Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

As the afternoon arrived, Xiaoyun was sitting at home on the sofa, right across from Tianci, who had just woken up from her nap.

"So you're telling me the sample flesh from the death zone can self-heal?" Xiaoyun questioned.

"Yes... It can self-diagnose any foreign objects and instantly reject them. It has extremely stable DNA that can identify any virus or bacteria we tried to inject."

Tianci quickly went over to her backpack, taking out a small file with several pages of a report.

"We compared zombie flesh against the flesh sample in the death zone... The zombies' DNA is usually extremely unstable and chaotic.

That's how they have mutations that could happen within minutes. They are generally what separates them from humans.

Now, comparing the flesh sample to humans, it somehow has a more stable DNA sequence that's resistant to any change.

They were able to produce a replica that's more similar to asexual reproduction, cloning the same flesh to travel into the same place."

"So, bio-weapons and nukes wouldn't work either?" Xiaoyun questioned.

"Yeah, those two wouldn't work at all... Well, the nuke might work in theory since it also creates a large explosion on top of the radiation.

Conventional weapons like bombs and fire should still work against destroying the mutant flesh." Tianci answered.

"That doesn't work. Yiming already tried it over and over again, and they just reappear the next day."

Xiaoyun's answer was met with optimism on Tianci's face as she didn't seem to be deterred by it.

"That's what I said, it can self-diagnose what's missing... It's like those shape-memory alloys that can always fold back into shape.

But just like the metal, there are still limits. In theory, the flesh will permanently disappear if you just destroy it over and over again until it runs out of energy."

"Right, because that would go against the law of conservation of energy."

"Mhm. There is a slight concern, though... Do you know how zombies survive without food in the city?"

Xiaoyun shook his head. It was one question that had always confused him. How does a zombie survive without eating food?

Especially when human is practically eradicated from the city with no survivors, there is no 'human' for zombies to eat or infect.

"They each other... Then their body reaches a certain point where they could simply survive off air."

"Survive off air? No food or water or anything?"

Seeing her nod her head, it just sounded like a fantasy in his head. Something that goes against all possible science.

"How could they convert air into energy?"

"I don't know either. That's one study that we haven't figured out yet... Something in their gene allows their skin to lower metabolism so much until they are activated.

The zombies sit idle until some signal of some sort sends them into a frenzy, like a human in their sight." Tianci answered.

"That's just bullshit... Whatever, how's this concern tied to the death zone?" Xiaoyun asked.

"I have a theory... This isn't confirmed or anything. Just pure speculation from one of my co-workers."

"That's fine. Just say it."

"The whole death zone has a core structure. Somewhere in the city is absorbing everything alive for energy.

From trees to germs to even buildings. The flesh sample has a very strong aggression that attacks anything with which it comes in contact.

It's almost like... Stomach acid. It is just melting everything in its way in an attempt to continue its endless expansion."

"Wait, this is a ticking time bomb?" Xiaoyun asked, realizing the key note she had just mentioned.

"I'm afraid so... Sooner or later, it's going to go through an expansion phase that goes beyond what it is currently.

But if we destroy the core, the entire death zone should collapse under its own weight. The issue is——"

"We don't know the location, right?"

"Yeah... It's going to be up to your army to find it. But one thing we found that might help you is that the flesh is extremely sensitive to temperature changes."

"Thanks. That's exactly what I needed to know."

---

When the next day arrived, it was supposed to be just another Saturday—one where Xiaoyun could enjoy spending time with his family.

However, he was in the passenger seat of a car instead, followed by lines upon lines of truck convoys filled with soldiers, all heading east.

"Sorry for calling you guys on your break."

Xiaoyun apologized as both Lingang and Han Bang sat in the back, their arms wrapped around their rifles and backpacks on the side.

"It's okay, sir. We understand this is an emergency time... But can we ask what's the emergency in Shenzhen?" Lingang curiously asked.

"Let me explain it to you two right now..."

An hour later...

As the car came to a stop, both Lingang and Han Bang were a little stunned by what Xiaoyun had just told them.

The concept of a death zone just sounded like something made up to them. But the commander's face told them it wasn't just a joke.

It was a life-or-death situation, one that required all the forces they could muster to eradicate all traces of it.

"Commander Chen?"

The two guards in front of the Shenzhen base were a little stunned as they couldn't believe the person who stepped out of the car.

"I have brought reinforcement. Do you guys know where General Yiming is?" Xiaoyun asked as he approached the guards directly.

"H-he's at the HQ tent."

"Thank you. Everyone! Stay outside for now... Lingang, Han Bang, follow me."

The two of them quickly caught up with Xiaoyun, following him into the Shenzhen base as they examined the surroundings.

They could feel a sense of heaviness among the soldiers. All of their faces looked tired. More importantly, they could sense the feeling of defeat.

After walking for a bit, the three of them finally arrived at the HQ tent. Without waiting, Xiaoyun walked straight in.

---

"The death zone expanded one meter? You can't be fucking serious."

Yiming's face was in complete anger as Yan Lin's report had indicated that the situation on the ground was getting worse every day.

Even though they had stopped provoking the death zone, the flesh was expanding more rapidly than he had imagined.

Moreso than when he first encountered it. In total, it had expanded over ten meters, not just in one direction, but in all directions outward of the death zone.

All three Colonels stood in silence. They knew Yiming wasn't blaming them over the failure. He was just in the heat of the moment.

The past few days have just been bad news on top of bad news, especially a few hours ago when bad news dropped.

The platoon that had entered the death zone a few days before the operation was put on hold was found dead.

Not a single survivor. All fifty soldiers were found dead inside their cars, with only their skeletons remaining.

All of their guns were emptied of ammunition—a single bullet hole from their chin up to the top of their heads.

"Yan Lin, tell the soldier to get ready for retreat to the outskirts."

"Yes, sir——"

"Yiming, not so fast."

As everyone in the tent turned their attention towards the entrance, they were a little surprised to see Xiaoyun with Lingang and Han Bang right next to him.

"Xiaoyun? Why are you here?"

"I heard the situation in Shenzhen is getting worse. So I brought in with reinforcement... Can you all update me on the current situation?"

All three of the colonels looked over to Yiming, before being met with a nod to go ahead.

"Commander Xiaoyun, the death zone is beginning to expand again... And the platoon that we sent into the death zone a few days ago had returned dead."

"I see... Is this the reason why you asked the soldiers to get ready for retreat?" Xiaoyun asked.

"Yes, sir," Yiming answered.

"You can cancel that thought. No one is retreated... We're going to fight here until the death zone is gone."

"But... We can't kill the death zone." Yan Lin raised his concern.

"Xiaoyun, you came prepared?" Yiming asked, noticing the confidence on his face.

"Of course. Tianci just told me there is a major weakness in the death zone... We just need to squeeze them dry."

"Squeeze them dry?"

"Ahem, I mean, we're going to attack on all sides nonstop. Day and Night, we're going to bombard and enroach the death zone until they run out of energy."

"We don't have enough ammo for that... We are already short on ammo from maintaining the safe zone." Li Qing raised her concern.

"I already asked Houqin to direct all resources to Shenzhen... We're going to defeat the death zone no matter what the cost."

Seeing the determination on Xiaoyun's face, all three of Yiming's colonels began to look a little hopeful.

Especially Li Qing, whose face was filled with a hint of excitement, as she was the Colonel responsible for carrying out the samples with Tianci to study.

However, Yiming still looks a little pessimistic. He just felt the plan of just endless attack against the death zone sounded just too simple.

"I really hope so..."

"Han Bang, Lingang, you two go settle down the soldiers outside. We're going to begin the attack in the evening."

"Yes, sir!"