Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

As the three of them arrived back in the city hall, both of their armies had already begun setting up safety parameters.

Next to the staircase’s open field, a massive fire was raging on, with more and more soldiers dumping zombie corpses added to the fuel.

”Commander Xiaoyun!” A soldier with Lieutenant Colonel saluted, along with all the nearby soldiers stopping to salute.

Xiaoyun saluted back before signaling everyone to resume working, except for the Lieutenant colonel himself.

”How’s the cleanup process going?”

”I don’t think we can head back home today... Some of the tanks need to be repaired, and Wen Pi’s soldiers have been fighting nonstop for too long.”

”That’s fine. We’ll just leave after everything is fixed... You set up night watch already?”

”I have assigned four of the regiments to disperse around the city block and another two regiments in the nearby areas.”

”That’s good. Thanks for your work.”

”No problem, Sir!”

After waving the Lieutenant Colonel back to the rest of the troops, the three of them headed up the stairs to the building entrance.

Stepping foot into the building, they almost ran straight into several soldiers carrying out the zombie corpses.

”This is going to take a long time to clean up,” Xiaoyun murmured as he watched the soldiers continuously carry the corpses one by one.

Continuing to walk further inside, the three of them were a little surprised to see almost rows of soldiers lying on the floor.

”Commander Wen Pi——”

”Shhh, no need to wake them up. Let them sleep.”

Wen Pi’s answer made the only soldier awake shut his mouth as they continued walking up the stairs.

”Everyone really is exhausted.” Lingang quietly whispered as they walked through the halls.

As silence resumed, the two of them continued to follow Wen Pi until they finally arrived at an office room.

When Wen Pi opened the door, three officers were already inside the room. Two had similar-looking ranks, and a much older one was in the middle.

”Commander Wen Pi!”

”How’s the soldiers doing?”

”Everyone is exhausted...”

The officer on the left answered first, pausing for a second as all three of them turned their attention over to Xiaoyun and Lingang.

”Commander, who’s this person?” The officer on the right curiously asked.

”He’s Mr.Chen—Lingang’s commander.”

All three nodded their heads slightly, showing their respect, before Wen Pi himself suddenly turned around.

”Mr.Chen, I meant to say this earlier. I’m really thankful for your help. My army owns you one.”

”No need for that. You guys are our allies——”

”Beep! Is Major Wen Pi there? This is 74th Ground Force Aviation.”

As the walkie-talkie transmission interrupted their conversation, Wen Pi instantly grabbed it onto his hand.

”Yes, I’m here.”

”Zhong Pan had sent reinforcement... They are heading your way within thirty minutes.”

”Thank you.”

As the transmission ended, he turned his attention back over to Xiaoyun, who looked a little puzzled.

”You guys are actual soldiers before the outbreak?” Xiaoyun curiously asked.

Both Wen Pi and the older officer nodded before Wen Pi pointed over to the two other officers.

”Gangzhen and I are from the splitter of the 74th Group Army... However, the majority of the soldiers are civilians who have been recruited.

These two younger officers, Pinli and Zanfeng, are part of that young group I had mentioned earlier.”

Just as Xiaoyun slowly nodded his head slightly toward the two officers out of respect, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

But for some reason, his brain couldn’t connect their looks with anyone in his memory.

”Is there something wrong?” Gangzhen asked, noticing the weird look on Xiaoyun’s face.

”No, nothing... Ahem, I almost forgot. When is your commander going to deliver the missile they promised?”

All three officers, including Wen Pi’s face, changed at the same time—especially the two lower officers, who looked a little confused by Xiaoyun’s question.

”I’ll need to talk to my superior first to know that. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

”That’s fine...”

Just as Xiaoyun was getting ready to leave, his walkie-talkie suddenly started receiving a transmission.

”Xiaoyun, Xiaoyun, you there?” Kate’s voice asked.

”Yes, I’m here.”

”I finished cleaning up the zombie corpse. Should I report back to you with the pick-up truck?”

”No, you can head back to Luoping first. I’ll head back with the rest of the army tomorrow morning.”

”Okay.”

As Xiaoyun turned off the walkie-talkie, he quickly noticed one of the officers looking at his face as if something was on it.

”Is there something wrong?” Xiaoyun asked, moving his hand to check around his chin.

”Are you Chen Xiaoyun? The Xiaoyun who went to Guangzhou University? ” The officer on the right asked.

”Yes?”

”Oh my god. Do you remember me? I’m Pinli! Remember Mingxu and Chengyi?”

”Oh shit. You look so much older than I last saw you.”

As Xiaoyun and Pinli both hugged each other, everyone else in the room looked a little dumbfounded.

”Pinli, you know Mr.Chen?” Wen Pi asked.

”Yeah. We went to the same university and were dormates before the outbreak. He’s the man that saved my dad.”

”Really? He’s the one that saved Wu Min a year ago?”

”Saved him twice. Xiaoyun was the one who also paid for my dad’s medical bill before the outbreak.”

”It wasn’t that big of a deal... Ahem, Mr.Wen Pi, you don’t mind Pinli and me having a little chat for a bit, right?”

”Of course not. You guys can talk all night.”

Seeing Wen Pi’s expression soften so much made Xiaoyun a little curious, but he didn’t question it.

”Thank you.”

---

At an apartment rooftop right across from the city hall, Xiaoyun and Pinli sat on chairs with a table full of canned food.

”Pinli, how’s your dad and Chengyi?” Xiaoyun curiously asked, taking a bottle of beer straight out of his backpack.

”They are doing fine... Can I call you Xiaoyun?” Pinli asked, accepting the beer.

”What other names do you want to call me?”

Pinli didn’t respond to Xiaoyun’s question, but the silence alone was enough of an answer for Xiaoyun.

”Come on, don’t be so formal. Are we not brothers?” Xiaoyun asked as he popped open a bottle of beer for himself.

”Xiaoyun... You really sound a lot different than before.” Pinli murmured as he popped open his bottle.

”What do you mean by that?”

After a short silence, Pinli started examining Xiaoyun up and down before giving out an answer.

”You are a lot more talkative than before. You sound a lot more... How do I put this? Cunning? Frivolous?”

As Xiaoyun thought back to all the things that had happened to him, a frown suddenly appeared. He realized how much he had changed—from a kind and generous person to a selfish person who only cared for himself.

”I guess you’re right. I do sound a lot different than before...” Xiaoyun murmured, lifting the bottle of beer to have a small sip.

”Hey, don’t sound so negative. Your old naive style would be suicide nowadays. Everyone needs to be cunning and frivolous to survive in this damn apocalypse.”

”Thanks...”

”Don’t sweat it.”

As Pinli picked up a small piece of canned fish, a question suddenly popped up in Xiaoyun’s mind.

”Pinli, when did you become a soldier?”

”Right when my dad came back from the trip to Luoping... He was able to buy an officer spot for me.”

Seeing Pinli’s face looking a little embarrassed, Xiaoyun decided to cheer him up a little.

”Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. Look at me. Do I look like some old generals who should have the right to direct an army?”

Pinli quickly shook his head as Xiaoyun barely looked past thirty with his barely visible stubble on the chin.

”You still look like you’re straight out of university,” Pinli commented.

”Well, if we were still in school, we would just be out of university a month from now.”

A short silence ensued before both of them couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle into the dark sky.

”Pinli, do you miss school?” Xiaoyun curiously asked.

”Of course. Do you not miss it?”

Seeing Xiaoyun hesitating a second to answer, it was more than enough of an answer for Pinli to draw some conclusion.

”You got someone that you love?” Pinli suddenly asked.

”How do you know——”

”Look at your face. Sitting there and looking up to the sky with a conflicted face. Only a woman can make someone look so indecisive.”

”Okay, you got me... I don’t actually want to go back to those days.” Xiaoyun quietly answered.

”That’s fine... Speaking of those days, Mingxu is at Luoping right now, right?”

”Yeah... Actually, he should be at Zhaoqing right now.”

”Zhaoqing? Why would he be there?” Pinli curiously asked.

”Because he’s in the army just like you... How about Chengyi? Where is he up to nowadays?”

”Chengyi? He’s in the army, too. But he got assigned to be Zhongxiong’s bodyguard instead of being in the frontline.”