16: Chapter 16: An Incident at Shuguang Hospital

These past few days, with nothing much to do, Brother Zhang and a group of comrades would occasionally bring their families back to the surface for activities. The tall walls surrounding them provided a great sense of security.

Oriental Chen didn't say anything about this. With the watch's protection, he figured safety wouldn't be an issue.

During this period, the daily reported cases of zombification had almost ceased. This gave everyone a false sense of security: many people felt that perhaps the virus had been largely eradicated and that dawn was coming soon.

Until the middle of this particular night...

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

Seven or eight people in protective suits stood outside the base gate, shouting loudly.

The on-duty security team members, hearing the commotion outside the base, ran out.

"Who are you?" a security team member asked.

"Big Brother, please, open the door and let us in," a Sister's voice from outside urgently pleaded.

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

"Alright! Ling Zhenhai, don't open the door yet. It'll be troublesome if the virus gets brought in," Tang Kun replied.

"Understood. Go quickly," Ling Zhenhai responded.

With that, Tang Kun quickly ran towards the underground base.

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

Ling Zhenhai did not open the door and asked,

"Who are you? Where are you from?"

"Big Brother, we are doctors and nurses from Shuguang Hospital. Suddenly, many people in Shuguang Hospital turned into zombies. So many! Many people were bitten. We escaped from inside," the man outside the door explained.

"Big Brother! Please be kind! Open the door first, they're catching up!" a Sister cried, pleading, sounding terrified by the zombies.

"I'm sorry! Without the Boss's command, we cannot open the door. Please wait a moment, someone has already been sent to notify the Boss, and he will be back soon," Ling Zhenhai replied reluctantly.

Even if he felt sorry, he couldn't open the door.

There were also many defenseless elderly and children inside the base. If they were to get infected, the consequences would be too severe.

Soon after, Oriental Chen quickly ran over.

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

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

"Outside are a few doctors and nurses. They said they escaped from Shuguang Hospital. They claim many people in the hospital turned into zombies, and zombies are still chasing them," Ling Zhenhai explained.

"Brother Ling, there's an independent passage on the west side that leads directly to the isolation area on the second basement level. Let them come in through the west gate first," Oriental Chen said.

"But, Boss! If we do that, the people inside will be very dangerous!" Ling Zhenhai worried.

"Don't worry, the isolation area is completely separated from other areas. The only possible route of infection would be virus-carrying insects. But think, what can we do to completely prevent the spread of insects? Even if we refuse them entry, can we completely avoid it? So, as long as everyone doesn't remove their wristbands, there won't be a problem in the short term," Oriental Chen explained.

Ling Zhenhai didn't answer, thinking it made sense, and didn't insist further.

"Alright, let's do it this way," Oriental Chen commanded, seeing that Ling Zhenhai remained silent.

"Yes!" Ling Zhenhai responded.

He then went to guide the people outside the door towards the west gate.

Underground base, isolation area.

Everyone was separately confined in individual rooms.

The windows and doors were welded with thick steel bars.

Outside the door stood Oriental Chen and a group of security team members.

"I hope everyone can understand. The incubation period of the virus is very long, and if someone gets infected, the consequences would be severe. So everyone needs to patiently wait in the isolation area for 15 days. If there are no issues during isolation, you can be released. But please rest assured, we will regularly deliver water and food, and there are TVs in the hallway for viewing, so it won't be too difficult for you," Oriental 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 lives and deaths, which would mean no risk at all. Although they were locked up after coming in, at least no zombies would attack them, and they could rest in peace.

"Good, that's great. I also wanted to ask you, what exactly happened at Shuguang Hospital?" Oriental Chen asked.

"Boss, I'll tell you," a man around 30 years old volunteered to answer.

"Alright, please go ahead," Oriental Chen gestured for him to speak.

"It's like this: I was among the first batch of doctors sent to Shuguang Hospital. As you probably know, Shuguang Hospital was just established specifically for treating virus-infected individuals. Yesterday, on its first day of operation, 317 confirmed cases were admitted. Most of them were already in a comatose state. From the symptoms, the vast majority had been infected for more than 3 days. There were also some who were not yet comatose, but they mostly exhibited typical neurological problems such as speech impairment, vision impairment, hearing impairment, and paralysis. To be honest, we were all crossing the river by feeling the stones, and also to quickly find an effective method to combat the virus, we adopted group treatment for these patients. Each group used a different treatment plan, and whichever plan was effective, we would share it with other groups..."

"Alright! You don't need to describe the treatment process. Just tell me what happened in the hospital?"

The man was still speaking vividly when Oriental Chen interrupted him.

"Okay, okay, okay!" the man replied, continuing:

"Tonight, after finishing a phase of treatment, everyone gathered to eat and discuss the patients' conditions. Suddenly, we heard loud shouts from the ward. We realized something was wrong and quickly ran over." At this point, the man's eyes still showed terror as he struggled to continue:

"Oh my god! There were a dozen zombified zombies in the hallway. They were chasing several nurses and some mildly ill patients, and some were violently pounding on doors. Although we already knew that once infected, this virus had a very high chance of zombification, it wasn't until we saw it with our own eyes that we truly understood. We quickly ran out, and just as we exited, the isolation door slammed shut. Some doctors and nurses who didn't manage to escape were trapped inside. They screamed in terror and despair, but there was nothing we could do; we couldn't control that door. We had initially planned to find a way to save them, but then we realized there were also zombies outside rushing towards us, so a few of us just kept running and running until we reached here."

"So, is Shuguang Hospital basically paralyzed now?" Oriental Chen asked.

"Probably. We were in a panic trying to escape and didn't pay much attention. But from the situation at the time, other floors couldn't have been much better," the man recalled.

"Then, since you already knew that viral infection would lead to zombification, why didn't you arrange for some heavily armed soldiers to protect you?" Oriental Chen continued to ask.

"Of course, there were. But after the hospital descended into chaos, they must have been dispatched to various floors to eliminate the zombies. When we ran to the police station, there was no one there. We didn't dare to stay long, so we ran out," the man explained.

"Alright, I understand the situation. You all rest well. If anything comes up, just tell the staff at the door," Oriental Chen said.

"Okay, okay. Thank you, thank you!" the man said, smiling with lowered brows.

...

Back in the office, Oriental Chen plopped down into his chair, leaned back, his brows tightly furrowed.

The office lights were off, and the blue light emanating from the massive screen on the wall cast a dark glow on his body and face.

As things had progressed to this point, Oriental Chen felt both fortunate and helpless.

He was pushed forward daily by various events, and in the blink of an eye, two months had passed. For such a long time, he hadn't had a chance to calm down and think properly.

Somehow, he suddenly wanted to ask himself a question:

"What exactly are you doing every day?"