9 A slow infection

That was… until Chestnut pointed at a diary on the bed.

It didn't look exactly like the typical diary that a little girl would usually keep. It was just an ordinary book lying open in the middle of the bed. Yang Zhang picked it up and carefully inspected it from the beginning.

—Xiao Mei's Emergency Diary—

Day 1

Hi, my name is Xiao Mei, 22 years old.

I worked as a clerk in this mini-mart when the Z-20 Virus outbreak suddenly infected everyone. I don't know if I have come in contact with the virus. I assume I did because a few people came to buy something before…

I saw a few drivers outside that acted weird during the virus outbreak. The description of zombifying was prominent in their bodies, such as ashen faces and uncontrollable drooling.

So I locked the mini-mart and turned off the light. I'm afraid those people that had turned into zombies might break the door, so I picked a few things from the minimart and went to the attic. This place is where the staff usually slept when they had an early morning shift.

I hope I can survive and return to my family.

—

Day 3

I've been surviving in this Mini market for three days. I haven't seen another living human, and I've been surviving by eating the food in the mini-mart and the remaining stock in the warehouse.

The electricity has been cut off since yesterday, and my phone battery has been slowly running out. I haven't been able to contact my family. They all have turned into zombies, probably…

I don't know what will happen to me, but at least I haven't turned into a zombie. I searched on the internet. They said the virus divided people into three categories.

The majority were zombified and turned into those things roaming around the city, eating the flesh and brains of the people.

One minority group had turned into ability users with unique abilities to protect themselves from the zombies.

And the smallest minority had developed immunity to the virus, and they are basically the same as normal humans, but they have an immunity to the virus.

I think I am a normal human with immunity. I hope so…

—

Day 7

I checked the main doors. One of the zombies broke the lock last night, so I had to be careful not to alert them when I took all the food items from the mini-market.

Today I realized there will be no evacuation. This is the end of humanity, and I'm probably one of a very small minority of people that survived.

Anyway, I've grown accustomed to living here, but the food stock has slowly dwindled. At this rate, I'll run out of things to eat.

…

Oh well, it's fine, I guess.

Lately, all the food I've eaten doesn't taste good. I feel like puking, and I can only eat meat right now.

—

Day 10

This…

This is probably my last entry…

I thought I was one of the select humans immune to the virus. But as it turns out, I am one of the zombies.

I have a slow infection, but I realized that this must be the truth. My skin has been gradually turning ashen, and my body is numb all over.

I have accepted my fate. There is nobody who can help me anyway…

But I cannot kill myself, I'm afraid, and I don't even know if dying will keep me from turning into a zombie.

To anyone who finds this diary and my zombified corpse, please put me to rest. I don't want to be a hideous monster who will hurt the innocent.

As a sign of gratitude, I have already gathered all the food in the attic. It's under the bed, so you—who have found my body—can take this as a reward.

Please save me, put me to rest.

Thank you…

—

That was the last entry of this short diary of Xiao Mei. The rest of the pages had been stained with what was probably the drool from zombie Xiao Mei.

Yang Zhang's heart felt stuffy. He knew there were so many tragic stories in this apocalyptic world, but whenever he stumbled across one, he couldn't help but grieve.

Xiao Mei survived here for ten days until she realized that she was also becoming a zombie. The virus just spread slower in her body.

"Maybe the zombie of Xiao Mei could sense there was a human nearby and peeked through that big hole. It's been a year anyway."

He had put Xiao Mei to rest, but he kept the Brain Bead of this formidable woman who could survive ten days alone in here.

Yang Zhang fished the Brain Bead from his pocket and nodded reassuringly, "Don't worry, Xiao Mei Jiejie, I will make sure not to waste your Brain Bead. I will definitely put it to good use," Yang Zhang promised the deceased woman because he remembered that wiggling rose, and he still felt guilty.

Looking under the bed revealed plenty of canned foods. Most of them were still edible even after a year, and they had been conveniently put into a bag, so Yang Zhang could just carry them back to the wooden hut.

He took the canned food. Fortunately, he didn't need to worry about water because there was a well in the backyard of that wooden hut.

He also took a flashlight, just in case.

Yang Zhang stared at the attic room for the last time, and he sighed deeply.

"Squeak?"

"Ah, it's nothing, Chestnut. It's just… I'm lucky to have immunity from the virus. Xiao Mei Jiejie must've been suffering up until her last moment."

"I'll make sure to put this Brain Bead to good use. This came from a good person, so I won't mess around this time."

With that, Yang Zhang went out and returned to the forest. Chestnut actually remembered the way back, so he didn't need to worry about getting lost again.

He would try to scout out another path in the forest because there was nothing but a long tollway and that rest area with the mini-mart he visited just now along this one.

Yang Zhang stopped in front of the territorial tree and then started thinking, "Okay, now what should I do to get my luggage back?"