Feeding zombies was out of the question. Otherwise, who would be left to remind Fu Qi that he still owed the zombie two beatings?
But as it turned out, taking an old lady anywhere was inconvenient. Taking an old lady bursting with energy was even more inconvenient.
Qin Zhen had originally planned to wait until the old lady fell asleep, tie her to the tree, then sneak down and drive away the zombies. She could pretend they had dispersed because they couldn’t get to the meat. Unfortunately, the old lady simply refused to close her eyes. The zombie was so anxious that she almost knocked her unconscious.
Her fist was already raised when she remembered that this was a nationally renowned expert—the precious national asset she had managed to bring out at the cost of abandoning Fu Qi. The old lady absolutely could not get hurt, so the zombie had no choice but to lower her hand.
And so, the human and the zombie spent the entire day perched in the tree. Fortunately, Ye Hui had been thoughtful enough to prepare a backpack for the old lady. It contained food, water, and the leather jacket the zombie had been dreaming about.
Unfortunately, the wind picked up after sunset, and the night grew cold. Considering how precious the old lady’s brain was, the zombie painfully parted with her beloved black leather jacket and gave it to her.
“Miss Zhang, you’re such a kindhearted girl. What a good child,” the old lady began again. “How old are you this year? Do you have a boyfriend?”
Qin Zhen was now extremely annoyed by the old lady. She thought, You’ve got some nerve asking that. I might even be older than you.
But exactly how old was she?
There was no sense of time passing inside the tomb, so the zombie had no idea how long she had spent there.
Regardless of her actual age, however, the chances of her being the same age as this old lady were slim. If she had to choose between respecting the elderly and cherishing the young, she would definitely choose cherishing the young.
Sitting on the tree branch and watching the tireless zombies howling below, the zombie answered listlessly, “I’m 108 this year. My husband’s buried, my boyfriend’s missing, and my wife’s gone.”
“Hahahaha…” The old lady burst out laughing. “Miss Zhang, you’re so funny.”
“Miss Zhang” listened to the old lady’s laughter with a look of utter despair and prayed silently that the country would hurry up and pass a new law shooting everyone with such low standards for humor.
She wanted the old lady to fall asleep as soon as possible, so she found her something to do.
“Have you ever heard of a medical institution called DF—or DE—with a, a logo?”
This was what Fu Qi had wanted to ask the old lady about. Qin Zhen had simply asked on his behalf ahead of time.
The old lady was stumped. She searched her memory and said, “Nothing comes to mind… Where was this institution?”
“Don’t know.”
“What are you looking for it for?”
“Don’t know.”
“What was special about it?”
“Don’t know.”
The old lady let out an “Ow!” and said, “Miss Zhang, are you getting annoyed with me and just making something up to keep me busy?”
She was genuinely annoyed with her, but she was not making anything up.
Qin Zhen explained, “It’s something Fu Qi wanted to ask. He couldn’t find anything online. Xu Feng said you’ve seen a lot and might have heard of it, so he told me to ask you.”
The research institute’s various instruments and materials were all retrieved by combat teams venturing deep into cities overrun by zombies. The two sides had come into contact many times, so the old lady knew Xu Feng. Hearing that it was related to a mission, her expression grew more serious.
After thinking it over again, she said, “No, I’m afraid my mind has been filled with zombie viruses these past few years. I can’t remember things from before that… I need a clue. An address, something distinctive about the place, the era it existed in—even a medical accident that once happened there would help. Do you have anything?”
Qin Zhen carefully searched her memory and actually found something.
“That medical institution existed at least thirty years ago.”
She had heard Fu Qi and Xu Feng discussing it. She had been right beside them and remembered it very clearly.
“Thirty years ago…” The old lady concentrated fully on recalling it and fell silent.
At least she had stopped rambling, but she still refused to close her eyes, leaving Qin Zhen no chance to chase away the zombies beneath the tree.
They remained there for most of the night. In the early hours of the morning, just as the eastern sky began to pale, dark clouds covered it again. The morning wind was chilly, and Qin Zhen’s heart turned cold as well.
This was bad. It was going to rain.
She had gone far too long without touching up her foundation. For now, she could still make excuses about the dim lighting or the dirt on her face. But once the rain started falling and completely washed away her foundation, how was she supposed to explain her skin color?
Besides, they had been away from the Da Yu Base for nearly two days. Fu Qi must already have come looking for her, and he would certainly have brought her a fresh bottle of foundation. But she had failed to reach the place where the vehicle was hidden in time. How was Fu Qi supposed to find her?
Just as the zombie was growing frantic, the sound of a vehicle suddenly came from the road ahead. She looked up in delight, thinking Fu Qi had finally found her, only to discover that it was indeed a vehicle—but not the person she wanted.
It didn’t matter that she didn’t know them. As long as they could help her out of this predicament and let them take shelter from the rain inside the vehicle, that would be enough.
“Help!” Qin Zhen and the old lady shouted from the tree.
The people in the vehicle saw them. Not only did they have no intention of stopping, they lowered the window, raised a middle finger at the two women in the tree, and sped off arrogantly.
The old lady and Qin Zhen were furious, but there was nothing they could do about it.
The only good thing was that the zombies beneath the tree were drawn away by the commotion. Most of them chased after the vehicle, leaving only two behind to guard the old lady.
Two zombies wouldn’t be difficult to deal with, but doing so without letting Academician Jiang notice anything strange would be a little tricky.
The raindrops had already begun to fall. If Qin Zhen missed this opportunity, her situation would become even more difficult.
“What an opportunity!” The zombie was just about to speak when the old lady beat her to it.
“Let’s split up. One of us distracts the zombies while the other gets the motorcycle. There are only two of them—we can outrun them.”
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to hold them off!” Qin Zhen said.
If the old lady accidentally got bitten, all their efforts over the past few days would be wasted.
“You distract them. I’ll ride the motorcycle,” the old lady said.
“You know how to ride?”
“Don’t underestimate me.” The old lady puffed out her chest indignantly. “Your granny was much more impressive than you when she was young. I used to take my friends street racing every day… I wanted to say something to you the night before last. You ride so slowly—are you helping an old lady cross the street?”
“…”
Qin Zhen was briefly rendered speechless, then confirmed, “You really know how to ride?”
“Would I joke about my own life?”
Qin Zhen thought about it and decided that the old lady had a point. She nodded in agreement.
Worried that the dozen or so zombies chasing the vehicle might be shaken off and come back for them, neither woman hesitated. They acted immediately.
Qin Zhen jumped down first and used her branch weapon to drive back the zombies. Time was running short, so the old lady didn’t put on any airs. She half-fell, half-jumped to the ground and charged straight toward the motorcycle at the side of the road without looking back.
Almost the instant the motorcycle roared to life, the raindrops grew larger, pelting Qin Zhen on the head. The zombie panicked and, in a sudden burst of force, kicked one of the zombies that had tried to circle around her and rush toward the old lady. It went flying a great distance.
Fortunately, the old lady hadn’t looked in this direction. And fortunately, she really did know how to ride a motorcycle.
With a roar, the beastlike black motorcycle spun around and whipped into a turn. With a loud bang, it cleanly sent the maddened zombie flying.
The old lady, dressed in the black leather jacket, squeezed the brake and planted one foot on the ground. In the rain, she raised her chin at Qin Zhen and said coolly, “Hop on!”
At that moment, her hair was no longer the gray-white color that symbolized the passing of time. Instead, it was the latest fashionable shade, paired with the flashy motorcycle and leather jacket. She looked so cool and dashing that she was practically another Ye Hui.
Qin Zhen quickly climbed onto the back seat. The instant the motorcycle shot forward, she screamed, “That should’ve been mine!”
The old lady was quite pleased with her performance too. She accelerated into the wind and shouted, “You can’t pull it off. An old lady like me looks way cooler when she plays it cool. You know—gap moe!”
“K-Know your head!”
The virtues of respecting the elderly and caring for the young were completely drowned out by jealousy. Qin Zhen no longer felt even the slightest bit of awe toward Academician Jiang.
And yet, the truly terrifying part was still to come.
The old lady rode the motorcycle with absolutely no regard for safety. She charged around recklessly, nearly bouncing the zombie right off the back seat. And when she saw a zombie up ahead turn around and come back toward them, she not only failed to dodge it—she sped up.
“Come here, little darling. Come into Grandma’s arms.”
The old lady shouted excitedly as she rammed forward. With a loud bang, she struck the zombie and sent blood spraying everywhere.
“Ahhh—are you insane?!” The germaphobe zombie screamed when filthy blood splattered across her face, grabbing the old lady by the shoulder. “Drive safely, do you understand? Do you even have a dri—driver’s license?!”
The motorcycle, which had been nearly out of gas in Qin Zhen’s hands two days ago, was now full of life. Qin Zhen had the feeling that the old lady and this ferocious machine were about to become one.
The old lady continued chasing and ramming the zombies ahead, answering loudly in the midst of it all, “Of course I do! I got my license when I was eighteen!”
Qin Zhen didn’t believe her. Throwing her head back, she shouted, “Then take it out and let me see!”
“Uh…” The old lady began to hem and haw.
“You don’t have one? You don’t have one, do you?!”
Only then did the old lady admit sheepishly, “They said I got too wild whenever I touched a vehicle, so they revoked it when I was nineteen.”
The zombie was about to lose her mind.
“Stop—stop the bike, you—!”
The zombie was frantic. The old lady had been about to stop, but after rounding a bend, she caught sight of the car that had mocked them earlier.
The people inside spotted them too. One of them rolled down the window, stuck his head out, and provocatively spat toward them.
“Damn it! Screw you!”
The old lady unleashed a stream of profanity. In an instant, she abandoned all restraint, twisted the throttle, and charged after them.
Rain hammered down around them. Qin Zhen could barely keep her eyes open. At this point, she wasn’t worried in the slightest about her foundation running. She was only worried that the old lady would get herself killed!
“Academician! Professor! Grandma! Don’t do anything reckless—drive like civilized people, aahhh!”
The chaos at the Dayu Base was quickly brought under control. Once the government had taken over, Fu Qi briefly treated his injuries and immediately went out to look for Qin Zhen.
He wasn’t surprised when he failed to find the zombie at the place where they had hidden the vehicle. Based on how much fuel was left in the motorcycle, he calculated an approximate range starting from the base’s small gate and began searching in widening circles.
He wasn’t particularly worried about their safety. He was more afraid that the zombie might fail to conceal herself properly and that Academician Jiang would see through her disguise.
He searched through the night. Not long after the heavy rain began, he found the motorcycle’s tracks. Following the tire marks, he soon found the zombie he had been worried about.
Every time Qin Zhen appeared before him, it was in some unexpected form. This time was no exception.
This time, she was in a muddy ditch beside a field.
Both Ms. Zombie and Ms. Jiang were there. They were soaked through, covered in mud, and sprawled in the ditch without a shred of dignity.
The motorcycle, as cool and sleek as a black panther, had suffered the same fate. It lay overturned nearby, its rear wheel sunk into the mud and its front wheel sticking high into the air, still roaring and spinning. It looked like a fish desperately floundering on dry land, utterly stripped of its former glory.
Hearing the sound of a car, the zombie lifted her head. Her little face was smeared with mud. The moment she saw him, her crestfallen expression transformed into delight.
First, she cried out in surprise, “Sweetie!”
Then her mouth turned downward. Pointing at the old lady, who was equally covered in mud, she complained, “Captain! Look at this Crazy old lady!”
The “Crazy old lady” was just as aggrieved. “I couldn’t control myself… I’m sorry. I apologize to you, Miss Zhang.”
“Zhang your ass!”
The zombie was furious. She threw every last bit of respect for the elderly and care for the young out the window, scooped up a handful of mud, and flung it at the old lady.
The sight of her so full of energy—and trying so vigorously to beat up the old lady—made it obvious that she hadn’t been hurt.
Watching the zombie go berserk, Fu Qi suddenly burst out laughing.
