Zombie Queen has the Biggest Thigh of All (14)

Returning to their hideout, which was a five star hotel that was still mostly intact, Yin Mei immediately went to go take a shower and rest. She was glad that despite the fact that this city had practically been ravaged by monsters, the water and electric systems were still somewhat intact. It was just that Yin Mei predicted it would be hard to establish communications with the other cities that were still standing. Yin Mei knew that for cities that had been able to quickly drive out the zombies, they still had maintained communication lines with other cities and the rest of the world, thus being able to pass around communication.

When reading novels, Yin Mei had always wondered why information seemed so widespread even during the apocalypse, and it seemed that this was because, although normal people had lost the ability to communicate with others, the higher echelons of major safe havens had not and would thus be able to gain information from faraway places before spreading it to the public.

But, the fact that H City was disconnected from the rest of the world was good. They could take this time to gather up their strength, zombies, and maybe a few people too.

More than two and a half years later.

A small human was trudging along the side of the road, a big human slightly in front of them.

The small human was a little boy with a gloomy appearance, wrapped up in rags. The big human was a gruff looking man with his hair tied back in a short ponytail, a rifle swung behind his back and a ragged scarf across his neck.

Winter was now just starting, and the winter of the apocalypse seemed unbearably cold. So much colder than the previous years.

"Hey, kid. I can see a city now." The man said, looking behind him at the kid. He didn't know why he was traveling with this child. He didn't think of himself as a good person, and nor was he interested in bringing along a burden on his journey. But he didn't know. Maybe he wanted some sort of companion to stave off the loneliness that came from walking around by himself from city to city, trying to find a place that would take him in. So, when he encountered the boy, and the boy started to follow him, he didn't do anything. Even started to talk with the boy occasionally, or save him from zombies when it became dangerous.

During this time, the man had heard some interesting information from the refugees camped outside of B City. And that was something about H City, which had long been said to be overrun by zombies, since almost day one of the apocalypse.

At first, he didn't believe what he had heard. But he continued hearing the same thing several times, and could only think that there must be some truth to it.

It was that the lab would pay anyone to bring children under the ages of twelve to thirteen to H City and bring back the information they would receive in return.

The journey to H City would normally not be too dangerous with a car, but gas had become more and more scarce. Most people could only go there on foot. Even so, many people said that the journey from B to H City wasn't very dangerous, and there were few zombies. But most importantly, the amount of energy stones it was said they would receive would apparently be enough to live luxuriously for at least several years, as long as inflation didn't happen.

The man felt confused at first. For example, why would the lab want to bring children to a zombie infested city? Why would they receive information from there in return? Could it be that something had happened in H City while he wasn't aware? And to top it off, what in the world was with that information that it was so important to the lab?

He could only gather more information, and he discovered something shocking.

Apparently, a young group of kids had conquered H City more than two years ago, and several months earlier, they sent out transmissions to the nearby B City that they would trade children for information. They said they would even accept the family of the children into the city as well.

Of course, any children with family would be highly unwilling to take the journey to H City, but there were desperate people who had randomly grabbed orphaned children to take with them on the journey. And... they had actually all came back! Although the trip took them a long time, there had barely been any dangers on the road there, as if the zombies infesting the area between B and H City had all been cleared out by someone.

They said that there was a new wall around H City, like a fortress, and when they arrived, they were greeted by a young and pretty girl, who would hand them a red card, the information, in exchange for the child. They didn't know what they were doing with the children, but the person who greeted them appeared harmless enough, and seemed much a child herself, probably still in her teens.

When the man heard this, he had looked at the young boy who was still following him from a few feet away, and a horrible idea emerged in his brain.

He couldn't help it. It was human greed.

He had already allowed the kid to follow him for so long, wasn't it about time the kid gave him some benefits in return?

He couldn't help but think that.

And in the end, he gave in to temptation, and embarked on the journey to H City.

He didn't know how long they had been on the road, but they had finally came upon H City. It was completely different from before, a large black wall enveloping the entirety of the city, with only the tips of a few skyscrapers pointing out above them.

With the man's eyesight, he could only see tiny shadowy figures patrolling the top of the wall, and not much else.

When he came to what appeared as the gate into the city, there was no one there, just a pair of doors the same color as the rest of the wall, aside from the glowing red lines that outlined it.

When he approached the large gates, it wasn't them that opened, but an indiscrete small normal sized door beside it. Because there was nothing to indicate it's existence, it was practically invisible until it opened, shocking the Jesus out of him.

The person that came out, was like in the information he obtained, a young looking girl. She was pretty, with a sweet appearance, and looked exceptionally clean and well put together. She looked like a rich man's daughter, that's what it was. In the apocalypse, where everyone was dirty and covered in dust, she alone seemed to stand out, and it made the man feel slightly embarrassed.

The girl had on a smile when she noticed the young boy behind the man, her eyes curving into crescent moon shapes and making her expression even sweeter. She did look like a nice person, the man thought. He felt that if he left the boy with her, then he wouldn't feel too guilty.

"You're here for the exchange, right? Could you give a message to Ming Wei, for me?" She said, taking out a shining crimson red card, that appeared almost as if it was made of blood and handed it over to the man.

"Ming Wei?" The man was confused as he spoke and looked at the card, flipping it a few times. There didn't seem to be anything written on it, but he tucked it into his jacket anyways.

"The head researcher of B City's lab. Tell him that I'm sorry... but it looks like he won't be able to obtain the Dark Saint this time either. I included something extra on the card, in exchange." She sighed, looking truly sad. "It'll probably take him a few years to figure out a replacement ingredient."

The man didn't understand what the girl was saying, but he memorized her words anyways. He then nudged the young boy from behind him forward. "Hey kid. They'll take care of you here. You don't have to follow me around anymore," he said, and the kid looked back and forth between them, and he seemed to realize what was going on.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of you here," The girl said, reassuring the boy. "There are a lot of other kids your age to play with as well."

The man couldn't help but pause. "Why in the world are you gathering up kids like this? No one else wants 'em but you." He said.

"Because these children are the future." The girl replied, and ended the conversation there. But as she was about to turn around and leave with the young boy, she seemed to think of something. "Hey, what's your name?" She asked, glancing toward the man.

"Me? I'm Andrei," he answered.

"Andrei? A foreigner? That's Russian, right? Your Chinese is quite good." The girl said, a mysterious look in her eyes as she gazed at him.

Andrei nodded. "My mother is half-Chinese, so I've learnt it since I was a child." He said.

"Hey, if you ever want to, we'll welcome you if you come back. Our H City has better living conditions than B City, anyways," the girl said, and the man looked at the wall, that he couldn't tell the material of. For some reason, he didn't doubt it.

But he didn't give the girl a definitive answer, and waved goodbye as he left.

"Are you sad that he's leaving?" The girl asked the boy, and he shook no, like all the children before him had.

The girl smiled. "Then let's go in," she said, and the two turned to walk through the door as it closed behind them.

The young boy didn't know how long they had been walking through the darkness, with a little small light shining in front of them. The sound of their footsteps echoed around, and when they arrived at the light, everything turned pure white for a moment, before his sight adjusted.

The city practically appeared as if it had never experienced the apocalypse, though it was weirdly extremely empty and because of that, felt quite creepy. He inched a little closer to the girl, his eyes wary as they darted too and fro. Although it looked like there was no one else here but them, he felt like he could sense a large number of gazes on him, making him feel exceedingly uncomfortable.

"Are you worried?" The girl asked, her smile warm and nice. He was suspicious of such a warm and nice smile, but he honestly nodded his head. "There's not really any need to be. Haha, don't be too suspicious either. We won't do anything weird to you. The reason we're gathering children like this, is because like I said with that man earlier, is that you guys are the future of humanity."

The girl continued walking, slowing down her pace for the child. "In the future, you will be the one to lead the humans to greater heights, and usher in a new era of prosperity." Personally, the girl felt a little like she was some sort of preacher, and was raising up a cult or something. Nah, that was probably over thinking it. After all, everything she said was the truth.

"You've probably been told that you're useless, right? A burden?" The girl suddenly asked, and the boy bristled a little, glaring at her. "Don't glare at me like that," she said, laughing. "I'm just asking you."

He cautiously nodded. Why was she asking him this?

"I don't think that." She said, stopping and turning to look seriously at him. "And we'll prove them all wrong. You, will prove them all wrong." Her smile then returned, dispelling the serious air as she began walking again.

Before long, they reached a building that looked like a luxurious five star hotel, appearing especially pristine, even in comparison to the other buildings.

"Big Sis, you're back!" A boy said, calling out to the girl from the entrance of the hotel. He couldn't have been much older than the young boy beside the girl, maybe by a couple of years at best. He had eyes that were red like blood, and the young boy couldn't help but think of the vampires in the stories. That's what the boy reminded him of.

"You were waiting here again? How many times have I told you that you need to be focusing on your training?" The girl said with a slight frown, though she ruffled the boy's head affectionately.

"Even if you say that, no one is a match for me anymore. Except maybe that b*stard Ning An, but you know that he'll never spar with me!" The boy complained, his face a weird mixture of being upset at being treated like a child, but also pleased.

"You brat, where did you learn that sort of language!" The girl punched him on the head, and he let out a little yelp of pain - actually, it didn't really hurt, but if he didn't show it did, then the girl would surely get serious and actually start beating him up under the guise of training.

"What, we have another new kid?" The boy said, looking at the child half hidden behind the girl with a dark expression as he grumbled.

"What kid? You're a kid too," the girl said, smacking him on the head again. "You better treat him nicely. You're the senior here."

The girl turned to the young boy behind her. "This is Qin Shuang. He's been here the longest, so you can ask him about anything you don't know."

The young boy nodded, though already had it in his mind to avoid the kid. It was obvious that he didn't like him. For any orphan who has survived this long in the apocalypse, they were especially sensitive to the emotions of others.

Although the girl held no animosity toward him that he could tell, which allowed him to trust her at least a little, this boy was clearly displaying his displeasure.

But the girl didn't seem to notice, leaving the younger boy to Qin Shuang. "Give him a tour of the place and show him his room, 'kay?" She said, as she walked away, Qin Shuang knowing that she was probably going to go find that person. His expression soured. Ever since that person arrived, all she was interested in was helping that man all the time. He was a zombie! What was so great about him? Other than his appearance, which was like that of a male prostitute, Qin Shuang couldn't come up with anything.

Because he couldn't take his anger out on that guy without Yin Mei getting angry, or without him getting his butt handed to him, he could only take his anger out on the new guy. He glared at the kid, turning around in a huff as he walked into the building.

The young boy stood in place, not knowing what to do until Qin Shuang shouted angrily at him, "what're you waiting for? Get in here already!"

He was startled, but soon quickly walked in, trying to keep up with Qin Shuang, who didn't slow his pace for him.