IDMLA 12

Qin Zhang broke out in a cold sweat from fright and couldn’t help but grab a bottle of water to calm his nerves.

“Tang Tang, you’re amazing, even calmer than me. That scared me to death just now. I feel like I won’t be able to eat anything tomorrow.”

The naive-looking guy also nodded. “Yeah, yeah, you’re so smart. I didn’t react at all.”

Yan Chen knew his own temper was too bad, so he awkwardly apologized: “Sorry about what happened before.”

“…It’s fine. I’ve also seen some movies before, so I had a bit of an idea.”

Tang Tang felt a little guilty hearing their praise.

Her knowledge about zombies, she’d gotten all of it from the system.

“The essential oil might dry out. We should probably be ready to spray new stuff on at any time.” Tang Tang, afraid of hearing more praise, quickly changed the subject.

Jiang Zhu picked up the conversation. “I’ll take the night watch. You all go rest first.”

Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Tang Tang’s wrist and pulled her over to his own bunk. He then returned to the chair by the table and sat down.

Keeping up their strength was important now, so the proposal to take shifts was quickly accepted. Except for Jiang Zhu, everyone else ran back to rest.

Since the power was out, all the lights that had been on throughout the room were turned off, leaving only a small flashlight emitting a warm white glow.

Tang Tang still couldn’t sleep.

If they were leaving tomorrow, should she just say it outright? Or should she quietly open the door and slip away? Should she put on her gear first and check outside the door for zombies? What if she opened the door and let a zombie in…

As these thoughts ran through her mind, she turned over.

A clean, pleasant scent wafted up from the blanket.

But just as she caught the smell, she suddenly heard faint, strange noises coming from below, and she was so startled she sat straight up.

What’s wrong?

Did zombies get in?

No way? She didn’t hear any sound of doors or windows being smashed open??

Tang Tang had already been wide awake, and now she was so alert she couldn’t even sit still.

She turned on the light on her phone, and combined with the small flashlight below, she looked down.

But instead of finding zombies, she saw Jiang Zhu lying slumped over the desk, as if suffering some kind of painful torment. The strange noises she’d heard earlier were probably sounds he’d let slip while trying to hold back.

Huh??

What’s going on??

“What’s wrong?”

Tang Tang wasn’t the only one who noticed. Yan Chen, who also hadn’t fallen asleep, had noticed the strange sounds too. Now hearing the commotion from Tang Tang’s direction, he climbed down from his bed and asked.

The moment the question left his mouth, two more strange sounds of the same kind suddenly appeared at his ears.

“Bang! Crash! Ugh! Bang!”

Tang Tang heard them too.

She immediately got down from the bed as well.

The two of them grabbed a large flashlight and followed the sounds one by one.

After searching around the dormitory, they discovered that all these sounds were coming from the people inside their own room!

Jiang Zhu, because he was on watch, was still awake. He was slumped over the desk now, unable to straighten up from the pain, but he still had some awareness.

The other two were different.

The two who had fallen asleep seemed unaware of what they were experiencing. They lay curled up on their beds, probably in great pain. Ttheir heads were covered in sweat, and they kept pounding their heads with their fists, as if trying to crack their skulls open.

Tang Tang was so frightened she couldn’t speak.

“Go, go!”

At that moment, Jiang Zhu, who had been enduring the intense pain, spoke up.

He reached out a hand to grab Tang Tang’s sleeve and pushed her hard toward the door. “Get out of here, now!”

“Jiang Zhu? What’s wrong with you guys?? You all…”

Yan Chen heard him speak and rushed over to ask.

He stopped mid-sentence, struck by a grim realization: “No, it can’t be… you guys… you’re not…”

He swallowed hard and couldn’t continue.

Jiang Zhu guessed what he meant, but he didn’t know what was wrong with himself either. He only felt an intense pain in his head, and his body was in agony—like being burned by fire, then frozen in ice. Every movement hurt so much it felt like dying.

He suspected he might be turning into a mutated zombie too…

“It’s possible. You, you two—go! Go!”

He paused there, then grabbed the fruit knife Tang Tang had bought earlier. “No, don’t go out! Kill, kill me! Now!”

The only two who were still awake and normal were both so shocked they couldn’t speak at all.

Tang Tang and Yan Chen exchanged a glance.

Both of them were a little panicked.

But they quickly calmed down.

The reason Tang Tang calmed down was because she knew Jiang Zhu was the male lead. How could the male lead possibly turn into a zombie at the very start?

So there was only one possibility for the current situation.

The three of them weren’t turning into zombies, they were undergoing mutation!

Tang Tang quickly recalled what she’d heard from the system about the symptoms during mutation, and found that they matched perfectly!!

She let out a sigh of relief.

Just as she was thinking about how to relay this information to Yan Chen, she suddenly noticed that Yan Chen had taken the fruit knife from Jiang Zhu’s hand.

!!

What does he plan to do!

Tang Tang almost thought Yan Chen was about to throw a punch, but she saw him grab a fruit knife and dash toward his own bed. He yanked his blanket off in one go, and with a few swift cuts, sliced off several strips of fabric.

He tied those strips together end to end.

Tang Tang watched for a moment, then made a rough guess: “Are you going to tie the three of them up?”

“Yeah!” Yan Chen replied without turning around.

Tang Tang thought it over, this wasn’t a bad temporary solution.

After all, the three of them were likely awakening with special abilities, and she couldn’t just tell him that directly.

Not to mention whether Yan Chen would even believe her, just the fact that she knew in the first place would be hard to explain.

The two aligned on the idea and quickly bundled the three of them up.

By the time they finished, both were drenched in sweat.

As for the other three, they were each tied to their chairs, one on each side, secured to the edge of the table.

“Do you think they’ll turn into zombies too?”

After a while, Yan Chen suddenly turned his head and asked.

Tang Tang glanced at the three of them, their condition hadn’t changed. Even tied up, they still writhed in discomfort, trying to bang their heads against something.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why?” Yan Chen was curious. “Why are you so calm?”

Tang Tang was sensitive to questions that might expose her, so she turned and smiled at him: “Because I’m a little angel, how could a zombie bear to eat me?”

“…I think you’re crazy.”

It seemed like the two of them always ended up… at a loss for words mid-conversation.

But given the current situation, they had no idea how long they’d be stuck together. If they stayed silent the whole time, it would be unbearably awkward.

Tang Tang grabbed a nearby book and fanned herself with it.

So, was she still leaving tomorrow? Under these circumstances, if she left tomorrow, she’d never clear her name for the rest of her life…

So bitter. Her life was truly bitter.

How could she be a little angel? She must be a bitter melon.

“What happened before…that was my fault.”

After another moment, Yan Chen spoke up again.

They were close enough that his apology reached Tang Tang’s ears clearly.

“I had a bad impression of you before,” he paused, “especially this morning when you dumped Jiang Zhu. I heard it all clearly from others, and I even watched the footage, how you mocked him. You…”

He seemed to realize he’d drifted off track, coughed, and circled back.

“But that’s between you two. If the apocalypse hadn’t come today, I would’ve brought you here to persuade Jiang Zhu to eat something, then sent you back.”

Tang Tang listened and nodded.

That had been her plan too.

Who knew the system’s apocalypse timing would be off? It even came early…

“But none of us have experienced the apocalypse before, so the risk of keeping you here is unthinkable.”

“After all, if you could betray Jiang Zhu once, you could betray all of us in the dorm a second time.”

“Since I’m the one who dragged you here, if you suddenly turned on us and only hurt me, I’d accept it. But if you brought harm to the other three because of it, I definitely couldn’t keep you around…”

Tang Tang said nothing, listening as he rambled on quietly.

Most of it was probably explaining his earlier behavior, right?

Of course, mixed in were a few personal opinions about her.

Finally, Yan Chen concluded: “Anyway, I’m saying this upfront, since we’re teammates now, there can be no betrayal among the five of us. You’re no exception, got it?”

Tang Tang didn’t answer immediately, taking a moment to think.

So, she wasn’t leaving tomorrow?

When Yan Chen saw her hesitate, he got angry again.

“You woman! Don’t tell me you’re still scheming at a time like this?!”

Tang Tang snapped back to reality and shook her head to prove her innocence.

“No, I’m just a bit shocked by your sudden change.”

Yan Chen: “…Oh.”

“Then don’t worry, since we’re teammates, I’ll protect you with everything i’ve got!”

Tang Tang turned to look at him, but Yan Chen turned his head away.

“Thanks.”

The conversation died there…

Through the night, the two took turns refreshing the windows with Fengyoujing(风油精 (fēngyóujīng) is a strong-smelling Chinese medicated oil, often containing menthol, camphor, and eucalyptus-type oils. It’s commonly used for mosquito bites, headaches, or as an insect repellent.).

Who knew how many zombies had shuffled past outside the door.

Finally, the second day arrived.

The moment dawn broke, Tang Tang’s eyes snapped open.

Jiang Zhu and the others’ condition still hadn’t changed, who knew how long the transformation would take.

“Awake?”

Yan Chen heard the movement and turned around.

Tang Tang noticed his face was a bit pale.

“Do you want to get some rest? You look…” She gestured to her own face to indicate what she meant.

Yan Chen shook his head and waved her over: “Come take a look.”

“Hm?”

Tang Tang walked over and stood by the window.

Then she understood why Yan Chen’s face was so pale.

Outside, the sky hadn’t fully brightened yet, but vivid colors instantly caught the eye.. The gleaming white tiles on the dormitory building’s exterior walls were now stained with large patches of red. Depending on when the blood had splattered, the shades of red varied.

Bodies lay scattered around them.

Some were zombies, and some were not.

Tang Tang was seeing this kind of scene for the first time as well. She took one glance and quickly turned away.

“Don’t look. Eat something and rest for a bit.”

Yan Chen also averted his gaze and gave a grunt of acknowledgment.

“What about them, though? How are the three of them going to eat?”

The question came quickly.

Jiang Zhu and the other two were still unconscious at the moment. Judging by how desperately they seemed to be trying to bang their heads, they had probably expended a lot of energy. Who knew if they were hungry or not.

And even if they were hungry, who knew if they would even make a sound.

Tang Tang paused for a moment.

“How about… we just shove it in for them?”

“…That’s the only way, I suppose.” Yan Chen let out a sigh. “I’ll handle Qin Zhang and Qi Mu. You take care of Jiang Zhu. Sound good?”

Tang Tang: “…I guess so.”

Force-feed Jiang Zhu? She just hoped he wouldn’t beat her to death when he woke up…

Because the power was out, there was no hot water.

That meant the “soaking” step for instant noodles was out of the question. They just dumped the seasoning packets in, gave it a rough mix, and it was basically ready to eat.

Thankfully, Tang Tang had a conscience. Even without hot water, she still used bottled water to soften the noodles first, then scooped them up with a spoon to feed him.

She was just about to introduce her method to Yan Chen when she turned around and saw the man brutally prying Qin Zhang’s mouth open and shoving crushed instant noodles inside.

…So when she said “shove it in,” he actually took it literally.

“Cough—cough—”

Qin Zhang coughed without any surprise.

But even so, he still didn’t wake up.

“He won’t eat. What do we do?” Yan Chen stared at the noodle crumbs Qin Zhang had coughed onto the floor, his head aching.

“Soak them in water. Soften them up first, then feed them.” Tang Tang couldn’t help but grab a bottle of water and walk over.

By the time the two of them finally managed to feed all three packs of instant noodles to the three of them, two hours had already passed.

And they had worked up a sweat all over again.

Tang Tang felt like she was starting to stink.

But today’s situation was just as Tang Tang had predicted last night, almost no one rushed out on their own. However, with the zombies invading, people were still screaming nonstop.

Tang Tang sat on the floor, listening to Yan Chen, who was observing from the window, report on the current situation.

This continued all the way until the next morning.

Still no one had voluntarily stepped outside, but the weather had taken a dramatic turn.

Large patches of dark clouds suddenly began gathering in the sky, pressing down heavily, making it hard to breathe. The already low spirits seemed to be magnified infinitely by this sudden change in weather, and even the screams that had been ringing out for the past two days grew more desperate and mournful.

Was it going to rain?

A heavy rain, at that?

Tang Tang also came to the window and looked up at the black clouds above.

The sun that had just risen that morning was immediately blocked out again, and the dorm room instantly grew dark.

Tang Tang frowned and pressed her hand against the gap in the window to feel.

There was wind outside.

Seeing her do this, Yan Chen also reached his hand out.

“It’s going to rain and get windy,” he said.

“Yeah,” Tang Tang turned back to glance at the three people still tied to the table with cloth strips, “I hope the wind and rain stays light”

Don’t blow away this one window we have…