Chapter Twenty-Two: The Responsibility to Bear

Day Nine

Qi Xi had advanced the time when he would become a Gene Human, and as he successfully evolved, he felt an unprecedented surge of strength—the power within him seemed capable of shattering heaven and earth. Of course, this was merely a sudden confidence born from his newfound abilities.

On the day of his evolution, two people failed to awaken—Li Feidao’s close friend, the chubby Nan Housheng, and that clever woman, Liang Fei. The dead always bring sorrow, especially for Li Feidao. He stared, mouth agape, at Nan Housheng who had become a zombie, tears streaming from his eyes as he wailed in grief.

Where there is togetherness, there is destined to be separation; where there is life, there is inevitably death. The affairs of the world never bend to human wishes. So, despite the sadness and the desperate cries, some losses can never be recovered. Most times, there is no chance to try again.

If only there could be another chance, this woman named Lu Lu would never have let those two children go to the back to deal with things. The world had fallen to the zombies—how many days had it been? No one cared to count anymore, as each day felt like living in hell.

Lu Lu was a high school teacher. At twenty-six, she had just graduated from the teachers’ college and come to teach in this small county high school. Her gentle nature made her popular with many students, and those precocious boys had slipped her more than a few love letters.

On the day the apocalypse broke out, it was early morning self-study. The classroom was filled with the sound of reading, some mischievous boys at the back squeezing their phones to read novels, others discussing gear in online games, or debating whether to go gaming together that night. At that moment, Lu Lu was in the office, preparing to patrol the class, hoping to make those troublemakers study properly.

Her supervision only earned her a few minutes of distracted, perfunctory behavior, and sometimes complaints, but this was her job. She hoped every student could succeed.

Yet, five minutes before she set out, a student reeking of decay and confusion staggered into the school. His consciousness quickly faded, and soon he lost all reason—the tragic hell began then.

There were still survivors. Out of the thousand students in the school, only a dozen remained alive, and Lu Lu was the leader of this group. Minors were, after all, still children; they fantasized about their own abilities, but had never faced real danger. When confronted with crisis, they instinctively pushed Lu Lu forward.

But Lu Lu was not a decisive or wise leader. The burden nearly broke her, but even if she hadn’t been pushed forward, she probably would have taken responsibility herself. For that is the duty of a teacher.

Just now, in order to obtain the last scraps of food from the school store, she had sent two strong boys to negotiate, but they never came back. No, they didn’t stay there—Lu Lu’s eyes were full of guilt—they had been devoured by the zombies, not a single piece left.

If she hadn’t sent those boys, perhaps more of her students would have died; whichever choice she made, people would die. Such is the cruel reality.

This was a chemistry classroom, deep in a corridor of the school, quiet and isolated, with few zombies passing by. As she distributed the food, though everyone was starving, two girls refused to eat.

Those girls sobbed quietly, remembering how the two boys had tried to act cool, saying, “I’ll cover the rear, you go ahead.” Tears streamed from their pretty eyes, but their mouths were tightly covered—if they cried too loudly, they might attract zombies.

Lu Lu watched, unsure what to say. She hadn’t expected such youthful love to be so steadfast, nor that those boys would so easily give up their own safety to protect others, while the male teachers had been selfish cowards, afraid of death—and in the end, they died anyway.

Many believed these early romances meant nothing, but precisely because they didn’t understand love, their feelings were pure and untainted, lacking the compromises of adulthood and society, making them all the more precious.

Yet, this precious feeling vanished before her eyes. Many girls asked neurotically, “Would you die for me?” And the boys, eager for intimacy, replied offhandedly, “Of course I would.” The girls hadn’t believed them—never expected it would really happen...

“Wuu wuu...”

“Don’t cry, eat something.” Lu Lu wiped sweat from her forehead, pushing the food towards the girls. “Don’t... waste the boys’ sacrifice.”

“But...”

“There’s no but,” Lu Lu said with firm resolve.

“Teacher, the store’s food is all gone...” said a boy with acne, chewing bread and drinking water, mumbling.

“I know.” Lu Lu nodded.

“What are we going to eat now?” the acne-faced boy asked again.

“Why doesn’t the government rescue us? Are they all useless drunkards?!” A bespectacled boy suddenly slammed his biscuit to the floor, showing signs of collapse. He held back from screaming, “Damn them! What’s going on? Is this hell? Why is a scene from a novel or movie happening for real? What did I do wrong?! I can’t take it anymore!”

“Liu Ting! Keep your voice down!” a girl beside him whispered, her eyes filled with fear—if this idiot brought zombies here, they’d all die.

“Complaining won’t help.” Lu Lu realized if things went on like this, her students would break down before they starved, for their parents, friends, everything had been destroyed by the apocalypse.

“Teacher, what should we do?”

Lu Lu thought for a moment, then said calmly, “We can’t stay at school any longer. We must leave this campus as soon as possible.”

“How?”

“Let’s discuss a route together, stay calm. People will come to rescue us—believe it. We will survive. The zombies move slowly, we can outrun them. As long as we find the right place to hide, we won’t be in danger.”

An hour later

Taking advantage of their brief recovery after eating, Lu Lu led her group of students out.

The moment they were exposed to the zombies’ gaze, countless zombies swarmed towards them, howling madly, eyes ablaze with the desire to devour the students alive.

The girls were terrified, and even the surviving boys had no thought of resisting, only of how they might save themselves—run, escape, flee!

They ran constantly, but the zombies gathered in ever greater numbers. Though they managed to escape the school, their situation did not improve; more and more zombies locked onto their little group, roaring with excitement as they surged closer.

The zombies multiplied, the group kept running, their stamina draining rapidly. Suddenly, zombies burst from both sides of the street, dragging down one of them, pinning him to the ground.

“Ah!!!”

A scream of utter agony—a soul-shattering cry! Facing such a terrifying death, anyone would break down in that instant. The boy lost control, soiling himself, but the zombies were not deterred by such disgust.

The screams quickly ceased.

Lu Lu and her students were horror-stricken.

They kept running, but there was no end in sight, no safe place to hide.

Whe