Infection

"Sis, Sis, what's going on? What did you tell the captain just now?" Yin Chengtian ran up to Su Jin and asked her as soon as Lu Hao went inside the cell.

"Why are you so curious, Lil Tian? That's between the captain and his wife, don't be so nosy!" Shi Jin always thought that this comrade of his was too much of a busybody. He could be worse than a girl sometimes.

Su Jin was amused. She knew that both of them were Lu Hao's trusted aides, so she did not try to hide it from them. "We just wanted to confirm something. Some people have been contracting an infectious disease lately, and I bumped into someone like that at G Province, so I came back in a hurry. If someone infected bites or scratches you, the consequences could be… uh… very bad."

She did not tell them everything, though. After all, this was not public knowledge yet.

"Sis, I was thinking… Are you talking about the zombies I saw in a movie today?" Yin Chengtian murmured thoughtfully. 

"No way! Besides…" Shi Jin wanted to roast Yin Chengtian some more, but then he saw that Captain Lu was waving at the three of them to come in, so he hastily shut up.

Su Jin was the first to go in. Lu Hao's expression was solemn as he nodded at her, and Su Jin immediately understood. It seemed like her worst fears had come true.

Yin Chengtian and Shi Jin saw "Li Wei" in the chair and then exchanged a look of disbelief. Yin Chengtian even stammered when he spoke.

"C-Captain, is this really f*cking Li Wei?"

Lu Hao gave him a sideways look. Only then did Shi Jin belatedly realize he had forgotten to mind his language. The captain usually closed one eye to it, but today was probably different because the captain's wife was here.

Shi Jin was secretly glad he had not continued that sentence just now. He was going to say that zombies were not all that scary, and that he could take ten of them at once.

Looking at "Li Wei" in his chair now, though, Shi Jin suddenly felt like taking everything back. That thing was so freaking disgusting that he would not touch it with a ten-foot pole.

"This man has exactly the same symptoms as the man I encountered in G Province earlier. That one had bitten off half of a nurse's face, so I'd stay away from him if I were you."

She and Lu Hao had not come here for the zombie before them. They were here for Lu Hao's team's sake. If any of them were injured by the zombie, then…

"B-But aren't you scared at all, Sis?" Yin Chengtian gulped. The zombie's face was a terror to behold, much worse than the stuff they saw in the movies. Why was the captain's wife not afraid in the slightest?

"Because I saw something like this before in G Province," Su Jin said, feigning calm.

"Captain, I suddenly remembered something. Earlier this afternoon, when Lin Zhi was putting the leg cuffs on Li Wei, Li Wei scratched his hand. It was a really deep wound, too." Shi Jin immediately reported what he remembered to Lu Hao.

"What did you say?" Lu Hao looked at Shi Jin and pressed him. "What happened after that?"

"After that, he went to the infirmary and did some basic disinfecting and bandaging. Then he went home," Shi Jin replied honestly.

"Yin Chengtian, Shi Jin!"

"Yes, sir!" The two men instantly snapped to attention.

"Go to Lin Zhi's home at once and check on his current condition. Also, make sure that his family is safe." Lu Hao's tone turned pained when he said that last part. These men had gone through life and death with him, and he sincerely hoped that Lin Zhi was fine.

"Yes, sir!"

Su Jin gave Lu Hao a complicated look. This was exactly what she was most worried about. She knew how important Lu Hao's men were to him. That was why the first thing he did upon hearing the news was to come here and warn them. However, the Lin Zhi they were talking about was probably already…

They did not say anything more on the way to Lin Zhi's house. Yin Chengtian and Shi Jin knew where he stayed, because they would also go to his place for food during their days off. Lin Zhi's mother was great at authentic local cuisine, and she enjoyed having them over too, constantly saying that it was better with more people in the house.

Yin Chengtian suddenly felt the urge to cry as he drove. Brother, please be okay!

By now, night had fallen. Lin Zhi stayed in an old-school apartment area. It had only been two years since he graduated from the police academy, and he had not earned enough money to buy a new house or find a wife yet, so he stayed here with his mother.

The apartment blocks here were only six floors tall, and Lin Zhi stayed on the third floor. On their way up, the four of them even encountered two children hopping down the stairs. Old men and women were talking leisurely walks downstairs, and the air was filled with the delicious aroma of food. It was precisely dinner time.

Shi Jin knocked on the door and shouted, "Lin Zhi, Lin Zhi! It's Big Jin here."

They waited for a few seconds, but there was no reply.

Yin Chengtian remembered something and whispered it to the others. Apparently, Lin Zhi was constantly forgetting his keys, so he liked to put a spare in one of the shoes on the rack at the door. Shi Jin and Yin Chengtian quickly began rummaging through Lin Zhi's shoes.

Su Jin turned on the torch on her phone to help them see better.

"Found it!" Yin Chengtian said excitedly.

Lu Hao took the key and used the light from Su Jin's phone to insert it into the lock. It turned. He then looked at the three of them behind him and made a motion with his hand. Yin Chengtian and Shi Jin nodded.

Su Jin had no idea what he meant.

Well, she just had to follow them, right?

When they pushed the door and went in, the first thing they smelled was a foul odor. The lights were on, but there was no one there. Then they heard a sound from the bedroom inside, so they slowly walked inside.

The scene that met their eyes left them stunned. Yin Chengtian could not help it, turning his head to vomit onto the floor.

Lin Zhi was crouched down in front of someone lying on the floor. That someone was Lin Zhi's mother, who was clearly dead. Her stomach had been ripped open, and Lin Zhi was reaching into his disemboweled mother's abdomen to pull out what looked like her guts. He just kept stuffing them endlessly into his mouth.

Shi Jin puked too, while Yin Chengtian's eyes were already red. That cursed Li Wei!

By now, Lin Zhi had stopped eating. He had noticed Lu Hao and the other three, and live humans clearly held more appeal to him.

Lin Zhi's face was covered in blood, and his mind was clearly lost. His jaw wide open, he ran toward the four of them.

"Aim for the head, Lu Hao. Don't let him scratch you!" Su Jin shouted.

There was a gunshot, and Lin Zhi collapsed on cue. Lu Hao was helping Yin Chengtian stand and could not bring himself to look at the person on the floor. That was his comrade, his brother-in-arms, and yet Lin Zhi had died at his hands, not at the hands of any criminal.

Su Jin knew that Lu Hao must be feeling terrible right now. She had already decided just now to use her wood-type ability to finish Lin Zhi off if Lu Hao could not bring himself to do it. Now, he walked up to Lu Hao and patted his back. Lu Hao gripped her hand and told Yin Chengtian and Shi Jin, "Inform the others and tell them to come here for the evidence."

Yin Chengtian was trying to hold back his grief as he reached for his phone to call back to base, but just then Lin Zhi's mother crawled up from the ground. Her guts were still hanging out of her body, yet she still pounced right at Shi Jin, who was crouching on the ground! Shi Jin was holding a blanket and attempting to cover up Lin Zhi's corpse with it.

Yin Chengtian froze, and Lu Hao raised his gun to shoot, but it was clearly too late!

Just then, a green vine flashed past their eyes and wound itself around Shi Jin, yanking him back to the two of them!

Now that Shi Jin was safe, Yin Chengtian finally came back to his senses, and Lu Hao shot Lin Zhi's mother unerringly in the head. The woman crashed to the ground.

…

"Sis-in-law, is that some special ability you have?" Yin Chengtian asked Su Jin in surprise. Too many things had already happened tonight, and when he saw Su Jin's vine, it was as though he saw a door into a brand new world.

Su Jin put the vines away. Shi Jin looked down and saw the thing that had tied him up was gone. Did Sis-in-law save him just now?"

"Thanks for saving me, Sis. I-If you hadn't, I'd be…" Shi Jin was shaken just thinking about it. He would rather die than go like that.

"Don't tell anyone what you just saw, alright? It's a secret for now, understood?" Lu Hao commanded them.

"Yes, Captain!" They naturally knew what the captain meant to keep a secret. He did not need to worry. Their Sis-in-law was so strong, and more importantly, she was one of them. They were going to bring that secret to their grave if necessary!

Now that they had promised, Su Jin finally explained it to them. She just told them that she did not know she got this power either, but it suddenly emerged lately. She used it just now because it was an emergency.

Soon enough, special abilities would cease to be a secret. If she explained it this way, the two of them would just think that she awakened hers a bit earlier than usual. That was why she had to resort to this excuse.

Yin Chengtian eventually managed to call back to the station, and the personnel there said they would get there promptly.

By the time Lu Hao and Su Jin reached home, it was already eleven o'clock. Both of them were starving, so Su Jin just made boxes and boxes of food appear in her hands out of thin air. She put them all on the table in front of the living room couch.

…

Lu Hao looked at her wordlessly. What was that, her 4D pocket?

Su Jin whispered into his ear and told them that this was one of the dimension's other functions, food preservation. She had bought all of this food from her trip to G Province because she thought they looked good, and they were still warm even now.

Lu Hao looked at the table. There was roast goose, scallion pancakes, stinky tofu, braised beef slices, and some flatbreads wrapped around skewers…

So his wife was a big eater. Lu Hao laughed and shook his head.

Su Jin finally heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Lu Hao laugh. No one would feel good after killing their comrade with their own hands. Lu Hao should already be praised for how decisively he had shot Lin Zhi and settled things. As for the rest, she was content to let him slowly come to terms with it.

Although she had brought him a ton of snacks and no main dishes, Lu Hao still ended up feeling stuffed. Just as she said, the food was great, especially the roasted duck. It was still steaming when he opened the take-out box, too.

Now that his stomach was full, Lu Hao finally felt a little better. He imagined an apocalypse filled with monsters just like those, then he looked at Su Jin, who was still gnawing away at a goose drumstick. Before he knew it, he was smiling. Looked like he was going to have to train harder starting from tomorrow.