Chapter 8, Serum

Do you want to drive this store away? Ye Zhiqiu was somewhat surprised

"That's wonderful." Jill glanced at Ye Zhiqiu and clapped her hands. Like Nicole, she had been worried about Ye Zhiqiu being infected. Initially, she did not want to associate with a potential zombie, but now she did not want to lose a strong ally: "So, does this mean we don't have to worry about being infected?"

Ye Zhiqiu also considered this to be an issue, so the three of them decided during dinner to visit the residential houses in the town in the afternoon to collect some weapons, and ideally find a large vehicle

Nicole furrowed her brow and said, "I suspect that the tolerance of the zombie's body increases after mutation, and the damage to the body takes some time to manifest. Therefore, unless a bullet hits their head or heart, the effect is not significant. Ye's knife is very suitable for bloodletting, and zombies lose blood quickly, which can cause their muscles to stop functioning in a very short time due to lack of blood. Thus, the results we initially saw from the National Guard were not as impressive as Ye's, which should be related to the choice of weapons."

This time, Nicole hesitated a bit, but soon she lifted her head and smiled, saying: "He is Chinese; don't all Chinese people know martial arts?"

Ji smiled slightly and shifted her gaze. However, Nicole looked at Ye Zhiqiu very seriously: "I can be certain that you have been infected with the virus from the zombies, but based on your condition, you are very likely completely immune to this virus"

"At least until there is a definitive conclusion, we can only think this way," Nicole glanced at Ye Zhiqiu and replied

Nicole nodded in agreement: "It is still unclear what the transmission routes and mechanisms of this virus are, but it can be confirmed that blood contact will certainly be one of the transmission routes." At this point, she glanced at Ye Zhiqiu. Yesterday, she had witnessed zombie blood flowing into his wound, yet Ye Zhiqiu showed no signs of illness at all, which made her doubt her own judgment.

"Do you think we will often encounter such opportunities?" Jill retorted. Six months after the disaster, issues related to food and energy had begun to surface. Jill and Nicole had witnessed many instances of survivors fighting over resources for survival.

Wearing the jeans and shirt found in the convenience store, Ye Zhiqiu reappeared, and at that moment, Nicole had already prepared lunch, while Jill was categorizing the items she had selected from the convenience store. Upon seeing Ye Zhiqiu approach, she spread her hands and said: "We need a larger vehicle"

Nicole nodded and said: "I have a preliminary idea. This is a virus that can be transmitted through the air; otherwise, it would be impossible to explain the sudden large-scale outbreak at the beginning. Additionally, I suspect that this virus has an incubation period when transmitted through the air, but it causes illness almost immediately through blood contact"

Ye Zhiqiu spread butter on his bread while asking, "You should choose a room with sunlight; no one knows if there are any zombies left in town"

"Rest assured," Ye Zhiqiu smiled and said, "Even if I am not afraid of infection, I have no interest in being bitten by them." After saying this, he suddenly asked somewhat awkwardly, "If this is true, do you think it would be possible to isolate an antiviral serum from my blood?"

"Well then." Hearing Nicole's words, Jill felt somewhat disheartened. Nicole was not without reason; the National Guard generally uses the M series rifles, and the 5.56 mm projectile has decent penetration at close range, but its stopping power is insufficient. Moreover, the wound area is not large; unless it happens to hit an artery, it is difficult to cause significant blood loss. For zombies with sluggish reflexes, the effect is clearly not as direct as that of a military knife. However, Nicole is not a combatant; she does not know how terrifying Ye Zhiqiu's knife skills are. They are practically designed for killing, without a trace of flamboyance. Thus, she continued, "Then let me rephrase: do you think an ordinary person could possess skills like his?"

The other two individuals recalled their past experiences and nodded in agreement. Jill furrowed her brow and said, "If it is airborne transmission, then why haven't we fallen ill? Could it be that our incubation period is particularly long?"

This is exactly what I want to say. Nicole said: "It has been six months now. Although there are many viruses with longer incubation periods than this, I personally believe that our lack of illness is not due to the incubation period, but because we have developed antibodies and are immune to this virus"

Ye Zhiqiu was momentarily taken aback, but from a police officer's perspective, Gil did not seem surprised by this statement. He nodded and said, "I like this idea"

Regardless of the reasons, it is inappropriate for two people to stand by and watch Ye Zhiqiu take a bath, even if he himself does not object. Thus, the two quickly turned and walked away. Ye Zhiqiu initially only intended to rinse off the blood on his body, but without hot water, it was difficult to clean the stains. As a result, he became increasingly pleased and ended up spending a full hour.

Jill shook her head: "What kind of person do you think could take down four zombies in an instant? With just a knife? I believe his movements are faster than those of the zombies"

Following the sound of water, Jill and Nicole saw Ye Zhiqiu standing completely naked on the ground, taking a bath. They couldn't help but feel a bit envious. Jill sighed and said, "I haven't taken a bath in at least two months."

Nicole, you had better not expect to be like him. The current temperature is at most three or four degrees, and you will definitely catch a cold.

Nicole shook her head: "This is just a guess; I do not recommend that you try it."

Nicole also did not know where Ye Zhiqiu had gone, but this did not hinder them from finding him, as at that moment Ye Zhiqiu was making a lot of noise. He suspected that the town's water supply system had collapsed, so he found a well. In fact, the smaller the place, the easier it is to find such essential facilities, because the local residents must find ways to solve and document their needs.

Jill patted her head, realizing that she was wholeheartedly supporting Ye Zhiqiu. Therefore, she decided to give up and turned to say: "Well then, where has your hero run off to now?"

This time, it was Jill and Nicole who were left in a daze. While Nicole was still pondering, Jill had already warned them: "You'd better not mention this issue to the fourth person. If it's true, they might drain your blood"

Ye Zhiqiu felt uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gazes of two individuals, and could only protest, "Why do you keep looking at me when you mention zombies?"

Seeing Nicole's puzzled expression, Jill reminded her: "How many fully armed National Guards did we see in Anchorage? They didn't kill a single zombie."

Nicole shook her head: "Do you remember the people we encountered two months ago? They were attacked by a zombie, and two of them died, one of whom turned into a zombie"

Jill pondered for a moment and cautiously asked, "Do you think the antibodies in our bodies can only defend against airborne viruses"

Ye Zhiqiu saw her looking at him and immediately understood her meaning. He nodded and said, "Then what was the cause of the initial large-scale outbreak?"

Nicole was taken aback and asked, "What happened?"