This is apocalyptic

Chapter 33: Secondary Infection

Bai Xiao suddenly remembered the photo that Lin Duoduo showed him in Xingfu Community. It was the man that the young Aunt Qian was leaning on, but he just couldn't connect him with the figure in the distance.

"Over the years, I've only met you, the only zombie who's been infected but can still be alive and well and maintain his sanity." Lin Duoduo gently pushed Uncle Cai away with a stick.

"You didn't beat it because it's lame, did you?"

"No, he interrupted it himself before he was infected. After all, the chances were slim."

"..."

Bai Xiao took a serious look at him. He was a thin, old, lame zombie, not much different from the ones he saw on the road, with only instinct left in his body.

"He wants to live, but he doesn't want to hurt you?"

"right."

Lin Duoduo pushed the cart to prevent Uncle Cai from following her. "Sometimes I feel that they might suddenly wake up one day, just like in the stories, with a sudden enlightenment or something. Look, aren't you slowly learning to speak?"

Lin Duoduo looked back at Uncle Cai, then at the zombie wearing a helmet and riding a tricycle, "If you were the zombie king, could you wake it up?"

Bai Xiao was silent for a moment, then said, "I just have the potential to become the Zombie King, but I am not the king yet."

Even the Zombie King might find it difficult to awaken these long-rotten people.

They have waited too long.

There is another zombie on the edge of the village. Lin Duoduo calls it Erdan.

"Who is this again?"

"I don't know it. It wandered here from somewhere else. There are no zombies in the village, and passers-by can easily tell that there are people living here, so I let it go to keep Uncle Cai company."

"Wasn't it also exposed that you were cooking?"

"It's only done twice a day, and sometimes once. It's not a big threat anyway. If we find something wrong with them one day, we can know whether someone wandered in and stayed nearby, or something started to attack the zombies."

Bai Xiao didn't say anything, but approached Erdan vigilantly and cautiously. He wanted to know whether the zombies would bite him as an infected person.

It was not convenient to try in the city, but now was the right time. Bai Xiao walked around with a stick and stood behind Erdan. The old zombie seemed not to notice and still went towards Lin Duoduo.

"It seems that it won't attack me." Bai Xiao tried to make a sound. Erdan stopped for a moment, as if he was a little confused, but after Bai Xiao said something, he stopped talking. He turned back halfway and continued to walk towards Lin Duoduo.

"You said you are not a zombie!" Lin Duoduo said.

The zombies no longer bite him.

The two of them pushed and kicked, and quickly brought the things back to the village, leaving Erdan wandering alone on the wilderness path.

After entering the village with a creaking sound and returning to the courtyard, Bai Xiao felt as comfortable as if he was home. He really didn't feel safe outside these days and had to be alert all the time. Not only was he physically exhausted, but he was also mentally tense.

"Take off your clothes." Lin Duoduo rested for a while and picked up the water pipe.

Bai Xiao was shocked.

"Uh... that's not appropriate. Go pack your things. I'll use this."

Bai Xiao really didn't want to take off all his clothes and be hosed down by Lin Duoduo. Zombies also have dignity.

"And even if you want me to die in a dignified way, I have no intention of dying at the moment."

I don’t know if it’s because Lin Duoduo, who grew up in the apocalypse, is carefree, or if it’s just her personality... She doesn’t treat him, a zombie, as a human being.

It's a bit abrupt anyway.

The method of using a water pressure well is very simple. Just press the wooden pole with your hand and press hard...

Bai Xiao suspected that it was broken as no water came out after pressing it for a long time.

"It shouldn't be me who broke this thing, right? There's no water in it." Bai Xiao said calmly. It's over, the well is broken.

Lin Duoduo glanced at the zombie, took a ladle to get some water from a nearby vat and poured it into the well.

Bai Xiao continued to press and fell into deep thought as he watched the water coming out of the pipe.

"Well, actually I'm just not familiar with it... After all, this thing is too old, and I couldn't remember it for the moment. I knew it before." Bai Xiao felt that her look just now was very offensive.

"Yeah." Lin Duoduo responded.

"And I haven't touched this well in the past few days. Sometimes I saw you press water out here without splashing water." Bai Xiao felt despised. While speaking, he tightened the bed sheet next to him, "Don't come in suddenly. Zombies also have human rights."

It had been such a long time since he had last taken a bath, and it was a refreshing shower. Bai Xiao actually felt moved. The cold well water gurgled out from the pipe and poured over his head, feeling a little icy.

While pressing the wooden pole, he rinsed off the stains on his face and body, and the water that came out was dirty.

"I finally feel like I'm still alive." Bai Xiao said from behind the bed sheet, "I can still feel the coolness."

"Be careful not to get any contact with the wound."

Lin Duoduo sat next to the tricycle, drinking the remaining sugar water from the journey.

I always feel that Bai Xiao is going to die soon, but he seems to be alive and well, which is very strange.

No matter what, it's always good to be alive.

The water gathered into a pool and flowed along the terrain to the outside of the yard. Bai Xiao finally finished washing, changed into clean clothes, wiped his hair, and turned out from behind the sheets.

Seeing his eyes that looked like a zombie, Lin Duoduo subconsciously reached for her gun.

"It's me, what are you doing? If I don't die, you'll give me a decent death, right?"

"…reflexive habit."

Lin Duoduo let go of the gun and looked at Bai Xiao. She was not sure how to treat this person... who was infected but still alive and well.

She thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you put on the helmet? It will make you look more like a human being."

"The helmet has also been washed."

Bai Xiao picked up the wet helmet and showed it to her.

After thinking about it, Bai Xiao hung up his helmet to dry, then went to the observation room he was familiar with - under the shed, took out his sunglasses and put them on.

"In fact, this journey has proven that my infection is very stable. Whether I'm traveling all day, fighting zombies, or sleeping on the rooftop, there is no sign of deterioration."

Not only has the situation not deteriorated, but it has become more stable day by day.

Lin Duoduo thought that when Bai Xiao wore the helmet, she would sometimes forget that he was a person infected by zombies.

Bai Xiao sat under the shed, opened the bandage on his arm, and observed the wound that was caused by a zombie bite.

It’s too dirty outside these days and there’s no condition for observation.

"The livor mortis around the wound has not expanded, there is nothing abnormal, and the wound has not worsened. There seems to be signs of healing, but it is slow." Bai Xiao said to Lin Duoduo while observing.

There was a faint sound of water coming from the other side, and Lin Duoduo, who was dirty and smelly, also went to wash.

Hearing Bai Xiao's voice, she washed her body with greater confidence.

"And where was he caught?"

"Not very optimistic. The wound seems to be inflamed. What are the symptoms of infection by an animal?"

"inflamed."

"..."

Bai Xiao was silent for a moment, and then said, "Normal wounds are prone to inflammation in this kind of weather, and it was dirty and the hygiene conditions were poor those days. Are there any other symptoms? I found that it was a little stiff around it."

"The wound will become stiff." Lin Duoduo said.

Bai Xiao was silent again.

"Good, everything fits," he said.

After a moment, he continued, "Actually... think about it from a positive perspective. Since I was infected by zombies, maybe I can resist low-level infections like animals, right? After all, zombies appeared first, and then animals were infected by zombies through unknown means, and they mutated into low-level infections."

As he was speaking he fell silent.

Lin Duoduo washed herself clean, changed into a set of loose clothes, and sat on the doorstep where the sun didn't shine, looking at the zombies under the shed.

"Save him." Bai Xiao said.

"You can leave in a more decent manner." Lin Duoduo said.

(End of this chapter)