Huasha said nothing, her head lowered like an ostrich.

Eve chuckled and said nothing more.

But the next moment, an extremely shrill scream suddenly rang out in the room!

"Eve! What's wrong?!"

"Don't touch her!"

Eve's teammates and Hanasa shouted at the same time. Hanasa took a step forward and without a second thought, pressed her hands against the wall.

"Bang!"

The tightly sealed wall opened with a sound, and dust flew everywhere. When Song Shuye and others were choked by the flying dust and couldn't open their eyes, Huasha rushed into the room: "Mom..."

"She's here."

Suddenly, a soft female voice sounded behind me.

Huasha subconsciously turned around and saw Eve holding the female zombie. The man and the zombie were standing behind the door, looking at her together.

"Don't move," Eve said when Huasha was about to take a step forward. "If you take another step forward, I will cut its neck."

A glimmer of light shone through her fingers, just hanging on the female zombie's neck.

"You...!" Huasha's pupils shrank, "Stop!"

Eve curled the corners of her mouth and raised the knife in her hand towards Huasha, and a long cut appeared on the female zombie's neck.

Huasha gritted her teeth, anger flashed in her eyes, and she was finally forced to give in.

She took a step back and raised her hands above her head: "...Is it okay?"

"Good kid," Eve smiled. She controlled the female zombie with one hand and held the knife with the other, saying, "Open the barrier outside now."

Huasha looked unwilling and seemed to want to speak, but Eve smiled faintly, and her hand slipped and poked directly on the zombie's shoulder.

The female zombie screamed and dodged backward in panic. Eve held its shoulder and said, "Don't move."

The female zombie froze again as if the pause button had been pressed.

Huasha was stunned: "Why are you..." Her voice suddenly became louder, "Why would she listen to you?!"

Eve smiled without saying anything, and pointed her finger at Huasha in a warning tone. Huasha's expression became uglier, but she didn't dare to disobey Eve. She made a swiping motion with her hand, and suddenly there was a loud noise outside the house. Fang Yong quickly leaned against the window and screamed, "Look!"

The fog that had been lingering around the power station dissipated, gradually revealing the street outside. A zombie happened to be wandering nearby. Seeing the power station suddenly appear, a look of confusion crossed its eyes, and it took a tentative step forward.

It was not stopped by the barrier.

"The barrier is open," Song Shuye said, "Let's go!"

Several people hurriedly ran out of the building, with Eve and Qi following behind. Qi used his shadow tail to wrap up the female zombie and took her all the way to the door. Huasha followed closely, her little face tense and her eyes following the female zombie closely.

The jeep was parked at the entrance of the power station. Everyone rushed over. Song Shuye started the car and shouted to Eve and Qi, who were lagging behind, "Hurry!"

At this time, some zombies had heard the noise and were running towards them. Eve and Qi ran quickly towards the jeep, but when they were still more than ten meters away from the jeep, Eve suddenly stopped.

Lin Bing's throat was about to burst into flames: "What the hell are you doing?! Come here quickly!!!"

Eve turned her head and saw Huasha standing at the door of the power station. Even though zombies were gathering around her, she seemed to have no intention of closing the barrier and her eyes were fixed on the female zombie.

Eve's eyes flashed.

"Do you want your mother back?"

Huasha's little face was tense, her eyes were red, and her lips were almost stretched into a line, but when she spoke, her voice was filled with a persistence that could not be ignored.

"My mom is a human... not a zombie."

The thin fist gradually clenched.

"I'm going to wait here for Mom," she whispered. "She said she'd be back."

Eve raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Seven." She suddenly leaned over and whispered softly in Seven's ear.

The next moment, Qi suddenly swung his shadow tail and threw the female zombie towards the flower sand, while Eve ran forward a few steps, reached into her pocket, and threw a few small white particles over.

"This is your mother's stuff," she said in a loud voice, "Please keep it safe."

Huasha subconsciously stretched out her hand, and several sharp little objects fell into her palm. She looked closely and found that they were three small teeth.

"I found it in your mother's room," Eve said. "Keep it well."

Huasha looked up in shock: "What do you mean...?!"

Eve said, "Didn't you notice that your mother—that zombie—has lost all its teeth?"

Huasha was stunned and immediately turned to the zombie beside her. Under Eve's control, it squatted obediently beside Huasha's feet, raised its head slightly, and looked at the girl in confusion.

"Zombies eat people," Eve said calmly, "but a toothless zombie has completely lost the ability to attack humans."

"So—what do you think it is?"

She stared at Huasha closely, her bright green eyes seeming to look straight into her soul.

"I……"

Huasha opened her mouth, but only a hoarse sound, almost a whimper, came out. She asked softly, "Why... did she do this...?"

"How should I know?" Eve spread her hands. "I'm not her."

She smiled and said to Huasha, "Your things have been returned to you. So, little girl, we will meet again."

The zombies around were closing the circle. Song Shuye and others shouted at Eve through the car window. She chuckled and took a step back. A familiar arm wrapped around Eve's waist - Qi gently picked her up and placed her on his shoulder.

He jumped a few times, shook off the zombies that were rushing towards him, and jumped onto the jeep in a few steps.

"Go!" Lin Bing yelled.

Song Shuye stepped on the accelerator to the maximum, the tires of the jeep made a screaming sound, and it rushed out in an instant, knocking down several zombies blocking the road!

"What were you whispering about with Huasha?" Fang Yong asked impatiently as Eve got into the car, "What took you so long!"

"Nothing," Eve said casually, "Just a few words about her mother."

"How do you know that the zombie is her mother?" Shoufeng, who had been silent all the time, suddenly asked.

"It's very simple," Eve adjusted herself to a comfortable sitting position and leaned lazily on Qi's shoulder, using him as a human cushion. "First, even though it's a zombie, Huasha didn't hesitate to use her supernatural powers to protect it, which shows that its existence is very important to her."

"Secondly, you've seen the photo of her mother," she nodded slightly at Shoufeng, "and her face roughly matches that of the zombie."

Shoufeng: “…”

To be frank, she really couldn't associate a zombie with highly rotten facial features with a pretty woman.

"What else?" Fang Yong asked anxiously, "Are you sure it's Huasha's mother based on just these two points?"

"How is that possible?" Eve rolled her eyes at him. "Remember those teeth? I compared them with the female zombie's gums, and they match perfectly."

"This means that this zombie mutated in the power station. And didn't Huasha say before? There were no other survivors in the power station besides her and her daughter," Eve said in one breath. "Adding those two points to the previous two, the zombie's identity is self-evident—it's Huasha's mother."

"So that's how it is..." Fang Yong murmured, "Wait...why is Huasha unwilling to admit it?"

"Because she doesn't want to accept it," Song Shuye, who was sitting in the front seat, also interjected. "Huasha is still young and probably can't believe the fact that her mother has mutated. So she'd rather deny it than accept it."

"...it's hard for her as a child," Lin Bing's tone softened, "She's trying to survive alone in the apocalypse, and has to face her mother who's transformed into a zombie."

After he finished speaking, the carriage fell into silence.

But soon Shoufeng broke the silence again.

"But how do you explain those teeth?" She stared at Eve. "Didn't you say they were human teeth? That means someone pulled out Huasha's mother's teeth before she mutated. Who did it? Is there someone else at the power station..."

Faced with her series of questions, Eve just smiled and said nothing.

"Shou Feng," Song Shuye interrupted her and sighed softly, "Don't you understand yet?"

Shoufeng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly seemed to realize something and his eyes suddenly widened.

“You…you mean…?!”

"Yes," Song Shuye whispered, "It should be what you think."

Where are the others?

From the very beginning, the only survivors should be Huasha and her daughter.

And it’s actually easy to guess the reason for those teeth scattered on the ground.

To a large extent... it was interrupted by Huasha's mother herself.

Eve's voice rang out in the car: "Before people mutate into zombies, they have a period of lucidity."

Although this time varies from person to person, it generally lasts between three and five minutes, which is more than enough time to extract more than two dozen teeth.

After discovering she was about to mutate, Huasha's mother, in order to avoid harming her daughter, simply made up a lie about going out and locked herself in the house. She may have originally intended to starve herself to death, but fearing that her plan would fail and hurt her daughter instead, she simply pulled out all her teeth...

Just as Eve said, if zombies lose their sharp teeth, they will also lose their threat to humans.

"This... how is it possible..." Shoufeng opened his eyes wide and said in disbelief, "Could it be... that she pulled out all her teeth one by one while she was awake...?"

There was silence in the carriage and no one answered her.

After a long time, Song Shuye let out a long sigh.

"Anyway," he whispered, "Huasha finally waited for her mother."

***

Thanks to the jeep, the road after leaving the power station was much easier to walk.

Along the way, Eve subdued several zombies. Due to her greatly increased ability, there were even two high-level zombies among them. They followed the jeep with great momentum, forcing some low-level zombies around who wanted to launch a sneak attack not to dare to get close.

The next evening, they found an abandoned gas station. Fortunately, there was some gas left in one of the gas pumps, so they simply stopped to refuel.

As soon as the car stopped, Eve drove two third-level zombies to stand guard on the side of the road.

"How long do we have?"

Fang Yong leaned against the car, holding a protein bar in his mouth, and asked Song Shuye listlessly.

After sitting in the car for twenty hours straight, his butt had become the Great Rift Valley of East Africa.

Song Shuye spread out the map: "...We'll be there soon."

He pointed to where everyone was. "The gas station we're currently at is about 10 kilometers away from the hospital. If there aren't any high-level zombies on the road, we should be able to reach the hospital tonight."

Fang Yong raised his arms and shouted: "Great!"

Lin Bing kicked him: "Then stop talking nonsense and get in the car!"

"Eve?" Everyone started to get on the bus. Song Shuye was about to put away the map when he suddenly noticed Eve still standing there, looking up at something. He couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

"That," Eve pointed to the distance, "is that the hospital where Bai Shuichuan is?"

Song Shuye looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a white Western-style building emerging from behind several tall buildings, with a red cross symbol on the top.

He was overjoyed: "It's that hospital!"

Fang Yong: "Fuck! Is it already this close?"

The originally exhausted people suddenly became excited as if they were injected with chicken blood, and climbed into the car one after another. Eve was the last one left. She seemed to care about the hospital very much, frowned slightly, and kept glancing in the direction of the hospital after getting on the car.

Just as she was lost in thought, someone suddenly touched her hand. Eve came to her senses and saw Qi with his head lowered, his eyes full of concern.

Eve was a little stunned.

After a while, he put his hand away as if he was burned, and smiled as if nothing had happened: "It's okay."

Qi opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end no sound came out. He just raised his arms and formed a protective circle around Eve.

Eve didn't notice his movements, her thoughts still on the hospital. Through the car window, she bent down slightly and stared closely at the approaching white building.

Shoufeng, who was sitting next to him, was a little concerned: "What are you looking at?"

Eve hesitated and asked, "When you looked at the hospital just now... did you see a window light up?"

"Light up? How is that possible?" Shoufeng was stunned. "No one would do that—it would attract zombies."

Eve naturally understood this.

but……

She frowned, leaned back in her chair, and her face was lost in thought.

She had just clearly seen a bright light come on in a window of the hospital.

And... there were a few faint screams.

***

Song Shuye stepped on the accelerator to the bottom and drove the jeep at full speed, finally arriving at the hospital before dark.

It was inevitable to encounter zombies on the road. In order to save time, he didn't even step on the brakes. The heavy jeep roared over the zombies. When everyone jumped out of the car, they found that the front of the jeep had turned black - it was covered with the blood of zombies.

Fang Yong's expression turned green: "Damn, I often see this kind of scene in zombie movies..."

Lin Bing kicked him. "Then you should know what happens to people left outdoors in zombie movies—why don't you get in there quickly?!"

In the few minutes they were talking, two zombies wandering in the hospital lobby had already discovered them. They let out dull and shrill howls, and their scarlet eyes were like ghost lights in the dim hospital, which, combined with the pale walls of the hospital, added a bit of eerie atmosphere.

"That..." Fang Yong suddenly pointed at the stairs and said, "Is that... a human head?"

When everyone looked over, they saw a human head lying on the steps of the gate, with only half of it being eaten away. The remaining left eyeball was as big as a ping-pong ball, looking at them in horror.

Everyone stood at the door, and for a moment they were afraid to take a step forward.

In the silence, Eve walked out. She seemed not to notice the tragic death of the head. She kicked away the broken limbs on the road and looked back in confusion: "Aren't you leaving?"

Pointing behind everyone: "The zombies are coming."

The jeep made a loud noise just now, attracting many zombies outside the hospital, who gathered like a swarm of locusts.

——There are zombies in front and behind, and they are in a dilemma.

Song Shuye said in a deep voice: "Stop being stunned and go!"

No one dared to delay any longer and rushed into the hospital. Qi ran at the front of the team. With a flick of his two shadow tails, the two zombies blocking the door immediately fell to the ground. Eve took the opportunity to step forward and drip blood into their eyebrows.

She snapped at the zombie, who had stood up dazed, "Block the door!"

The two zombies ran towards the door without any hesitation and started fighting with the zombies that had just arrived at the hospital.

Everyone took the opportunity to cross the hall and rush into the depths of the hospital.

There were also many zombies wandering around the hospital lobby. They were originally walking aimlessly on the first floor, but when they smelled fresh human flesh, they immediately turned their gaze, let out eager roars, and rushed towards the crowd.

Lin Bing had no choice but to stop. With a wave of his hand, several ice spikes shot towards the head of the leading zombie, while shouting, "Old Song! Where should we go?!"

"Second floor!" Song Shuye also swung his air whip vigorously, throwing a zombie on the right against the wall. "There's a monitoring room with an iron door over there!"

"Let's go," Eve said. "I'll hold off."

Several people knew her strength and did not refuse Eve. Lin Bing tore through the zombies' encirclement with an ice spike and rushed out first. Shoufeng followed behind him, protecting Fang Yong while running. Song Shuye followed behind and stopped the zombies who tried to catch up.

Eve: "Seven."

Without her having to explain, Qi squatted down as if he knew what Eve was thinking, picked her up gently, hooked his shadow tail on an incandescent lamp on the ceiling of the hall, and pulled hard, and the two of them jumped into the air in an instant!

Eve lowered her head slightly. From her perspective, she could see a steady stream of zombies emerging from every corner of the hall and swarming over. However, because they couldn't reach them, they could only wiggle around below like headless flies. Countless pairs of anxious hands were raised high, like rows of iron-gray nematodes with their heads raised high.

Eve clicked her tongue twice, cut her hand with a knife, and blood immediately gushed out. The zombies below were all covered in blood, and they were all frozen as if they were under a spell of immobilization.

Eve waved her hand lazily: "Go."

“Ouch!”

The zombies roared loudly, and suddenly turned their sharp claws and attacked their own kind. The attacked zombies did not expect this sudden change and were stunned for a moment. In just these few seconds, they were torn into pieces by Eve's zombies!

Eve calculated and felt that she needed to control a few more zombies. Just as she was about to cut the wound, a thin tentacle slowly wrapped around her hand.

Eve: “?”

She turned her head, and Qi carefully used Shadow Tail to sweep the dagger away from her hand. When she met Eve's gaze, she shrank guiltily but did not let go of the dagger.

Eve: “???”

She tapped Shadowtail and said warningly, "What are you doing?"

Qi blinked and put away Shadow Tail as if he didn't hear it, and the dagger fell into his hand.

Eve:black question mark.jpg.

"Seven," she said impatiently, "Give it back to me...!"

Before he could finish his words, Qi suddenly picked up Eve, raised his shadow tail, and threw her out with force!

Eve had no time to react as the scene in front of her changed rapidly. By the time she came to her senses, she had been thrown to the second floor and landed right on top of Song Shuye and others who had gone ahead.

"What the hell?!" Fang Yong was shocked. "Eve?!" How did she fly over here?!

Eve supported herself on her knees and tried to stand up. Song Shuye quickly helped her up and asked in surprise, "Have you dealt with those zombies?"

Hearing this, Eve paused and her expression suddenly became a little subtle.

"Seven is dealing with those zombies," she said, "Let's go first."

"He's alone?" Song Shuye hesitated, "Don't you need to go and help?"

Although Qi is powerful, his special ability is not very suitable for situations with many zombies - if it weren't for Eve's unique ability, no one would dare to let her cover their retreat.

Eve shook her head.

"Let's go, don't worry about him."

While everyone was still hesitating, Eve had already started walking forward alone. Seeing this, everyone had no choice but to follow.

Lin Bing asked: "Where is the monitoring room?"

"At the end of the corridor," Song Shuye said. He had done his homework before coming here and knew the hospital's topography like the back of his hand. "The surveillance cameras should still be working. The room has an iron door. We can use that as a base. It will be easier to find Bai Shuichuan that way."

——The hospital has five floors. If they search floor by floor, Bai Shuichuan may not be able to hold on before they find the person.

"Eve?" Shoufeng walked beside Eve and suddenly asked, "What's wrong with you?"

“…”

Hearing her own name, Eve came back to her senses and met Shoufeng's puzzled gaze.

Shoufeng said: "You haven't spoken since the beginning."

Hearing this, Eve's eyes flashed before she said, "It's okay, maybe I'm a little tired."

She brushed back the hair that was scattered on the side of her face, and her eyes fell on her hands, pausing slightly.

The wound she had just opened had not yet healed, and blood was dripping down. Eve looked at the wound thoughtfully, and suddenly asked Shoufeng: "Do you think Qi looks like a human?"

Shoufeng was stunned. What does this mean?

"He..." She hesitated, thinking Eve was asking about Qi's personality, and whispered, "I think he's a nice guy... just a little quiet."

Eve couldn't help but chuckle.

That's natural, after all, zombies can't speak.

"Ah... and," Shoufeng added, thinking of something, "I think... Qi must like you very much."

Eve was not expecting her to say that and was obviously stunned.

Noticing her expression, Shoufeng thought he had mistaken their relationship and said hurriedly, "I'm sorry! I thought you were a couple..."

"It's okay," Eve came back to her senses and smiled at Shoufeng, saying casually, "But... why do you feel that way?"

"He's very protective of you," Shoufeng said without hesitation, "Every time there's a zombie attack, he always protects you tightly."

But it is obvious that Eve's ability is the most powerful among them, and she does not need any protection at all.

"Right, right, right!" Fang Yong also interrupted, "And you know what? Earlier in that apartment, when Qi saw you falling down the stairs, he actually jumped down without hesitation!"

That's a level three zombie! He was completely stunned when he saw Qi let go, okay?!

Fang Yong said to Eve earnestly, "Qi really cares about you," and paused, "He likes you very much, right?"

Faced with his question, Eve said nothing.

She rubbed the wound on her hand thoughtfully, paused for a moment, then raised her head, looking around and talking about something else: "Let's go faster, Song Shuye and the others have already gone far away."

Seeing her change the subject, Fang Yong said disappointedly: "Don't...Ah!"

He hugged his foot in pain and looked at Shoufeng with grievance: "What are you doing?!"

Shoufeng retracted his foot from stepping on him and said briefly, "Stop talking and let's go."

After saying that, regardless of Fang Yong's confused look, Shoufeng pulled him up and ran quickly towards Song Shuye and the others.

Eve slowly followed behind them, and while no one was looking, she began to use magic to heal her hand. Just as the wound healed, she heard the whistling of a gust of wind cutting through the air behind her.

Qi landed gently beside her, its shadow tail passing through the air, brushing against her arm like a dragonfly skimming the water.

Eve glanced at him.

"Where's my dagger?"

Seven hesitated, and the shadow tail slowly spread out, revealing Eve's dagger.

Eve stretched out her hand, and Qi shrank back, thinking she was going to blame him, but he saw that Eve just took the dagger, glanced at him sideways, and said nothing, tossing the dagger up and down for fun.

After a few seconds, she suddenly spoke again: "You took the dagger, don't you want me to hurt myself?"

Qi blinked, as if he didn't hear.

Eve kicked his tail and said with a half-smile: "Playing dumb?"

Meeting her gaze, Qi hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

Eve stared at him and said slowly, "You understand what people say now."

Qi was silent, with an unknown light flashing in his dark eyes.

Eve sighed slightly.

In fact, she was not surprised by this.

Her strength has recovered more than half, and Qi's ability must have improved as well - it is not surprising that he can understand human language.

But the key is in which direction he evolves.

It's a high-level zombie.

Or...people.

Eve was not a fool. Without Shoufeng and others' reminders, she had already noticed Qi's almost abnormal concern for her.

This concern transcended her magic, her contract, and even Seven's zombie instincts.

Zombies have no emotions. They are like the most primitive machines - dull, but they will loyally complete every task assigned to them.

but……

Eve lowered her eyes, her thick eyelashes hiding the expression in her eyes.

Humans, however, are creatures that can betray.

***

Perhaps because the zombies were attracted to the first floor earlier, there were not many zombies staying on the second floor. The crowd easily cleared out the few zombies in the corridor. It only took about half an hour for them to reach the monitoring room unimpeded.

"Come in quickly!"

Lin Bing quickly pried off the lock on the iron door of the monitoring room and urged everyone to go in. After they were all in, he closed the door and used both hands to seal the iron door again with solid ice.

In the monitoring room, a massive console took up half the wall. Countless dark grey screens faced the crowd, like silent faces. Song Shuye walked over to the console and entered a password into the control panel. After a few seconds, a sharp beep sounded: "Monitoring program started successfully."

"It's done," Song Shuye breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had activated the highest level of security system permissions before coming to Zishui City. "The monitoring is still running. I'm logged in."

"What do you mean?" Fang Yong asked anxiously, "Can we watch the surveillance?"

Song Shuye nodded, and his ten fingers quickly swiped across the control panel: "Wait a moment, I'll turn on the images from all the monitors."

He entered a few more long strings of code, and soon all the screens on the console lit up, and the originally dim room suddenly became much brighter.

Eve looked up and saw a monitor in front of her. The screen showed a corridor, which seemed to be the place they had just passed.

Just as she was carefully observing the zombies in the corridor, Fang Yong suddenly shouted, "Look here!"

He raised his hand and pointed at a screen above his head.

It seemed to be a surveillance camera in a hospital ward. The palm-sized screen only showed an iron-barred hospital bed with the quilt on it in a mess, which seemed to indicate the owner's panic when he left. Apart from that, there was nothing else unusual in the picture.

Lin Bing frowned: "What's so good about this..."

"No," Eve interrupted him, "look at that table."

Lin Bing looked over subconsciously and found that there was a bedside table right next to the left side of the bed. There were two bowls of instant noodles on it. One bowl was empty, and the plastic cover of the other bowl was half opened, revealing some residual soup.

On the other side of the instant noodles, there were several cans of empty solid fuel. Although the monitor's lens was a little blurry, one could vaguely see thin white smoke coming out of the top of one of the cans of fuel.

It was obvious that this can of solid fuel had just been used.

"This..." Lin Bing opened his eyes wide, "Has anyone been here?!"

"Maybe it's Bai Shuichuan!" Fang Yong said excitedly, "Let's check the other surveillance cameras, maybe we can find him!"

Everyone hurried to check. Since there were too many monitors, each person was assigned an area. Eve was assigned to Area D. She was quickly browsing the rows of screens when she suddenly heard a low gasp behind her.

The one who made the sound was Shoufeng.

"What's wrong?" Song Shuye asked immediately, "Did you find Bai Shuichuan?"

But Shoufeng looked a little strange.

She looked stunned, her skin looking a little strange under the fluorescent light of the display. She stared straight at the screen in front of her and whispered, "I think I saw it...but..."

She didn't say anything else, but pointed at the screen.

Everyone looked over subconsciously.

On the screen, several zombies gathered in a circle, seemingly gnawing on something. Even though no one could hear the sound, they could still associate the constantly moving zombies' heads with the disgusting chewing noise...

Fang Yong suddenly gasped.

"Oh my god..." He was shocked and muttered as he looked at the screen, "Look here..."

——From those densely packed gray heads, a thin white hand stretched out and was struggling desperately, as if trying to escape the encirclement of zombies, but it was no match for their sharp claws. It barely held on for a moment before being dragged back.

Everyone looked at the gray circle in the room in silence.

Less than a minute later, the circle dispersed, and the zombies left satisfied, revealing what they had suppressed underneath.

——A corpse that had been eaten beyond recognition.