Chapter 05 - Mutations

The wheels crushed the sandy soil road covered in stones, causing the car to sway back and forth. This added a hint of fatigue to the soldiers who had just survived a life-and-death struggle inside the car.

The mutants did not continue to besiege the convoy. After the bodies of the attackers were thrown from the jeep, they seemed to be greatly frightened and retreated from their original positions, shrinking into the dark corners of the surrounding houses. They silently watched the human convoy rush past them.

Lin Xiang leaned his head back and leaned silently against the hard hull of the car. Until now, his mind was still filled with what had happened ten minutes ago.

That voice was definitely not an illusion. He was sure he had heard it. However, the voice in his mind was not the usual Chinese he was familiar with. It was an extremely strange and unfamiliar language that he had never heard before.

But he could still understand it.

Perhaps it could not be called hearing. How to say it! It's as if there is a voice lurking in his mind, a mysterious consciousness, using this special method to make him "know" what is happening to him.

This is too strange. Lin Xiang feels that this is a scene that only happens in movies.

In addition, the killed mutants' gaze towards him was so strange. The crimson blood light reflected in their eyes seemed to fade momentarily. There was no previous ferocity or cruelty. Instead, it seemed to be fear, and also ... respect.

Is this possible? No, it sounds like a joke.

Gene lock ... Parasite ... Dammit, what the hell is all this!

Lin Xiang roughly tore open the buttons of his protective suit, took a deep breath and tried to clear his head of all strange thoughts. But the more he did this, the more the various chaotic thoughts swarmed like flies, making him even more irritable.

Just as his fingers were about to tear the collar of his shirt, his body suddenly trembled. His hand, which was about to pull the collar apart, was also rigid, as if shocked by an electric shock.

Shoulder...wound...that's right, that wound, the wound inflicted by a mutated person when escaping from Kunming City. Is it...that I've finally become one of those monsters?

He subconsciously pinched his left hand. He found that his soft fingers had not stuck together. The skin exposed was blackened, but still maintained its original color, not as black as coal like the mutants.

That is to say: I am still...a normal human being now...

Sitting in the shaking body of the car, the cold sweat that appeared on his forehead has been completely soaked. It was because of this that his body trembled involuntarily and was completely covered by the vibration of the car body.

Lin Xiang can be sure that he has been infected by that unknown virus. But what puzzles him is that his body has not undergone any mutations like those of the dead.

This is not normal.

So many people have died, and I'm the exception?

What is the answer...

Suddenly, the screeching of brakes from intense friction between the rubber tires and the ground caused confusion and panic in the fleeing group. Through the windshield of the assault vehicle, it was clearly seen that over ten mutated individuals with slanted knives were slowly approaching from the opposite side of the street. Their sunken eyes were filled with a thirst for fresh blood and desire.

Qi Yue did not give an order, nor did anyone open fire. Except for the crying child hiding in his mother's arms, everyone was looking at these fearsome predators with complex and fearful eyes.

All the mutated individuals were wearing tattered gray-green military protective suits. Some of them even wore M5 military helmets with bloodstained markings. On the upper arm of the protective suit was a yellow-bordered red five-star pattern and the word "Army" sewn in bold black lines.

"They, they were once our people..."

The Colonel's face turned blue and he muttered unconsciously, clutching the gun stock with his hands, trembling uncontrollably.

As the most elite of soldiers, he could bravely face any opponent. But the monsters in front of him were his former comrades, alive and well!

He simply couldn't bring himself to do it. It was just as unbearable as shooting his own brother...

"Everyone get out of the way--"

Suddenly, Lin Xiang leaped from the carriage like an angry lion, grabbing the G180S long-range sniper rifle from the soldier next to him, and heavily placed it on the crossbeam of the roof. With the muffled shot, the head of the mutated individual in the front had already exploded into a bowl-sized blood hole.

"They're no longer human. We have to kill them, quickly."

Lin Xiang roared hoarsely while, through the crosshairs of his scope, he shot one bullet after another accurately. Two lines of dazzling hot tears had already rolled down his cheeks.

Those mutants were his own battle comrades. If it wasn't for them, he would have already died in Kunming City, becoming a walking dead searching for prey among the ruins.

Lin Xiang still clearly remembers the words his captain said to him when he was dying.

"Quickly chop off my head while I'm still conscious. Don't act like a mother. I'm a soldier and I want to die with dignity. Please, don't let me become one of those cold-blooded monsters."

Death is the easiest release. The mutation of a corpse, however, is the greatest insult to the deceased.

"Shoot."

The dense shower of bullets from the machine gun drove the approaching mutants back step by step. The violent metal barrage tore their strong bodies apart. The bullets that penetrated their bodies carried warm brain matter and soft fragments of heart scattered everywhere... A few minutes later, only black remains lay in the blood-stained streets on the spacious road.

Lin Xiang wiped the tears from his eyes and, with no expression, jumped out of the carriage and quickly walked to the nearest mutant corpse. He drew the knife from his waist and, with a forceful thrust, inserted it into the still-convulsing neck. With a sound of flesh and bones being torn apart, he retrieved a square pendant from the stinking flesh and carefully put it into his chest pocket.

That was the identity plate of the Republic's military. From the General to the soldier, everyone had one.

The second.

The third...

No one spoke, and no one stopped him. Until he had collected all the identity plates from the bodies, and returned to the car, the refugee-carrying convoy started up again and quickly left the dead city, which was no different from a wasteland, in the roar of the engine.

The grey roof suspended a half-foot-wide lamp. The dim light reflected from the sandblasted glass showed a pale yellow similar to amber.

Since he returned from his mission, Lin Xiang had been lying on the bed, staring woodenly at the ceiling. A hanging lamp, a few pieces of cement ceiling separated by plastic strips, had become the only unchanging content in his eyes.

On the wooden table in front of the bed, painted with army green paint, there was a meal box with its lid open. Through the solidified grease and compressed meat and vegetables, you could see that the rice underneath had already cooled and hardened. Nevertheless, in the eyes of the hungry, they still have the most primitive allure.

Although his stomach was already empty, Lin Xiang had no appetite, just staring at the ceiling, not wanting to speak, his thoughts were blank... as if, he was an unconscious zombie.

This state has been maintained for two full days now. Many people have come to see him. Curious officers and soldiers, reporters looking for an exclusive scoop, and doctors concerned about his physical state, all of them have been turned away without exception by Qi Yue at the door. In the face of many dissatisfied faces and scrutinizing looks, the Colonel simply said one thing.

"If you're forced to kill your friends and loved ones yourself, then you'll become just like him."

Perhaps it was due to the fact that he had been in the same posture for a long time that his body felt numb. After the lunch bugle had sounded in the afternoon, Lin Xiang finally got up from the bed where he had been lying for nearly fifty hours.

"Hungry? Want something to eat?" The Colonel sat calmly on a chair next to him, with a lit cigarette in his hand as usual.

He has been here these past few days.

Lin Xiang's eyes were full of bloodshot, fatigue and exhaustion were revealed from his pale skin, and his unkempt hair was scattered across his forehead. He stuck out his tongue and licked his dry and cracked lips, hesitantly and low-voiced asking: "Can you take me to the shooting range?"

"Boom." With a blank expression, he glanced at the shattered mobile target, loosened his grip, and let the empty magazine fall from the gun handle. Then, he took a new magazine from the equipment table next to him, loaded it, cocked, and shot.

Half an hour has passed and the shells scattered around Lin Xiang's feet are everywhere, and the ammunition boxes on the equipment platform have also been completely emptied. The observer sitting in the monitoring room opens his mouth wide, staring in amazement at Lin Xiang on the screen who is holding a gun with one hand.

The grip of the "Special 6" handgun is extremely powerful and continuous firing for a short period of time will cause great vibration to the shoulder, neck and other parts. In this case, the paralyzed nerves not only make it difficult for shooting to remain accurate, but also cause tear-like injuries to the joints and tendons.

The young lieutenant in front of him actually fired over 700 special explosive shells in thirty minutes. Not only were the shots accurate, but he always maintained a one-handed shooting posture.

This completely overthrows the observer's understanding of firearms.

The 700 heavy recoil impacts could even shatter the full-steel shoulder guard. Is this guy's bones harder than high-strength alloys?

Qi Yue sat with his hands crossed in the audience, watching Lin Xiang in silence.

Although there was no expression on his face, his heart was also filled with great shock.

As the commander of the 64th mobile battle team, he was of course very familiar with the specific parameters and power of various firearms.

Using special explosive shells, his continuous shooting record is 271 shots. As for shooting accuracy, it is around 75%. This is the limit of his physical tolerance and the elite record verified by various military forces so far.

The young man in front of him exceeded his own records by more than double. Even more frightening was that his hit rate reached 100%.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Qi Yue wouldn't have believed it was true.

This left the colonel confused.

How could the 75th Infantry Division, which was just a B-grade combat unit, have such excellent soldiers? Just based on the shooting ability that was just demonstrated, it was enough to be a member of the elite troops.

He knew very well that Lin Xiang wanted to come to the shooting range to release the pain and oppression in his heart in the midst of the smoke and deafening noise. Is this kind of powerful and frightening strength from the potential burst of facing death?

The colonel couldn't help but fall into contemplation...

He didn't even notice when Lin Xiang put down his gun, walked slowly to him with a determined and resolute expression, and performed the standard military salute.

"Lieutenant Lin Xiang from the 64th Mobile Unit, requesting to participate in the next action plan. Requesting approval."

In the human dictionary, the word "autumn" is often associated with words like "harvest" that represent positive things. In people's habitual thinking, this season should be filled with very comfortable golden colors, warm sunshine everywhere, and heavy fruit hanging on the tips of branches.

"Those so-called writers are all blind fools. If I can live and leave here, I'll make sure those damn guys know what real autumn is like - "

Wiping the rain that splashed from outside the window on his face, Zhang Wancheng cursed and opened the window slightly, feeling the chill from the moment the raindrops touched his skin. He hugged the already warm M5G43 assault rifle tighter.

It has been raining for four days.

From the perspective of a professional meteorologist, this rain is actually not big. Although the dark sky is full of thick clouds, it does not form a massive rain force. The fine and tiny raindrops fall from the sky, slowly soaking into the dry soil. They form a shallow gray curtain between heaven and earth, adding a faint blurriness to everything.

Zhang Wancheng curses the weather gods with the harshest words every day. Under this irresistible natural influence, the line of sight and accuracy of hitting a target are reduced by almost one third.

Guarding in this semi-old air-raid shelter for over a week, there are eight soldiers including Zhang Wancheng, who are regular military personnel, and more than a hundred other people who are surviving in the city.