Morning, overcast.

Inside the room with partially drawn curtains, everyone was having breakfast. After a delicious late-night snack of instant noodles with spicy snacks, today’s breakfast seemed rather unappealing.

Chen Jia and Xu Jiajia were sharing a sausage, complemented with some biscuits and water as their breakfast. Nearby, while Zhou Mu’s daughter Zhou Yun was in the bathroom, she slipped a packaged bread into Chen Jia’s hand.

The bread was large, filled with red bean paste, and even through the packaging, it felt soft and fluffy.

“Auntie, it’s okay, you keep it for yourself,” Chen Jia tried to return the bread, but Zhou Mu stopped her.

“Silly child, don’t be polite with me over a piece of bread. If your father were still here…” Zhou Mu sighed, thinking of her late brother. Although Zhou Yun’s father was now missing after being isolated in the hospital, at least Zhou Yun still had her. Chen Jia had lost her only family member and was almost strangled by her. The thought was heartbreaking…

With a loving expression, Zhou Mu patted Chen Jia’s head, “Don’t refuse. I know you’re sensible, but I’m your aunt. When I give you something, you eat it, okay?”

She hoped Chen Jia would eat it before her daughter returned. Although Zhou Yun wasn’t stingy, she had been upset with Chen Jia over her fear of bugs these past few days.

To Zhou Mu, Chen Jia wasn’t wrong. The first time they were driving away the bugs, Zhou Yun had leaned on her, causing some bugs to remain in the folds of her clothes.

In these times, unopened food was precious, and adding hot water made it a real meal. Fortunately, the blood’s effect in attracting bugs was strong. The two “black lines” quickly fell from her sleeve to her pants, then to the ground, moving towards the bowl of blood.

After that, everyone felt uneasy about their food, though they ate it anyway to avoid waste. Thankfully, no one got sick.

Understandably, Zhou Yun got some blame, though others were considerate of Zhou Mu and only mentioned it once or twice. Only Chen Jia constantly watched Zhou Yun during bug drives, pointing out any missteps.

Zhou Mu understood that Chen Jia was worried about her. This sensible child had been deeply affected by witnessing her mother go mad because of the bugs, and now cared for her even more. She was worried Zhou Yun’s fear would cause bugs to cling to her, risking her safety…

Chen Jia looked at the bread in her hand, recognizing it from a bakery at the end of the street near their neighborhood. Her mother used to buy bread from there for her.

She didn’t refuse any further, thanked her aunt, and said she’d save it for later. She put the bread into her backpack and told Xu Jiajia, “The bread is big. Next meal, we can share it.”

“Okay,” Xu Jiajia nodded.

Meanwhile, two girls were counting pills, looking concerned. To delay their periods, they had to take 200 milligrams of progesterone daily, but they only had enough for two more days.

“What happened? I remember we had enough for a week each!” The short-haired girl recounted and searched her bag, but found no more.

“Maybe you miscounted. We only have enough for one person for four days,” the chubby girl looked puzzled. “Should we look for a pharmacy later?”

“Ever since the day we learned that the bugs are attracted to blood, nearly all the girls in the city have rushed to the pharmacies. In those three days, they emptied the stock of every pharmacy and even small clinics. We’ve searched several pharmacies over the past few days, and none of them had any… What are we going to do without the medication?” She couldn’t imagine such a scenario.

“Isn’t it said that even after stopping the medication, it takes three to seven days for the period to come? By then, we might have already left Hai Ru City.”

“Can you guarantee there won’t be those bugs once we leave Hai Ru City? The city is on the verge of collapse, and there wasn’t even any hail…” The short-haired girl paused, “Right now, there’s only one place left that still has medication.”

“Where?”

“The place we originally planned to go.”

“You mean—the hospital?” The chubby girl covered her mouth in shock, “But it’s full of infected people!”

“They’re isolated infected people. Apart from the main hall, the pharmacy usually has medication in the emergency room too. That area should be far from the isolation zone. If we move quickly, we can get enough medication.”

“But even so, we can’t get close to the hospital on our own…”

“Come on, let’s discuss it with Chen Jia and the others. I remember them mentioning they wanted to go to the hospital too.”

Chen Jia indeed mentioned wanting to go to the hospital; she hadn’t forgotten her promise to Xu Jiajia. But relying on just a few of them to go to the hospital was almost suicidal. However, the others…

“The others indeed don’t have to take such risks with us,” Xu Jiajia said, looking down.

Chen Jia looked at her friend. She knew the hospital where Xu Jiajia’s parents were wasn’t far from here. Although she hadn’t mentioned it much, she often secretly looked at a family photo on her phone.

Chen Jia gritted her teeth, “It doesn’t matter if the other classmates go or not. The key is… whether they’re willing to go.”

Everyone knew who she was referring to. Originally, there was only one boy, and they couldn’t rely too much on him. But last night, a more capable woman with better equipment joined them. However, asking others to take such risks for their own matters was unreasonable.

“What are you talking about?” Zhou Yun came out of the bathroom and saw the girls gathered together, quickly joining them. After listening, she mentioned that her supply of progesterone was also running low. Considering other girls in the group, this should be discussed with everyone.

In the end, everyone gathered for a meeting. As soon as the matter was brought up, it was opposed by several adults. Besides Zhou Mu, the group included one man and two women, all parents of the students.

In their eyes, these students were still kids, barely able to make their beds, do laundry, or cook. Now they wanted to risk going to the hospital for medication? Absolutely not!

However, nearly all the students agreed to go. After experiencing so much together, most had lost their parents and family members. To them, their classmates were not just friends but comrades and partners they depended on.

Even the usually timid boy with glasses agreed to go. He admitted he was scared but argued that after sticking together through thick and thin, it didn’t make sense to abandon each other now. Besides, they weren’t planning to enter deep into the hospital, just the emergency area to get medication. With a well-thought-out plan, success was possible.

“Wow, Glasses, you actually said something about sticking together through thick and thin? Then you should be our representative to ask them!”

“…But he didn’t agree last time.”

“Last time was last time. Go try. Maybe they’ll agree this time when you ask.”

“…”

On the sofa near Suite 1, Lin Wu was wiping the iron rod with a cloth. Glasses, trembling, explained his purpose, to which Lin Wu nodded and hummed in acknowledgment.

“You… you agreed?” Glasses asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Lin Wu replied, looking at him. “Anything else?”

“No…” Glasses grinned and walked back to the others waiting on the other side.

Lin Wu glanced sideways at Yu Xi, who was sitting on the sofa, drinking bottled coffee while checking the battery levels of two stun batons. Sensing his gaze, she looked up and met his eyes, then took an unopened bottle of coffee from her backpack and handed it to him. “I only have latte flavor. Want it?”

“…Thanks.” Lin Wu accepted the coffee, though it wasn’t the coffee that caught his attention.

They appeared to be busy with their own tasks, but they had overheard every conversation and interaction that had taken place.

Earlier in the morning, while still in the suite, Lin Wu had exchanged all information about the parasites with her. They both agreed that extermination was pointless and that they needed to find the root cause.

They had previously discussed going to the hospital. At that time, Lin Wu had been alone and had decided against it. But now, with Yu Xi, he felt a stronger sense of confidence. He had an instinctive feeling that Yu Xi might be more capable than he had initially thought.

Given that this group had repeatedly been led towards the hospital by “it,” they decided to go together to uncover what “it” wanted.

Hai Ru City’s Third Hospital was located in the northern part of the city. It was a comprehensive hospital in a relatively remote area, but only three blocks away from their current location. On the day of the hailstorm, all emergency vehicles were mobilized, and any place that could still receive patients was used.

The Third Hospital wasn’t large, with five buildings in total. The buildings were old, except for a newly constructed inpatient building at the back, where the hailstorm victims were eventually placed. Their target was the emergency building, located to the right of the outpatient building, separated by an internal road. The outpatient building was twice the size of the emergency building and was crowded with newly admitted patients before the medical order collapsed.

Many patients were later transferred to the new inpatient building for isolation. However, as a large number of medical staff became infected and emotionally unstable, chaos ensued. The infected began attacking the uninfected. With various medical tools available everywhere, many people were killed on the spot. Those who managed to escape soon turned into infected as well, unable to hold out for long due to their injuries.

In the aftermath, those who could still move left the outpatient building. The infected locked inside, without targets to attack, either calmed down gradually or attacked each other when stimulated.

The emergency building was similar, but smaller with fewer medical departments, so the number of infected there should be fewer.

Before noon, the group made final preparations in a clothing store diagonally opposite the hospital. The emergency building of the hospital was clearly visible from a distance, seemingly peaceful.

In front of them was a four-lane road with cars crashed into each other. This road led to the main route out of the city towards the mountain tunnel. Before the widespread appearance of the infected, anyone with a car and a strong sense of crisis had driven out of Hai Ru City.

These students had also wanted to leave at that time, but with most of their family members in the hospital and unable to drive, they stayed behind, unwilling to abandon their parents.

Later, they checked online for news and found that many people who had been locked in the Hai Ru City mountain tunnel were released. As long as they underwent inspection and quarantine, they could receive assistance and resettlement.

At that time, the students from the same neighborhood wanted to find a large vehicle and have the two adults who could drive take them out of Hai Ru City. However, before they could find a vehicle, the news of the city-wide outbreak of the infected came, plunging them into confusion.

After that, due to the food crisis, they left their neighborhood and homes. While searching for food in a supermarket, they were surrounded by several infected, but fortunately, the boy appeared and saved them.

Over the past two days, they had traveled from the southern part of the city almost across the entire Hai Ru City, all thanks to him that they remained safe. So now, after driving the bugs away from the second floor of the clothing store, everyone quietly listened to his plan and instructions.

Yu Xi drew a simple and clear floor plan of the hospital based on the information she found online.

Lin Wu explained the situation using the floor plan.

Their target, the emergency pharmacy, was right at the entrance to the emergency building, on the left-hand side, very close to the main entrance. The potentially infected patient rooms were on a corridor to the right of the entrance.

If there were infected in the corridor, they would need to lure all the infected on the first floor outside and neutralize them to prevent the noise and shouts from attracting infected from the second and third floors of the emergency building.

If the corridor was clear, they would directly take the medicine and leave.

Therefore, the key to this operation was speed. Numbers were useless. Boys and girls without combat ability, along with the middle-aged women, would stay behind.

Yu Xi would stay behind too.

“She’s not going?” Glasses asked in surprise.

“She’s protecting you,” Lin Wu explained casually.

Seeing his frown, the others refrained from questioning further.

These rookies decided it was best not to question the arrangements of the experts.

Lin Wu led about seven or eight young boys across the street toward the hospital. Before leaving, he glanced at Yu Xi one more time and received a steady look from her in return.

Lin Wu’s face remained expressionless, but there was a hint of a smile in his eyes. Getting a reassuring look from a teammate during action provided a great sense of security. Moreover, Lin Wu knew that although he and Yu Xi were acting separately this time, she had the heavier responsibility.

“Be careful,” Lin Wu mouthed.

Yu Xi nodded slightly in response.

At the clothing store’s second-floor window, the short-haired girl watched her classmates carefully crossing the street and couldn’t help but speak up, “Are we really not going? They’re risking themselves for us. It doesn’t feel right to stay behind. What if there are many infected on the first floor of the emergency building—”

The chubby girl grabbed her and shook her head, “We should follow his arrangements. He knows what he’s doing.”

Zhou Yun frowned, “You’d just be a burden if you went. Let’s stick to the plan.”

The short-haired girl retorted, “If you’re too scared to go, don’t say I’m a burden.”

“Who are you calling scared?” Zhou Yun shot back.

“You haven’t even dared to look at the bugs. Do you think you can handle going to the hospital?” Glasses interjected.

“Shut up, it’s none of your business!” Zhou Yun snapped.

“Yun Yun,” her mother intervened.

Chen Jia stayed silent, turning to look at her friend Xu Jiajia. She knew Xu Jiajia wanted to go too, but she also knew that the boy’s firm personality wouldn’t allow them to follow, so she hadn’t spoken up.

“Jiajia…” Chen Jia glanced at the others, all standing by the window, including the newly joined woman in her thirties.

She pulled Xu Jiajia to the stairwell. “I know you want to go, but the situation is different now. The inpatient building is in the back, and it might be full of infected too…”

“I know—” Xu Jiajia’s face turned ashen, and before she could finish her sentence, tears started streaming down her face. “It’s already a miracle we’ve made it this far. I was just holding onto one last bit of hope…”

Chen Jia looked at her and fell silent.

At the same time, behind the inpatient building’s perimeter wall, a team dressed in combat uniforms quietly dealt with another infected person who had charged at them with a knife.

“Damn it, these guys are everywhere,” a tall, strong man muttered under his breath.

The group of seven looked travel-worn, but they were all very careful, making sure not to get any blood on themselves. Even if the blood wasn’t theirs and they had no wounds, those black worms would still crawl all over them. Despite their efforts, they couldn’t be sure that none of them had any worms on them. The black worms were so tiny that they could easily hide in their clothes and hair without being noticed.

The men had even shaved their heads to make it easier to spot and clean off the worms.

“Alright, we’re here. Everyone check your gear. Once we get inside, try to use melee weapons first. If that doesn’t work, then use the guns,” said the tall man, Zhang Yishuai, who had previously been knocked out by Yu Xi.

“Even with silencers, the guns will still make some noise. Plus, once the infected spot a target, they’ll start yelling and making a racket. We need to stay quiet and take them out before they attract more infected,” he added.

Zhang Yishuai inspected his weapon and then looked at Qi Zhen, their leader. “Boss, are we really just going in like this?”

“Why?” Qi Zhen asked, looking at him.

“It’s just… I want to know, did you really receive a distress signal? This building was used for isolation and quarantine. It should be full of infected. Even if they’ve killed each other off, it’s been days. If there are any normal people inside, how have they survived?”

“The walkie-talkie definitely picked up a distress signal. There are survivors inside, probably patients who didn’t get evacuated in time. Besides, even if it was a quarantine area, not everyone would be in the same place. Survivors aren’t surprising,” Qi Zhen explained.

Just like the places they had passed in the past few days, some seemingly empty houses actually hid normal people. They had survived by being careful and having some stored food and water.

“Patients who were hospitalized? That’s really unlucky,” another team member sighed.

“That’s just my guess. It could also be people who were injured but not infected,” Qi Zhen said. This was actually the main reason he decided to take the risk.

“If it’s the latter, it means these people might have some antibodies that make them immune to the black worms. That makes them extremely important. We have to rescue them and find out why they weren’t infected. It could be the key to solving this infection crisis.”

“Alright, boss, you call the shots, we do the work!” Zhang Yishuai, seeing Qi Zhen’s determination, didn’t question further.

The team members had long since accepted the possibility of death.

If someone called for help, they would rescue them. If someone needed assistance, they would help. And if any of them got injured and infected, they would let their teammates take them out to avoid becoming mindless monsters, a fate worse than death.