Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

When the sun rose on the third day of July, the sounds of gunfire across Shenzhen had completely stopped.

A light fog covered the entire city, one that wasn't from the death zone. Rather, it was just from the rapid temperature change.

The red line had been successfully held back for the first time. The actual dense fog itself hasn't expanded either.

Only a small bit of smoke came out of the several buildings in various parts of the city, as the plan to burn the corrupted buildings had mostly failed.

Soldiers were already in position, standing in the oddly cold morning as they waited for either the zombie or the red line to appear.

---

"Finally, it's about time to switch... I'm so tired." A soldier murmured, looking at his watch, which showed the time as seven o'clock.

"Mhm..."

As the two of them tried their best to keep their eyes peeled, one of them just couldn't help but close their eyes.

However, a weird howling sound instantly woke him up.

"You heard that noise?" The first soldier asked.

"What noise? I don't hear anything... Are you that tired?"

The second soldier asked after looking towards the streets across from them, which were still covered in dense fog, making it impossible to see through.

"Maybe... God damn, what's taking them so long to come here——"

Before the first soldier could finish complaining, two soldiers from behind finally arrived with the same setup.

"Sorry, we're a little late. He had to use the bathroom earlier."

The senior soldier apologized as he forcefully elbowed the younger soldiers, causing him to say ouch before apologizing next.

"It's fine... Good luck on the duty."

As the two soldiers left and headed towards the base, the new pair of soldiers quickly took over their role.

All they had to do was just observe the fog and make necessary cuts if the red line was to expand.

In their mind, the task just sounded extremely simple. Especially after what they had experienced yesterday.

The zombies were practically made out of paper. They had never imagined something could be killed so easily.

"Have you eaten breakfast yet?" The senior soldier asked, taking out his binoculars in an attempt to see through the dense fog.

"Not yet."

"Here. Just pay me back later when we rotate for lunch break."

As the senior soldier handed over something wrapped in tin foil, the young soldier accepted it right away. Opening the foil, it was a small piece of bread.

Although it was nowhere near enough to make him full, the young soldier was still extremely thankful.

"Thanks."

After finishing up the bread, the two began patrolling the streets. The zone they were assigned was extremely small.

All they had to do was just cross a single crosswalk to the other side, making sure nothing weird attempted to sneak through the buildings.

"It would be so nice if a single fire could just cause all this flesh to catch on fire."

The young soldier murmured after peeking through one of the stores, which was filled with blood-red flesh from the ceiling to the floor.

"They already tried it earlier. It doesn't burn unless you cut it into smaller chunks." The senior soldier answered.

"I know. That's why I said it would be so nice..."

As the two arrived back at where they started, the light fog was starting to disperse as the sunlight shone from above.

"You think it's going to be another fight later tonight?" The senior soldier suddenly asked.

"Maybe. But I really hope not. I can barely sleep through the gunshot last night——You heard something?"

"Hear what?"

The two soldiers remained still, standing there with their ears peeled. However, after a minute, they couldn't hear anything.

"You sure you heard something?"

"I thought I heard a low howling sound... Maybe I'm tripping. Let me go drink some water first."

The young soldier quickly headed over to his backpack next to the streetlight, taking a canteen before taking a small sip.

"Ah, much better. Maybe I was just too thirsty earlier——"

"Wait, I heard something."

The moment the senior soldier raised his rifle towards the fog, the young soldier immediately put his canteen aside.

With their rifles both aiming at the fog, they waited and waited. However, once again, nothing was happening.

"Something in the fog is making that weird noise."

The senior soldier concluded as they both could hear the faint howling sound coming right in front of them.

"Should we go report it?"

"You go report it. I'll stay here."

The young soldier didn't question the decision as he quickly ran as fast as he could, heading down the streets while the senior soldier took out his thermal camera.

"What the hell is in there?"

Unforunately, the camera itself showed nothing. The dense fog wasn't just some water vapor that a thermal camera could see through.

---

"Commander, several soldiers are reporting they are hearing a howling sound from the dense fog itself."

As an officer barged into the HQ tent, Yiming and Xiaoyun were right across from each other at the sandbox table.

"Just sounds? Nothing else?" Xiaoyun asked.

Seeing the soldier nodding, Xiaoyun dismissed it before turning his attention back to the discussion at hand.

"Yiming, we need to send a task force into the dense fog. There's no point stalling out here and hoping that the fog will go away on its own."

"The platoon had gas masks when they went inside. All the soldiers who had just gone near the dense fog reported seeing illusions.

This is a suicide. It's irresponsible to send more soldiers to their death... Tell me what kind of living would kill someone down to their skeletons?"

All the colonels stood in silence as they watched the two argue back and forth against each other.

They didn't know which side to take, as one side was their commander-in-chief, and the other was their general, whom they had utter respect for.

"Then we'll send people covered with full protection. No way that dense fog can affect someone in a hazmat suit."

After a few seconds of thought, Yiming finally nodded in agreement.

"Fine, you're the commander in chief. Not me... I'll go manage the defense outside of the fog."

With zero hesitation, Xiaoyun immediately turned over to his most trusted Colonels, whose face was filled with excitement.

"Lingang and Han Bang, I need you to assemble a task force of around five. No, ten people. I'll get the hazmat suit."

"Yes, sir!"

---

When Xiaoyun came back with a truckload of Hazmat suits, neither Han Bang nor Lingang questioned it.

After all ten soldiers were fully equipped, he gathered them right at the base's entrance for everyone to see.

"Task Force Leaper, you all will be going into the dense fog. Find what's inside and destroy it. But remember, your survival is the most important thing.

Come back alive is your main task. Your life is the most valuable thing. Retreat is not dishonorable."

"Yes, sir!"

As Xiaoyun saluted the soldiers in hazmat suits, they all saluted back before Lingang signalled everyone to follow him into a truck.

"Commander, why not let me go with them?" Han Bang curiously asked as they watched them drive off into the city.

"I need you to act as backup. Yiming's troop is too tied down with Shenzhen to move... In case something goes wrong."

Han Bang didn't question it any further as they began heading towards the HQ tent before Xiaoyun suddenly took a detour.

"You can go meet up with Yiming... I need a little break."

Han Bang nodded, watching Xiaoyun head back into his own tent with his hand pressing onto his temple.

"Why does Commander look so different than usual?" Han Bang wondered, noticing how tired Xiaoyun looked after getting the hazmat suit.

"Han Bang, where's Commander?"

As Yan Lin approached him, Han Bang's face instantly shifted back to normal.

"He's asleep right now. Is there something that needs me?"

"Oh. I was just about to show him the audio that a soldier managed to record near the dense fog. I thought it might be helpful for the task force."

"The task force is already on its way... Just let me see it. I'll tell the commander myself later."

Han Bang answered as he guided Yan Lin away from Xiaoyun's tent, bringing him towards the HQ tent instead.

"Okay then..."

---

"Fuck, my head hurts so much... Maybe I should have slept last night."

As Xiaoyun leaned down onto his sleep bag, his brain was on the verge of exploding, feeling as if hundreds of knives were stabbing into it.

The hazmat suit was way too unfamiliar for him, as he had only touched it once before in an inventory tour.

He had never created something like this, on top of needing to create ten of them all at once.

"I need some sleep... I'm so tired... Mhm..."

The moment he closed his eyes, he instantly fell asleep, losing consciousness as everything faded to black.