The zombie’s depression was cured by her newfound ambition. Once she decided to take action, she acted immediately. The very next day, she grabbed some paper and a pen and began drafting. She was so absorbed that she became oblivious to everything around her, and anyone who dared disturb her—Fu Qi included—would be sternly reprimanded.
“Don’t interrupt my creative process!” the zombie said seriously. “I’m a writer!”
Fu Qi: “…”
All right. At least being obsessed with writing was better than being obsessed with her phone.
Fu Qi didn’t interfere with her until one day, when he heard some commotion in the village and went outside to investigate. When he returned, he discovered that there was not only a zombie completely absorbed in her writing inside the house, but also another undead creature wandering around beside her.
Fu Qi lured the undead outside and dealt with it. Afterward, he decided that things couldn’t continue like this.
That time, it had been a zombie. But what if a human came in next time? Even if they failed to notice anything strange about her, one bullet to the head would be more than enough to cause trouble.
“Go to the hospital and get some medicine.”
“No. The roads are covered in snow.”
The snow made traveling inconvenient, and the medicine she had transported out earlier was already more than enough. Several nearby bases had received supplies, and Chen Xiang had even contacted them the day before to tell them so.
The flu was temporarily under control, and the researchers were working around the clock on a vaccine. They no longer needed to risk their lives searching for medicine.
Chen Xiang had also passed along Xu the Second’s regards to Fu Qi. “He asked whether you were messing with him that day, Captain.”
Xu the Second still wasn’t confident about what had happened. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been too afraid to ask directly and would have had someone else relay the question instead.
“Let’s rob a jewelry store,” Fu Qi said again.
“No.”
Qin Zhen refused as firmly as ever. “I’m going to build my career!”
Since he couldn’t persuade her, Fu Qi had no idea what exactly she was creating so seriously.
It was only at night, when Qin Zhen went to take a shower, that he got the chance to sneak a few looks. What he saw was astonishing. Apart from descriptions such as “the sky is blue and the clouds are white,” the notebook was filled with stick figures. The style resembled the graffiti in Qin Zhen’s tomb, but with better tools at her disposal, the drawings possessed far more charm and looked almost lifelike.
Fu Qi even found several drawings of himself in the notebook. Every single one had him black and blue, with a battered face.
What kind of writer was she? Wasn’t she clearly a comic artist?
But it seemed that Qin Zhen had only drawn those things casually to pass the time. She didn’t think she ought to draw comics at all. When she came out of the shower, she instead demanded to know whether Fu Qi had looked through her drafts and whether he was planning to plagiarize her novel.
Who would want to plagiarize a primary-school picture-composition exercise?
Fu Qi said, “If I were going to plagiarize anything, I’d plagiarize your comics.”
The zombie thought he was mocking her and glared at him fiercely.
Writing was clearly a difficult task for a zombie. After an entire day, she could barely manage a few lines. She blamed her lack of romantic experience for her writer’s block. Whenever she couldn’t think of anything to write, she either scribbled random drawings or stared at Fu Qi, forcing him to remain on guard at all times.
The snow fell heavily, continuing for a full three days. On the fourth day, the sun came out. After another two days, Fu Qi decided to make one last trip to the town and transport out some more medicine before continuing south.
Qin Zhen still refused to leave the house.
“You’ve stayed inside too long,” Fu Qi said. “You need to go out and gather material. Find some inspiration.”
Great Writer Qin thought that made sense and immediately started toward the door. Fu Qi stopped her, made her put on a coat, and then told her to put on makeup.
“No,” Qin Zhen said. “I’ve thought it over. From now on, I’m going to have two—two identities: Little Zombie the zombie, and Qin Qin the human.”
Fu Qi refused to agree. “The weather has improved these past two days. If anyone comes out to search for supplies, it’ll most likely be during this period. We’re very likely to run into them.”
“Then I’ll pretend to be a zombie.”
“You’re not worried about getting dirty anymore?”
Qin Zhen didn’t care. She said she had to shower every day anyway.
That was what she said, but Fu Qi knew the real reason was that she simply didn’t want to put on makeup. After staying indoors for several days, she had grown accustomed to being lazy.
Applying such a thick layer of foundation to her face every day really was uncomfortable.
“Unless…” The zombie drew out the word, her darting little eyes repeatedly glancing toward Fu Qi.
Fu Qi tugged at his collar. “Don’t even think about it.”
Qin Zhen called him stingy. On the road, she continued muttering, “The apocalypse is so dangerous. What if you run into trouble one day? It would be such a waste if a zombie ate such a good body.”
Fu Qi said, “It’ll be fine if I’m eaten. As long as I keep my chastity, it’ll be worth it.”
Qin Zhen held it in for the entire journey. It wasn’t until they reached their destination that she finally squeezed out a reply.
“Actually, your body isn’t that great. There are plenty of people with better figures than you. I was only repeating what Academician Jiang said and flattering you a little. You really took it seriously.”
The closer they got to the city, the more zombies there were. Fu Qi was studying the traces along the road and trying to determine whether any survivors had visited the city. He didn’t respond.
“Actually, there are plenty of zombies with better bodies than yours. That zombie we passed earlier was pretty good too. It was just too dirty. Otherwise, I definitely would have found it and tried experiencing romance.”
Only then did Fu Qi answer. “That’s right. There are plenty of people with better bodies than mine, especially your husband. I’m nowhere near as good as her.”
Having an underage husband was a humiliation Qin Zhen could never erase from her record. She silently rubbed her chest and swore that she wouldn’t say another word to that petty, vicious man Fu Qi for three days.
“There’s blood on the road. There might be someone inside. I’ll go with you,” Fu Qi said.
“No need.” Qin Zhen had finally found something she could use to belittle him, and instantly forgot the oath she had just made. “What can you do if you go? You’ll only hold me back.”
“Then I won’t go. Be careful on your own, and remember to avoid humans as soon as you encounter them, so you don’t get a bullet through the brain.” Fu Qi paused. “I know you won’t die even if your brain gets shot through, but if your brains start leaking and you become stupid…”
He trailed off and finally let out a heavy sigh.
There was no shortage of intimidation in his words, but they also happened to frighten the zombie.
It had taken her so much effort to become a little smarter. What if she returned to the way she had been when she first crawled out of her tomb? Wouldn’t all the suffering she had endured during this period have been for nothing?
“Fine, we’ll go together,” Qin Zhen compromised.
Humans were simply too popular with zombies. Qin Zhen had once been able to reach the hospital alone in half an hour, but this time, it took them three or four times as long to get there. Fortunately, they didn’t find any sign of humans after arriving.
They might have gone somewhere else. Or perhaps they hadn’t escaped the zombies’ clutches and had been turned into zombies themselves.
In any case, with no humans around, the zombie could move about freely.
She discussed the plan with Fu Qi: he would load the medicine inside while she went outside to find a vehicle.
Since they had already confirmed on the way there that no humans were around—and Qin Zhen had done this many times before—Fu Qi reminded her not to go too far and then agreed.
Qin Zhen indeed didn’t go far. There happened to be an ambulance inside the hospital, with seven or eight zombies trapped in it. There had probably been an outbreak inside, wiping out the entire group.
She drove the zombies out, checked the vehicle, and found that it was still in working order. Then she drove it straight into the pharmacy.
Everything went smoothly until the two of them had finished loading the medicine and were preparing to leave.
Suddenly, a violent explosion rang out nearby.
An explosion meant humans were present.
Qin Zhen wasn’t wearing makeup.
“They might be a team here to look for medicine. We can’t let them discover you.”
Fu Qi quickly analyzed the situation and made a decisive choice.
“After we get out, blend into the mass of zombies and head toward the north side entrance. If you hear gunshots nearby, drop to the ground at once and play dead. If you don’t hear any, leave the hospital as quickly as possible.”
“Fine.” If they had a choice, no one wanted to take a bullet—not even a zombie.
Qin Zhen nodded and hurried toward the exit.
The pharmacy had only one exit. She had barely reached it when another explosion erupted outside. The blast was so violent that the doors and windows of the pharmacy trembled.
A continuous burst of gunfire followed, raining down like hail.
“Use the window,” Fu Qi urged in a low voice. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward a small window at the back of the pharmacy.
The window was meant for ventilation. It was tiny, and set quite high up. Before Qin Zhen could even react, Fu Qi had hoisted her onto his shoulder.
Just as he was about to push her through, she hurriedly grabbed his shoulder and asked, “What about you? Aren’t you coming with me?”
“The people who came are probably a squad searching for supplies. I’m not a zombie, so what do I have to fear?” As he spoke, Fu Qi grabbed the hand Qin Zhen had braced against his shoulder. “Don’t even think about taking advantage of the opportunity to defile me.”
Qin Zhen: “...You really have the nerve to say that!”
Still, the fact that he could joke around at a time like this meant he was probably fine.
“Your safety comes first. If you run into anyone, play dead. Wait until they’re gone, then sneak out. Go back to where we’re staying and wait for me. Don’t run around, understood?”
In the few seconds it took him to say this, another explosion went off. Several panes of glass in the pharmacy windows seemed to crack, sending sharp tinkling sounds through the air.
Fu Qi’s expression darkened. He said nothing more. With a lift of his shoulder, he more or less violently shoved Qin Zhen through the small window.
After pushing Qin Zhen out, he climbed up the medicine cabinets and vaulted to a higher position. With a gun drawn from his waist in one hand and a short blade in the other, he made several leaps and concealed himself in a dark corner. Then he held his breath and waited silently amid the gunfire outside.
He had lied.
The people outside were very likely not a squad searching for supplies, but enemies.
After the apocalypse had raged on for so long, ammunition had been depleted at an alarming rate, and manufacturing it was difficult. Just like the temporary squad sent to rendezvous with Academician Jiang, most people would not use firearms unless absolutely necessary when they could rely on close-combat weapons instead.
The vast majority of people were like that. Even squads like theirs, sent out to carry out missions, were no exception.
After living through the apocalypse for so long, Fu Qi had encountered only one group of people capable of wielding such overwhelming firepower so recklessly—the people from Country A who had been tracking him.
They had followed him here.
For Qin Zhen to escape safely, someone had to stay behind and keep them occupied. That person could only be him.
Fortunately, the zombie’s mind had become a little sharper, but it was still not smart enough. Otherwise, he might not have been able to fool her.
