CHAPTER 690: WEN ZHANG’S STORY

"You didn’t answer my question. Are they zombies or not?" Major Lan questioned again, his hand steady, holding onto his gun.

"They... I don’t know if they are zombies or not. I haven’t seen them for years now. I don’t even know what they look like anymore."

"I’m going to need you to explain the whole story. From the beginning to the end. I don’t want a single detail left out."

Wen Zhang nodded his head, lowering his hands as he looked down at the photo inside his own phone.

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There was once a man who worked hard in the cities. He was just one of the many migrant workers who moved to big cities for a job.

He was working day and night, carrying bricks off trucks in the hopes of making enough money to bring his whole family to the city.

Did he ever achieve his goal? Nope. The city did not welcome him. They didn’t welcome any of the migrant workers.

To those folks born in the city, he was always a second-class citizen. Just another disposable worker who should go back to his village after the work is done.

Still, he was more than happy to earn some money. He had enough to at least move to some smaller city somewhere else.

Just as he took the train back home for the New Year, he was a little surprised when he entered his village.

It turned out that while he was gone, the village had transformed into a town. His old brick-and-mortar house had turned into a brand new concrete apartment.

He gave his family a warm hug as they welcomed him home. His parent and wife were all perfectly fine living in their new apartment.

As the New Year break went by, the thought of staying in the town popped into his head. He was fed up with city life.

No one would want to live in a place that treats its workers as second-class citizens. He gathered up all his money from friends and family to start a restaurant business.

It went surprisingly well as the man paid off all of the debt in a year. He was reaping in the profits that made all of his neighbors jealous.

Everything was looking great. So great, in fact, that the men started thinking about opening a new business in an actual city.

Of course, it wasn’t the big city that he once worked in. But a nearby city that’s literally right next door to their hometown.

After discussing it with his wife and parents, they decided to go for it. They were going to sell their business and move to Wuzhou.

Just as they started moving their stuff from their apartment to the new city, everything suddenly changed.

Cuefew was put in place as the road became completely blocked. The police and the army were stopping everyone from entering Guangdong.

His wife and kids were forced to shelter in a hotel in a small village between Wuzhou and their hometown.

Meanwhile, he himself was stuck back in their hometown. There was nothing they could do but wait.

Everyone thought the blockade was going to be lifted at some point. But as the news broadcast started talking about a viral spread, things changed again.

It soon became apparent that the roadblock was permanent. No one was to cross between Guangdong and Guangxi at all.

The zombie apocalypse had begun.

Yet, I still haven’t met my family ever since the blockade. I tried. I really tried. I tried to cross the border.

I wanted to get them back home. I wasn’t going to leave them stranded in the middle of nowhere.

The army just kept catching me over and over again. They even threatened me and arrested me before releasing me back into my hometown.

It was only a few miles. A few miles separated me from my family. Just as I thought all hope was lost, the military suddenly started evacuating.

Everyone received the moving order. The entire town was to head over to Wuzhou. I immediately hopped onto one of the long-haul buses.

But when the bus driver told me they weren’t picking up anyone from the nearby villages, I made up an excuse about having cancer and sneaked out of the bus.

Everyone was gone from the town. No one was there to block any of the roads. I immediately knew this was my opportunity.

I got my car and drove down towards what my wife had last told me over the phone, only to find that the military had blown the bridge.

There was no way for me to cross directly, unless I kept driving down towards Wuzhou, where the military would have arrested me for disobeying the travel order.

So I drove back to my hometown. I started looking for ways until I ran into a map. There was another bridge further south, a small town over in Yunan county.

It was no brainer as I drove straight towards the town, only to find the whole town empty. Someone else had evacuated the entire population.

As I kept driving, I eventually crossed the bridge and made it to the other side of the river. Now all I had to do was keep driving up north.

My heart was pounding as I drove closer and closer to the small village ahead. It was the only thing that kept me going all this time alone.

Unfortunately, this is where the luck ends. The whole village was full of zombies the moment I hopped out of my car.

I immediately hopped back into the car, driving away as fast as I could as the zombie disappeared behind me.

This was my first time seeing a zombie. I never knew how scary they were until that exact moment.

My mind told me just to leave and head back to my hometown. But I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and leave.

I wanted to see my wife and kids, dead or alive. After a day, I turned my car around and drove right back to the village again.

However, this time, an entire semi-truck happened to drive right by me. At the time, I didn’t know what the hell that truck was.

As I drove closer and closer to the village, I only found it dead silent. Not a single zombie was there to chase me.

Getting out of the car, I soon found myself in the middle of a massacre. There was blood splattered everywhere, from the ground to the wall.

Everything was painted red. Yet, not a single corpse was left behind. Only small bits of flesh and their personal items were left.

I started looking for traces of my wife and kids. But after looking through the entire village, I found disappointment after disappointment.

No trace of them at all. Even as I went to the only hotel in the village, there were no personal items that indicated they were one of the victims.

Just as I hopped back into my car, I noticed the semi-truck in my rear view. I immediately drove away, thinking they were the military.

I wasn’t about to be arrested. I still haven’t found my family yet. At least that’s what I told myself.

After driving at full speed for a bit, the semi-truck disappeared in the distance. But a thought popped into my head.

Why would the military kill zombie and keep their corpses? Wouldn’t they just burn the corpses and leave them there?

I turned my car around once again, driving back towards where the semi-truck was earlier.

Lucky for me, I found them parked in the middle of the road. But, unfortunately for me, I saw them armed with guns next to another semi-truck.

My mind immediately told me to drive away, but I couldn’t resist the urge to watch. I waited and hid my car in a ditch.

As I watch them load zombie cages from one truck into another, I know something is off. No normal person would transport a zombie live in a truck.

They were clearly trying to kidnap live zombies for some sort of experiment. At the same time, the thought of my family being alive was long gone.

Still, I wanted to see their corpses, or at least put them out of their misery. I wasn’t about to let them do whatever they wanted to their remains.

After they finished loading their zombies into the other semi-truck, I immediately drove my car out of the ditch and started following right behind them.

There was no way they didn’t know I was following them at this point, but they seemed not to care as they kept letting me follow right behind them.

Soon, the semi-truck took a turn onto a dirt road. I kept following it until I realized I had driven myself into a trap.

My rear view showed several armed men coming out of the nearby trees, their eyes didn’t look remotely friendly as they signalled me to get out of the car.