafeteria to the dormitory, he realized along the way that the school was completely paralyzed. Forget about rescuing them; their own safety was probably precarious. They were now trapped in the dormitory, surrounded by mutants and with little food left. Survival was their top priority.Department Store
Achoo!
Song Fei sneezed without warning. He rubbed his nose and felt a chill all over his body. He looked up and saw that the balcony sliding door was closed tightly. Logically, it shouldn't be this cold.
Qi Yan suddenly got up, walked to the windowsill, and touched the radiator below. Her hand was ice-cold.
Song Fei realized something: "The gas's been cut off?"
Qi Yan nodded.
Sitting cross-legged on the upper bunk, Qiao Siqi pitifully pulled a blanket over himself, looking somewhat desperate: "It seems that things aren't much better outside than they are here."
There are two possibilities for the sudden loss of heating: either the mutation has spread to nearby heating companies, or the mutation unrest has cut off the fuel supply. However, if the fuel supply were cut off, the heating companies' own fuel reserves should be sufficient for at least a while, so the gas shouldn't be shut off so quickly. Therefore, it can only be the former.
"Is the world really going to end?" Song Fei asked Qi Yan.
Qi Yan pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "As long as the water and electricity haven't stopped, it's not really the end of the world."
Joss was not as optimistic as him: "The virus will spread there sooner or later."
Qi Yan looked at him: "If we, who are so far from the city center, have experienced a virus outbreak, what reason do we have for waterworks and power plants to be spared?"
Qiao Siqi had already wrapped himself up in a blanket like a roly-poly doll: "What do you mean?"
Qi Yan: "Water and electricity are the most basic necessities of life. As long as water and electricity continue, the survivors have a chance to live. A large-scale outbreak of zombies is difficult to deal with, but if we concentrate all our efforts on protecting the water and power plants, it is not impossible to hold them off."
A glimmer of light gradually returned to Qiao Siqi's gloomy face: "You mean..."
Qi Yan: "We are not fighting as a group of three."
Song Fei: "You don't even need to tell me that. We have alumni from two dormitory buildings right in front of us."
"..." Qi Yan's newly formed generosity was ruined by Song Fei, and he didn't know whether to be angry or amused.
Qiao Siqi, however, had already perked up and jumped out of bed, throwing off the covers: "Then let's plan now on how to deal with the current situation?"
Qi Yan casually grabbed a pen and paper, thought for a moment, and then started scribbling away—
1. Food.Department Store
2. Safety.
3. Backup plan.
The two students, Qiao and Song, looked at the six big characters and seemed to understand them, but it was also as if their understanding was not very profound.
Qi Yan explained point by point: "We're trapped in the dorms now, just like when we were besieged during a war. We have no food source, and even without the zombies coming in, we'll be finished. So we must gather as much food as possible from other dorms. Also, the dorms aren't 100% safe. Nobody knows if the zombies will mutate further. If they break in, we must have weapons to defend ourselves. Even if we can't eliminate them, we can at least protect ourselves from being bitten. Finally, if the dorms fall like the cafeteria, we must have a planned backup shelter so we can escape immediately if that happens."
Song Fei: "..."
Qi Yan loved to talk eloquently and express his opinions, and Song Fei had wanted to shut him up countless times when they were together. Only today did he realize that Qi Yan, who was so talkative, could actually shine brightly.
Qiao Siqi snatched the paper from Qi Yan's hand and read it several times from top to bottom and bottom to top. Finally, he couldn't help but applaud: "Damn, clear and logical, even if Mount Tai collapses... uh... it collapses on your face, you don't change your expression, what a talent!"
Qi Yan ignored him and stared intently at Song Fei.
Song Fei was still immersed in the unreality of "Is this really my ex-boyfriend?" After being stared at for a long time, she finally met Qi Yan's gaze, immediately gave him a thumbs up with both hands, and sincerely praised him: "Handsome."
Qi Yan's lips twitched, as if he wanted to move forward, but he held back in the end. Only the joyful little ripples in his eyes could not be restrained, and could only roll and surge freely.
Qiao Siqi slammed the paper in his hand to the ground. Not satisfied, he jumped up and stomped on it eight hundred times. Either he was eaten to death by zombies or tortured to death by insane displays of affection. It's too damn hard for single people to survive in this world!