Zoe hadn't slept in the past few days in the laboratory, and she had only eaten perfunctorily. She needed to replenish her nutrition and eat something that could be considered a meal, instead of hiding in the kitchen and drinking a pot of oatmeal. Zoe's stomach was churning as she watched the small pot of sticky oatmeal, but she still closed her eyes and endured the protest of her stomach and finished the pot of oatmeal. After drinking it, Zoe began to regret it, and felt an uncomfortable feeling as if her throat was blocked. She covered her stomach and leaned over to the sink and retched a few times, but nothing came out. Instead, she had a terrible headache. Although she was supporting herself on the edge of the sink with both hands, Zoe still couldn't stand steadily. She almost fainted after a blackout.
Nausea and dizziness are the adverse effects of not having rest for several days and nights.
Zoe really regretted her stubbornness at this moment. The feeling of being helpless was so uncomfortable.
Zoe thought that if she stood for a while she would feel better, but her symptoms soon became more severe, to the point where she couldn't breathe. Everything in front of her was blurry, like a severely myopic patient who took off his glasses. She couldn't see anything clearly, and her heart was in pain. Zoe was so upset that she almost thought she was going to die.
Everyone is afraid when death is approaching.
Zoe was inevitably afraid. She gripped the edge of the sink with too much force, and her fingers were sore. She tried to use the last bit of consciousness to call out Suwan's name: "Yiwei!"
Hearing footsteps walking into the kitchen, Zoe turned her head to look, but she couldn't see clearly who came in. She only vaguely saw a tall and thin figure.
"What's wrong with you?!"
It's Suwan's voice.
Zoe felt relieved immediately.
"Help me up," Zoe said weakly. Seeing that something was wrong with her, Suwan ran over and supported Zoe without saying a word. Although Suwan looked thin, she actually had strong muscles and was very strong. She almost hugged Zoe. Zoe was still dizzy, but fell steadily into her arms. Strangely, although Zoe was still uncomfortable, she was not panicked or afraid.
A long-lost feeling.
"You're sick, you need to see a doctor," Suwan said after looking at Zoe's face, "and you have a slight fever..."
Symptoms of fever are now the top priority in the new base.
Zoe was already fuzzy, but she still interrupted her immediately: "No, I didn't come into contact with the zombies, doctor, no..." Her voice became smaller and smaller, but she was in Suwan's arms, and Suwan still heard it. Suwan understood what she meant. The soldiers saw Zoe in this state and must isolate her. Zoe didn't want to be isolated. Suwan, who had been isolated once, knew very well that it was a very unpleasant experience for her.
Zoe was fine before. Although she was not in good condition, she did not look like she had been bitten by a zombie, and there were no obvious wounds on her body. If a doctor was called, Zoe would definitely be isolated, which would be a torture for anyone. Suwan hesitated for a moment, thinking that Zoe was good to him and Angela, so he decided not to help her call a doctor, but to help her go to the bedroom to rest.
Angela felt something was wrong and walked to the kitchen to see what was happening. She was a little surprised to see Zoe leaning on Suwan's arms, but she also saw Zoe's expression. She and Suwan quickly helped Zoe to the bedroom, put her on the bed and let her lie down to rest. However, just in case, the two of them stayed in the room so that if Zoe became a zombie, they could kill her immediately to prevent any damage to the base.
Angela and Suwan carefully observed Zoe in the bedroom. They didn't know whether Zoe was unconscious or asleep. Her breathing was heavy and her face was pale and weak. Although Zoe, as a scientific researcher, didn't seem to have any contact with zombies, there was always the fear of accidents.
"She has a fever," Angela said worriedly.
"She didn't want to see a doctor," Suwan said.
Angela understood why Zoe couldn't see a doctor, and shrugged indifferently after hearing what Suwan said. Even if Zoe became a zombie, couldn't Angela and Suwan deal with her?
"What should we do? She doesn't look well," Angela was still worried, "She won't die of illness like this, will she?"
This time it was Suwan's turn to shrug. "I don't know what's wrong with her. Let's wait and see. If it doesn't work, we'll go find a doctor."
Angela nodded and agreed with Suwan's opinion.
They waited until dark, but fortunately Zoe's breathing became more and more stable and she looked better. Poor Suwan and Angela, they were afraid that something might happen to Zoe, so they kept watching over her and skipped Instructor Will's practical class in the afternoon. If they were caught by the stingy Instructor Will, they would definitely be severely scolded and tortured.
It was getting dark, but the lights were not turned on. After all, Zoe was a deep sleeper, and turning on the lights might make her sleep uncomfortable. The TV had been turned off long ago. Suwan and Angela sat quietly in the bedroom, waiting for Zoe to wake up. Zoe's consciousness must still be clear and not controlled by the black screen, only then can the two of them feel at ease.
Although it was dark, Angela and Suwan could still see everything in the room with the dim moonlight. They stared at Zoe lying on the bed, and suddenly saw the figure on the bed move.
Suwan and Angela simultaneously grasped the daggers in their trouser pockets.
"Zoe?" Suwan whispered tentatively.
Zoe groaned in pain and turned over in the quilt. Being sick felt terrible. Not only did she have a headache and tinnitus, but she was also sweating. Her clothes were sticky to her skin, making Zoe feel very uncomfortable.
"Zoe," Suwan called her again.
Zoe just heard it this time, a little dazed: "...Yiwei?"
"It's me, how are you," Suwan asked.
"I can't say for sure," Zoe half-propped herself up and looked around the house. She saw a figure by the window, someone sitting there looking at her.
"Have you been here all this time?" Zoe asked, looking at her.
"You are very ill. You should see a doctor."
"Okay," Zoe tapped her groggy head and nodded in agreement.
In fact, staying up late is common for researchers, but this time they were under too much pressure. The previous experimental environment had always been a closed space, and the experimental subject turned into a pool of meat paste after the experiment failed, and was destroyed by corrosive liquid. There was no possibility of being controlled by the dark side. No one had thought of using dead objects for experiments, so the mutation was also unexpected by the researchers.
When Zoe saw the first dead student staggering to his feet, she was scared. She knew something must have gone wrong. These dead people crawling up looked evil and terrifying, as disgusting as the mysterious witchcraft in those evil cults.
Zoe had seen the evil word "zombie" in the dictionary. It was used to describe the resurrection of the dead. Wasn't it describing these living dead?
Since the first dead student got up, will there be a second and a third?
When Zoe saw the dead students stand up again and attack the living, she was actually very scared. Her body was shaking with fear, but she couldn't show it. If these researchers were afraid, how could they give these students confidence? In order to eliminate all possible dangers, Zoe made a prompt decision and asked the instructors to execute the students who were injured by the zombies. Facts proved that Zoe was right. Attacking the zombies' heads was Zoe's guess, because Zoe analyzed with the intuition of researchers that these undead creatures always have weaknesses. The student was pierced by bullets all over his body but did not react, so the fatal point must be the head that was not attacked. Fortunately, Zoe guessed it right by accident.
But that doesn't mean Zoe is as calm as she seems.
What Zoe is studying now is how to resolve the crisis caused by the shady dealings. While she is working hard to find a solution, she is also afraid that the solution will be discovered.
Once a solution was found and it was proven that the dead students were innocent and could be saved, Zoe would blame herself terribly.
She even thought that it would be okay to just keep going on like this, and it didn't matter if no solution was found. That way she would have done nothing wrong, no one would be innocent, and those students would all deserve to die.
But such thoughts are so selfish.
Zoe was conflicted and kept looking for a solution day and night. She was almost driven crazy. If she continued like this, she might really die in the laboratory one day.
And now, Zoe almost experienced death.
Suwan said that no one is immortal.
So disaster will always happen, it's just a matter of time.
Because of her illness, Zoe was weak and frail. She took a deep breath and said to Suwan in a hoarse and choked voice, "I had a bad dream."
Suwan and Angela both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Zoe didn't become a zombie. Suwan was about to turn on the light when he heard what Zoe said and didn't take it seriously.
Everyone dreams, there's nothing strange about it.
Suwan and Angela have also been dreaming these days. The contents of their dreams are similar, which are nothing more than being chased by zombies until they wake up in a cold sweat. I believe every student has had such a dream.
This is such a bad dream, could it get any worse?
Zoe said: "I dreamed that I became a zombie."
Suwan was stunned.
Which dream is scarier: dreaming about being dead and turning into a zombie that can't help but hurt the living, or dreaming about being alive and being chased by endless zombies?
Zoe suddenly covered her face with sadness and began to cry: "I dreamed that I became a zombie, but I couldn't control myself. I kept chasing you. Like other zombies, you couldn't recognize me, and then... then you shot me, I know you should do this, I want to hurt you, you should kill me, but, but, Yiwei, Yiwei..."
Zoe covered her face and cried bitterly, calling Suwan's name over and over in a sobbing voice, which made Suwan at a loss and didn't know how to respond. Suwan didn't understand why Zoe called her name so loudly, as if it was a kind of sustenance?
Then Zoe looked at the person sitting by the window, and she said sadly: "Yiwei, no one can live forever. This disaster will break out sooner or later, and you will have to face zombies again sooner or later. It's so dangerous... I'm so worried that something will happen to you."
Suwan was a little surprised. She thought she was not familiar with Zoe enough to worry about her. She was about to persuade Zoe, but she heard Zoe talking incoherently: "I don't know if you can come back alive. I'm so scared. I'm afraid I won't have the chance to tell you, Yiwei, Yiwei, I like you so much..."
She called Suwan's name and said she liked Suwan very much.
Suwan was stunned by the sudden confession and couldn't say a word.
The figure by the window moved, as if trying to stand up. Zoe was afraid that Suwan would say no to her, so she quickly said, "No, don't say that. I know I'm crazy, but I really like you. I liked you on the plane..." When she first entered the laboratory to participate in the experiment, Zoe often had nightmares of corpses bursting into blood clots, but then she became numb. She hadn't had nightmares for a long time until just now. Because she was so close to death, Zoe had a dream that she died and turned into a zombie. This was the first time she had such a dream. Whether she dreamed that she died and turned into a zombie that was neither human nor ghost, or dreamed that Suwan shot herself, Zoe was scared. She was actually crying the moment she woke up. What she saw in the dream was too terrible, so desperate and helpless.
This dream and this illness made Zoe determined to tell Suwan that she loved her at least while she was still in front of her and alive. Zoe didn't want to regret it later. The nightmare was too real and too desperate. After waking up from such a nightmare, Zoe didn't want to waste a second to tell Suwan that she loved her and Suwan was here.
But as soon as she said the words of love, Zoe regretted it. This is crazy.
On the plane? Suwan was at a loss.
When the trainees flew to the new base, they took a different plane from the scientific researchers.
Then Suwan remembered that she and Zoe first met on the same plane to Belster.
That was four years ago.