Chapter 70: Just Don't Hold Me Back
Chapter 70: Just Don't Hold Me Back
The reason An Ran wants to go to the first floor is that she wants to get some medicine from the pharmacy. Since the children can’t run out of cod liver oil, the hospital’s supply will certainly be more than what is available at the local pharmacy. It makes sense to slowly make her way down to the first floor while there is still enough food to fill them up, stockpiling enough cod liver oil to avoid having to go out searching for it in the future.
Thinking this way, in addition to cod liver oil, there are various medicines to prepare, such as calcium, iron, and zinc supplements that children need during their growth. An Ran remembers the neighbor’s child who takes the glucose zinc prescribed by the hospital every day; the neighbor says the child almost certainly lacks zinc if they aren’t eating. An Ran completely agrees with this.
Additionally, there are common medicines they should have on hand, such as iodine disinfectant. Therefore, the pharmacy on the first floor has become a necessary destination.
“Okay,” Hu Zhen says, but she hesitates for a moment before asking An Ran, “Do you think I need to kill zombies too?”
“It’s up to you. Just don’t hold me back; it would be best if you could kill some,” An Ran replies.
An Ran hadn’t anticipated Hu Zhen would ask such a question. In this dire situation, her main priority is Doll's survival, and she hasn’t judged Hu Zhen for not having killed any zombies before. Of course, if Hu Zhen can pick up a weapon and help clear the zombies on the third floor, it would speed up their progress. But not all women in this world are brave enough to take up arms against the undead.
An Ran remembers how she had once been terrified watching zombies eat people. Now, her heart feels numb to the horror of brains, blood, and decay.
While she understands Hu Zhen’s internal struggle, it is exhausting to enlighten or encourage her. Instead of trying to persuade Hu Zhen to join her in killing zombies, An Ran decides it is better to rest.
Moreover, once they leave the hospital, everyone might go their separate ways. An Ran feels no obligation to take responsibility for what happens to Hu Zhen or Chen Jiao.
Hu Zhen remains silent, standing up hesitantly before turning and walking out of the ward to move the flowers and plants as An Ran has instructed.
During this time, the baby wakes up. An Ran changes into a clean nurse’s uniform, wipes her chest, feeds the baby some breast milk, and coaxes the child back to sleep. Then she picks up her knife, heads to the escalator, and continues her fight against the zombies. She sets a personal goal: to kill 20 zombies in one go and break her record.
With her increasingly numb emotions, An Ran works for what feels like an eternity, finally taking down her 20th zombie.
The corner of the escalator is now piled high with zombie corpses, stacked one atop another. Studying the bodies, An Ran notices that zombie blood differs from human blood. It doesn’t circulate within the body and, therefore, doesn’t splatter. Instead, it flows slowly from the wounds after the zombies fall.
Initially, the blood is bright red, but over time, An Ran observes that the fluid seeping from the zombies' heads has turned black, and its viscosity has increased.
As time passes, it seems that the moisture within the zombies’ bodies is evaporating bit by bit. Many of them, despite being in a desiccated state, continue to search for prey, as if they will never give up until they have eaten or drunk something.
Why is that?