Chapter 3

The number written in white chalk on the wall was changed to "17" this morning.

This was the turning point in my past life that caused me to lose everything .

The three-day work rationing system brought about substantial changes to the camp.

Greg and a few others reinforced the number four roller shutter door on the front with steel bars, and Anna managed the logistics perfectly, ensuring everyone had hot soup every day. Everything seemed to be on track.

But the inevitable test still came.

Around 3 p.m., a very faint knocking sound came from outside the small metal door on the side.

"Help me... I'm not a monster, I just want some water to drink..."

It was a man's voice.

Upon hearing the sound, Chloe, who had been sitting in the corner chewing on a cookie, jumped up.

"It's a living person! Someone outside is calling for help!" she shouted, dropping her biscuits and rushing towards the door. "We have enough food, we have to help him!"

But before she could even touch the doorknob, Marcus blocked her way.

"Are you crazy, Chloe! Zane said no one is allowed to touch the lock until they see the whole person alive!" Marcus roughly shoved her aside.

"He's dying of thirst! You cold-blooded animals, have you thrown away your conscience after a few meals of meat?" Chloe, her eyes red, tried to break free and shouted to the survivors around her, " He's a human being too !"

David said, "If he has been bitten, the virus will turn him into a zombie within hours. If he is still conscious after a few hours, it means he is not infected, and we can open the door then."

Chloe protested, "It's so dangerous outside right now. Zombies could come at any moment. What if he dies outside?!"

Paul said, "If that happens, we'll fire from the second floor."

Chloe looked at everyone in disbelief, seemingly unable to understand why her once powerful "love" had become so worthless.

She could only cover her face and wail, accusing the camp of having turned into a den of inhuman bandits.

When I saw the crowd spontaneously hold Chloe down, I let out a long sigh of relief.

The tension that had been taut in my chest finally eased completely.

History has been changed.

The Maya are safe.

The intense concentration I've been maintaining these past few days has left me exhausted. I arranged for David and Paul to take the crucial second half of the night shift tonight, then went back to Maya's sleeping bag and fell into a deep sleep.

But I underestimated Chloe 's obsession, and I also underestimated the depths to which a woman who thought she had the aura of a savior could go.

It's 2 a.m.

I was awakened by an extremely muffled metallic scraping sound.

I suddenly opened my eyes, grabbed my gun , and rushed toward the direction from which the sound came.

At the loading and unloading gate on the side of the factory, where it was originally locked with a padlock, Chloe cut it off with hydraulic shears at some point.

David and Paul were patrolling the other side when Chloe took the opportunity to open the door, intending to find the "survivor" from earlier that day.

" Are you still there? Come in quickly! "

My blood froze completely in that instant, and my scalp went numb.

"Close the door! Close the door!" I roared like a wild beast, grabbed my gun, and ran forward. "That's not a living person!"

But it was too late.

At this moment, the person outside the door has completely mutated.

The zombie suddenly burst through the crack in the door and lunged at Chloe, who was closest to the door.

Chloe screamed in terror and instinctively rolled to the side. The zombie, having lost its target, pounced on the group of people still fast asleep in the center of the factory.

Even more deadly, because the door was opened, the sound carried outside, attracting several nearby zombies in the quiet night , who swarmed in through the open door .

" Zombies have gotten in! Run!"

"Bang--!"

The bullet blasted the zombie running in the lead into pieces.

However, two extremely fast zombies had already rushed into the sleeping area.

As soon as a middle-aged man raised his head, a zombie bit his throat.

"Zane! To the right!"

David burst out from the shadows, out of bullets. Carrying a thick steel pipe, he unhesitatingly stood in front of a large zombie to protect the old men, smashing the pipe into the monster's head.

But the zombie wasn't killed instantly, it lunged forward and knocked David to the ground.

"David!"

I pulled the trigger repeatedly.

"Bang! Bang!"

hit the zombie with extreme accuracy .

Marcus then rushed over with his gun and cleared out the remaining few scattered zombies.

The factory returned to silence. Only the smell of gunpowder smoke and the strong stench of blood remained.

Three corpses lay on the ground.

I dropped my empty gun and lunged at David. Although I managed to hit the zombie, I was too late.

Marcus knelt down beside him with a thud, his rough hands frantically tearing at his clothes to make a tourniquet, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"It's no use... Marcus."

David's face turned deathly ashen at a visible speed.

These past few days, he's been going out with me to find supplies , carrying the heaviest ammunition boxes for me.

When he received his share of canned meat, he would even carefully pour the broth into the large communal iron pot in the camp.

David grabbed my wrist.

“Zane…Zane, what did you tell Paul at the pawn shop…to do what you were supposed to do… ”

My hands were trembling uncontrollably.

I took a deep breath and removed my hand from his wound.

I drew the pistol from my waist, gripped the handle with both hands, and slowly pressed the cold muzzle against David's forehead.

"I promise I will never let you turn into that horrible thing."

My voice was as cold as ice, but my teeth were already bleeding from biting them.

A tear slid down Marcus 's cheek .

"Bang."

A muffled gunshot rang out.

David's body stopped convulsing completely.

The air was so still it was suffocating.

Marcus knelt in a pool of blood, his face covered, his shoulders heaving violently.

The survivors around all had red eyes, and several women were already sobbing uncontrollably.

Just then , a piercing scream came from a corner nearby.

Chloe got up from the ground.

She pointed at the gun in my hand, her face streaked with tears, and screamed at me as if I were a heinous executioner:

How could you shoot him?!

The shrill voice echoed in the empty factory.

Chloe rushed over, glaring at me with righteous indignation and heartbreak : "David was just talking! He was still breathing! Why wouldn't you even try to save him? Didn't you find antibiotics outside? Even if there was only a sliver of hope, how could you kill your own comrade!"

In that instant, all the reason and scruples in my chest were blasted into dust.

I didn't yell or even utter a single curse back.

I stood up and put the still-warm pistol back into its holster.

Then, I strode toward Chloe.