Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 6

Jian Wu didn’t believe Tang Yu’s claim of not killing people. When she had been about to kill him, her movements had been extremely decisive and clean.

Jian Wu was a passionate person who believed in repaying kindness. He simply couldn’t bring himself to betray the camp where he had lived.

Seeing that she couldn’t get any information out of him, Tang Yu spread her hands toward Jin Ye. “This kid isn’t on our side. We can’t save your teammate.”

Jin Ye understood Tang Yu’s intention perfectly—she wanted her to persuade Jian Wu. Jin Ye tucked the scrap of cloth into her windbreaker pocket, glanced at Tang Yu and Jian Wu, then stood up and walked straight toward the camp.

“What are you doing?” Tang Yu and Jian Wu exclaimed simultaneously. Jin Ye’s actions had clearly caught them by surprise.

“You two don’t have to get involved. I’ll go save them myself,” Jin Ye said.

Tang Yu felt a headache coming on. The two little followers she’d picked up today weren’t very obedient.

“You’ll die,” Jian Wu said, his eyes wide. He pointed to the purplish-blue blotches and black lines that had already appeared on Jin Ye’s face—the signs of mutation that had rapidly developed after Tang Yu bit her. “The people in the camp will recognize you as a zombie in an instant.”

Tang Yu’s curiosity was piqued again. A thought struck her, and she asked, “Is that how you identify zombies? Couldn’t you just cover your face and fool everyone?”

“No, their gait is completely different from a human’s,” Jian Wu glanced at Tang Yu. “Although your walk is better, a careful observer could still spot the difference. Besides…”

Jian Wu paused and fell silent. He had realized Tang Yu was trying to fish for information.

Caught, Tang Yu didn’t even blush. She calmly withdrew her probing gaze, clapped her hands, and stood up. “Fine. If you don’t want to join us, kid, you can stay here. Jin Ye and I are going to rescue her teammate.”

Jin Ye looked back in surprise, giving Tang Yu a glance. By all rights, Tang Yu had no reason to take such a risk.

Tang Yu and Jin Ye walked side by side without looking back at Jian Wu. Both were adults, decisive in their actions, and had no patience for dawdling or trying to force someone’s hand.

“Don’t you have any firearms? Melee weapons are a huge disadvantage in this game.” Jin Ye glanced at the military knife in Tang Yu’s hand before looking away.

“The last time I used a gun, I couldn’t even graze the enemy’s sleeve,” Tang Yu quipped. She glanced down at Jin Ye’s hands, which were empty. Song Lengzhu and her team had already confiscated her firearms.

“You don’t have any other weapons?” Tang Yu asked. “Like a hidden knife or something?”

“No,” Jin Ye replied curtly.

Tang Yu felt a chill. Daring to charge into an enemy camp alone without a weapon… Just who was this young girl to Jin Ye, that she was worth risking her life for?

“Then how are we supposed to fight?”

“I’m a zombie now. A zombie is a weapon in itself,” Jin Ye replied in a low voice. Remembering that Tang Yu seemed new to the game and clueless, she added an explanation, “Teeth, fingernails, even our bl00d—as long as a human has an open wound, they’ll be infected instantly.”

Tang Yu was taken aback. She didn’t strongly identify with her zombie status and hadn’t made any effort to develop these abilities. Jin Ye, on the other hand, had rapidly adapted to her new role.

Perceptive, resolute, and with plenty of experience surviving in the wilds. Tang Yu’s understanding of Jin Ye deepened. This wasn’t some little follower; she was a powerhouse.

The two of them crept back to the thicket they were in before. Ahead, the two burly men were still patrolling the camp. Tang Yu shifted her gaze from the men to survey the surroundings.

Barbed wire and wooden frames stretched out in both directions, securely enclosing the camp. Tang Yu crept forward a few meters, hunched over, and found that the thick wire mesh was seamlessly joined. Apart from the main gate, there were no other entrances.

“The wire is electrified,” Tang Yu said, pointing to the carcass of a bird caught on the fence. The body was desiccated, its tattered feathers swaying in the wind. “Looks like the main gate is our only option. This is getting tricky.”

Jin Ye was growing anxious. She ran a hand through her short hair and stared intently at the main gate, looking ready to charge right through.

Tang Yu reached out and grabbed Jin Ye’s shoulder. “Don’t be reckless. If we alert a single person, the whole camp will rush out and riddle us with bullets. We may be zombies, but we only have one life.”

Only then did Jin Ye look away and relax her tense shoulders. “We’ll wait for the right moment, then.”

The right moment came almost immediately. The words had barely left her lips when a burst of gunfire echoed from the mountain path in the distance. The two burly men at the gate raised their guns in alarm. One headed down the path to investigate while the other sounded the camp’s alarm.

Tang Yu was surprised. The gunfire was coming from the direction of the thicket where Jian Wu was hiding. She and Jin Ye exchanged a look and instinctively turned to see what was happening.

Peering through the layers of leaves, Tang Yu saw Jian Wu walking toward the camp gate with his hands on his head, a gun pointed at him. Tang Yu and Jin Ye shrank deeper into the shadows, quieting their breathing.

The ones holding Jian Wu at gunpoint were a squad of ten well-equipped humans. Tang Yu guessed this must be the “camp vanguard” Jian Wu had mentioned. Their leader, a square-faced man, forced Jian Wu to the main gate and gestured to the sentry.

“Strange. This one actually begged for mercy when he saw me. Doesn’t seem like a mindless zombie. Run a test.”

The sentry took out a square metal device and cautiously approached Jian Wu. A thin needle extended from its tip and pricked Jian Wu’s skin.

Jian Wu flinched, letting out a series of muffled whimpers, his words unintelligible. Three seconds later, the needle retracted, and the indicator light on the device switched from green to red.

In an instant, a dozen gun barrels snapped to aim at Jian Wu, who instinctively threw his hands up in surrender.

Tang Yu stared at the detector. So this was the method of identifying zombies that Jian Wu hadn’t told them about.

“He’s one of our camp’s logistics personnel,” the sentry guarding the gate recognized Jian Wu. “His activity is restricted to this side of the river, which means there must be zombies nearby.”

The square-faced man’s expression darkened. His gaze swept the surroundings as he raised his hand to eliminate Jian Wu.

But someone behind him stopped him. “Captain, this zombie’s behavior is strange. He didn’t attack us on sight.” The man, who looked like a strategist, was quite young. He continued, “There have been more mutated zombies lately. We should take this chance to figure out their mutation mechanism. It’ll help us prepare our defenses.”

Jian Wu nodded frantically from the side.

His very human-like gesture successfully swayed the square-faced man, who waved a hand. “Take him to the lab.”

Hearing this, a plan formed in Tang Yu’s mind. She carefully hid her backpack in the bushes, tucked the Startling Dragon into her windbreaker, and then, seizing the moment, pulled Jin Ye and dashed out of the thicket.

The dozen or so people at the camp gate were startled by the sudden movement. They instinctively swiveled their guns, and someone fired a wild shot.

Tang Yu raised her hands high in a gesture of surrender. She didn’t flinch from the gun barrels or make any move to attack.

Jin Ye understood Tang Yu’s plan and slowly raised her hands as well.

“Hmph, strange,” the square-faced man frowned. “Now three of these mutated ones have shown up. Go check for any other threats.”

His men fanned out, rushing into the thicket and spraying it with gunfire.

Tang Yu knew she couldn’t make a wrong move. She had to act as human as possible. She pointed to Jian Wu, then to Jin Ye, and then made a gesture of shaking hands and walking together. Her meaning was clear: the three of them were a group, so they should take her and Jin Ye to the lab too.

“Damn, Captain Liang, this zombie knows sign language,” the gate sentry exclaimed.

“What damn sign language? It’s just random gesturing,” Captain Liang said impatiently. “Grab them all. Dissect them, crack open their skulls, whatever it takes. Let Professor Zhou figure out what’s going on.”

Tang Yu winked at Jin Ye. See? An opportunity just presented itself.

The three were led into the camp. As they walked, Tang Yu looked around and realized the camp was much larger than she had imagined, with people milling about everywhere. On an abandoned open-air stage, a large iron barrel was set up, and someone was ladling out midday porridge.

The line for the porridge was long. Most of the people had numb expressions and frail bodies; some were even in rags. Tang Yu was secretly surprised. You couldn’t say they were living poorly—after all, they were getting porridge at noon. But you couldn’t say they were living well, either. Their morale and appearance were a world away from that of the vanguard.

When Jian Wu saw the person distributing the porridge, he started shouting loudly. Instantly, every head turned in their direction. Some people saw the zombies and bolted in terror, dropping their bowls to the ground.

“Don’t move, or I’ll blow your brains out,” the vanguard soldier escorting them said, pressing his gun to Jian Wu’s head. To the humans, Jian Wu’s shouts were nothing more than chaotic groans.

The humans couldn’t understand Jian Wu, but Tang Yu and Jin Ye could. He had been shouting at the man distributing food, “Brother Li, it’s me!”

Brother Li clearly flinched, but seeing that the three zombies were under guard, he grew bold and laughed. “Damn, the kid turned into a zombie! Captain Liang, why haven’t you put him down yet?”

Hearing this, Tang Yu shot Jian Wu a sympathetic glance. The young man was clearly wounded by the words.

“I treated him like a brother, and he wants me dead.”

“Accept it, little bro,” Tang Yu said. “You two aren’t the same species anymore.”

A short while later, the three were brought to a damp cellar and locked in separate iron cages. Before long, the researcher named Zhou Zhou appeared. To Tang Yu’s surprise, Professor Zhou was a slender young woman with a gentle face, round glasses, and a constant, warm smile.

Professor Zhou held up three fingers and asked the trio in the cages, “How many is this?”

Tang Yu was speechless. Was this some kind of intelligence test?

Professor Zhou prompted them, “You can knock on the cage to respond.”

The three exchanged glances, but to prove they were worth keeping alive, they reluctantly struck the bars of their cages three times with their palms.

Professor Zhou’s bright eyes sparkled with surprise. She then held up all ten fingers. “What about this?”

Tang Yu’s expression darkened. Was she toying with them? Hitting the iron bars ten times would hurt!

She held up her own ten fingers to show she understood, then moved closer to the bars, meeting Professor Zhou’s gaze.

“How clever,” Professor Zhou praised, oblivious to the displeasure on Tang Yu’s face. From her perspective, a zombie that could count was astonishing enough.

“Keep a close eye on them,” Professor Zhou said to a burly, armed guard standing nearby. “I’ll come study them tomorrow once I’m done with my current work.” Then, she departed the cellar with a light spring in her step.

“We won’t be waiting until tomorrow,” Tang Yu murmured softly. Watching the guard’s retreating back, her hand slowly moved to the hilt of the knife hidden at her waist.