The Young Mistress Turned Into a Zombie - Chapter 4

Shen Que met He Sheng in a residential building within Block B7-122 of City A.

At the time, He Sheng and his daughter, Xia Li, had been trapped in the building for four days. They were weak and had run out of food and water.

They weren’t survivors from City A. According to He Sheng, he had come here to find medicine. His daughter, Xia Li, suffered from a rare disease since childhood, and his own health was also very poor, requiring long-term medication. The medicine Xia Li needed was impossible to find in ordinary pharmacies. In the Survivor Base where they lived, the exchange price for such medicine was astronomically high, and they couldn’t afford it. Even if they could, that specific type of medicine was simply unavailable. He had no choice but to risk his life to find it himself.

Few dared to enter City A to scavenge, but they got lucky and joined an Expedition Team that happened to be passing through.

This team spent their days roaming between urban ruins and bases. Though they only had a dozen or so members, they were powerful and experienced, capable of retrieving small machinery, generators, and medical supplies from the cities. Yet, unexpectedly, they were completely wiped out just two days after entering City A, before they could even get close to the area where their target company was located.

It was a miracle that He Sheng and Xia Li had survived long enough to meet Shen Que.

He Sheng never expected her to agree to help them find medicine. All she asked in return was the information about his Da Qingshan Base. If Shen Que’s mission went smoothly, he could even leave City A with them and act as their guide.

This was a godsend.

Meng Lin had no idea what He Sheng was thinking, but she felt a pair of eyes staring at her from the shadows. It was a loathsome, rat-like gaze. Even when she was human, she had always been surrounded by people’s stares, which had sharpened her intuition. She could sense the hidden malice in different kinds of looks, but Shen Que never believed her, dismissing it as mere superstition.

This old bastard doesn’t look like a good person anyway, she thought.

Fortunately, Shen Que wasn’t actually asleep. She had only closed her eyes for a few minutes before waking up.

After their earlier confrontation, He Sheng remained silent. He waited patiently for Shen Que to finish half a compressed biscuit and drink her water before asking, “What’s the plan?”

Shen Que ignored his gaze on the food and water. “Check the shelves,” she said, her words sparse. “Stack the useless stuff behind the door. Fortify our position.”

“Fortify?” He Sheng asked, surprised. He didn’t say anything else, though.

The two of them got to work. The cardboard boxes behind the door piled higher and higher. Meng Lin watched them, bored and confused by Shen Que’s plan.

If they wanted to run, daytime was the best time. At night, the zombies would all be out. Looking at the situation, it seemed like these three were preparing to fight a long battle in this small warehouse. Meng Lin guessed that Shen Que had other people behind her. The explosion earlier was probably caused by her teammates, and she was likely waiting for them to arrive.

That meant she had to run now. Otherwise, when the others arrived, wouldn’t she be a trapped turtle in a jar?

The zombie analyzed the situation thoroughly. Her crimson eyes rolled around, terrifying Xia Li, who was huddled behind a shelf watching her.

Clang!

The girl accidentally bumped her back against the metal shelf behind her, knocking a can of soda off the top shelf.

The can hit the concrete floor with a loud crash, and the terrifying sound echoed through the warehouse.

Xia Li froze instantly, like a frightened sheep. Her thin, gaunt face showed a look of pure terror.

Immediately, the sound of banging and scratching came from behind the iron door. Bang! Bang! Bang! It was mixed with the sound of hard objects scraping against metal and the monsters’ terrifying roars.

Xia Li’s almond-shaped eyes looked even larger because she was so thin. She stared blankly at the cardboard boxes that shook with the iron door, her pupils unfocused. She didn’t cry; her eyes were too dry to produce any tears.

“Shh.”

Silent footsteps approached, and Shen Que made a gesture for them to be quiet. She stood before the door, pressing her hand down to signal them not to move. The commotion outside lasted for five or six minutes, perhaps longer, before gradually subsiding. But Meng Lin could tell that more zombies were now pacing outside. They hadn’t truly left.

Shen Que stopped moving the boxes and mouthed the word “Sit” to the two of them.

Above Meng Lin’s head was a narrow ventilation window that looked out onto the street. In the slanted light, many shadows were shifting.

He Sheng had hidden deep within the shelves, but Xia Li hadn’t moved. From the moment she heard the noise, she had been like a broken machine. It wasn’t until Shen Que pulled her into her arms and blocked the girl’s view that she gently patted her back, coaxing her stiff muscles and bones back to life.

She had Xia Li sit where she was, then moved to Meng Lin’s side. Facing the iron door, she sat down with her gun ready.

The zombies outside the warehouse watched them like predators, while the one inside remained as still as a silent camera, observing everything.

If Meng Lin wanted to run, this was clearly the perfect opportunity. All she had to do was make a little noise and draw the creatures outside into the warehouse, and she would be completely safe. But she couldn’t bring herself to think of such things. Instead, she felt a strange sensation she couldn’t explain. She just wanted to cry.

The silent wait dragged on. Even the zombie had fallen asleep, its head lolling back.

When Meng Lin woke up, the light in the warehouse had shifted to a golden dusk. She was surprised to find that Shen Que hadn’t moved an inch.

She was still in the same posture, her gaze sharp and focused.

Aren’t her legs numb? Meng Lin wondered.

The answer came quickly from the depths of the warehouse.

He Sheng crept out; his expression looked mortified. He whispered, “I… I can’t hold it anymore.”

Shen Que glanced at him and nodded slightly. “Bottle.”

Only then did Meng Lin realize what he meant. She had been a zombie for so long that she’d forgotten how troublesome it was to be human. They needed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, but there were no bathrooms in this warehouse.

The intermittent sound of splashing water echoed through the room. Meng Lin turned her head and rolled her eyes, her expression full of disgust.

When she looked back, she met another pair of eyes.

It was Xia Li.

The girl had been obedient, sitting in the same spot with her arms hugged tight. She didn’t cry, throw tantrums, eat, drink, sleep, or even use the bathroom. She was more like a zombie now, with nothing left in her eyes but fear.

Seeing her like this made Meng Lin sad. She had always been the “ringleader” among kids, possessing a natural charm that drew them to her.

Suddenly, she remembered that Shen Que seemed to dislike children. Whenever they were around kids, whether cute or not, Shen Que was never warm. She would always stand a distance away, aloof and detached. This behavior clashed with Meng Lin’s own principle of always standing up for the vulnerable.

By now, Shen Que had already stood up. She stretched her limbs slightly before speaking. “Let’s take care of personal business now,” she said, pausing to glance at Xia Li. “If you need to use the restroom, go to the corner inside, find an empty cardboard box, and then come back here to eat.”

Meng Lin was surprised. Twilight was a unique time. For zombies, it was like the dead of night for humans. The transition between day and night was when zombies truly began to “wake up.” Those moving out of habit would start to expand their range, and their senses would temporarily decline. This was indeed a crucial window of opportunity for humans.

She could hear that most of the zombies wandering nearby had already left.

How did Shen Que know so much?

Xia Li still hadn’t moved. Her eyes darted between the zombies and Shen Que, looking as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t.

This kid hasn’t spoken a word. Could she be mute? Meng Lin wondered.

“Xia Xia, come here. Daddy will take you,” He Sheng said, reaching out to pull her. The girl instinctively shrank back, a small movement, but Meng Lin saw it. He Sheng grabbed her arm firmly and smiled. “Be good. You’re so close to the zombies. What if you get bitten and killed?”

That was a harsh way to put it, the zombie girl thought, her brow furrowing.

After Xia Li was pulled away, Shen Que returned and pointed to the cola, potato chips, and canned food on the shelves. “Go on, eat.”

The warehouse had plenty of food, but the remaining edible items were all similar. Regular carbs wouldn’t last this long. Canned goods and snacks, packed with preservatives and calories, were the true survival essentials in the apocalypse.

He Sheng didn’t wait. He pried open a can of meat and started shoveling it into his mouth.

Why is he smacking his lips like that? Meng Lin’s disgust for the old man was practically overflowing.

The girl didn’t touch the food. Instead, she moved two steps closer to Shen Que, timidly raised her hand, and pointed to Shen Que’s leg.

Shen Que looked down. There was a cut about an inch long just above her right ankle. The blood had already dried. She knew it was from a sharp piece of debris on the road earlier that morning.

“I’m fine,” she said, then added, “A zombie didn’t do it.”

Xia Li shook her head in worry but still didn’t speak.

Shen Que didn’t know how to communicate with her anymore. She could only say, “Don’t worry. I won’t die from this.”

Meng Lin: …

There are so many problems here, I don’t even know where to start complaining.

Meng Lin wasn’t surprised by Shen Que’s communication issues, but she was shocked that she’d completely missed the injury. No wonder a sweet scent had been lingering around her all this time. It was the smell of Shen Que’s blood.

Zombies had a keen sense of smell, and their olfactory systems were completely different from humans. For years, Meng Lin had been deliberately maintaining her human habits, suppressing the zombie instincts that threatened to erode her mind. Sometimes, her brain and her senses fought, leaving her unable to react in time.

When did she get hurt? Meng Lin belatedly recalled the moment Shen Que had tried to grab her. The sweet fragrance had been overwhelming then.

Shen Que’s words drew He Sheng’s attention. After a moment of silence, he said dryly, “You should treat that wound. An infection could be dangerous.”

“Mm.” This time, Shen Que didn’t snap back. She took alcohol and a surgical kit from her bag, sat by the door, and propped her leg up on a cardboard box. She tore her pant leg open, exposing the wound.

He Sheng’s eyes widened in shock. She was treating her injury right in front of a zombie. How was this any different from deliberately provoking one?

I see, he thought. This woman has gone mad. There were plenty of suicidal lunatics in the apocalypse. He said nothing, his gaze fixedly on the gun beside her hand.

The wound was deeper than Meng Lin had expected. She watched Shen Que pour nearly half a bottle of alcohol directly onto it, then roughly scrub the scabs with a cotton ball. After that, Shen Que began stitching herself up with an expressionless face, her movements as practiced as a doctor’s.

Two conflicting thoughts warred in Meng Lin’s mind, and the zombie within her stirred restlessly.

He Sheng took the opportunity to ask, “How long do we have to stay here? Are we waiting until…”

“Tomorrow evening,” Shen Que said calmly. “I’ll take you out.”

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