#16 - Chapter 16: An Incident at Shuguang Hospital

These past few days, with nothing much to do, Brother Zhang and a group of his comrades occasionally took their families back to the surface to relax. The tall walls surrounding the base gave everyone a great sense of security.

Dongfang Chen didn't say anything about this. With the protection of the bracelets, he figured their safety wasn't a major concern.

During this period, the daily reports of zombification cases had almost disappeared. This gave everyone a kind of illusion: many people felt that perhaps the virus had been essentially eradicated, and dawn was approaching.

Until one midnight…

"Help! Is there anyone there? Open the door!" The base's gate was being violently pounded.

Seven or eight people wearing protective suits stood outside the base entrance, shouting loudly.

The guard team members on duty heard the sounds outside the base and ran out.

"Who are you?" one of the guard team members asked.

"Big brother, please open the door and let us in," a girl's voice outside said urgently.

"Tang Kun, go report to the boss, I'll keep an eye on things here," one of the guard team members said.

"Okay! Zhenhai, don't open the door yet, it would be troublesome if the virus is brought in," Tang Kun responded.

"Yeah, I know, hurry up," Ling Zhenhai replied.

After speaking, Tang Kun quickly ran towards the underground base.

"Big brother! Big brother! Please open the door! There are many zombies chasing us behind, please save us!" a man's voice shouted from outside the door.

Ling Zhenhai didn't open the door and asked:

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"Big brother, we are doctors and nurses from Dawn Hospital. Suddenly, many people in Dawn Hospital turned into zombies. So many! Many people have been bitten. We escaped from there," the man outside explained.

"Big brother! Please, have mercy! Open the door first, they're about to catch up!" a girl cried, sounding terrified by the zombies.

"I'm sorry! Without the boss's orders, we can't open the door. Please wait a moment, we've already sent someone to notify the boss, he'll be back soon," Ling Zhenhai replied, feeling sympathetic.

Even with sympathy, he couldn't open the door.

The base also had many elderly people and children who were defenseless. If they were infected, the consequences would be too severe.

Before long, Dongfang Chen quickly ran over.

"Boss!" Ling Zhenhai quickly ran over to greet him.

"Ling, what's the situation outside?" Dongfang Chen asked.

"There are several doctors and nurses outside. They said they escaped from Dawn Hospital. They said many people in the hospital turned into zombies, and there are zombies chasing them," Ling Zhenhai explained.

"Ling, there is a separate passage on the west side that leads directly to the isolation area on the second underground floor. Let them come in through the west gate first," Dongfang Chen said.

"But, boss! If we do that, the people inside will be in danger!" Ling Zhenhai worried.

"Don't worry, the isolation area is completely separated from other areas. The only way to get infected is through mosquitoes carrying the virus. But think about it, what can we do to completely prevent the spread of mosquitoes? Even if we keep them out, can we completely avoid it? So, as long as everyone doesn't take off their bracelets, there won't be any problems in the short term," Dongfang Chen explained.

Ling Zhenhai didn't answer, thinking it made sense, so he didn't insist anymore.

"Alright, let's do it this way," Dongfang Chen ordered, seeing that Ling Zhenhai wasn't speaking.

"Yes!" Ling Zhenhai responded.

Then he went to guide the people outside the door towards the west gate.

Underground base, isolation area.

Everyone was locked in a separate room.

The windows and doors were welded with thick steel bars.

Dongfang Chen and the guard team stood outside the door.

"I hope everyone can understand. The incubation period of the virus is very long, and if someone gets infected, the consequences will be severe. So everyone needs to wait patiently in the isolation area for 15 days first. If there are no problems during the quarantine period, you can be released. But please rest assured, we will deliver water and food to you regularly, and there are TVs in the corridor to watch, so you won't be too bored," Dongfang Chen explained to everyone.

"We understand! Thank you, boss, for letting us in," everyone expressed their gratitude.

Because they knew that the people inside could completely ignore their life or death, which would eliminate any risk. Although they were locked up after entering, at least they wouldn't be attacked by zombies and could rest in peace.

"Well, that's good. I also wanted to ask you, what exactly happened at Dawn Hospital?" Dongfang Chen asked.

"Boss, let me speak," a man in his thirties volunteered to answer.

"Okay, please speak," Dongfang Chen gestured for him to speak.

"It's like this, I was one of the first doctors sent to Dawn Hospital. Dawn Hospital, as you probably know, was newly established specifically for treating viral infections. Yesterday was the first day it opened, and 317 confirmed cases were sent in. Most of them were already in a coma. Judging from the symptoms, the vast majority had been infected for more than 3 days. Some who were not yet comatose also showed typical neurological problems such as speech impairment, vision impairment, hearing impairment, and paralysis. To be honest, we were all feeling our way, and in order to find an effective way to combat the virus as soon as possible, we adopted grouped treatments for these patients. Each group adopted a different treatment plan, and whichever plan was effective, we shared it with the other groups…"

"Alright! There's no need to talk about the treatment process, just tell me what happened in the hospital?"

The man was still describing it vividly when Dongfang Chen interrupted him.

"Okay, okay!" the man responded and continued:

"Tonight, after finishing a stage of treatment, everyone gathered together to eat and discuss the condition. Suddenly, we heard someone shouting loudly in the ward. We realized that the situation was not good and quickly ran over." Speaking of this, the man's eyes still showed fear as he continued with difficulty:

"My god! There were more than a dozen zombified zombies in the corridor. They were chasing several nurses and some patients with mild symptoms, and some were banging hard on the doors. Although we knew in advance that this virus, once infected, would have a high probability of zombification, we only truly understood it when we saw it with our own eyes. We quickly ran out, and as soon as we got out, the isolation door slammed shut. Some doctors and nurses who didn't have time to run were locked inside. They shouted in horror and despair, but there was nothing we could do, we couldn't control that door. We originally planned to find a way to save them, but who knew that there were also zombies rushing towards us outside, so a few of us kept running and running, and ended up here."

"So Dawn Hospital is basically paralyzed now?" Dongfang Chen asked.

"I guess so. We fled in a hurry and didn't pay much attention. But judging from the situation at the time, the other floors wouldn't be much better," the man recalled.

"Since you knew in advance that infection with the virus would lead to zombification, why didn't you arrange for some armed troops to protect you?" Dongfang Chen continued to ask.

"We did. But after the hospital became chaotic, they should have all been sent to the floors to eliminate zombies. We ran to the police room, but there wasn't a single person there. We didn't dare to stay any longer, so we ran out," the man explained.

"Alright, I understand the situation. You guys rest well. If there's anything, talk to the staff at the door," Dongfang Chen said.

"Okay, okay. Thank you, thank you!" the man said with a humble smile.

…

Back in the office, Dongfang Chen plopped down in his chair, leaned back, and frowned.

The lights in the office were off, and the blue light emitted from the huge screen on the wall cast a dim, shadowy glow on his body and face.

As things had developed to this day, Dongfang Chen's mood was one of both relief and helplessness.

He had been pushed forward by various things every day, and in the blink of an eye, two months had passed. For such a long time, he hadn't been able to calm down and think properly.

For some reason, he suddenly wanted to ask himself a question:

"You, what exactly are you doing every day?"