Chapter 31

Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran did not delay for even a moment and flew to the suburbs on the helicopter.

"4th of July was one of Lixin's important exams. Lixin is likely to have gone there. More than 50 minutes had passed before the apocalypse started which should have given him enough time to arrive at school safely. So, we'll start the search from the high school division. If we can't find him at his high school, we'll follow the road Lixin would take to return home and search the area around those parts." Song Haoran commanded Lin Wenbo and the ten soldiers accompanying them.

"Yes, sir." The subordinates saluted in unison. They were all men who participated in the special forces training camp. They had trained together with Gong Lixin for half a year and obviously cared about the child.

"These are night vision goggles and silencers. Everyone, be sure to equip them; zombies are very sensitive to light and sound. Any sound or light could lead to us being chased by a horde of zombies. Everyone, be careful." Song Haoran handed out military equipment that had been prepared in advance. Everyone quickly took the equipment in the box and configured their equipment.

"Xiaoxin was dressed in a pure white T-shirt and light blue jeans. Everyone should pay attention to that clothing combination when searching. Whether it's a living person or a zombie, pay attention." Lin Wenbo said the last part of the sentence with a numb voice. His heart felt like it was being torn apart by the claws of a monster, making it unbearably painful.

Song Haoran suddenly turned his head and stared at Lin Wenbo. A pair of raging inferno orbs violently glared at Lin Wenbo as if it was trying to set the man on fire.

"Don't look at me like that!" Lin Wenbo clenched his eyes shut, his face covered in pain. "Don't forget that Xiaoxin also got a fever which means his body also changed. Right now, he may have become an ability user but it is also likely that he became a zombie. You better prepare yourself."

Song Haoran slowly opened his mouth. His face distorted for a moment but he stood firm. "No matter what he's become, I'll still find him." If Lixin had really become a zombie, he would set the other free. Surely, such a person with a pure mind wouldn't be able to stand becoming a cannibalistic monster!

Song Haoran concealed the second half of his thoughts. Visible blue veins appeared on his forearm as he squeezed the back of his handgun with excessive force.

The helicopter was soon above a large stadium and everyone checked their equipment again. They made sure that the military satellite communicator was still operational before going down the rope to reach the ground.

The mobile phone and optical cable signal stations on Earth were all disturbed by an unknown electromagnetic pulse which made it impossible to contact anybody with conventional means. Fortunately, the military's communication satellite was far away, in space, and was not affected by that mysterious electromagnetic pulse. With their satellite communicator they could contact the helicopter immediately after they found Gong Lixin.

The helicopter projected a vertical beam of light on the ground and the propellers caused a loud ruckus as it kept spinning. The zombies, like moths to a flame, rushed toward the light and sound.

The twelve people descending landed in less than three minutes. Down on the ground, they immediately took out their guns and killed the approaching zombies. Then they quickly left and ran towards Gong Lixin's high school.

The helicopter flew close to the ground, the roar of the propellers and the columns of light attracting a large group of zombies. Under the cover of the helicopter, everyone safely made it to their destination.

"Reporting to Major General, target was not found." A soldier said with surprise. He could carefully identify the dozens of zombies through the locked door and windows of this single classroom.

"The doors of the other classrooms are all unlocked. Only this small classroom's door and windows are locked. It's obvious that someone deliberately did it. Doesn't that seem weird?" Lin Wenbo asked in a low voice. He had swept through all the other classrooms on the first floor.

Which child wouldn't be too scared to sleep once one found out their classmates had become horrifying zombies? Let alone locking the doors and windows, they would've been paralyzed with fear. If this was really done by an individual, the mental fortitude of that person could be said to be quite good, and that person could even be said to be fearless.

When they thought of Gong Lixin's usual calm attitude, a soldier excitedly declared, "This style of action is exactly like Lixin's!"

Lin Wenbo's and Song Haoran's eyes brightened, their sullen and tight expressions showed signs of relaxing. They all had a hunch that the locked door and windows were done by that child. This proved that the teenager did not become a zombie after the eclipse, but an ability user.

This was, undoubtedly, great news. By being an ability user, even if Gong Lixin still didn't know how to use his ability yet, his physical ability would've become stronger than an average person's. His speed and his five senses would have greatly improved and the chances of his survival would increase.

"Go, search outside, along the road!" Song Haoran raised his hand and immediately ordered everyone to move out.

Their group of people searched while killing. When they met a blocked road, they jumped over the hoods or crawled under the cars, slowly moving forward. However, looking for a small boy in a sea of corpses in the vast suburbs was like trying to find a drop in the ocean. Eventually, the sky started to brighten and everyone was exhausted, but they still did not find any trace of the teenager or even that of a living person.

Looking at the faces of his subordinates, Song Haoran had to stop even if he was worried. They looked for an empty clothing store and closed the shutters of the store to let everyone take a break.

Sitting with his back against the wall, Song Haoran's eyes were closed but his heart was thunderous. He kept worrying whether the other person was injured, whether he was tired. Even though he was resting, his nerves did not dare relax.

During the apocalypse, there must always be a person that could support the other in order to live without falling into fear and despair. Unconsciously, Gong Lixin had become such an existence in Song Haoran's heart. He had vowed, more than once, to protect Gong Lixin's peaceful and happy days.

Unexpectedly, as time passed, he came closer to the edge of collapsing. If he couldn't find Gong Lixin, he didn't know what he would do. That kind of situation, he didn't even want to think about it.

Lin Wenbo was sitting opposite of Song Haoran. His eyes were half-closed and his face was blank but blue veins were visible on his forehead. His blood-stained red eyes repeatedly told others that he was far from calm. He liked Gong Lixin as much as his good friend did, but aside from his deep fear, he also hid his heavy disappointment - the disappointment in Gong Xiangyi. The heart that had once been beating for Gong Xiangyi gradually grew cold, unable to heal, resulting in cracks.

After two hours of rest, the time was now 12 o'clock, noon and everyone took out compressed biscuits from their backpacks to replenish their energy. After quickly finishing their meal, they sat for ten more minutes before they opened the shutters and started their search once again.

'The suspected target is found two meters ahead. Everyone, follow behind closely!' A soldier gestured to his companions. He was crouched under a bus like the rest of them.

Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo looked ahead and, sure enough, just beside a red fire hydrant, a slim figure wearing a pure white T-shirt and light blue jeans seemed to be caught in the middle of a group of zombies swaying back and forth. From their back, it was true that 9 out of 10, the other did look similar to Gong Lixin.

Although it was determined that Gong Lixin didn't turn into a zombie after the eclipse, it was still difficult to say whether or not he met an accident along the way and was turned into a zombie. Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo obviously understood this as they stared at the back of the boy in front of them, hearts tightening and wanting to stop beating.

"I will go and check." Song Haoran couldn't stop himself anymore. He slid out from under a car and ran up to the young man. As he ran, he took out a dagger from his waist and cut the necks of the zombies that rushed toward him.

"Quick, cover him!" He didn't expect his friend to be impulsive enough to run into a group of zombies by himself. Lin Wenbo immediately gestured for everyone to cover him.

Song Haoran's movements were fast and he caught up to the young man in a few seconds. He grabbed the teenager's shoulder and forced him to turn. Meanwhile, his comrades kept shooting and cleaning the zombies around him.

Half of the face of the person had rotted away, revealing black muscles and blue nerves under the skin. The upper and lower lips had already fallen off, revealing white gums and his foul-smelling breath came out from time to time as his teeth opened and closed. But with the other half of his face that was still intact, Song Haoran could immediately recognize the other and this was not the young man.

The tightening in his chest relaxed and Song Haoran neatly avoided the zombie youth's sharp claws as he pulled back. Meanwhile, his comrades kept shooting repeatedly to cover him.

With the silencer installed, the sound of the shots had been greatly reduced. But when there were more than a dozen guns being fired, the sound produced was not insignificant. Coupled with Song Haoran's daring actions, the zombies seemed to be angered by their fallen fellow zombies. The zombies in the area came one after another and surrounded them.

"Run!" Song Haoran gave the signal to retreat and everyone immediately climbed out from under the car and onto the roofs, and started to run without any purposeful direction.

They ran across car roofs for nearly twenty minutes before they saw an unfinished building around the corner, not too far away.

This unfinished building was the same building that Gong Lixin had spent the previous night in. Unfortunately, Gong Lixin and his party had already entered the sewers and they had already gotten quite far. The two groups passed by each other without meeting one another.

"It was not easy getting this far!" One soldier said while sitting at the base of the wall, panting.

"We have more than a dozen big men who were barely able to protect themselves. How could a child like Gong Lixin be able to run about? If he hadn't become a zombie, he was likely swallowed whole by them and the body can no longer be found. We should give up and go back!" Even the special forces who had experienced the apocalypse felt heaviness in their heart and found it difficult to bear all this cruelty.

"What are you talking about?" Song Haoran's expression was distorted. He gripped the soldier's clothes and lifted him up. He asked, "You dare curse Lixin?" As his voice fell, his left fist made its way to the soldier's face, knocking the soldier to the ground.

Although Major General Song generally didn't have a bad temper, it was not the first time for him to raise his fists towards a comrade. The others quickly stepped forward to stop the two. The soldier had regretted his words as soon as they came out but was too proud to apologize.

Song Haoran stared at him with red eyes and wanted to step forward again but was restrained by two of his subordinates.

"Now's not the time to fight amongst ourselves!" Lin Wenbo walked out from the unfinished building with a white T-shirt and a sports T-shirt in his hand. The white shirt was the one Gong Lixin had changed out of and the sports T-shirt had belonged to Wang Tao and had the words "A high school's Basketball team" printed on it.

Song Haoran immediately broke away from the group and took the shirt and looked it over. He even sniffed it. [1] The smell was faint but the familiar fragrance was there and Song Haoran rejoiced.

"This is Lixin's shirt. There's nothing wrong with him." Song Haoran opened. Everyone had seen him sniffing the clothes and their expression changed. They did not expect that Young Master Song would become a police dog at this crucial moment. [2]

Lin Wenbo watched some of the people's weird expressions with a blank face. As a matter of fact, he had done the same thing when he first found the clothes. Others might not know Xiaoxin as well as they did. But he knew that Xiaoxin had a unique fragrance that was a mix of grass and herbs. It was a refreshing scent that could not be easily forgotten.

"There are a few more pieces of clothing inside. Let's go in and see." Lin Wenbo said, telling everyone to look at the clues he had found. "From what I have seen and analyzed from the food residue, there should have been eight people. The eight people should have left three or four hours ago since the discarded chicken bones and breadcrumbs have hardened."

"Yes." Song Haoran looked solemn as he checked the clothes and food debris left in the hall and nodded in agreement. "It seems that Lixin escaped safely. Let's go out and start searching again!" [3] He straightened up and gave the order.

"Haoran, I think Lixin might've gone to the military compound since it's been a while that they've been gone. Two is better than one. You keep searching the path along the ground. I will take the helicopter and go to the military compound to search for them. How about that? Is that fine?"

"Alright, let's do that." Song Haoran indulged in that thought for a moment and felt that it was the best way to ensure that Lixin would not be missed. [4]

Lin Wenbo saw that he agreed to immediately contact the military and went to call the helicopter. He and two other soldiers took the opportunity to rush to the military compound.

[1] Wuxian: Right in front of his subordinates. A man of courage, Song Haoran is.

[2] Wuxian: I did not expect that either. The things Haoran does for Lixin, indeed.

[3] Wuxian: He is so enthusiastic, it’s infectious.

[4] Wuxian: Search the sky, the land, and the land beneath the earth. That way, you wouldn’t miss anything. Too bad he forgot the third one.