The discussion continued until evening, and the six students sitting on the quilts roughly summarized the known characteristics of the zombies:
1. Vision, hearing, and smell remain unchanged or are enhanced; sensitivity to the movement and smell of living people remains.
2. No pain sensation;
3. Significant intellectual decline, but may retain basic imitation and learning abilities and a small amount of memory;
4. Physical fitness (speed, flexibility, etc.) deteriorates from its original level; the rate of deterioration is unknown and varies from person to person.
5. Strength remains unchanged, basically the same as that of an ordinary person, but individual differences exist;
6. Saliva contains viruses and can be transmitted through blood.
7. Brain death is currently the only known cause of death.
Putting down their notebooks, the six students, their mouths dry, let out a long sigh of relief. The supermarket had darkened, and the hum of the air conditioner created a strange, eerie atmosphere. They hadn't noticed it during their earlier discussion, but now a chill ran down their spines.
Everyone looked at each other, but Song Fei was the first to react. She got up and went to find the light switches on the wall. Fortunately, she found them quickly and pressed them all at once. In an instant, all the lights came on.
"No wonder Prometheus went to steal fire for mankind," Zhou Yilu put down his notebook, stretched, and sighed, "Only light can give mankind hope even in the darkest of times."
Song Fei: "..."
Luogeng: "..."
Qiao Siqi: "..."
Qi Yan: "..."
Lin Dilei really didn't want the discussion to fall into an awkward silence, so she racked her brains and managed to come up with a reply: "Yeah."
This isn't the first time Zhou Yilu has killed off a conversation, but he still doesn't understand what went wrong: "Is it really that hard to respond to what I'm saying?"
This time, the four male students finally had a say—
Song Fei: "Very much."
Luogeng: "Difficult."
Josh: "Basic."
Qi Yan: "I can't catch it."
Zhou Yilu remained silent for a while, then looked up and said, "Let's continue talking about zombies."
The five friends laughed so hard they were doubled over, the awkward silence was long gone, and the atmosphere became lively again.
After a terrifying experience in the restroom and some mental work, everyone was starving. They got up to find their favorite dinners and then regrouped on the floor a few moments later.
"I think we've analyzed the characteristics after the mutation pretty well," Zhou Yilu mumbled, taking a big mouthful of eight-treasure porridge. "I've never been this serious in group discussions during class."
"The analysis is finished, but we still need to figure out how to deal with it." Qi Yan unscrewed a sausage and handed it to Song Fei, who was holding a bowl of instant noodles. The latter was stunned for a moment, then quickly said thank you and took it.
Qi Yan raised an eyebrow. Song Fei thanked him, was it going to rain red blood?
Qi Yan was so engrossed in his thoughts that Zhou Yilu called him three times before he snapped out of it: "Huh? What?"
Zhou Lu rolled his eyes. Even if you're blinded by love, you can't just stare at Xi Shi all day long. You need to pay attention to strangers too: "I'm asking you, do you already have a plan?"
Qi Yan calmed himself down and put aside other thoughts for the time being: "We don't have specific countermeasures yet, but since they have the ability to imitate, can we make some use of that? Also, we need to be more cautious when implementing the plan. We can't treat them like single-celled organisms anymore; we need to consider things more thoroughly."
"Completely agree." Luo Geng carefully handed the freshly made hot milk to the goddess, along with a heartwarming smile. After the goddess took the milk, he turned back with satisfaction and continued, "Eliminating them is not our goal; survival is our goal. The current situation is that this place may be safe, or it may be breached. We cannot afford to be complacent."
"Why not just use the warehouse in the back?" While everyone else was eating staple food, Johns was eating squid strips with relish. "If we really can't stay here any longer, we can all hide inside. We can just lock the door and there will be plenty of food and drink inside."
Qi Yan pondered for a moment, then asked, "What if the storeroom won't work either?"
Qiao Siqi was speechless: "It can't be that bad, can it?"
"Then let's go to the cafeteria," Song Fei interjected. "The cafeteria is the closest to here, and there's definitely meat and stuff stored in the freezer in the kitchen."
Qi Yan immediately looked at Song Fei. Since the discussion began, he had always had a hard time catching the other's gaze: "How do we get there?"
Song Fei scratched his head somewhat awkwardly: "I haven't thought about it yet."
This was an expected answer; it would be strange if Song Fei had truly thought it through. So asking the question was just a pretext; Qi Yan wanted to observe him more closely, ideally seeing into his heart through his eyes, to see what illness had caused him to act so abnormally.
Song Fei felt uncomfortable being stared at, and seeing that the conversation wasn't going on, she simply buried herself in her food again.
This created a subtle scene where Qi Yan frowned and stared at Song Fei, while Song Fei was completely absorbed in his instant noodles.
Lin Dilei ate soda crackers while sipping milk, silently observing, feeling that something was off. The other three male classmates also sensed the unusual atmosphere, but as innocent young men who had never even touched a girl, it was far too difficult for them to presume to understand the ambiguous feelings between men.
After a satisfying meal, no one had come up with a foolproof backup plan that would be unanimously approved. The main issue was the ever-present threat of various dangers; once the thought process started, it was impossible to stop, and the backup plan could ultimately become a dead end. Besides, their minds were completely blank after an afternoon of frantic thinking. No one said it, but only they knew how exhausted they were.
In the end, Little Landmine made the final decision: "We'll talk about it tomorrow. Now, do whatever you want and rest!"
The male students, relieved to finally hear the bell ring, scattered in all directions.
Zhou Lu went to the household goods section. He wanted to find a sturdy broom or mop, remove the handle, and tie a sushi knife to it. He wanted to turn a short weapon into a bayonet, making it stronger with every inch of length.
Luo Geng helped Lin Dilei choose a suitable weapon, explaining to her how to use each one to maximize its lethality. Although the latter found the differences between the fruit knife, scissors, utility knife, pencil sharpener, and nail clipper to be obvious.
Qiao Siqi lay down on the quilt and let his mind wander. After resting for a while, he started replaying those movies in his mind, recalling how the protagonists broke through the encirclement and slaughtered their way through, hoping to draw inspiration for battle from them.
Song Fei remained where he was, still holding his notebook and writing and drawing on it.
Qi Yan originally wanted to think about how to get to the cafeteria, but when she looked up, she saw that only Song Fei and Qiao Siqi were left in front of her, one looking focused and the other lying sprawled out.
"What is he writing?" Qi Yan asked curiously as she leaned closer, only to discover that Song Fei wasn't writing, but drawing.
"The map of our school." Song Fei didn't look up, still focused intently.
When Qi Yan saw Song Fei drawing for the first time, she was both curious and amused, and she watched intently. Song Fei's drawing was somewhat hasty, with all sorts of lines completely unrestrained. But the buildings and roads were all in the right places, perhaps not quite accurate, but as a student of this school, she could clearly see them at a glance.
What's even more amazing is that he also drew many places that Qi Yan had never paid attention to before. Some of them were places Qi Yan knew about but had never been to, such as Yixin Building in the School of Art, Chongli Building in the School of Psychology, and Wenhui Building in the School of Literature. These were far from the buildings of the School of Science and were never on Qi Yan's daily route or within the scope of his student union activities. There were also some places that Qi Yan had never even heard of. If Song Fei hadn't drawn them, he wouldn't have known that his school had such places.
"What is this Changyi Garden?" Qi Yan asked, choosing a place he had never heard of before, humbly seeking answers.
"Bamboo Garden." Song Fei's pen continued writing, his answer concise and to the point.
Are they all bamboo?
"Um."
"Can they be raised in the north?"
"They all died last winter, but the new ones planted this year seem to be able to survive."
When did you go there?
"When taking a day trip."
What is that?
"..." Song Fei's pen paused, and after a long while, he raised his head and smiled smugly, "I'm the tour guide leading the group on a day trip for our school."
Qi Yan was amused by his proud expression: "You've done this before? How come I didn't know?"
Song Fei shrugged and muttered under his breath, "There's a lot you don't know."
The atmosphere seemed to have eased somewhat, and Qi Yan wanted to talk about something serious, such as the seriousness of the incident in the restroom, or dealing with the other person's bad temper that had been bothering them all afternoon, etc., however...
Caught in the awkward atmosphere between the male classmates surnamed Song and Qi, the male classmate surnamed Qiao, who had been trying to clear his mind but had failed repeatedly, finally got up after receiving a faint glance from him. He then strode away almost fleeing, saying, "Suddenly I'm not sleepy anymore. I'm going to check how Zhou Yilu's bayonet work is going—"
Watching Qiao Siqi's figure disappear into the shelf of brooms and dustpans, Qi Yan approached Song Fei, ruffled his hair, and whispered, "Are you not angry anymore?"
Song Fei instinctively tried to dodge, but failed, so she stopped moving, afraid of appearing too deliberate: "I'm not angry."
Song Fei's voice was natural, but the head under his hand seemed to want to hide from him. Qi Yan felt a little uncomfortable, but she couldn't tell from her voice: "I'm not angry, but you've been hanging your head almost to your crotch all afternoon."
Song Fei was speechless: "Could you please stop stealing my famous quotes?"
Qi Yan smiled innocently: "One is influenced by one's surroundings."
Song Fei tilted his head and thought carefully: "It seems you really haven't learned anything good from me."
Qi Yan nodded approvingly: "It's rare that you have such self-awareness."
Song Fei wanted to chuckle as usual, shamelessly, but no matter how she tried to force a smile, it felt a bit forced, so she quickly returned to a serious demeanor: "I'm not angry, really. I just think what you all discussed was very useful. I can't even keep up with all of it, so I don't have time to look up."
Qi Yan raised her eyebrows slightly, her suspicious gaze searching back and forth across Song Fei's face.
Song Fei raised his face, letting him see it openly.
Qi Yan initially genuinely wanted to determine whether Song Fei was lying, but as she looked, her thoughts wandered, though her eyes remained fixed on that face—no, she was completely absorbed in it.
Song Fei's appearance was far from handsome; he'd be easily lost in a crowd. Especially with his single eyelids, he always looked like he hadn't slept, perfectly matching his laid-back, carefree attitude. But this guy was full of wicked tricks, so wicked that even his eyes and brows exuded a mischievous charm. Perhaps it was a case of what he lacked, but Qi Yan actually liked this vibe. When they first got together, she couldn't stand looking at him too much.
My resistance has improved a bit now, but I still get hooked on occasionally.
As the face in front of her drew closer, Song Fei sensed something was wrong and nervously pushed the person away.
Qi Yan was jolted awake by the sudden movement, but then found Song Fei's behavior inexplicable. The incident in the restroom at noon was Song Fei's impulsive act, and Qi Yan had said in front of so many people that it might have been inappropriate, but now he had humbled himself and tried to appease him—wasn't that enough?
"How long are you going to keep sulking? Give me a straight answer."
Qi Yan didn't want to waste time on this kind of thing with zombies possibly coming in at any moment, so she simply went back to their old way of getting along, speaking her mind and being straightforward.
This is the model that Song Fei hates the most.
In this mode, Qi Yan is always aloof, calm, and self-controlled, while Qi Yan automatically becomes the one who is unreasonable and argumentative.
He tried hard to keep up with Qi Yan's pace, and tried to understand the other's thoughts and pursuits, but Qi Yan never thought of stopping to pay attention to his world.
Leading campus day trips used to be his favorite weekend activity. Unlike Ren Zhe's motives of picking up girls, he genuinely enjoyed it; the sense of accomplishment from introducing the familiar plants and trees to others and receiving their approval was immense. Later, when he was with Qi Yan, weekends were spent entirely in the library. Qi Yan never asked him what he used to do on weekends, seemingly assuming he was just doing nothing. Eventually, he also felt that it wasn't really a serious matter, and as a result, he broke up with Qi Yan and never picked it up again.bookshelf
Taking a deep breath, Song Fei raised her head and, for the first time without any guilt, stared intently at Qi Yan: "We are friends now, friends who have been through thick and thin together, so if I do something wrong, you can point it out, and I will definitely correct it. I won't hold a grudge against you."
Qi Yan stared blankly at Song Fei, as if he knew him but didn't.
The key point is that they haven't said anything wrong. They have clearly broken up in name and are now just friends.
However, he thought that after these few days...
Forget it. If Song Fei insists on a clear answer, he'll give it to him.
"Do you remember the day the accident happened? I had asked you to have lunch together." Qi Yan asked.
Song Fei hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Why did you suddenly bring this up?"
Qi Yan: "Actually, I have something I want to tell you."
Song Fei: "..."
Qi Yan: "I want to get back together with you."
When Qi Yan said she had something to say, Song Fei sensed something, but when the other party actually said the words "get back together," he still felt like he was hallucinating.
He assumed that the zombie horde outbreak had made Qi Yan suddenly realize the feelings between them, which was why she ran back to the dormitory and immediately climbed onto the balcony to meet him. He never imagined that things had already happened before that...
"Why?" Song Fei couldn't understand. He racked his brains but couldn't recall any pleasant interactions between them after their breakup.
Qi Yan had already made up her mind to tell the truth, so she no longer hesitated: "I don't want to break up with you."
Song Fei: "..."
Qi Yan: "Besides, I didn't reply when you sent me a WeChat message saying we should break up. We were arguing back then, and I told you to calm down because I knew you act impulsively without thinking. But it turned out that I should have argued with you instead, so you wouldn't have to think about all that nonsense when you got home."
Song Fei: "..."
Qi Yan: "I admit I was a bit too harsh on you before, but you really weren't very ambitious. The more time you wasted in college, the more hardship you'll have to endure in society. I want the best for you, but you always think... 'Whatever, it doesn't matter. I don't even know if I'll survive to get out of here, so what's the point of going into society?' Now it's perfect, we don't have to study anymore, and we won't argue anymore."
Song Fei: "Qi Yan."
Qi Yan: "Hmm?"
Song Fei: "What did you want to talk about when you asked me to dinner?"
Qi Yan: "Didn't I just say that I want to get back together with you?"
Song Fei: "I refuse."
Qi Yan: "..."
Separated by two shelves.
Qiao Siqi: "Did you understand?"
Zhou Yilu: "I'm a little confused. Did we break up a long time ago, or did we just break up now?"
Luo Geng: "Am I the only one who cares that it's okay to be confrontational when asking to get back together?"
Lin Dilei: "So he failed. The campus was destroyed, zombies were everywhere, and love was ruined. It's very fitting."
Qiao Siqi: "But we have a formidable enemy at hand, and morale is very important. Why don't we try to persuade them?"
Zhou Yilu: "How should we persuade them?"
Five seconds later.
Qiao Siqi: "Qi Yan—"
Qi Yan: "Speak!"
Qiao Siqi: "Given our current situation, survival is the priority.
Let the ship of love sink first—"
Qi Yan: "..."