Chapter 44: Lone Hero
The muscles on 's face twitched. Staring at the faint blue light glowing from 's , the shock and doubt in his eyes were completely undisguised.
An artificial intelligence... taking over post-disaster reconstruction?
That sounded even more preposterous than the fifteen-meter-tall “angel” from earlier.
“What? Don't believe it?” saw his misgivings and flashed a grin.
“I didn't believe it at first either, but the fact is, we survived, and we're doing pretty well.”
“Come with me, and you can too.”
didn't speak. He just took a long look at , then at the silently standing by the vehicle, and finally turned his gaze into the depths of the dense fog.
He pondered for a long time, until the fog in the distance completely cleared and daylight spilled back over the ruined county town.
Only when the hum and the heart-pounding dread that seemed to seep into the marrow had completely vanished did seem to shed a thousand-pound burden and relax entirely.
“I believe you. Let's go—contact the others.”
He switched on his radio. After a hiss of static, his steady voice came through: “This is . Repeat: this is . The threat has been eliminated. All units, report status.”
“...Roger. The restaurant is safe.”
“Warehouse No. 3... seven people left. Safe.”
“...Postal Building, twelve people, safe...”
One survivor after another reported in over the radio, their voices carrying the relief and exhaustion of those who had just escaped death.
listened quietly on the side until all the reports were done. He silently did the math.
Eighty-three people.
“The good news is, the people in the other locations are alive too,” said, switching off the radio, his tone complicated.
“But that's all that's left.”
As the vehicles drove back into the street, the deeply sunken giant footprints on the ground were still clearly visible, each half a meter deep and filled with muddy rainwater.
Ten minutes later, they were outside .
More than eighty people gathered in from all directions, one group after another.
They were not in great shape, but not as bad as one might imagine—they just still carried the dishevelment of their desperate escape.
Their expressions varied when they saw and the beside him.
But after relayed the story of the “ ” and “the artificial intelligence ,” everyone's first reaction was that it was absurd.
Yet 's military uniform, along with that robot radiating cold, high-tech menace, shaved away some of their doubt.
In the end, a dust-covered veteran looked at and asked hoarsely, “Is your place... really official?”
nodded. “Obviously. Otherwise, would I dare go around recruiting people?”
The decision came quickly.
Under the direction of a few soldiers, the survivors began packing up, hauling out every weapon and round of ammunition they could take.
When saw them carry five PF98A-type 120 mm anti-tank rocket launchers out of a concealed underground garage, his jaw dropped.
“Holy crap! You guys even brought these things out?” said in a strange tone. “Why didn't you just drive back a tank?”
“Only the launchers are left. We used up all the ammo.” patted the dust-covered launch tube, his voice full of regret.
“No problem!” 's excitement didn't dim at all. “As for ammo, our place should be able to produce it. What we're short on is the launchers themselves.”
raised an eyebrow and said nothing, but the doubt in his eyes clearly lessened again.
The survivors began loading gear onto the few vehicles that could still start. These people were efficient and quick; in a little over ten minutes, they were basically packed.
But just then, the beside blared 's urgent warning.
[ , inject yourself with a dose of right now. Hurry!]
Hearing that, didn't hesitate. He spun around and sprinted to his vehicle.
Taking steps two at a time, he reached the vehicle, yanked open the door, dug a pre-filled syringe out of the medical kit in the passenger seat, rolled up his sleeve, and jabbed it straight into his arm.
The pale blue solution was pushed into his body in an instant.
Only after doing all this did he gasp for breath, press his , and ask in a low voice, “What's wrong, ?”
The moment the words left his mouth, a sharp stab of pain shot through his brainstem.
A vision flashed across his consciousness like lightning—those ghastly pale bone wings blotting out the sky, that hideous maw split ear to ear, those sinister, murky red eyes...
The image vanished in an instant, but the tremor that seemed to come from the very depths of his soul lingered.
Fortunately, the stabbing pain withdrew like a tide, replaced by a cool, soothing warmth.
[Of the team members who have returned to the station, seven have, one after another, shown signs of zombification with no identifiable cause.] 's electronic voice came steadily.
[But all of them were controlled in time with inhibitors.]
[Their one common denominator is that every one of them witnessed that angel-form monster.]
[And according to the witnesses, the instant before zombification began, the image of the monster flashed back into their minds.]
[All team members who had a sighting have now been injected with inhibitors in advance. The good news is, advance prevention works.]
paused for a moment.
[But the bad news...]
“The bad news is, there are more than eighty witnesses right here!”
's face turned incredibly grim in an instant. He whipped his head around and looked at the survivors hauling supplies, full of hope for the future.
As if to confirm his fear, among the crowd, a young soldier carrying an ammunition crate suddenly stiffened, then began convulsing violently.
His skin turned gray and sickly at a visible rate, and the whites of his eyes were rapidly swallowed by bloodshot veins.
“Not good!”
's pupils shrank. He grabbed an from the vehicle and charged over.
He kicked aside the crates blocking his way and, amid the terrified screams around him, jabbed an shot into the soldier's arm.
As the medication went in, the soldier's convulsions stopped abruptly, his eyes cleared, and he slumped to the ground, gasping for air.
The nearby soldiers were stunned at first, then looked at and the syringe in his hand, their expressions changing instantly.
It was a gaze mixed with shock, fear, and... fervor.
A drug that can suppress zombification!
“Listen up!” didn't have time to explain much, his voice urgent and loud. “There's something wrong with that monster! Everyone who saw it could turn into a at any moment!”
“But I don't have enough inhibitors with me right now.”
One sentence made the blood of everyone present run cold.
“Then how many do you have?” asked, his face grim.
“Only twenty-eight doses.”
Hearing this, despair began to spread through the crowd like a plague.
“So we have to leave immediately!” made the decision on the spot and shouted, “The power station has plenty more inhibitors! As long as we can get back there, everyone can be saved!”
When he finished, he divided the inhibitors he had on hand in half, gave one half to the soldier he had just saved, a young man named , and told him, “We'll each take one vehicle. Whoever has an episode gets the shot.”
Then he shouted again, “Everyone get on board! Abandon all extra vehicles—keep only two! We leave in thirty seconds! Drivers take a shot first!”
Then added coldly, “Everyone else, whoever shows symptoms gets the injection. Other than that, anyone who dares approach the medication will be executed on the spot.”
Cold gun muzzles and merciless orders barely managed to hold the restless crowd in check.
At this tense standoff, 's voice sounded again from 's , bringing good news.
[ has already led his squad out. They are carrying a full supply of inhibitors and are heading your way. You will meet them on the road.]
[In addition, I fully agree with Mr. 's assessment. If anyone here attempts to seize the medication, I will, under the , treat them as an enemy and eliminate them.]
The way back was a race against death.
Trucks hurtled down the abandoned highway. Inside the trucks, everyone stared hard at one another, afraid that the person beside them would become a man-eating monster the next second.
drove the lead vehicle, his nerves stretched taut.
Along the way, two more soldiers showed symptoms. Fortunately, they were injected with inhibitors in time, so no chaos broke out.
Twenty minutes later, a familiar truck appeared on the road ahead—it was 's group.
The two convoys met in the middle of the road.
jumped out of the cab and, without a word, directed his team to unload several medical cases full of inhibitors from the truck.
“Damn, that scared me to death! I thought we wouldn't make it!” wiped the sweat from his forehead.
With an ample supply of the medication, the crisis was finally resolved.
Only after everyone had been injected did the prickling dread, as if needles were at their backs, fully dissipate.
When the convoy set off again, the atmosphere relaxed noticeably.
Some began to talk in low voices; some leaned back against their seats and closed their eyes. The nerves that had been wound tight all day finally loosened a little.
When the outline of the enormous cooling tower appeared in the distance, the new survivors fell silent at first, then began to whisper.
“It really is a ...”
“Is this place... really safe?”
But when the long convoy finally arrived at , the more than eighty new survivors all fell silent.
They looked at the roads around the station, clean of zombies, and the fenced-in planting and livestock bases on both sides.
Behind the electric gate: clean ground, intact buildings, bright lights, Robots standing in formation, and, at the entrance to the in the distance, a lift platform straight out of a science-fiction film.
All of this finally allowed them to relax.
Look at this place—so many people!
Before the disaster, they hadn't thought about it, but now, seeing so many people, an inexplicable emotion filled their hearts.
When they were guided through the lift platform and into the , which looked like a scene from a sci-fi movie, many couldn't help but cry.
But no one laughed at them, because they themselves were almost in tears too. Finally, in this hostile world, they had found a group to belong to.
Finally... they were safe.
The intake process began at once.
Identity registration, physicals, supply distribution— and her security team handled it all methodically. She already knew this process well.
***
On the other side, jumped down from his vehicle with a flourish, spun the key ring around his finger, and swaggered up to , who was helping maintain order, wearing a smug expression.
“ , how about it? Am I impressive or what?”
glanced at him, reached out, pressed a hand against his forehead, and shoved him back, full of disdain. “Impressive, my ass. You reek of sweat.”
“You're just a blind cat that bumped into a dead mouse—pure dumb luck.”
“You still need the luck to bump into it! That's just blatant jealousy!” dodged his hand with a cheeky grin. “Ooh, this time my achievement is huge.”
“Single-handedly, from under that—what was it called? Oh, right—that 'angel,' I grabbed more than eighty people! Pretty flashy, huh?”
“Hey! I just checked—my has already passed yours, . I'm the 's new number one.”
He circled around , clicking his tongue. “Oh, , you're getting old, you're no—”
“I... old? Old my ass!” cursed with a laugh, unbuckling his belt and making as if to whip him. “You'd risk your life for a little credit—you're a real hothead!”
“If a soldier isn't a hothead, then what kind of soldier is he?” agilely jumped onto the truck nearby and shouted at the camera not far away, “Hey! Brother ! This achievement of mine counts as a heroic deed, right?”
“If our ever builds a Heroes' Memorial or something, wouldn't I be the first one in?”
found it amusing too, and his voice came through the .
[You're thinking pretty far ahead! Fine, I've made a note. If we ever really build one, you'll be first on the list.]
“Then how about throwing in an honorary title while you're at it?” pushed his luck with a joke. “After all, my deed here—tsk tsk!”
[Sure! How about ' '? I'll tag it on your . From now on, whenever you establish a communications connection with someone, the four gold characters for ' ' will automatically pop up, complete with dynamic lighting effects.]
quietly made a mental note: Hmm, this idea isn't bad. We could set up a section like an Honor Wall.
“Uh... isn't that bad? Isn't it too flashy?” said that even as his hand unconsciously rubbed the back of his head, and the grin on his face was already stretching from ear to ear. “It's not like I'm the kind of person who likes to show off.”
couldn't stand it anymore. He kicked in the butt. “Get lost! Go take a shower and change your clothes. You reek—you're stinking up the whole place!”
***
Night fell.
Once the 's longtime and newly arrived members had all settled in, a meeting about the 's future was convened once more in the central meeting room of the .
Around the huge circular conference table, figures took their seats one after another.
, , .
[ ] — .
, along with and from 's convoy.
Everyone's gaze converged on the giant display at the end of the conference table, which showed the 's current real-time population, the explored map of the surrounding area, and distribution.
[Current total population: 317 people.]
's steady, familiar electronic voice sounded, but this time everyone detected an unprecedented gravity in it.
[Everyone, the meeting to formulate the 's next-stage development plan now begins.]